Janet Moore meeting Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan on October 2, 2006

Last Monday I had the opportunity to meet Queen Noor of Jordan before she gave an hour-long presentation to a group of several hundred Houstonians. During her presentation she shared some of the lessons she had learned during her life as a Princeton-educated Urban Planner Turned Queen.

When discussing the Middle East, its politics and its people, Queen Noor stressed the importance of (1) researching issues thoroughly to get to the truth, and (2) getting to know the region first hand by visiting it. These points seem especially relevant to those of us working in the international arena.

The Queen’s first lesson: getting to the bottom of an international issue requires real digging, especially when cultural perceptions can skew facts. We all approach issues from our unique cultural perspectives, and so it is very hard for our cultural bias not to influence how we both communicate and perceive information. Take away point: to diminish the influence of cultural bias and to get to the truth, research an issue thoroughly from many angles and consult many different information sources.

The Queen’s second lesson: to really understand a foreign culture, nothing beats personal experience with that culture. When speaking about Americans’ conceptions/misconceptions about the Middle East and its inhabitants, Queen Noor exclaimed, “Just come and visit!” Many international lawyers travel to foreign countries, and know how fundamentally preconceptions about a culture can change by doing so. I know that my opportunity to spend time living in six countries outside the United States, and my business and other trips to many more foreign countries, fundamentally changed my understanding of those countries and their cultures.

Take away tip: If you can’t travel to a region, and you have already researched it thoroughly (per the Queen’s first lesson), get to know as many people from that culture as possible; this human contact will give you invaluable insights into the foreign culture, and improve your international lawyering involving that culture.