The Weekend Bonanza

From acting as an X-ian woman to having Central American food, this weekend was a great journey around the world in 2 days. Wow...what a ride..! The most intriguing part was besides learning about different cultural traits, I have learned mostly about myself in these 2 days. I never knew I would act in such a way when a challenge came over me.

Regarding the card game, I thought it is really very tough to be in synergy when there are constraints and a delivery is to be made. Yes, I agree that is the best solution, but in our table we had to agree upon a rule, as it was a game, to continue playing. The goal was to play, and to be efficient we did what was necessary. This game certainly taught me that coordinating a task having multiple viewpoints is not that easy.

I was thinking about the Stakeholder dialogue. As our group entered the room with a global mindset, it was a smooth process. But what happens when this is not the case? How do we handle that? The Sally Chang Case was a good exercise to practice that.

Playing the role of an X-ian woman was really tough. It is hard not to answer when you are asked. I made couple of mistakes in the first half, but the second half went well. So it takes a little time and practice to get used to a culture. And also being an active listener and an keen observer lets us to capture the non-verbal cues, which is very important in a conversation. I could keep on writing about the weekend but I think I should make a stop and reflect.

"Special" GCI Blog

As soon as I began answering the questions on page 1 of 10 pages, I quickly realized I needed to complete the Global Competencies Inventory ("GCI") assessment in a quiet and interruption free setting. The questions take thoughtfulness and mindful responses are crucial for the most accurate story about your global sensitivities.

There are 17 combined dimensions from which your overall global competency index is derived. Overall my scores seemed valid and accurately painted a picture of my predispositions in intercultural settings. There were a few areas of surprise namely Relationship Management; Self-Awareness. Relationship Management, Relationship Interest, Emotional Sensitivity and Social Flexibility were scored High, yet Self-Awareness was simply Moderate. This was surprising because, of course, I think I am aware of myself, my values, beliefs, limitations and evidently, I need to be more cognisant of such. I always say I have no regrets because each and every experience, good and bad, have brought me to be the person I am in this very moment. So you can imagine my surprise when I read that I may not realize the extent to which my past experiences have shaped me as a person. Now, I am sure, should I begin working on becoming more self-aware, my professional development could only benefit, making me ultimately more effective in my work.

If you have not taken the GCI assessment, find a quiet hour for you alone, and do so. One can never have too many tools to assist with the building of their self-awareness muscles...

I think I'm learning something...

Last night's class was an eye opener for me. I didn't realize how hard it must be for someone from another country to really understand the cultural quirks of the US. My team was amazed that Americans are expected to be self promoters. It has made me really step back and think before I act.

Short story....I was on a call today discussing a rather complex topic with people from the UK, Australia, China and the US. The participant from the UK was explaining a point in a rather long-winded circular manner...and I recognized that this was his communication pattern...which I have encountered before from folks in the UK...especially the more well educated...so I took a deep breath and let him continue. I code shifted!

nafisa class on 02/02

Hi Yesterdays class was a great learning experience on code switching. Although we all have been in the same situation as Carlos before and made the same mistakes. We would now be in a better position to understand why and what you should do about it if you are faced with the same situation in the future. I also think that code switching is not the responsibility of only one party but of both. If a particular culture has some difficulties and boundaries then maybe it would be better if the other culture understands and respects those boundaries and tries to bridge the gap. This is a very important skill that we all need to develop so as to be successful in our careers.

nafisa 01/31

nafisa sunday was a funday

Sundays class was just amazing. I really had a great time and learnt a lot. Especially the last exercise of Xians and Americans. It was actually tough for me to behave like an Xian. But i could understand why it is so difficult for different cultures to communicate. It is not about different languages. Its more than that. The outdoor exercise was also very good and tough us how to strategize and communicate effectively for everyone to be successful and not just think about your own interests.

nafisa class on 01/30

Hi . Today we did some wonderful exercises in class that really helped me understand my weaknesses that i just assume that everyone has the same rules as me. Infact i did not know that others had different rules and was so engrossed in the just trying to win and move to the next table. It was a wonderful exercise that really taught me to be alert and attentive

nafisa bus 297d class on 01/26

Hi, todays class was a wonderful experience for me . I learned a lot about how to change our mindset. It is simply just debate for the other side and you automatically come up with points to go with that. There were also some great exercises of discussing beforehand with your team of what your expectation for the course are and set ground rules so as to avoid any conflict. This was a good first step to team building as most often we forget to set these rules beforehand and then just start the blame game later. So its a great idea to discuss each persons responsibilities so as to get their maximum cooperation. This class and the debate also greatly helped me participate and get my ideas across in a multicultural group and think of what questions would be posed by the other teams that we may have to answer. It was a very useful and entertaining class.