Make it personal

It is impressive to watch how the participation level of the class improves if the teacher uses specific examples and ask people familiar with the circumstances to comment on it.
Just 10 minutes ago, we were discussing no frills airlines. As soon as the talk went into the differences between the consumer behaviour in Hong Kong and Europe, many people started contributing to the discussion. It was clear that everybody here is proud of where they come from and proud that they are well informed (and should be) of the situation in their countries and have this special competitive or almost privileged information.
So, as soon as the opportunity arises, they will make a point of spilling out this special information to the benefit of the class. Of course they are showing off (who doesn't like to speak to an avid and attentive audience?), but you also fill their desire to inform the class about their special context. And this is great, I just learned a lot about how people from Hong Kong value their free holiday time (they only have 10 days a year).
I heard before coming to the MBA that I was supposed to take more advantage of such informative situations than of the actual content of the classes. I might have been a bit (or a lot) arrogant before, because I considered myself a very well informed person with no need to learn too much else about all this intercultural chit chat.
But today I just enjoyed it immensily and learned a lot (now I know how to sell a trip to people from HK) and am eager to grab the next opportunity to talk about my country and show off a bit myself.
I personally also feel the need to straighten out some of the prejudices and preconceptions people have about my country and I believe that this is als a great driver for many of us. We do experience a lot of these badly formed conceptions still floating around in the class.
As long as nobody asks me or Cristiano about football, we should be fine.
Judging from the noise outside, coffee break is over and I have to get back to class.

News from Canada

So today I got a request from Canada to choose the electives for next term. Cool, have to take a closer look at the offers, but I think I will go for the courses in Innovation and Entrepreseurship. The course below caught my attention because of the name (it is tricky to use the word "problem" in a name) and the format. But I'll decide later what I am going to do.

Finally, MBAS 881: The Consultant as Problem-Solver will be delivered using an innovative teaching style known as Problem-Based Learning. This pedagogical technique has unique scheduling requirements: first, classes are delivered every other day, and second, enrollment for this course will be capped at 13. Consequently, you will note that the course spans Blocks A (during which the first six sessions will be held) and Block B (during which the final four sessions will be held) to accommodate the less-condensed class schedule.

Foo Fighters in the morning

My cousin Michael recommended the CD and I got it to check out. Really a great album, I must admit! I am enjoying it quite a lot and decided to see if I could catch them live somewhere.
And they will be playing in London soon! But the website says that the concerts are all sold out. Great for them, bad for me. But I guess this is a sign that the music industry is very much alive, despite of what the big labels want to make us believe.

Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace

Fawcets and room

I promisse I will elaborate on the fawcets (or taps) theme later on. Meanwhile, take a look at Maina's description of our accomodation and her pictures (including the taps), which show very well how I live here in Lakeside.

A text for the day: no e-mail fridays

I don't usually simple post links to interesting texts here; I like to try to make this personal. But maybe I am just an arrogant writer who pretends not to like to take other people’s ideas.
In any case, I have been advocating for some time now that e-mail is clearly not always the best form of communication. It might take days to solve a question with e-mails which could be solved with a 3 minutes phone call. And often people don't realize it.
One of the things that I instituted at Hohner was to try to answer letters and e-mails we go from consumers by phone, if the info was available. It takes less time, the customer gets impressed (wow, a product manager actually called because of my e-mail!) and I could tick the task off knowing that I wouldn't get a reply with more questions.
So meet the e-mail free Fridays. Some companies are telling their employees not to use e-mail on Fridays. Other are stressing the importance of an e-mail free weekend (which has always been my policy towards work e-mail).
An excerpt and a link:

Managers complain that rather than confronting problems, employees use email to avoid them by passing issues back and forth in long message strings, like a hot potato. Email reduces face-to-face contact among co-workers and clients; terse, poorly phrased messages further strain those relationships. And it is spilling into weekends, chaining employees to computers when they should be relaxing.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119205641656255234.html?mod=blog

LatinNight

After Nicholas' Workshop and some OB reading, some of us went to the LatinNight in the Students' Union building. The music was good, there was a guy to show us some steps and all the tiredness that we thought we felt was forgotten. If the day started well, it surely couldn't end better.

I was guilty of the infamous fire drill this morning at 7:14!!!

Or so I thought. I wasn't, really. But I only found that out when it was already too late: I was walking with hundreds of half naked, bleary eyed, wet, scraggy, grumpy, dazzled, dizzy, uncombed, barefoot, cold students towards the Scarmann House parking lot, wearing nothing more than my nice, long, warm, woolen overcoat. And my keys in the pocket.
I was in the middle of my morning shower, having woken up bravely at 7, when the alarm went off. I almost didn't hear it because of the noise in the bathroom, but it was for real. The alarm had gone off and it was coming directly from the inside of my room.
Great! I had been trying to figure out how to regulate the temperature of my shower, which generated more steam than usual. Although my bathroom door was closed as instructed, I also suspect that the exhaust in the bathroom wasn't working, and got really scared that I had caused a fire alarm which would upset many people and bring direct consequences to me (big brother is watching you, the induction talk in the Arts Centre was scary enough).
Anyway, out of the shower, grabbed the towel, started to dry myself while opening the curtains to be able to open the window to let the steam which I wasn't seeing but was sure to be there to get out of the room and make the alarm stop. Outside my room, which lies exactly beside the dorm's entrance, people watching my struggle with the two layers of curtains, towel and window lock. I don't mind people seeing me naked, have nothing to hide. And if somebody doesn't like, shouldn't be looking into one honest guy's window.
Dropped the towel, opened the closet, grabbed my long, warm, woollen overcoat, tried to slip into my leather shoes. No way, feet too wet. Dump the shoes, opened the door and locked it open (for the suspected steam to go out the room), out! Forgot my keys, back inside; there, on the table!
Everything less hectic now, everybody directed to walk the path to Scarmann Road. Scarmann Road?? Yeah, the fucking Scarmann House parking lot, just opposite the Business School, almost 10 minutes away. And the frigging pathway is covered with small and sharp gravel, reminding that I haven't walked barefoot in years. Very sensitive soles, I should be ashamed.
But I wasn't. Things around were too interesting for me to be ashamed, and I wasn't even in the worst state. There were girls who were barefoot, in shorts and tops, hurting their feet and shivering. And another guy had only his pyjama pants on, also feeling quite cold, it seemed. Ah, my long, warm, woollen overcoat.
Back to the room, into the hot shower as quickly as possible. I was (and am) afraid of making my flue get even worse.
Out of the shower, alarm again. But faint, in the distance. Lakeside 3 and 4, this time. But they don't have to walk all the way to Scarmann House. Oh, this unfair world! I dressed myself properly this time, took my camera and went out in plunder mode; I wanted to document the misery I was subjected to in other people's faces. But it seems I am too nice a guy and didn't take any pictures. Or maybe I was afraid of the possibility of being lynched by a furious mob of half naked students.
At least the whole operation secured me a nice breakfast. Not a bad way to start the day at all.

P.S.: Chirs has also written about it, of course. But he wasn't that positive about the whole thing.