Global Problem Solving Without the Globaloney

Many challenges, like climate change, are global in scale, but citizens often have an exaggerated sense of other global connections, including internet use and immigration. Pankaj Ghemawat refers to outsized estimates as globaloney: “It obscures the potential gains from additional globalization, swells fears about its adverse consequences, and causes companies to adopt strategies of ‘bigger and blander.’” Repeated failure of global initiatives stretch the limited capacity for true global problem solving, Ghemawat argues, pointing out that many goals can best be approached at the regional, national, or even local level. He proposes a system for analyzing problems: not every solution requires global coordination and organizations should consider that most interactions remain distance-sensitive. Before tackling global initiatives, organizations should assess not only priorities but their own competence at handling tasks and be prepared to build cross-border trust and reduce biases. To support and lead on global initiatives, people do need accurate assessments of the many connections. – YaleGlobal