12. The Meanings of Colors Vary by Culture
Many years ago I worked with a client who had created a color map of the different business regions for their company, showing the total revenue for the quarter for each region. Yellow was for the eastern part of the U.S., green for the central states, and red for the western states. The VP of Sales got to the podium and started his slide show to the financial and accounting staff of the company. Up came the colored map and a gasp could be heard in the auditorium, followed by the buzz of urgent conversation. The VP tried to continue his talk, but he had lost everyone’s attention. They were all talking amongst themselves.
Finally someone blurted out, “What the heck is going on in the West?”
“What do you ...
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