Was that a mistake? Those six hours and sixteen miles? Hmmm.. Lets see... my arms ached like hell for two days and I could not lift my heavy luggage in and out of vans. Ahmmm.. my knuckles were sour for a day and I could not simply open and close my fist without pain. Thennnnnaaammmm... yeah.. my arms got sunburnt and they increased my agony.
Namratha was scared stiff, because she got a dip in the river along with Steve. We mistook her shrieks of horror for screams of pleasure when her boat turned upside down. Dr. Upendra, Steve and Namratha got to spend their second half of the day on the "really vast" sandy beach of the Colorado. I guess, their beach was flooded and they were in the cold water for a couple of hours.
Umesh was wearning his knickers and hence got sunburned on the legs also, and has sworn an oath not to wear anymore knickers for this life and the afterlife. His deep hatred of the knicker race might start another political debate in the near future.
Sushma was bravehearted for the whole trip, kept on smiling. The songs her arms had sung were so audible to me, that I could not help composing a few masterpieces that might become legendary for generations to come.
Was that worth the while and the mile? Boy! I am getting poetic. Well! GSE has its effects after all. And interacting with an Artist has to have its effects, after all.
But with all that happened to us, that might have scared many people who listened to our story, it was the best experience that we have ever had. A lot of people find it surprising to believe that its our best experience as we are supposed to be scared of it. Far from that, we have loved the whole experience.
For me, I have never taken a boat on water!! Not even in a swimming pool!! I dont know how to swim, though I had my Life Jacket on. But, the kayaking was as simple as walking. You just got to figure it out. The first thing that I always get to my mind was how those ancient people lived in close contact with nature and the kayak was their best mode of transport. It was faster and it was easier to reach far of places than walking. You just have to know how to get onto your kayak and row away wherever you wanted to. And that would have been like our present day airplanes. And to imagine those people doing this stuff all the time, was like getting transformed into a different world altogether.
I sat there on the boat, when Namratha's boat had capsized waiting for them to catch up. Listening to the complaints of my arms and telling them, there's more to come, was a tough task. I realized how tough life was those days and at the same time how close to nature those people might have been. Our present day luxuries do make us a lot weaker than we ought to be. Of course, we can argue on and say we dont need to be that way, but that is a debatble topic.
The kayak itself is an amazing boat. Its tough to topple it. You have to really work hard to topple the boat. How did man find out to design such a balanced vehicle? He must have learnt to evolve the design and perfect it. He must have taken boat after boat after boat to the river and tried and tested it till he perfected it. He must have experimented with different types of wood, different surfaces, different ways and means of polishing and bending and joining and what not. What an amazing pursuit would it have been? What pride would he have taken in showing others what he was able to accomplish? What madness would he have experienced in his pursuit? Without this man, we would not have been inspired?
Three of us, Umesh, Sushma and Me finished it to the end, under Neil's guidance. When we made it there, it was a feeling of victory. Of having run down the colorado. Of making friends with the water. Of being in kinship with the waves. Of knowing how to navigate the boat on the waves created by the race boats of the desert storm. Of having known how to trust your body and how to instruct and control it to do what you want to do. Of connecting with the inner spirit of your body and bring it out to link it to the natural world outside. Of discovering your own abilities and limitations.
Of course, you dont need to go on a sixteen mile trip to experience all this. Maybe you could get all that in a three mile drive. But a day long experience with above reflections is a worth while thing. The cold river, the warm sun, the sun burn, the arm ache, the fear, the excitement, the sense of accomplishing something which others could not, the after math, the feeling of victory. Its amazing.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
A Recession Tale of Two Cities
When you talk to an American today, you cant escape from talking about three things. Recession, India and China. Americans are hit hard by the recession and the sub-prime crisis is still a fresh wound. Though many of the people whom I had spoken to, are hopeful that the market would eventually pick up and roll, they are not sure how long it would take. “Atleast a couple of years before things would be back to normal” says Al Pollock, my present host at Anthem. I nodded my head in agreement and thought back on a few conversations I had back in Lake Havasu with Wes Brownfield about the recession.
Wes Brownfield, is the Director of Educational Services, Lake Havasu Unified School District No.1. When we spoke about the recession, he was more specific to Lake Havasu area, but the insights that we can gain from this can be applied to other areas as well. We began talking about the housing market, and Wes pointed to me that the housing boom built up a large construction industry. When the market went bust, the first industry to get hit badly was the construction industry. A lot of builders who were building casinos, hotels, homes for people to stay, etc., stopped their construction in the middle as they were not sure that they could complete it. Owners of such properties became involved in looking at their mortgage repayments and no longer could afford to complete the construction. As a result a lot of jobs were lost. A lot of families would have to suffer. Wes also informed me that as the housing market went down, it created a ripple effect in the city. The first people who were affected were the small and medium service providers to housing. People who were helping clean swimming pools, landscaping service providers to homes, etc., were the people who were hit hard. I guess that if some of these people had borrowed money from banks and bought a home, they were really doomed.
A big business domain in Lake Havasu City is the boating industry. Lake Havasu City, is the second largest pleasure boat manufacturing location in the USA. “The Desert Storm” is an annual speed boat racing event organized by the City for entertainment. This brings a large number of people who bring their boats to the Colorado river and race it. We went kayaking on the river on the same day when the “Desert Storm” boats were racing the river. Its an amazing event and the boats are very expensive and attractive. The boat owners come from long distances to participate. They come atleast a week before the event, and camp out in the area. They require boarding, lodging and boat repair and maintenance services. They need places to park their boats, to clean them up and take them to the boating ramp.
Even otherwise, several people would like to get their boats here or hire some boats locally and race in Lake Havasu. People from states like California, Idaho, Nevada, etc., come to Lake Havasu and spend time on the river during the summer time. Its a relaxing time for them and money making time for the city. As the economy went bad the boating industry got hit, because people could not afford the prices. The crisis of the city reached its apex, as one of the biggest boat manufacturers in the area closed. Lot of jobs were lost and lot of families had to suffer. If those families had mortgages on their homes, they were out of their homes too. Many families had to move elsewhere to find a job.
