I must admit that I didn't expect to learn so much and simultaneously have so much fun this last weekend. I was a little skeptical and was not sure if I would be able to concentrate through out the weekend. But thanks to my classmates and the professor I surprised myself. I interacted with some more new fellow students and its been a great experience meeting so many people from different background. I think over the weekend my comfort with this class grew a lot. All the role play activities were great. It was my first time role playing and I was not sure what to do. Everything seemed so simple and I was wondering what will I learn out of this. But with the Aracruz simulation and the X- ians simulation I realized how much we can learn even from simple exercise. Self evaluating and evaluating other at the end of every activity also helped a lot in this learning process. The weekend class was a perfect mix of lecture and activities. The video that was shown to the class was hilarious. Again, very simple but there was lot to learn. The outdoor activity was fun too; simple excercise but a very strong message. I am starting to understand why learning all these skills are so important. At work I have had bad managers and sometimes even worst collegues. This class has helepd be distinctly learn where they were wrong and how certain situations could be handled better. I have always had to deal with many stakeholders at one time and it was always a nightmare to bring them to a agreement. I could relate to the Aracruz simulation the most and now I think, had all of us handled those situations like we did in class, I am sure a lot of company's valuable resource and time could have been saved.
Last but not the least the lunch was great too:) Thank you Prof Joyce for a wonderful weekend.
Looking forward to seeing you all in class tomorrow.
Jalpa
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Not only global leaders but also global social individuals
I am so amazed by how this class perfectly matches my current phase of life. I am an international student living in the International house of San Jose State University. This international house has 72 students from 30 different countries. I have been living here for two years and I had the chance not only to meet but also live with people from different countries and cultures. The material I learn in this class so much relates to a lot of situations that I had experienced during my stay at this house because I had interactions with so many students from different cultures than my own. During the class I keep thinking about different situations that I faced and I keep thinking that I would have reacted differently if I had learned this before. I love this class and all what is said during the class makes perfect sense to me. This class not only teaches us how to be global leaders but also helps a lot in our social life and enables us to be more exposed and well rounded individuals who can effectively deal with people from different cultures.
The interaction in the class is wonderful, I never get bored and I am always looking forward to what we are doing next. Even though I missed a lot of fun stuff during the weekend, I admit that I had so much fun during the weekend session and I also enjoyed the different food that we had :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Fun and Learning!
I have to say, through my undergrad and the first 3 semesters of my masters program Ive never enjoyed any class as much as I enjoy this one. Usually when I hear of weekend classes, its a put off to have to get up early on a Saturday and sit in class the whole day. And that's what I pretty much thought till we started class on Saturday. Turns out, this has been one of the funnest weekends Ive had in a while.
Saturday's class began with a great exercise, the name game. I think that was a great way to break the ice between all of us and really help us feel more connected with each other. Since we are a relatively small group I feel this has helped us develop a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the classroom.
We then went on to play the card game. The lack of communication between the players was quite a challenge for all us. By the end of the game I was still at the same table I started with not having ever moved tables. I didn't even realize that the different tables had different rules, and I was wondering why people were having confused looks. Yet surprisingly, I did not sense much hesitation from those who came to the table making it more impossible for me to understand that the rules were different everywhere. The activity really helped drive the point on internal and external attribution. When things are ambiguous people have so many different ways of adapting to the ambiguity.
We also had a quick lecture in between where we discussed the traits of a good leader? A question popped up in my mind- Is agreeableness a quality/ trait of a good leader? We say leaders should always be open and take in new ideas, and yet they have to make the decisions. So if a leader is not agreeable, does it come across as he's not open or understanding?????
Another interesting activity was the Dan Slater and Sally case. This scenario is probably very common in many companies, where employees are unable to get what they want due to miscommunication. It also shed light on the importance of understanding where someone is coming from before making judgments about their character.
The next day started off with quite an intensive exercise: the stake holder dialogue. My team represented the FUNAI and took the role to our hearts by color coding our outfits with the official FUNAI color: red. In the heterogeneous groups what I really learned here was how we should avoid debating or arguing, and actually truly listen to what each stakeholder has to say. I can imagine such meetings could go on and on for hours in real life since it wasn't easy for all of us to come to a consensus, even in a simulation.
