|
THE AMERICANS
Articles Index
How To Understand Americans
How To Do Business With Americans
The American Mind
Resources
Whatyousay.com
Learn how to communicate
effectively with Americans--power phrases, best communication practices of successful
Americans.
The
Achievement Digest (TAD)
A goldmine of informative and inspirational nuggets
Great Quotations
A terrific collection of quotes you can use in speeches, articles,
and conversation.
Professional Speaker for Keynotes and Seminars; Consultant
GENE GRIESSMAN, Ph.D.
Author of
"Time Tactics of Very Successful People"
"The Words Lincoln
Lived By"
"Lincoln on Communication"
"Lincoln Speaks to
Leaders" "Lincoln's Wisdom"
*Taught at the College of William & Mary, North Carolina State
University, Auburn University, Tuskegee University, Georgia Tech,
Fulbright Professor of Anthropology,
Quaid-i-Azam University (the national graduate university of
Pakistan); visiting researcher, the University of New South Wales,
Australia, National Agrarian University, Peru
*Award-winning TV host; contributor to newspapers worldwide,
including The New York Times, USA Today, and The Washington Post
*Prize-winning professional speaker and actor
Keynotes
and Seminars:
"The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham
Lincoln"
"Lessons From Legends" (based on interviews with
famous Americans)
"How To Do Business With Americans"
"The Vocabulary of Leadership"
Consultant:
Strategic planning, evaluation research, communication strategies
“Gene Griessman visited our organization this week. He received the highest ratings our members have ever given
a speaker. He is spectacular. His opening one-man play is better
 than any evening at the theatre, and the following two-hour
discussion on leadership is filled with wisdom, energy and
inspiration.”
--Bill Peterson, Chairman, The Executive Committee, Saskatoon,
Canada
Some Of
Our Most Popular Pages
American
Chauvinism
War
quotes
Ronald Reagan quotes; exclusive interview: his big break
"The Diversity Creed";
Why I Wrote "The Diversity Creed"
How To Do Business With Americans: Forgive Their Blunders
The Americans: Who Are They And How Did They Get This Way?
Index to all the pages
on
this website
"Phony
Analogies" By Gene Griessman, Ph.D.
These days you will hear lots of people compare the Federal
budget to family budgets and the budgets of small businesses.. Some
of these people don’t know any better. They simply don't know about
or understand macro-economics.
For
example, a freshman U.S. Senator told an interviewer the other day
that he owned a small business back home, and the reason he ran for
Congress was to make sure the Federal Government conducted its
business the way he ran his business--by not spending more than he
took in.
It's
become a folksy commonplace for politicians and commentators to say
that Congress needs to do what families do--sit down around the
table and figure out how to cut spending so as to live within their
income. Even President Obama has started saying this. It does sound
like common sense.
But
it’s not. It’s wrong-headed; it’s a phony analogy.
Here’s why. The Federal Government has so many more resources than
does a family or a small business that any comparison is ludicrous.
The budget of the US Federal Government is the largest budget in the
world, larger than that of any corporation or any other nation by
far.
Neither a small business nor a family can print money, control the
amount of money in circulation, levy taxes and duties, stimulate the
economy, control trade policy, or build and maintain the nation's
infrastructure.
Because the analogy is wrong-headed, any policies based on the
analogy can be just as wrong-headed.
If
the Federal government's revenues are down, and they are right now,
then one strategy can be to cut expenditures. That is essentially
all a family can do. But there are other options open to the
Federal government. The Federal Government can raise revenues. It
can increase taxes on individuals and companies that are doing just
fine, it can change the rules of trade with other countries, it can
regulate the amount of money in the system, it can catch tax-cheats,
it can close tax loopholes, it can stimulate the economy by funding
projects (such as building bridges, tunnels, and high-speed rails)
that employ lots of people, have a multiplier effect on the economy,
and save money in the future.
None
of these options are available to a family budget or the budget of a
small business.
So,
the next time you hear someone use this analogy, say something like:
"I wonder if that's a valid analogy." Then ask, "Does your business
(or family) have the ability to print money, levy taxes and import
duties, control the amount of money in the system, or build and
support the infrastructure?"
None
of these options are available to a family budget or the budget of a
small business.
If
that person is bright and intellectually honest, you won’t need to
say much more. If they’re not, what you say won’t matter very much
anyway.
Micro-economic principles are appropriate for family budgets and
small (even large) businesses. Macro-economic principles alone
should be used to explain an economic phenomenon as enormous as the
budget of the United States of America.
FEATURED ARTICLES
"HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH AMERICANS:
OVERLOOK THEIR BLUNDERS"
By Gene Griessman, Ph.D.
"If you would
like to do business with Americans, make it your business to understand them.
In general, Americans do not know very much about history or international
affairs. They are too absorbed in the present and focused on the future to
spend much time thinking about the past. And too much is happening in
America for them to think long and hard about what might be happening elsewhere.
However,
Americans like to make money, and more and more Americans are aware of the
opportunities to be found in international commerce. Most are
late-comers and poorly equipped for the venture.