But wait, what did these people do with their homes? Obviously, they didn't have enough money or income to pay their mortgages. They also didnt have jobs that were available for them to stay in the city and pay their mortgages. The banks wouldn't allow them to move without closing their mortgage. The solution is “foreclosure”. The bank acquires the property and gets whatever it can from the client and allows him/her to move. The problem is that the bank has this property and has to sell it in order to make money on it. Or it has to rent it, lease it or do something with it so that the property acquired gives some value to the mortgage that has been “foreclosed”. Many banks face this problem with foreclosure. Brian, who was our tour guide for our trip in Prescott, works with a bank and he was the one who first mentioned to us about the problems of foreclosure. When I asked him what the banks would do, he said “They simply wait for a good deal!” That might be the best thing to do, after all.
Further to this a few social problems add up. Wes mentions about some families, who had learnt to live from paycheck to paycheck without caring to save or invest it in some way. If one of the partners in these families loses a job, and their mortgages are dependent on these salaries, these families would be hit hard. Again, the foreclosure becomes the only option. Such life-styles not only create financial issues but also social issues. We all know that the Government is encouraging spending in order to pull the market up. But, many people are spending money and are unable to pay their taxes, which is creating a shortage of funds for many government supported projects. The little consolation that is being seen in the form of increased consumer spending is being washed away because of tax shortages.
For instance, States are now cutting funding for schools. Schools are now trimming their ends as they negotiate their budgets. The mediocre performers are getting the pink slips. Wherever we went, principals, headmasters, deans and other important professionals managing the schools, are involved in some budget meeting or the other. Apart from facing social challenges in schooling and educating children, schools now also have to deal with job cuts. Most people who are dependent on schools for their paychecks, would have to move out from their locations in search of jobs. And the market has no jobs for them at the present moment. Its not only that, but schools are now combining classes and making the class size bigger. This would pose a challenge to the teacher, who has to now struggle with larger class sizes, and instruction strategies have to differ. In a conversation with Dr. Nicolas T. Sanchez, Campus Dean, and his colleagues at the Mohave Community College, we discovered the strength of parenting in education.
While explaining to them how our class sizes are usually large and how our schools expect parents to involve with the child's education, we discovered that parents spend time with the kids at home and give the needed personal attention that the teacher in the school might not be able to give because of the larger class size. Since, it is a common cultural trait in our society that children are cared for throughout their life time by the parents, they make it a point that the child's education is customized and proper attention is paid for. We also got reminded how schools demand that parents be involved in better performance of the child, and how peer pressure works in schools. Dr. Sanchez and his colleagues were expressing a bit of grief that the US family system doesnt work that way. Another social issue of single parents and work shifts also came up in the conversation.
A lot of parents in Lake Havasu City work in different shifts. This makes it difficult for them to find time to spend with their children. If the parent is a single parent, then to sustain life in these difficult times, he/she would be working over hours and hence to make time for the child itself would become tough. These two problems make parents to expect the school to take care of the child's education more seriously. Therefore, the burden of paying personal attention would fall on the teacher. The State Government's slashing down the funding for the school therefore indirectly accentuates the problem in the long run as quality of education gets affected. This means unavailability of work force with a sound educational background, which means jobs might get shifted to those places where workforce is available. That is to say, if India and China can get their people to have the skills needed in the USA, there will be more jobs in India and China and less in the US.
Bullhead City also faces similar challenges. We spoke to Paul, who has a newspaper “Mohave Valley Daily News”. He was also our city guide and accompanied us to Las Vegas. An accomplished professional, compassionate human being and an extra ordinary Rotarian. We had a good time talking to him and knowing things from him. Paul was explaining to us the challenges of the Bullhead City and how the recession is affecting their growth and development. Bullhead City, Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada or on opposite banks of the Colorado River. Laughlin is a place known for Casinos and Entertainment. Bullhead City on the other hand is a shopping center for Laughlin. That is to say, people come to Laughlin for getting entertainment and get to Bullhead City for shopping for their regular needs. Thus, these two cities are interdependent on each other for their economic development.
Bullhead City has a limited population. But it needs big retailers such as Kohl's or Wal Mart or Macy's to setup shop because people in Laughlin can then consider the city as a center for shopping opportunity. But, because of the population's limitation, these retailers hesitate to come over. Further, the economic downturn has reduced spending on entertainment, which means less people in Laughlin, which further means less people to shop in Bullhead City. This also has lead to delays in starting big retail outlets, which is further pulling the city's economic development down. Another major challenge to both Laughlin and Bullhead City is to get Air Carriers to operate in their Airports. With a lot of flights being cancelled and with big operators cutting costs heavily, though the airports have permission to operate International flights, they are unable to convince the carriers to come through.
Its tough times for these people. But, they will survive that. They will come back and make their lives as comfortable as they used to be. For sure, things will not be the same ever again. But they will be better than now. The best part of the story is that Americans are aware of their challenges. They are in search of a solution which would make things better. They are working on it and they are critical of mistakes made by people in the past. “How did we do such a dumb thing?” many people ask in a funny way, but that reflects of their acceptance of the mistakes done. Now, that is the wisest thing on planet earth. To be critical of our mistakes and to have determination not to repeat that again. We wish our fellow planet dwellers the best in their endeavors. If we could do anything to help you be better, it would be our pleasure to do so. Just Ask!!
Wes Brownfield, is the Director of Educational Services, Lake Havasu Unified School District No.1. When we spoke about the recession, he was more specific to Lake Havasu area, but the insights that we can gain from this can be applied to other areas as well. We began talking about the housing market, and Wes pointed to me that the housing boom built up a large construction industry. When the market went bust, the first industry to get hit badly was the construction industry. A lot of builders who were building casinos, hotels, homes for people to stay, etc., stopped their construction in the middle as they were not sure that they could complete it. Owners of such properties became involved in looking at their mortgage repayments and no longer could afford to complete the construction. As a result a lot of jobs were lost. A lot of families would have to suffer. Wes also informed me that as the housing market went down, it created a ripple effect in the city. The first people who were affected were the small and medium service providers to housing. People who were helping clean swimming pools, landscaping service providers to homes, etc., were the people who were hit hard. I guess that if some of these people had borrowed money from banks and bought a home, they were really doomed.
