Thang Nguyen 555

Cultures on Collision Course

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With some short-term relief work in Asia/Africa and long stint in Telecom, Thang also earned a B.A. at Pennsylvania State University. M.A. in Communication at Wheaton Graduate School, M.A. in Cross-Cultural Communication at Gordon-Conwell Seminary, Boston. In addition, he earned a CELTA – classes taken in Hanoi for cultural re-immersion.

Tag: IBM

  • Fear as Motivator

    As a child I feared rising flood water (drowning). I feared thief by night, bully by day. I feared having to stand out in the crowd (wearing bright colors). For a nail that sticks up will be hammered down. Fear of being drafted, of being called out in class to recite something in English. Fear…

  • Money as Motivator

    Money does something to us. It both elevates and debases us. In War and Peace,  Pierre, as opposed to Prince Andrew, inherited a vast estate. Then things went south: duel, divorce and determination to “sanctify” himself by joining the Free Masonry Society. When money is involved, motivators are involved, not all pure and noble. We are shy to talk about it.…

  • Memoir yet to be written

    The 70’s was coined the ME decade (Tom Wolfe). I am OK, you’re OK. By now, we should see the ME products on the shelves: from Shirley MacLaine to her brother Warren Beatty, from Rock Hudson to Ron Reagan. Last of the hardback memoirs. Last of generation ME. We now join the world, for WE ARE THE…

  • Lost art of typing

    The BBC has a piece on Japan Love Affair with the Fax Machine. Older population has gotten used to that technology (which allows for hand-writing). For years, I have used email except for  Thank-you notes in writing. I can reasonably predict that even typing (as we know it) will be a lost art (speech recognition will…

  • Less is more

    In reading Steve Jobs, a theme keeps emerge: less is more. He cut out the fat and all its distraction. (being a veggie, he stayed true to form). His closet was full of the same long-sleeve stretch shirt that defined his personal brand. His take on wealth and money was also consistent with his 60’s philosophy. Steve…

  • Team building

    I invited a new classmate to join our volleyball team. Thought I kill two birds with one stone: we could use a tall guy, and I couldn’t bear seeing him unfriended during recess. Turned out he couldn’t play well, but we got to be friends for life. We pitched in to buy a professional ball.…

  • Beyond Hero

    On Easter, the networks dutifully searched their archives for larger-than-life movies like Ben-Hur to fill their air time. From the Beat Generation to the Beatles, anti-hero started to emerge, like in “Rebel without a cause” (the knife-fight at the Observatory between leader of the black leather gang and James Dean in white T-shirt). Since then, anti-heroes, like at My Lai Village,…

  • Clothes and costumes

    Just about now, we start thinking Halloween costumes. We have tried on cotton, polyester, paper, fur, animal skin (leather) and raw meat. At work, the dress code has changed as well since IBM went “soft” (ware). Gone are the blue suit, white shirt and red tie. Who wants to upstage their CEO’s at Facebook, Google, and…

  • Whiter shade of HP

    “The crowd call out for more…” Procol Harum’s one-hit wonder, with his indelible organ solo, still mystified many on YouTube. Legacy companies in a mature industry such as HP, have moved too far away from their roots, hence, at great risk of being irrelevant or turning into wax (Icarus paradox). In HP’s early days, Bill and Dave…

  • two-step back

    A laid-off Coca Cola delivery man gave a bank teller a note, demanding one dollar so he could go to jail and get healthcare. A Florida retiree robbed a bank to pay his mortgage. New York sex workers told investigative reporters they went on-call to pay back college tuition. Something is not right with our…