“Forgive them,
for they know not what they do” was not spoken with Americans in mind, but it
certainly is a realistic attitude to have when you deal with them. The
United States is a huge, focused-on-itself marketplace. Its people don’t
recognize that other inhabitants of the continent have a legitimate claim to the
word American. They will admit that there are South Americans and Latin
Americans and that Canada occupies a big chunk of North America, but in their
minds there is only one people known as Americans—without any kind of qualifier.
Indeed, the world has generally acquiesced to this act of cultural arrogance.
Only the
exceptional American has a deep knowledge of other cultures. The American
educational system is notoriously weak when it comes to teaching geography,
world events, or history.
Year after
year American college professors bemoan the ignorance of incoming freshmen. An
appalling number of college freshmen don’t know the difference between Austria
and Australia. When asked to identify Muhammad, many will tell you that he
is a great boxer. (That changed a bit after September 11, with a brief
flurry of interest in things Muslim, but for the most part the learning that
took place was brief and superficial.)
The
overwhelming majority of Americans do not read newspapers. Less than 30%,
including those who read very local papers, and that number is declining.
Even those who read most big city newspapers don’t learn much about what’s
happening elsewhere in the world. Except when there’s an overseas conflict
that involves Americans, only a few American newspapers devote much space to
international events.
If Americans
don’t get international information from newspapers, there’s always CNN, other
news channels, and network TV. But fewer than 5% of America’s TV sets are
tuned to the news channels except during a sensational trial or a major crisis.
The networks, which have many more viewers than CNN, do not devote a significant
part of their news programming to international topics—again, only if there is
an overseas conflict that involves Americans. For most Americans, TV is a
medium for entertainment.
There are news
magazines that cover international events, but again, only a minority of
Americans read them. Their circulation figures are in decline too.
Many American
companies are newcomers to international business. The American market is so
huge that most companies until recently have concentrated on domestic sales.
They have avoided the international market because they deemed it unnecessary or
because they lacked the requisite knowledge, and considered it too costly to
acquire it.
That is
changing. American business is globalizing rapidly. The new mantra
is free markets. American businesses are outsourcing and revving up sales
and marketing abroad. Mergers and acquisitions by foreign companies are
increasing the rate and level of contact.
Americans know
that they will have to learn to do business in a new environment. A significant
number are reading, taking seminars on international business, and hiring
consultants. Some Americans log tens of thousands of miles traveling to
international sites every year. A few Americans even become serious
students of the cultures where they do business. They fall in love with those
cultures and become life-long students. In short, Americans are becoming
better at global business, but they have a long way to go.
Most of the
cultural blunders that Americans make when dealing with international
businesspeople are just that–blunders. Americans are too friendly a people
to deliberately offend, and too pragmatic to do anything that might jeopardize a
profitable relationship. So, if an American businessperson offends you by
something said or done, more than likely it was just a blunder. Don’t take
it personally."
(Excerpt from "The Americans" to be published in 2011 )
If you would
like to be notified when "The Americans" is published, please
send an email at abe@mindspring.com
Every year Gene
Griessman does scores of seminars and keynotes for business groups and
associations. He is the creator of the highly regarded compendium of best
practices in communication--whatyousay.com.
If you'd like to know more about his seminar on social
trends, the future, and strategic planning,
click here. He also does
executive coaching and seminars for business people who want to understand
Americans better. For information, call 404-256-592 or send an email to
abe@mindspring.com
"In my 12 years as an
association executive I've never seen a speaker better at holding
the audience's attention."
--Hugh J. Rushing, Executive Vice President, Cookware
Manufacturing Association.
“You are the best, the absolute best! People still quote you to this day. We
got so many written notes of praise. The presentation was not
only entertaining but intellectually stimulating—a piece of history
that will live forever in our minds. And then the presentation
that you did for the students at St. James academy was a huge hit.
It made our 25th anniversary banquet a memorable experience.”---Bill
Kissinger, CEO, Kissinger Financial Services, Hunt Valley, MD.
Contact Information:
404-256-5927
abe@mindspring.com
www.presidentlincoln.com
www.whatyousay.com
DVD “LINCOLN ON
COMMUNICATION”
"One of the very best videos/DVDs ever
made. It's a classic like 'Gone With The Wind.' I show it in many of my
seminars. Everyone loves it.”
Brad McRae, "The Seven Strategies of Master Presenters"
This educational resource is ideal for the classroom—for students from middle
school and
 high
school to college, government, and business. It’s been acclaimed by
communication experts and educators alike.
It's perfect for self-study—for people who want to improve just like Lincoln
did.
The running time is 60 minutes, which makes it perfect for the
classroom. It comes with a trainer guide written by Dr. Griessman, which
includes discussion points and....MORE
$120.00 (Many videos of
this quality sell for as much as $1000.)
Bonus: Order from this site and receive celebrated audio books absolutely free:
"Lincoln's Wisdom" and "99 Ways to Get More Out of Every Day" ($64.95
value)
|