A big business domain in Lake Havasu City is the boating industry. Lake Havasu City, is the second largest pleasure boat manufacturing location in the USA. “The Desert Storm” is an annual speed boat racing event organized by the City for entertainment. This brings a large number of people who bring their boats to the Colorado river and race it. We went kayaking on the river on the same day when the “Desert Storm” boats were racing the river. Its an amazing event and the boats are very expensive and attractive. The boat owners come from long distances to participate. They come atleast a week before the event, and camp out in the area. They require boarding, lodging and boat repair and maintenance services. They need places to park their boats, to clean them up and take them to the boating ramp.
Even otherwise, several people would like to get their boats here or hire some boats locally and race in Lake Havasu. People from states like California, Idaho, Nevada, etc., come to Lake Havasu and spend time on the river during the summer time. Its a relaxing time for them and money making time for the city. As the economy went bad the boating industry got hit, because people could not afford the prices. The crisis of the city reached its apex, as one of the biggest boat manufacturers in the area closed. Lot of jobs were lost and lot of families had to suffer. If those families had mortgages on their homes, they were out of their homes too. Many families had to move elsewhere to find a job.
But wait, what did these people do with their homes? Obviously, they didn't have enough money or income to pay their mortgages. They also didnt have jobs that were available for them to stay in the city and pay their mortgages. The banks wouldn't allow them to move without closing their mortgage. The solution is “foreclosure”. The bank acquires the property and gets whatever it can from the client and allows him/her to move. The problem is that the bank has this property and has to sell it in order to make money on it. Or it has to rent it, lease it or do something with it so that the property acquired gives some value to the mortgage that has been “foreclosed”. Many banks face this problem with foreclosure. Brian, who was our tour guide for our trip in Prescott, works with a bank and he was the one who first mentioned to us about the problems of foreclosure. When I asked him what the banks would do, he said “They simply wait for a good deal!” That might be the best thing to do, after all.
Further to this a few social problems add up. Wes mentions about some families, who had learnt to live from paycheck to paycheck without caring to save or invest it in some way. If one of the partners in these families loses a job, and their mortgages are dependent on these salaries, these families would be hit hard. Again, the foreclosure becomes the only option. Such life-styles not only create financial issues but also social issues. We all know that the Government is encouraging spending in order to pull the market up. But, many people are spending money and are unable to pay their taxes, which is creating a shortage of funds for many government supported projects. The little consolation that is being seen in the form of increased consumer spending is being washed away because of tax shortages.
For instance, States are now cutting funding for schools. Schools are now trimming their ends as they negotiate their budgets. The mediocre performers are getting the pink slips. Wherever we went, principals, headmasters, deans and other important professionals managing the schools, are involved in some budget meeting or the other. Apart from facing social challenges in schooling and educating children, schools now also have to deal with job cuts. Most people who are dependent on schools for their paychecks, would have to move out from their locations in search of jobs. And the market has no jobs for them at the present moment. Its not only that, but schools are now combining classes and making the class size bigger. This would pose a challenge to the teacher, who has to now struggle with larger class sizes, and instruction strategies have to differ. In a conversation with Dr. Nicolas T. Sanchez, Campus Dean, and his colleagues at the Mohave Community College, we discovered the strength of parenting in education.
While explaining to them how our class sizes are usually large and how our schools expect parents to involve with the child's education, we discovered that parents spend time with the kids at home and give the needed personal attention that the teacher in the school might not be able to give because of the larger class size. Since, it is a common cultural trait in our society that children are cared for throughout their life time by the parents, they make it a point that the child's education is customized and proper attention is paid for. We also got reminded how schools demand that parents be involved in better performance of the child, and how peer pressure works in schools. Dr. Sanchez and his colleagues were expressing a bit of grief that the US family system doesnt work that way. Another social issue of single parents and work shifts also came up in the conversation.
A lot of parents in Lake Havasu City work in different shifts. This makes it difficult for them to find time to spend with their children. If the parent is a single parent, then to sustain life in these difficult times, he/she would be working over hours and hence to make time for the child itself would become tough. These two problems make parents to expect the school to take care of the child's education more seriously. Therefore, the burden of paying personal attention would fall on the teacher. The State Government's slashing down the funding for the school therefore indirectly accentuates the problem in the long run as quality of education gets affected. This means unavailability of work force with a sound educational background, which means jobs might get shifted to those places where workforce is available. That is to say, if India and China can get their people to have the skills needed in the USA, there will be more jobs in India and China and less in the US.
Bullhead City also faces similar challenges. We spoke to Paul, who has a newspaper “Mohave Valley Daily News”. He was also our city guide and accompanied us to Las Vegas. An accomplished professional, compassionate human being and an extra ordinary Rotarian. We had a good time talking to him and knowing things from him. Paul was explaining to us the challenges of the Bullhead City and how the recession is affecting their growth and development. Bullhead City, Arizona and Laughlin, Nevada or on opposite banks of the Colorado River. Laughlin is a place known for Casinos and Entertainment. Bullhead City on the other hand is a shopping center for Laughlin. That is to say, people come to Laughlin for getting entertainment and get to Bullhead City for shopping for their regular needs. Thus, these two cities are interdependent on each other for their economic development.
Bullhead City has a limited population. But it needs big retailers such as Kohl's or Wal Mart or Macy's to setup shop because people in Laughlin can then consider the city as a center for shopping opportunity. But, because of the population's limitation, these retailers hesitate to come over. Further, the economic downturn has reduced spending on entertainment, which means less people in Laughlin, which further means less people to shop in Bullhead City. This also has lead to delays in starting big retail outlets, which is further pulling the city's economic development down. Another major challenge to both Laughlin and Bullhead City is to get Air Carriers to operate in their Airports. With a lot of flights being cancelled and with big operators cutting costs heavily, though the airports have permission to operate International flights, they are unable to convince the carriers to come through.
Its tough times for these people. But, they will survive that. They will come back and make their lives as comfortable as they used to be. For sure, things will not be the same ever again. But they will be better than now. The best part of the story is that Americans are aware of their challenges. They are in search of a solution which would make things better. They are working on it and they are critical of mistakes made by people in the past. “How did we do such a dumb thing?” many people ask in a funny way, but that reflects of their acceptance of the mistakes done. Now, that is the wisest thing on planet earth. To be critical of our mistakes and to have determination not to repeat that again. We wish our fellow planet dwellers the best in their endeavors. If we could do anything to help you be better, it would be our pleasure to do so. Just Ask!!
