Sunday, Oct. 11, 2009

WorkWise: 'National Americans' use altered work styles

This column was inspired by an MSNBC.com article about Janet Morgan, a 63-year-old woman born in California who raised her children in Nevada and moved to Ohio for a college degree.

She job hunted extensively and systematically around the country before she found a job in an unexpected place -- North Dakota.

"National Americans" blend the best of their workplaces in more than one part of the country. They stand out in organizations built almost exclusively on local talent. At a time when Americans have begun moving to new jobs again, it’s important to know how their new experiences will change them.

Susan Berg, founder of Choose on Purpose Network in Doylestown, Pa., has worked in change management for 20 years. Born in Cincinnati, she worked at Unisys on both coasts and in Texas as a teacher. Berg transfers her broad perspective to twentysomethings through the transitions required to launch and develop their careers. Her clients are Fortune 500 companies, the government, nonprofits and institutions of higher education.

Born in New Rochelle, N.Y., Terry Starr, co-founder of MyWorkButterfly L.L.C., a social network for mothers in West Parsippany, N.J., spent seven years in recruitment marketing and employee communications in New York City before moving to Los Angeles for two years to increase the size of a newer operation.

Starr found herself at odds with people in Los Angeles: "Trying to get a decision made was nearly impossible, because the LA perspective is diametrically opposed to the East Coast work culture,” she says. “People would sit back, analyze and consider options before making decisions."

When she returned, she discovered that she'd changed to "something in between that, taking a moment to consider that possibly the way we've been doing something isn't necessarily perhaps the best way to do something . . . a huge learning lesson.” She also brought back an awareness and appreciation of work/life harmony, which was quite different from her previous drive to "get the job done and be productive."

While working in California, Berg had another experience, becoming attuned to prejudices against areas of the country. People in that state are labeled "nutty," she says, while East Coasters are considered "uptight and neurotic." Because of the touch of a Texas twang in her accent, some people there assumed she was from Texas and asked about guns in the back of her truck. She kept hearing herself tell people that the basics of human nature are constant, wherever you live.

Going Back

Berg doesn't find that her difference requires her to cope. Instead, it makes her more productive. "Sometimes a contrarian point of view is more exciting and gives everyone a chance to talk about biases we have against or around the subcultures in our own country," she notes. "It makes me better for my work. I don’t jump to a trite answer to what's wrong or why we're struggling. I look deeper." She considers herself more empathetic and less parochial because of her background.

Starr graduated from sticking out like a sore thumb in California to being teased, even ridiculed, in the East about her slower rate of speech. While Berg told people on the West Coast that people are people, Starr finds herself contradicting the notion that there’s only one way to do things -- quickly, like in the East. The fact that she’s more analytical has contributed to better decision-making, she maintains, halfway between rapidity and passivity. When she returned to the East, she was briefly at odds with her environment, feeling anxious after "living in an idyllic environment," she observes. Driving to work was very different from riding the subway and walking in crowds.

National Americans may find that they're very different when they move to other regions. Then they bring the best of various work styles back.

Dr. Mildred L. Culp welcomes your questions at culp@workwise.net. Copyright 2009 Passage Media.