The Salvadorian lunch pepped us up for the outdoor activity that followed. That was a great team building exercise! It also showed us how it is very effective to work as a group rather than to focus on your team or yourself. I liked how Joyce just let us go at it the first time, and how no one even stopped to think that we should have communicated and devised a plan. Only when she made us realize what a mess we were in did we think of a different way out!
The last activity of the weekend (sadly) was the role play with the American journalists and the Xians. It was a great way to end the class because I just couldn't stop laughing, to see my classmates who are usually so outspoken and jovial, be Xians who were soooo shy and docile! This activity really made me realize how uncomfortable I am with awkward silences and how I would do anything to move past that moment. As the American, it took me quite some time to understand the ways of the Xian culture, and I guess I offended them at some point because Keith and I were not granted permission to Country X.
Experiential learning in this class is proving to be very educational. The role plays actually do help put us in the shoes of the person and has helped me become more aware of the cultural gaps that exist. Role playing is hence the best way to save ourselves from embarrassing situations.
On an ending note, I'd like to end with a very catchy quote that came up in class "Managers do things right, Leaders do the right things"!
Saturday's class began with a great exercise, the name game. I think that was a great way to break the ice between all of us and really help us feel more connected with each other. Since we are a relatively small group I feel this has helped us develop a friendly and comfortable atmosphere in the classroom.
We then went on to play the card game. The lack of communication between the players was quite a challenge for all us. By the end of the game I was still at the same table I started with not having ever moved tables. I didn't even realize that the different tables had different rules, and I was wondering why people were having confused looks. Yet surprisingly, I did not sense much hesitation from those who came to the table making it more impossible for me to understand that the rules were different everywhere. The activity really helped drive the point on internal and external attribution. When things are ambiguous people have so many different ways of adapting to the ambiguity.
We also had a quick lecture in between where we discussed the traits of a good leader? A question popped up in my mind- Is agreeableness a quality/ trait of a good leader? We say leaders should always be open and take in new ideas, and yet they have to make the decisions. So if a leader is not agreeable, does it come across as he's not open or understanding?????
Another interesting activity was the Dan Slater and Sally case. This scenario is probably very common in many companies, where employees are unable to get what they want due to miscommunication. It also shed light on the importance of understanding where someone is coming from before making judgments about their character.
The next day started off with quite an intensive exercise: the stake holder dialogue. My team represented the FUNAI and took the role to our hearts by color coding our outfits with the official FUNAI color: red. In the heterogeneous groups what I really learned here was how we should avoid debating or arguing, and actually truly listen to what each stakeholder has to say. I can imagine such meetings could go on and on for hours in real life since it wasn't easy for all of us to come to a consensus, even in a simulation.
The Salvadorian lunch pepped us up for the outdoor activity that followed. That was a great team building exercise! It also showed us how it is very effective to work as a group rather than to focus on your team or yourself. I liked how Joyce just let us go at it the first time, and how no one even stopped to think that we should have communicated and devised a plan. Only when she made us realize what a mess we were in did we think of a different way out!
The last activity of the weekend (sadly) was the role play with the American journalists and the Xians. It was a great way to end the class because I just couldn't stop laughing, to see my classmates who are usually so outspoken and jovial, be Xians who were soooo shy and docile! This activity really made me realize how uncomfortable I am with awkward silences and how I would do anything to move past that moment. As the American, it took me quite some time to understand the ways of the Xian culture, and I guess I offended them at some point because Keith and I were not granted permission to Country X.
Experiential learning in this class is proving to be very educational. The role plays actually do help put us in the shoes of the person and has helped me become more aware of the cultural gaps that exist. Role playing is hence the best way to save ourselves from embarrassing situations.