Expecting the Unexpected - Lessons from our Vocational Visits
We havent been writing much about our vocational visits. Each of us have different vocations and our Area Coordinators are working hard to organize visits according to our preferences. All five of us most often go in different directions and see different places. Though we exchange a few notes about what we have seen, its difficult to describe all vocational visits with such notes. I can talk extensively about my vocational visits, but that might not be doing justice. This is the team's blog and I dont want to make it personal.
At the same time, we do not want to give the impression that the GSE is a long vacation full of only fun activities and no serious business. The other day our team leader Dr. Upendra was mentioning “We get so many different experiences in GSE, from professional exposure to cultural understanding!” I cannot but agree with him. This program is turning out to be such a learning ground, that for the prepared mind it becomes a life time experience. We all have understood that the trick lies in being prepared. And as our GSE Chair Mr. Manjunath Shetty told us, the learning value comes from “Expecting the Unexpected”. Which means, we have to be ready for making use of opportunities that are provided to us.
In this post, I will try to summarize a few common vocational experiences that we have had so far, and try to impress upon the point that the vocational visits can be only as much interesting as you make them. Please remember that these visits are organized by Rotarians, who probably have no idea what you do in your jobs and have to work based on some assumptions and facts which they get to know through your “Wish List”. No matter how detailed your wish list could get, there will be concerns and view points that they might not have time to check back with you. So, you may not get exactly what you want, but if you try, you can actually “see” what you want and develop a network that can help you to get what you want, if not during your visit, but afterwords.
So, how do we bring “Expect the Unexpected” thing into practical use? How can we make the best use of what has been offered to us? Here's what we did on a few occasions, to bring the principle into practical use. We had talked to each other about our vocational visits, ever since we received the vocational visit chart from Don Schiller, the Rotary GSE Chair for RI Dist. 5490. Through our email conversations with Don and telephonic conversations amongst ourselves, we knew that what we had put in our wish-list is not going to materialize 100%. Though there was some initial discontentment, we were able to understand the limitations of the Rotary Team working on it. And we spoke to each other over mails, chats and had conversations over telephone as to what we could do. All our conversations led us to only one thing “Let us take it as it comes and use judgement to decide what to do at the right time.”
Accept people's invitations with an open mind
In my previous post, I had talked to you about this wonderful young couple who ran “The Residence Inn”, which is a Marriott franchise. To refresh some memories, this was the place where we were put in, right after we landed in Phoenix, to let us relax and clear our jet-lag. We had learnt a little bit about them in our conversations with them. Kalpesh had told us that in USA there were many such Indian families that ran the hotels. It was heartful for us to hear that our fellow country men were doing well.
On the day when we were about to leave the Inn, Kalpesh came over and gave away a couple of souveneirs to carry. We asked for Bhavna and were told that she was in another facility doing work and that she would be there in five or ten minutes time. We wanted to take some pictures with them to show back home and brag a little bit about how Indians were “dominating the world”. Kalpesh informed us that they had a ten minute meeting with the hotel staff, and would be shortly out for the photographs. But, as Bhavna came in, she simply invited all of us into the meeting room. We all followed. Remember, we could have politely declined and waited for them outside the meeting room.
What followed was a brilliant display of how a culture of “Valuing the Customer” could be built with the “Housekeeping” staff, who often were not permanent employees but temporary staff. This means that the staff would be changing constantly. Its a challenge to keep up the same service level as the attrition rates were high. Similarly constantly attracting talent to get to the Inn was also another important aspect. What we saw in that meeting was an amazing amalgamation of various training methods and a brilliant inter-mixing of monetary incentives and non-monetary recognition that the couple had deviced to over come those challenges. It would take an entire blog post or more to tell how they did it, but that is not the point here.
Had we not accepted the invitation, we would have never been able to see this happening. In reality, our vocational experience had already begun (atleast for Namratha, Umesh and Me) even before the actual vocational exchange began. Here are some pictures related to the meeting.
The first one shows the staff available on that day, the second and third show Bhavana and Kalpesh Patel talking to their team. They have these meetings everyday before everyone began their operations and gets them ready for the days work. We have made some notes of the entire event and got to see the background operations for managing a hotel. I even have shot videos, which I can use to show back in my class room to discuss with students the challenges and show them how incentive schemes could be designed for the purpose of encouraging people to follow a value system that you want them to follow. And all we had to do was to simply say “yes” to an invitation from a friendly person who wanted to share the experience with us.
Take the opportunity to meet and talk to people
On our first vocational day, we all went to Macy's Operations Center, where we were shown the logistics behind the retail chain's success. We were briefed by the Vice President of the building about various processes that were followed to make their Op Center a sophisticated, technology driven logistical unit. It was amazing to know what they did, to get to where they are today. On the same evening, we had the opportunity to visit a retail outlet at Macy's in phoenix downtown area. We were all roaming around the outlet and seeing whatever we liked to see. At the outlet, several sales staff approached us and greeted us, and wanted to help us. We said, we would ask when we wanted help to the first two sales staff. The third one was a well mannered woman in her middle age. As she approached us, we told her about our visit and explained to her that we were in the retail center to make a few observations about the retail business. She then said whether we would like to meet the store manager. We said “Yes”. She said she would check and revert.
Believe me friends! Ten minutes later, she gets us the store manager, with whom we have a twenty minute chat and get answers to many questions right from Visual Merchandizing to Market Research to Chain Growth and Customer Service. Had we not spoken to the sales staff and explained the purpose of our GSE Visit, this would not have been possible. This opportunity was sudden and unplanned. A Picture of Macy's retail outlet that we visited is here below.
We really cant be expressing all our feelings in words. We were not only having fun, but we were also learning. One of my classmates of MBA, Saraswathi Narayanan, used to call this “Edutainment”. We were therefore getting “Edutained”. Saraswathi, if you are reading this blog, then you would know that my “Edutainment” that began ten years ago is still continuing. Well, here goes the next trip.
