In the recent months, I had the chance to spend quite a fair bit of time in Japan, both for work and play. It was an extremely interesting experience. On one hand, the bedrock of the Japanese society is their steeped in their cultural history – food, religions practices and artifacts, traditional costumes to mention a few. On the other, Japan has experienced decades of technological innovation that has propelled the country and its people into a fast moving, first world environment. Every where I go, it seems that the Japanese people are caught up in this uneasy truce between the new and the old. I try to learn more about the country, but in order to truly understand the people and the society I have to first understand their culture. I remembered a classic paper by global consulting firm McKinsey that I first came across many years ago. Culture ......