On an ending note, I'd like to end with a very catchy quote that came up in class "Managers do things right, Leaders do the right things"!
fun class, yet much to learn
I pretty much enjoy the outdoor activity (crossing the continent game) on Sunday. After having sat on my chair in my cubicle all week long plus Saturday and Sunday in class, I felt so fat and stuffy …So the game came just in time for my much-needed exercise. I recalled when I told Eva, a beautiful passionate undergraduate girl, that I found a shortcut that would only take us a few steps to our destination point. She told me so convincingly, “absolutely no because that route would deviate from our original plan” I hate to disagree with her but in reality, even the most perfect plan would not carry out exactly as intended. But this is a very typical answer. Innovative ideas are often more failure than success, but without it, we can’t keep our competitive edge or advance. At the end of our game, we all lost a leg or two trying to jump a couple feet from the ocean to our ending point. In fact, we should have died floating in the ocean if we had lost a leg, much less there is no way to make that final jump. What a fun, yet much to learn game it was!
January 31,2010
On Sunday I was completely down with fever and cough. But I didn't want to miss the class so was wondering if I could be able to concentrate the whole session. I was keen about our presentation on Aracruz Cellulose Simulation. Ours was a very diversified group and it was great fun working with them although it was just for an hour. After the presentation from all the teams I could understand the problem from different stakeholders perspective. When we were asked to discuss as a heterogeneous group I was not very sure on how it was going to be. I expected a heated debate after seeing the presentations from different teams. But the discussion went on very smoothly. I represented the Company ( Aracruz ). The main thing that helped the group effective was our receptiveness to ideas. None of us tried to force our opinion on others. We clearly communicated our ideas and understood the problem from varied angles. Active listening to other stakeholders issues helped me understand a problem from different perspectives without focusing on just my issues with respect to a problem. We collaboratively generated innovative options which am sure wouldn't be the case if I were asked to do it of my own. Given a real life situation in future, at work or in daily life , I am sure that I will apply the stakeholder dialogue skills.
Professor's lecture on leading global teams helped me understand the difficulties faced by virtual teams. It became evident from the lecture that building trust and respect is very important for any team to be successful. De-centering plays a major role in bridging differences in a culturally diversified team. Generating innovative ideas and managing boundaries and stakeholders also play vital role in improving the team performance as a whole.
The outdoor activity and the intercultural communication test were thought provoking. Although I didn't have major role to play in the intercultural communication test, as an observer, I understood the difficulties when two completely different cultures meet. The outdoor activity exemplified how team work and coordination can facilitate in reaching the desired destination. This experiential way of learning is really making a big difference. I hope to apply all this in day to day life to emerge as a better human being.
January 30, 2010
Saturday's class started with the interesting "Memorizing names" game. I am actually very good at remembering names and that activity helped me gear up for the rest of the class. The professor's lecture on cultural adaptation helped me think about what is appropriate when working in a multicultural environment. The discussion on dos and don'ts were clearly taught by her.
The card game taught strategies to tolerate ambiguity when there is limited communication. For instance, in a situation where one lacks understanding of the language being spoken. The model that professor explained after the game illustrated the fact that cultural synergy works the best in most of the situations.
The Canadian-Chinese role play (Dan Slater case) and the Intercultural classroom video gave tips on how to be inter culturally competent. Overall the entire session kept me awake and made me long for more such class activities in spite of my bad throat and nose congestion.
Not just different cultures but personalities
As we go through these exercises in class we talk about cultural diversity and attitudes. I think it's important to remember that not only are cultures different but people within those cultures differ as well. After watching the actress portray the Russian on the video I thought some might accept her attitude and behaviors because she's Russian and not take her personally, however if a non-Russian acted like then then he/she might be considered aggresive. This class not only gives us tools to understand different cultures but also the personalities we work with in our daily lives.
Although I misunderstood the rules to the American/Xian exercise, it was extremely difficult and really put into perspective how difficult it is to communicate with other when you have no understanding of their background. When interacting with a new culture like that for the first time, it's hard to set aside your initial reactions understand where they are coming from.
At first I wasn't thrilled about being the "company" during the presentations, but I really enjoyed discussing my POV with the other groups. Now if it was only so easy to resolve conflicts at a round table that easily...
Although I misunderstood the rules to the American/Xian exercise, it was extremely difficult and really put into perspective how difficult it is to communicate with other when you have no understanding of their background. When interacting with a new culture like that for the first time, it's hard to set aside your initial reactions understand where they are coming from.
At first I wasn't thrilled about being the "company" during the presentations, but I really enjoyed discussing my POV with the other groups. Now if it was only so easy to resolve conflicts at a round table that easily...
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