Seek opportunities and prioritize your tasks
As told earlier, sometimes people would not know what you want even when you provide your “wish list”. Or, they might simply not be able to find something that suits your wishes. Instead, they would have put together a program which they think will suit you. In our own case, Don had indicated that they were facing challenges in the more rural areas to match our vocational requests. Don and his Area Coordinators had looked at our profiles and had assumed that we were highly technical people and they could not find exactly what we wanted to do. Therefore, they had put together a program that they thought would suit us. They had done the best they could in the light of information that they possessed.
When we reached Sedona, Renata and her team were anxious whether we would like what they were doing for us. We were sure we had to work on our vocational visits. Namratha and Sushma were staying with Jeanette (You can see her photograph, in my last post) and David. Their daughter Mimi was studying in “Verde Valley High School” which had an International Buccalaureate program and was doing very well. Jeanette was herself a student of that school and is very proud and passionate about the school and its programs. Namratha and Sushma were really struck by her enthusiasm and requested her to setup a visit, as it would enhance our vocational experience. Jeanette was kind enough to accept their request and worked with Renata and team to set us up for the visit first thing next day morning.
Verde Valley High School was a fantastic experience. When the Headmaster, Mr. Paul Domingue told us that the founder's mission was to set up a school which would bring in International Understanding and World Peace through the means of a cultural exchange, we were all taken aback. It is difficult to explain whether we were shocked, surprised, enthused, or overwhelmed. I guess, it must have been a mix of all the emotions together. Our adrenalin gushed out and we had a lot of questions coming out. It was very interesting to know how the classes were conducted. The way the school encouraged students to come together was based on behavioral principles. It was very enlightening to know the different schemes used by the school to promote the values of tolerance, patience and cultural acceptance to the students.
Seeing the similarities of our Mission, our Team Leader, Dr. Upendra took the opportunity to ask the headmaster for two things. First was to make a presentation to the school and second was the opportunity to see the students in their classrooms. We were not able to get our first request as the school had a test that was coming up in the next week, but arrangements were made for us to be a part of the classroom activity. We watched a Math class and a Biology class. A photo of the Biology class is below.
Dr. Upendra's Experiences of Vocational Visits
At the same time, we do not want to give the impression that the GSE is a long vacation full of only fun activities and no serious business. The other day our team leader Dr. Upendra was mentioning “We get so many different experiences in GSE, from professional exposure to cultural understanding!” I cannot but agree with him. This program is turning out to be such a learning ground, that for the prepared mind it becomes a life time experience. We all have understood that the trick lies in being prepared. And as our GSE Chair Mr. Manjunath Shetty told us, the learning value comes from “Expecting the Unexpected”. Which means, we have to be ready for making use of opportunities that are provided to us.
In this post, I will try to summarize a few common vocational experiences that we have had so far, and try to impress upon the point that the vocational visits can be only as much interesting as you make them. Please remember that these visits are organized by Rotarians, who probably have no idea what you do in your jobs and have to work based on some assumptions and facts which they get to know through your “Wish List”. No matter how detailed your wish list could get, there will be concerns and view points that they might not have time to check back with you. So, you may not get exactly what you want, but if you try, you can actually “see” what you want and develop a network that can help you to get what you want, if not during your visit, but afterwords.
So, how do we bring “Expect the Unexpected” thing into practical use? How can we make the best use of what has been offered to us? Here's what we did on a few occasions, to bring the principle into practical use. We had talked to each other about our vocational visits, ever since we received the vocational visit chart from Don Schiller, the Rotary GSE Chair for RI Dist. 5490. Through our email conversations with Don and telephonic conversations amongst ourselves, we knew that what we had put in our wish-list is not going to materialize 100%. Though there was some initial discontentment, we were able to understand the limitations of the Rotary Team working on it. And we spoke to each other over mails, chats and had conversations over telephone as to what we could do. All our conversations led us to only one thing “Let us take it as it comes and use judgement to decide what to do at the right time.”
Accept people's invitations with an open mind
In my previous post, I had talked to you about this wonderful young couple who ran “The Residence Inn”, which is a Marriott franchise. To refresh some memories, this was the place where we were put in, right after we landed in Phoenix, to let us relax and clear our jet-lag. We had learnt a little bit about them in our conversations with them. Kalpesh had told us that in USA there were many such Indian families that ran the hotels. It was heartful for us to hear that our fellow country men were doing well.
On the day when we were about to leave the Inn, Kalpesh came over and gave away a couple of souveneirs to carry. We asked for Bhavna and were told that she was in another facility doing work and that she would be there in five or ten minutes time. We wanted to take some pictures with them to show back home and brag a little bit about how Indians were “dominating the world”. Kalpesh informed us that they had a ten minute meeting with the hotel staff, and would be shortly out for the photographs. But, as Bhavna came in, she simply invited all of us into the meeting room. We all followed. Remember, we could have politely declined and waited for them outside the meeting room.
What followed was a brilliant display of how a culture of “Valuing the Customer” could be built with the “Housekeeping” staff, who often were not permanent employees but temporary staff. This means that the staff would be changing constantly. Its a challenge to keep up the same service level as the attrition rates were high. Similarly constantly attracting talent to get to the Inn was also another important aspect. What we saw in that meeting was an amazing amalgamation of various training methods and a brilliant inter-mixing of monetary incentives and non-monetary recognition that the couple had deviced to over come those challenges. It would take an entire blog post or more to tell how they did it, but that is not the point here.
Had we not accepted the invitation, we would have never been able to see this happening. In reality, our vocational experience had already begun (atleast for Namratha, Umesh and Me) even before the actual vocational exchange began. Here are some pictures related to the meeting.
The first one shows the staff available on that day, the second and third show Bhavana and Kalpesh Patel talking to their team. They have these meetings everyday before everyone began their operations and gets them ready for the days work. We have made some notes of the entire event and got to see the background operations for managing a hotel. I even have shot videos, which I can use to show back in my class room to discuss with students the challenges and show them how incentive schemes could be designed for the purpose of encouraging people to follow a value system that you want them to follow. And all we had to do was to simply say “yes” to an invitation from a friendly person who wanted to share the experience with us.Take the opportunity to meet and talk to people
On our first vocational day, we all went to Macy's Operations Center, where we were shown the logistics behind the retail chain's success. We were briefed by the Vice President of the building about various processes that were followed to make their Op Center a sophisticated, technology driven logistical unit. It was amazing to know what they did, to get to where they are today. On the same evening, we had the opportunity to visit a retail outlet at Macy's in phoenix downtown area. We were all roaming around the outlet and seeing whatever we liked to see. At the outlet, several sales staff approached us and greeted us, and wanted to help us. We said, we would ask when we wanted help to the first two sales staff. The third one was a well mannered woman in her middle age. As she approached us, we told her about our visit and explained to her that we were in the retail center to make a few observations about the retail business. She then said whether we would like to meet the store manager. We said “Yes”. She said she would check and revert.
