I will pass an important milestone at the end of August this year. Como, Italy will move into first place as the city in which I will have lived the longest, 17 years, surpassing North Bellmore, NY. Strange.
Man standing near Lake Como
Italy is a funny place for a transplanted urban American to live. In no particular order, here is a quick list of everyday facts that you may find mildly amusing.
- Many people still pay utility bills by lining up in the post office to pay in cash.
- On Monday morning most local stores are closed, except for food stores. On Monday afternoon the situation reverses. The food stores close and the other stores open. This is the situation in Como. Each city will have its own schedule of odd openings and closings.
- It’s not uncommon to find female janitors working in the mens’ bathroom in highway rest stops.
- Most shoe stores here don’t sell shoe laces, those are found in the button shops along with sewing supplies, underwear and socks.
In recent years I have immersed my professional self in web and mobile culture and technology. It didn’t take long to realize that Como in particular, and Italy in general, are light years away from the SF Bay Area, from NY, from Boston, London and the other centers of entrepreneurial activity around the world. yet this is not really a problem for me as I like to work out of the echo chamber. It helps me keep a more holistic perspective.
On the other hand, I have come to understand that Italy has some deeply rooted cultural attitudes that will hold it back from taking part in the most interesting and radically different business models being developed around the world, the ones being catalyzed by digital connectedness. As an ex-pat and consultant I can just opt out, but it will take the changing of the generational guard before the business climate changes. I see these 3 factors as being especially relevant:
- Italian business people tend to view the world as a zero sum game. If I win, you lose. The idea that working openly and cooperatively can grow the market for everybody so that tomorrow’s 10% market share can be bigger than yesterday’s 15% is a foreign concept.
- Success is paradoxically viewed with suspicion. The assumption is that it was based on knowing someone on the inside or by immoral (at best) or illegal (at worst) activities. This is underscored by the behavior of most successful people; they rarely engage in mentoring or giving back to the market in which they succeeded. Happily there are some notable exceptions.
- Lastly, and of crucial importance, the notion that an intelligent failure is often the prerequisite for success is not widely accepted. Italians play a kind of “hot or not” based on your most recent venture. Are you on your way up or way down? This is a shame because it stifles the creativity of entrepreneurs and will drive the best people to the Valley, London, NY or China.
What does this mean for me? For the time being, I still like that fact that I can take a break from work by walking down the old stone staircase into the piazza to have a great coffee in any one of many bars, or that I can take my bike to the pier, hop a ferry to a small lakeside town, have lunch and be back at work in a few hours. There is a very dependable and fast 3G signal here and my iPhone serves as a mobile office without breaking a sweat. Being connected to the net and being an hour away from 3 different international airports works for me.
And don’t forget that in Italy I can greet a friend with “Ciao, bella!” (cheek kissing included) without risking being taken for a pretentious dandy 
.
