preparing myself

No surprises here... I've been reading.  And I'm taking a stack for the airplane too.  Did you know it's more than a 14 hour flight from Atlanta to Dubai???

Seriously, though, IBM started our team training in mid-June.  We've had weekly team calls and weekly homework to do the logistic preparations (visas, emergency healthcare, vaccinations, passports, travel arrangements, security) as well as training on information relevant to our projects and countries.  We started with some getting-to-know-you kinds of activities with our team members and did some reading on high performance teams.  We've learned about differences in perspectives, since not only will we be working in a foreign place but all of us will have our own unique cultural perspectives too.  In one of the first activities we did in a small group, I had to laugh because the very first question of our first small-group assignment revealed completely opposing points of view between me and a colleague from Japan.  We chuckled and acknowledged that in our differences lies our strength.            

We've also done some fascinating reading on corporate social responsibility, which is important to many of the projects in our CSC countries, including mine.  I was particularly taken with differing philosophies of how the developed world can support emerging markets:  is it an issue of simply applying more money or better managing the money that is already being provided?  What is the best way to provide meaningful support?  These issues are hotly debated by leading economists and philanthropic organizations.  Consulting skills were another focus of our training, since many IBMers who participate in the CSC program are not consultants in their regular jobs.   We learned more about social media and communications.  That's right, setting up my blog was part of the training... but I'll tell you, I really don't think I'm succinct enough to Twitter.  ;-P

And, of course, we've spent a great deal of time learning about the UAE.   Each team member took a particular cultural topic and taught the rest of the team about it.  My topic was politics.  Very interesting, since the political system is a federation of 7 monarchies, each ruled by an emir.  Interestingly, the President of the UAE has a plan to make it the leading country in the world by 2021, complete with a lovely webpage that outlines his vision.  Politics aside, it was an inspiring read, especially in the midst of our own Presidential campaign.   #ibmcsc uae