Multiple Intelligence!

I was touched by the moving tale of a young Pakistani family's trip to India, to have their child operated upon, for a complicated heart condition. Apparently the operation was successful & the family was treated extremely well in Delhi. They hope to return in year or so, for a second operation.

Recently the Times of India has launched an initiative to improve people to people contact and understanding, this against Government to Government talks, which seem to go nowhere.

A few years ago, while in Dubai, my ship had a sentry. A quiet fellow we would exchange few words. I always thought he was Indian till I learnt that he was from Lahore & had been an army soldier. Post this we swapped a lot of stories & when we were leaving the Port I invited him over to lunch with us & presented him a company 'T Shirt'.The chap was immensely touched and having grown up on staple anti India propaganda in the army, would hopefully have altered his view about Indian's a tad.The sentry had a common story to tell- how his agent in Pakistan had duped him into coming to Dubai & once he did he found life tough and payment poor. He was looking to return home at the end of his one year contract, to be with his family.At the end of the lunch the chap was in tears.......more so because he did not expect to share a meal with officer's in our hierarchy driven world, where we live in societies with a high Power Distance Index.

Apparently Indian visitor's to Pakistan, during cricket matches were treated like royalty and returned a happy lot!

In that context people to people contact is wonderful but will stop short of achieving anything tangible unless Government's make a breakthrough through negotiation.While many may differ, I think the Indian Government is doing a wonderful job. They talk but keep their guard up.............That is the way forward, at a more serious level you cannot negotiate all starry eyed & full of romance.

However, all attempts to build cultural understanding and intelligence must be encouraged, because that is what distances prejudice and rancour.At the more micro level, I think the same holds true for an organization as well.As a manager, in a global world Cultural Intelligence is as fundamental as is Emotional Intelligence and intrinsic IQ.

It is also important that as Manager's we are equipped with an array of Intelligences to be successful.

Has Atlas Shrugged?

Dubai Poised for Massive Financial Crash, is the talk of the town. The proverbial 'Atlas' has shrugged bringing down much of Dubai's over priced real estate.The price for unbridled capitalism, as taught by Ayn Rand and practised by her chela Alan Greenspan.

Asset prices in Dubai are forecast to plummet up to 70 percent from to last year's high within the next six months. Moody's estimates that Dubai's debt totals around US$100 billion, with around $25 billion insolvent. State-owned investment firm Dubai World has said it will not sell off its assets at rock-bottom prices simply to repay its debts, but if the financial situation worsens, it may have no other choice. Bloomberg on Monday forecast that Dubai will have to abandon its dream of becoming the financial hub of the Middle East if neighbor Abu Dhabi ends up saving the cash-strapped sheikdom. Not only has Dubai suffered tremendous damage to its financial credibility, but Abu Dhabi will seek to have a significant say in financial matters as a precondition to aid. The Times of London reports that Abu Dhabi already demanded a stake in Emirates Airlines, Dubai's state-owned carrier, in return for financial support years ago. Ian Hay Davison, former chief of the Dubai Financial Services Authority, said, "Dubai will keep its role as a regional center of services in the Middle East, but has come very far from its goal of becoming a financial center like New York."

englishnews@chosun.com / Dec. 01, 2009 13:12 KST

I follow the fortunes of Dubai rather closely because I helped build, the Palm Islands & The World off Dubai.( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lXclgws7n8) The tragedy is that these amazing feats of marine engineering now flounder as the real estate bubble has burst in Dubai. To me the case of Dubai,is the classic case of hype & hoopla over substance. We see it time and again but never seem to learn. Dubai, not many years ago was a camel herders den, with little or no resources to boast about. As the oil economy boomed it became the play ground for the rich Arab from oil rich countries.Then came the real estate boom, which had no foundation. During my stay at Dubai, I rarely saw an Arab work, except in the immigration, custom's and police. The real work came from expats from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and UK.Much of the time expats, particularly from South Asian countries were treated very poorly.Arabs would venture out in their swanky cars, post sunset & head straight for the air conditioned shopping malls. Economies are not built by other people's sweat. They are built by in house skill and hard work, consistently over years. Sustainability comes from solid foundations and careful planning. I think this applies to both the material as well as the living world and is not a flash in the pan.This would be the case with careers too. Career building is an art and not something that happens overnight.If you are looking for a great future it is imperative that your hands get grubby today. No short cuts my friends. So when the going gets tough, hang in there and ride the wave. That is what is character. What about the Arab's? Like a friend of mine said, they can always sell 'Camel burgers'............... As for Ayn Rand and her Atlas Shrugged, trash them.( Watch the video http://themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com/2009/02/dubai-real-estate-crash.html )