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Impacts of Cultural and Mindset Changes
Olayoriju Adeleye
University of Maryland Global Campus
Prof. Zana Sahyouni
Academic Writing
June 19, 2021
Impacts of Cultural and Mindset Changes
3. Summarize the article. Explain the event or issue covered in the article, assuming your reader has little or no prior knowledge of it.
The prevailing mindset and culture of a given generation contribute significantly towards the way we live and progress socially, hence my selection of this article by David Brooks. David, the founder of a social fabric project designed to focus on cultural change, looks at the state of American life from about 1870 until today across a wide range of sectors. He is bothered by the fact that between the 1870s and late 1960s, there was a general improvement in various social trends, but over the past 50 years, these positive trends that existed were all reversed. Memberships in civic organizations and religious attendance dropped, political polarization became worse, income inequality widened, and an increased rate of deaths of despair.
In the twentieth century, there was a long upswing towards increased solidarity in American society; this was indicated by the surge of community activism, reduced income inequality, increased church attendance, and a rise in union membership. A change in mindset and culture brings about the difference in social trends over this span of years. Changing the population’s existing stand, values, and norms proves to be the most necessary and challenging work. Despite the majority of people underestimating the power of culture and the importance of culture change, it has been proven to be a significant determiner of the progress of societies and their eventual success or failure.
4. Describe a specific real-life situation (other than one discussed in your news article) where the issue at hand has been observed. This could be something that happened to you or someone you know, or it could be a related event in the news. Explain the connection to the event or issue in your news article.
In this online article, a great example is given of what could occur when the mindset and culture of a generation change, as was the case in America. I carried out further research on the issue online and discovered that scientists have been exploring the power of mindset on the growth and progress of individuals for a long time. Examples are given of how managers in the corporate world strive to cultivate a positive growth mindset among their employees, and this, in turn, results in a successful culture change. Companies that had lousy company cultures, such as unfriendly employee competition, high turnover rate, and absenteeism, were found to be poor performing when it came to attaining their set goals. However, once the corporate directors made a change in management and new progressive cultures created, a positive turnaround was immediately observed in the business. Therefore, it is clear that changes in the culture and mindset of individuals have a significant effect on the overall progress and growth of organizations and society in general.
5. What is your field of study, and how do you see it relating to the event or issue in your news article?
To be in a position to run a business successfully and consistently make profits, there are other aspects you need to take into consideration in addition to the usual employees’ performance. The daily operations of businesses and how a variety of factors come into play when determining the success or failure of the company have always intrigued me. I believe this article relates to my field of study, i.e., Business Management since it gives an insight into how the mindset and culture of individuals can bring about adverse effects; managers and team leaders can apply this in business. Ensuring that a culture of unity and teamwork is cultivated in the work environment can see that the company is successful, encouraging employees to be less self-centred and more inclined to group success would bring about improved business performance.
6. What do you want to know about the issue or event in your news article? List two or more questions that you could pursue as part of your research. Though you are listing two or more questions here, your research should ultimately be focused on a single guiding question
With regards to the issue discussed in the article, more points of interest arose. I would be interested in getting more information about how the government can create a positive culture and encourage a growth mindset among its people and why they have not done so yet. Over the last 50 years, several administrations have come into power and left without making changes to this aspect. Having a great leader is not enough to attain this; there are specific missing pieces in the civic and cultural spheres that we need to fill.
One other question I have is regarding the abrupt change in the national narrative that took place in the late 1960s. What brought about the sudden disunity among people that previously looked past their diversity and fought together against oppression? What was the source of the steep downturn that destroyed the solidarity that existed and increased individualism? If American life improved across a wide range of measures, why would these principles that resulted in decades of social progress be abandoned?
References
.Brooks, D., 2020. How to Actually Make America Great. [online] Available at: [Accessed 13 June 2021].
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