The Fate of the New: Transforming Values
Some ideas arrive in the world long before people are ready to accept them. The notion that cultures can transform a person—not just influence them lightly, but reshape their internal value hierarchy—is one of those ideas. It is new. It is unsettling. And for many, it is still unacceptable.
We prefer to imagine ourselves as stable, coherent beings who carry our values like luggage from one airport to another. But anyone who has lived or worked abroad knows that this is not how the human psyche works. Cultures do not sit politely in the background. They seep in. They rearrange. They rewire.
And when the person returns home, they are no longer the same—and home is no longer home.
Why This Concept Is Still “Too New”
The idea of transforming values challenges two deeply held assumptions:
that values are fixed
that identity is self-contained
Most societies teach that values are inherited, chosen, or taught—but rarely transformed by immersion in a different cultural ecosystem. To say that a culture can reshape a person’s internal moral architecture feels, to some, like admitting that identity is porous. That we are not as self-determined as we imagine. That the world has more power over us than we want to believe.
This is why the concept is resisted. Not because it is untrue, but because it is threatening.
The Invisible Work of Cultural Transformation
When people live abroad, they do not simply learn new behaviors. They absorb new logics:
new ways of interpreting respect
new expectations around authority
new rhythms of time and relationship
new emotional norms
new definitions of responsibility, loyalty, and dignity
Some values transform—they adapt, stretch, or shift. Others conform—they remain anchored, non-negotiable, even under pressure. This distinction is crucial, but it is still unfamiliar to most leadership models, HR systems, and even academic programs.
We have language for culture shock. We have language for adaptation. But we do not yet have language for value metamorphosis.
And Then They Go Home
Reintegration is the silent crisis of global mobility.
People return home expecting familiarity, but instead encounter dissonance:
the old norms feel too small
the old conversations feel too narrow
the old values feel misaligned
the old self feels like a costume
They have changed, but their home culture has not. And because the concept of transforming values is still new—and still resisted—there are almost no support systems for this stage.
No reintegration programs. No frameworks. No mentors. No vocabulary.
People are left to navigate the psychological turbulence alone.
Why Reintegration Is Harder Than Leaving
Leaving home is an adventure. Returning home is an identity crisis.
When you go abroad, you expect difference. You brace for it. You prepare. You read. You listen. You adapt.
When you return, you expect sameness—and that expectation is what breaks you.
Reintegration is difficult because:
the home culture expects the “old you”
the transformed values have no place to land
the person feels disloyal for having changed
the home community feels threatened by the change
there is no shared language to explain what happened
The person is caught between two worlds, belonging fully to neither.
The Fate of the New
New concepts rarely enter quietly. They arrive with friction. They unsettle. They expose what we have not yet learned to see.
Transforming values is one of those concepts.
It explains why cross-cultural leaders succeed or fail. It explains why bilingual and bicultural individuals often feel “between worlds.” It explains why reintegration is so psychologically destabilizing. And it explains why so many globally mobile people feel misunderstood, even by those who love them.
The concept is new. It is uncomfortable. It is resisted.
But it is also true.
And until we accept it, we will continue to send people abroad without preparing them—and welcome them home without understanding them.
The fate of the new is always the same: first ignored, then resisted, then finally recognized as obvious.
We are still in the resistance stage.
mage and some content AI-assisted
post inspired by the article, "Transforming Values and Conforming Values of Arab and U.S. Leaders: An Exploratory Study in Cultural Relativism" (Mowafiq Alanazi and Betty Lou Leaver) in LREC in the Military (West Point Press)
Book Description
In today’s complex global security environment, military effectiveness depends not only on advanced technology and tactics but also on the ability to understand, communicate, and collaborate across cultures. This interdisciplinary volume examines the evolving role of language, regional expertise, and cultural competency (LREC) in U.S. military training, strategy, and leadership. Drawing on insights from both military and academic contributors, this collection offers a timely and authoritative overview of how LREC competencies support deterrence, interoperability, influence operations, and alliance-building for the warfighter.
Read more posts about foreign cultures HERE.
Read more posts about language learning HERE.
Read more posts about leadership HERE.
Read more military posts HERE.
Read more LREC posts HERE.
Sign up for the MSI Press LLC monthly newsletter: get inside information before others see it and access to additional book content(recent releases, sales/discounts, awards, reviews, Amazon top 100 list, links to precerpts/excerpts, author advice, and more)Check out recent issues.
Turned away by other publishers because you are a first-time author and/or do not have a strong platform yet? If you have a strong manuscript, San Juan Books, our hybrid publishing division, may be able to help. Ask us. Check out more information at www.msipress.com.
Planning on self-publishing and don't know where to start? Our author au pair services will mentor you through the process. See what we can do for your at www.msipress.com.
Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book in exchange for reviewing a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com.
Want an author-signed copy of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com.Julia Aziz, signing her book, Lessons of Labor, at an event at Book People in Austin, Texas.
Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact information on our Authors' Pages.Steven Greenebaum, author of award-winning books, An Afternoon's Discussion and One Family: Indivisible, talking to a reader at Barnes & Noble in Gilroy, California.MSI Press is ranked among the top publishers in California.
Check out our rankings -- and more -- HERE.
Comments
Post a Comment