Believe me friends! Ten minutes later, she gets us the store manager, with whom we have a twenty minute chat and get answers to many questions right from Visual Merchandizing to Market Research to Chain Growth and Customer Service. Had we not spoken to the sales staff and explained the purpose of our GSE Visit, this would not have been possible. This opportunity was sudden and unplanned. A Picture of Macy's retail outlet that we visited is here below.
We really cant be expressing all our feelings in words. We were not only having fun, but we were also learning. One of my classmates of MBA, Saraswathi Narayanan, used to call this “Edutainment”. We were therefore getting “Edutained”. Saraswathi, if you are reading this blog, then you would know that my “Edutainment” that began ten years ago is still continuing. Well, here goes the next trip.Seek opportunities and prioritize your tasks
As told earlier, sometimes people would not know what you want even when you provide your “wish list”. Or, they might simply not be able to find something that suits your wishes. Instead, they would have put together a program which they think will suit you. In our own case, Don had indicated that they were facing challenges in the more rural areas to match our vocational requests. Don and his Area Coordinators had looked at our profiles and had assumed that we were highly technical people and they could not find exactly what we wanted to do. Therefore, they had put together a program that they thought would suit us. They had done the best they could in the light of information that they possessed.
When we reached Sedona, Renata and her team were anxious whether we would like what they were doing for us. We were sure we had to work on our vocational visits. Namratha and Sushma were staying with Jeanette (You can see her photograph, in my last post) and David. Their daughter Mimi was studying in “Verde Valley High School” which had an International Buccalaureate program and was doing very well. Jeanette was herself a student of that school and is very proud and passionate about the school and its programs. Namratha and Sushma were really struck by her enthusiasm and requested her to setup a visit, as it would enhance our vocational experience. Jeanette was kind enough to accept their request and worked with Renata and team to set us up for the visit first thing next day morning.
Verde Valley High School was a fantastic experience. When the Headmaster, Mr. Paul Domingue told us that the founder's mission was to set up a school which would bring in International Understanding and World Peace through the means of a cultural exchange, we were all taken aback. It is difficult to explain whether we were shocked, surprised, enthused, or overwhelmed. I guess, it must have been a mix of all the emotions together. Our adrenalin gushed out and we had a lot of questions coming out. It was very interesting to know how the classes were conducted. The way the school encouraged students to come together was based on behavioral principles. It was very enlightening to know the different schemes used by the school to promote the values of tolerance, patience and cultural acceptance to the students.
Seeing the similarities of our Mission, our Team Leader, Dr. Upendra took the opportunity to ask the headmaster for two things. First was to make a presentation to the school and second was the opportunity to see the students in their classrooms. We were not able to get our first request as the school had a test that was coming up in the next week, but arrangements were made for us to be a part of the classroom activity. We watched a Math class and a Biology class. A photo of the Biology class is below.
Dr. Upendra's Experiences of Vocational VisitsGSE program gave me an opportunity to see how my profession is practiced in this country. I had the opportunity to visit Veterinary Clinics, a total of four animal clinics in different places in the District of Arizona. All the animal hospitals except one at Prescott were aimed only at small animals and all the clinics were privately managed clincis. The doctors are young with DVM degree and have continued educational support. The clinics on an average handles 60 cases per day. Hospitals equipped with basic diagnostic facilities and most of the time utlize specialist service for diagnositic procedures such as endoscopy and ultrascopy which is commonly handled by our undergraduate students. Dentistry is one area where there seems to be lot of opportunity for the vet to earn money. As it is the veterinary fee is comparatively high; 100 USD for endoscope, 150 USD for hair clipping, 80 USD for basic haematalogical and biochemical study. The fee may go as high as 1500 USD especially if it is for euthanasia. All the clinics have their own outlets to supply feed and other necessary items. What amazed me was the documentation maintained by the hospital. Anaesthesia records, inpatient records, follow-up records are something we need to study further and put it to practice in our hospitals. I also happen to see a new type of Elizabeth collar which costs 5 USD but is very easy to use and disposable one. We can definately get that manufactured locally at Bangalore and use. Similarly, disposable fecal sample collection sticks is very innovative and not costly. The concern of people about the obasity in dogs is another point we need to take seriously as the same problem can be seen in India in next 5 years. I was thinking that US is free of Rabies but I was proved wrong as Rabies recorded in these clinics at an interval of 2 years. Over all visit to these animal hospitals gave me how private practice is managed here. 
Those are some of the lessons that we learnt from our experiences. Hope this made an interesting read. Please feel free to comment and criticize this article. Click on the comments tab and post your comments. Your participation will encourage us to be more enthusiastic in our pursuits.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thank You All For Being Patient
I know that our team has a reputation to manage. I am having difficulties in getting an Internet Connection to post a blog. Sometimes, organizing for the post is getting tougher. Just to keep you updated on what's happening, we have just finished our mid tour break at Laughlin, Nevada. We stayed at the Colorade Belle, a casino and a hotel on the banks of the Colorado River. It was amazing. We found time to unwind and time to plan for a few things after the break. But the time we spent together brought us more closer together. It was just like when we went to Chennai for getting our Visas.
Presently we are all set into our host families at Anthem, Peoria and Surprise and are getting ready for the next round of the GSE to begin. I am so sorry I am unable to load any photographs at this stage as I am not working on my laptop. Promise to return with more fun and serious stuff in my next post, in a couple of days of time. During the break, I had the time to jot down a few thoughts of mine and put together a few pictures. Unfortunately, I am not being successful in posting it. Having some problems with the pictures getting transferred to the blog. I am figuring it out as to how it should go. Once done, you will find more pictures and more material to think about.
My next post will be about our vocational visits and how we made use of those to suit to our needs. Await that. I am sure you will appreciate that too!!!
