Reflecting two of the U.S. American cultural values “Speaking Up – ‘Tell it like it is’” and “Speed – ‘Time is money’” cited in Cultural Detective TM: U.S.A., I could justly sum up my reaction to this training material with one word, “Wow!”

The method lays a solid foundation to understanding major U.S. cultural values with an insightful and multi-faceted approach:

“The earth was still shaking from the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake when California was interviewed by NBC –TV about the collapse of the Bay Bridge…. He also expressed surprise and terrible disappointment at the severity of the damage. The governor assumed that technology should have foreseen and prevented the effects of the natural disaster…”.

The above snippet pulled from the section illustrating Core value No. 2 “Control – ‘Take Charge’, shows the liveliness of the tenor and content to be found in each section. Examples flow from many varied sources, from the internet to interviews.

The tone of the writing is well –measured and one gets the feeling that the words were thoughtfully chosen to carefully and thoroughly reflect the complexity of the concepts expressed. The authors didn’t take the easy way out by repeating conventional jargon, but seem to put their insight to work to flesh out their ideas. Instead of falling into the trap of describing a character that appears in a critical incident with the catch-all term, polychronic, the reader is told that this character’s “…preferred style of conversation is not linear. He has a multi-focused view of time…”

In addition to its practical use as a first-rate tool for training about U.S. American core values and their impact on professional life, Cultural Detective TM: U.S.A is really a joy to read.