I've worked on five continents in dozens of countries. San Francisco, Vienna, Bogotá, Dubai, Manila, Moscow.
We're all the same. So let's have empathy for one another as the world gets smaller.
All Humans Laugh
I was in a meeting in Vienna, late afternoon, when someone complained about the elevator. Everyone laughed. A few months later, in Bogotá, same time of day, someone made a similar comment about the elevator. Same laughter.
The jokes were different. The languages were different. But that moment of recognition, that shared understanding that we're all just trying to get through the day? That's universal. We all find things funny. We all need to break tension with a joke. Different cultures, different expressions, same emotion.
All Humans Feel Frustrated
I watched an engineer in London spend three hours debugging something that should have taken ten minutes. The sigh. The head in hands. The "why isn't this working" muttered under breath. Same scene, different continent: an engineer in Manila, same problem, same three hours, same exact frustration.
We all get frustrated. We all feel that tension when things aren't working. The language we use to express it might differ, but the feeling is the same. That moment when you're stuck and can't figure out why—that's human, not cultural.
All Humans Feel Excited
In Dubai, I watched a team finally get a deployment working after days of issues. High fives. Big smiles. Relief. In Denver, different team, different project, but when they hit that same breakthrough moment? Same high fives. Same smiles. Same relief.
We all feel that rush when we solve a hard problem. We all celebrate wins. Different celebrations, different expressions, same excitement. That moment of "finally, it works"—that's universal.
All Emotions Are Shared
I've worked with teams communicating in five languages. Built software across different cultures. Seen how business processes vary from region to region.
But underneath it all? All humans laugh. All humans cry. All humans feel frustrated. All humans feel excited. Just in different languages and cultures. Sure, the expressions differ. But all emotions are shared. We're all the same. So let's have empathy for one another as the world gets smaller.