Presently we are all set into our host families at Anthem, Peoria and Surprise and are getting ready for the next round of the GSE to begin. I am so sorry I am unable to load any photographs at this stage as I am not working on my laptop. Promise to return with more fun and serious stuff in my next post, in a couple of days of time. During the break, I had the time to jot down a few thoughts of mine and put together a few pictures. Unfortunately, I am not being successful in posting it. Having some problems with the pictures getting transferred to the blog. I am figuring it out as to how it should go. Once done, you will find more pictures and more material to think about.
My next post will be about our vocational visits and how we made use of those to suit to our needs. Await that. I am sure you will appreciate that too!!!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Conquistadors of The Cathedral Rock of Sedona
It was 5 AM in the morning. My alarm bell rang off "ting ting ting" in the characteristic ring tone that I am not yet used to. I woke up and then said I will sleep for another five minutes and dozed off sitting. The door then went Knock Knock Knock. I wake up again and see the time is five thirty. I knew by intution that it was our Team Leader, beloved Uppi Sir. I open the door and there he was smiling.
The first thing he told me was "I slept till now today!" I was happy for him as he was not yet out of his Jet Lag and was finding it difficult to catch sleep. We had strategized the previous night that if he ate something at nine in the night just before going to sleep, he might catch some sleep and Voila!! It had worked. Then he reminded me that I have to go to Jeanette's place for the hiking trip. I knew! And I was looking forward for it. Had he not come to wake me up, I would have probably missed it!!
Jeanette and the girls were waiting for me when I reached their home. Umesh was also ready and we all set out for our trekking trip. Jeanette led the group. She drove us to the spot where the trail for trekking begins and we began the hike. Given below is the photograph that gives you a hint or two about the heights we were set to scale.
The first thing he told me was "I slept till now today!" I was happy for him as he was not yet out of his Jet Lag and was finding it difficult to catch sleep. We had strategized the previous night that if he ate something at nine in the night just before going to sleep, he might catch some sleep and Voila!! It had worked. Then he reminded me that I have to go to Jeanette's place for the hiking trip. I knew! And I was looking forward for it. Had he not come to wake me up, I would have probably missed it!!
Jeanette and the girls were waiting for me when I reached their home. Umesh was also ready and we all set out for our trekking trip. Jeanette led the group. She drove us to the spot where the trail for trekking begins and we began the hike. Given below is the photograph that gives you a hint or two about the heights we were set to scale.
We began the hike. Initially the trail was easy and we set off at an easy pace. The approach to the rock was well laid out and the trail was clearly set off. We saw a lot of other people also coming along the trail. In Sedona, this is a great way to begin the day. Hike the rocks, take a shower and go to office and get your work done. Know what! If you get stuck you can call for a helicoptor to take you down and rescue you! Of course, that would be a very expensive hike. Jeanette, host to Namratha and Sushma was very encouraging and cheerful. We were super bowled by her enthusiasm. Here is how she was on the hiking trip. Can you believe she has a teenage daughter??!!??
After a few initial paces, we all felt that it was going to be easy and alright. We felt strong, confident, energetic and ready for the challenge. After all, GSE is about facing challenges. After all, Cathedral Rock was just another rock. If a thousa
nd million humans have hiked along, we could do so too. After all, we were human beings. After filling our hearts with all these emotions, we decided to conquer the heights in front of us. This is how we felt at that time.
Easier said than done. As we went further, things changed. The plain trail began to give way to a rocky one and the slope began increasing. The challenge now was different and it was serious. If we dont take it, we have to go back and going back is not the GSE way. At this point of time, the team work kicked in. We not only pulled ourselves to get the job done, but were also on the constant look out for team members. We took care that no one was left behind because they were slow. Jeanette was the fastest. She knew the trail of the hike and was agile. She was our path maker and we were her pace breakers. She was really sweet and understanding. She kept on encouraging us. We began running short of breath. Sushma showed us how to breathe as we went up. Jeanette showed us how to use our toes and get foot holds. Umesh learned quickly and was ready to hold hands if needed. I was at the tail end looking out for people who might slip. This was not planned. It just happened. We were able to intuitively understand the needs of the team and occupied respective positions. Take a look at this photograph and you will understand it all.
We had lost some of our strength and the rocks loomed high. We had lots of energy left still, but were now aware that we had to conserve it to face the challenges of going up hill. It was then that Umesh pointed out, that more energy is needed when getting down the hill, as we wont be able to hold on to anything and might have to control our pace using our legs and hands. We listened and as it sunk into our heads, we knew we had to perform. Mentally, we all made a note of the point and began to conserve energy. Well! What does this really mean, in a practical sense. First, we began looking around before we had a new height to scale. We figured out where the footholds were and the easiest way of getting on top of the height. Second, we communicated down the line as to how we need to climb. Jeanette was usually the leader who would show us the easiest path as she was an experienced climber. Umesh and Sushma followed suit and were quickly on top. They communicated to Namratha who would then configure her climb and finally I would follow suit behind Namratha in such a way that if she slips I was right behind to stop the fall. Cool! Huh! Jeanette waited till all of us were on top and then would point out the next challenge. Sometimes the rocks were steep and sometimes the
y were slopy and sometimes there were narrow crevices that acted as foot holds. We scaled the entire rock till the end of the trail this way. The adjacent picture shows the trail that we took up the rocks.
Did I say, the end of the trail! Sorry!! The trail did not end, but it took a different form. Now the trail was vertical. It had only changed its direction. What do I mean? Take a look at the two pictures below and you will understand. The one on the left is the one that shows the trail and the one on the right shows how much we need to achieve. We thought it was too dangerous for us to take the vertical climb as none of us were professionally trained for the same. So! Here we were at the end of the trail, at the top of the peak of a rock formation in Sedona. What are we supposed to do now? Write a blog?
We enjoyed ourselves. This is how we did it. We cheered and did some exciting things. Below are photographs of our fun and descent from the red rock formation called Cathedral Rock. It might be of interest to know that there is a theory about the rocks that is going on in Sedona. It is believed that Sedona has four "vortexes" which are "cosmic or spiritual energy hubs" which increase the spiritual understanding of a person. Cathedral rock is one of such vortexes. It is also interesting to note that about 4% of the visitors to Sedona area come for this reason. For a town that attracts about four million tourists in a year, 4% is a very huge number. Sedona's Chamber of commerce must give this fact a second thought.
