The Global Tower of Babel. 
October 2005 - Jim Boring & Martha Galindo 
Reprinted from Chief Learning Officer magazine, www.clomedia.com.


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In the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, the various tribes of the world combine 
to build a tower that will reach heaven. In a single stroke, their efforts come to 
naught when they are beset with a profusion of languages that prevents them from 
communicating plans and actions to one another.

For companies large and small, today’s Tower of Babel is globalization. The promise 
of new markets, new manufacturing, untapped natural resources, new pools of labor and 
synergies all around are making senior management salivate. The strategies and plans 
for exploiting all these new opportunities seem doable, and the potential rewards are 
nearly irresistible. However, these new clients, customers, consumers, suppliers and 
employees might not speak English. That sound you hear is the foundation of the tower 
cracking. 

The chief learning officer is responsible for ensuring that the company’s fundamental
 values are solidly incorporated into the culture of all its business units, divisions 
and departments no matter how widely dispersed they may be. Leadership development, 
for instance, should mean the same thing in Mexico City that it does in New Delhi and 
New York. Indeed, most standards and values for which human resources and employee 
development disciplines are responsible should be applied in the same way, regardless 
of locale. 

However, the same CLO must be sensitive to the many customs and systems that shape 
local beliefs, preferences and working habits, and which require a sometimes slight, 
sometimes significantly different approach. An employee manual of a global restaurant 
chain probably includes ways of handling jalapeños in their U.S. kitchens. That is 
not as critical a concern in Nueva Rosita. But the standards of safety, which are 
the underpinning for such specific policies and programs, are universal. This balance 
of maintaining uniformity while respecting diversity and localization is not a United 
Nations staff job—it is yours. You are responsible for shaping it professionally and 
balancing the value systems with the contextual foreign cultures surrounding your 
organizational goals. 

The solution to the babble of misunderstanding—and thus of non-compliance, reduced 
morale and reduced productivity—is effective translation of all policies, procedures, 
training and development materials, instructor training and all the other tools that 
support developmental functions. This seems straightforward enough, until you consider 
that both spoken and written Spanish in Mexico City is not the same Spanish used in 
Medellin or Madrid. The curse of the Tower of Babel is not just different languages, 
but also dialects within those languages that can be as distinct as separate 
languages. Add to the mix the informal and idiosyncratic language of the young with 
its distinct localizations, the rapidly changing technical jargon of software 
developers and programmers, or any of the symbiotic combinations of language 
like Spanglish, and you have plenty of room for both creativity and significant 
error. 

Every culture is a product of its history, and that history is changed daily by 
the members of each specific culture in their interactions with one another and 
with other cultures. Even the language we use to talk about such issues has changed:
 We used to speak of international companies—now the term is multinational or 
multicultural, recognition that conditions and relationships are more complex than 
they seemed at the outset of globalization. 

This is a situation that calls for institutional initiative. Hiring translation 
services should not be an arms-length transaction—it should be an intimate, 
ongoing working relationship. Dealing with the core values and employee development 
activities of a company is to be involved with its most important and proprietary 
issues. Those responsible for ensuring clear understanding across language and 
cultural differences should be an integral part of the CLO staff, whether they 
are employees or consultants. The relationship should be that of trusted 
associates whose credentials go beyond language skills and cultural nuance to 
an understanding of the principles of corporate employee development, 
organizational communications and organizational development. Only when this 
kind of inclusive approach is implemented can the chief learning officer 
truly be the global learning officer. 

See you soon, and do not forget to check our new WEBSITE at www.translationsandmore.com
 
See you soon ! 

 
Martha. 

 

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About the Authors, if using, please include:

Jim Boring is a consultant in the areas of organizational communications 
and Training and Chief Development Officer of Galindo Publicidad Inc. 
Martha Galindo is CEO and president of Galindo Publicidad Inc., which 
specializes in translating business-related materials. They can be reached 
at jboring@clomedia.com and mgalindo@translationsandmore.com 
 
GPI, Inc. Request a free project quote- 
http://www.translationsandmore.com/contact.html
 
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