The following points are our learnings and for you to ponder.
1. Plan ahead and see what resources you need to get your goals achieved.
2. Always have an experienced leader to show you the path.
3. Play in the team and figure out how to get your tasks achieved.
4. Stick to the team, always and for ever.
5. Give space for the each member to understand and configure how to get to the next level.
6. Know when to stop.
7. Take time to enjoy and celebrate your achievements.
8. Have a back up plan ready.
That's about the size of the fun we had two days ago. If you are thinking that all we are doing is doing presentations and having fun alone, you are utterly wrong. Wait till my next post. I will tell you how a GSE Team can touch the lives of people. Oh yeah! Some of you will think that I am bragging. You bet I am!!
After a few initial paces, we all felt that it was going to be easy and alright. We felt strong, confident, energetic and ready for the challenge. After all, GSE is about facing challenges. After all, Cathedral Rock was just another rock. If a thousa
nd million humans have hiked along, we could do so too. After all, we were human beings. After filling our hearts with all these emotions, we decided to conquer the heights in front of us. This is how we felt at that time.Easier said than done. As we went further, things changed. The plain trail began to give way to a rocky one and the slope began increasing. The challenge now was different and it was serious. If we dont take it, we have to go back and going back is not the GSE way. At this point of time, the team work kicked in. We not only pulled ourselves to get the job done, but were also on the constant look out for team members. We took care that no one was left behind because they were slow. Jeanette was the fastest. She knew the trail of the hike and was agile. She was our path maker and we were her pace breakers. She was really sweet and understanding. She kept on encouraging us. We began running short of breath. Sushma showed us how to breathe as we went up. Jeanette showed us how to use our toes and get foot holds. Umesh learned quickly and was ready to hold hands if needed. I was at the tail end looking out for people who might slip. This was not planned. It just happened. We were able to intuitively understand the needs of the team and occupied respective positions. Take a look at this photograph and you will understand it all.
We had lost some of our strength and the rocks loomed high. We had lots of energy left still, but were now aware that we had to conserve it to face the challenges of going up hill. It was then that Umesh pointed out, that more energy is needed when getting down the hill, as we wont be able to hold on to anything and might have to control our pace using our legs and hands. We listened and as it sunk into our heads, we knew we had to perform. Mentally, we all made a note of the point and began to conserve energy. Well! What does this really mean, in a practical sense. First, we began looking around before we had a new height to scale. We figured out where the footholds were and the easiest way of getting on top of the height. Second, we communicated down the line as to how we need to climb. Jeanette was usually the leader who would show us the easiest path as she was an experienced climber. Umesh and Sushma followed suit and were quickly on top. They communicated to Namratha who would then configure her climb and finally I would follow suit behind Namratha in such a way that if she slips I was right behind to stop the fall. Cool! Huh! Jeanette waited till all of us were on top and then would point out the next challenge. Sometimes the rocks were steep and sometimes the
y were slopy and sometimes there were narrow crevices that acted as foot holds. We scaled the entire rock till the end of the trail this way. The adjacent picture shows the trail that we took up the rocks.Did I say, the end of the trail! Sorry!! The trail did not end, but it took a different form. Now the trail was vertical. It had only changed its direction. What do I mean? Take a look at the two pictures below and you will understand. The one on the left is the one that shows the trail and the one on the right shows how much we need to achieve. We thought it was too dangerous for us to take the vertical climb as none of us were professionally trained for the same. So! Here we were at the end of the trail, at the top of the peak of a rock formation in Sedona. What are we supposed to do now? Write a blog?
We enjoyed ourselves. This is how we did it. We cheered and did some exciting things. Below are photographs of our fun and descent from the red rock formation called Cathedral Rock. It might be of interest to know that there is a theory about the rocks that is going on in Sedona. It is believed that Sedona has four "vortexes" which are "cosmic or spiritual energy hubs" which increase the spiritual understanding of a person. Cathedral rock is one of such vortexes. It is also interesting to note that about 4% of the visitors to Sedona area come for this reason. For a town that attracts about four million tourists in a year, 4% is a very huge number. Sedona's Chamber of commerce must give this fact a second thought.
The following points are our learnings and for you to ponder.
1. Plan ahead and see what resources you need to get your goals achieved.
2. Always have an experienced leader to show you the path.
3. Play in the team and figure out how to get your tasks achieved.
4. Stick to the team, always and for ever.
5. Give space for the each member to understand and configure how to get to the next level.
6. Know when to stop.
7. Take time to enjoy and celebrate your achievements.
8. Have a back up plan ready.
That's about the size of the fun we had two days ago. If you are thinking that all we are doing is doing presentations and having fun alone, you are utterly wrong. Wait till my next post. I will tell you how a GSE Team can touch the lives of people. Oh yeah! Some of you will think that I am bragging. You bet I am!!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Honored to Meet
Today, the 18th of April 2010, will remain a memorable day for all of us in the GSE Program as we met a very senior Rtn. Raymond, who was the Past District Governor of Dist 5490. He was in a health care home, suffering from some heart related problem. We took the opportunity to meet him in Prescott on our visit this day.
Raymond has been in the Navy and served for thirty years before he retired and came down to Rotary. It was nice listening to him explaining how Navy leadership was completely different from Rotary leadership. He told us that he enjoyed both the careers and his Rotary career was very satifying as he got an opportunity to meet several people from various countries and continents.
"It is interesting to participate in the process of International Peace and Harmony. Now that I have met you and spoke to you, I have met India. I am so happy that you all came and took time out of your busy schedule to see me. Have a nice trip here. Have fun!" These were the parting words of the wise Rotary Leader to our team. Above are some photos from the visit.
We met the Australian GSE Team in the morning. We also met our GSE Team Member to India Dist 3190 Matt. He was with us as we visited the Sharlott Hall Meuseum in Prescott and had lunch with us. Here are the photos that I have got on my camera of Matt and the Australian team.
It was fun meeting them and talking to them. We exchanged some great friendship during
the day. Await my next post. I promise I will give you something that will make you green with J!!Until Then, Have Fun!!
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