Before returning to Canada, I visited the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates located on the Persian Gulf. I had often overnighted in this city on my way to other destinations but this time my flight connections were several days apart, allowing me to explore life beyond the window of my hotel room.
I was amazed by the growth in Dubai. The master minds behind this city's architectural prowess, the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), and the growing tourism industry have worked in harmony to produce one of the world’s fastest growing cities. Emerging as a municipality that thinks like a nation and a monument that belongs to the world, the city of Dubai features more than 120 nationalities (1 in 4 being a national resident) and holds between 15% and 25% of the world’s cranes. Imagine achieving a vision with such diversification and prosperity.
In very little time I found myself secretly deliberating the power of a vision. I remembered a dear friend of mine from the US telling me repeatedly: “Conceive, believe and you will achieve.” To work, a good vision should be born from ideas that will facilitate belief and achievement – namely, a mixture of these principal ingredients:
• A tabula rasa that minces preconceived notions, groupthink, quid pro quos and conflicts to a pulp;
• A seductive courage where ideas are allowed to escape from comfort zones while barriers are reduced to dust;
• A level of engagement and commitment that bounds the unlikely, releases the detached and celebrates the heroes;
• A learning gateway that sparks dialogue, channels thought and opens the mind to new possibilities.
I was amazed by the growth in Dubai. The master minds behind this city's architectural prowess, the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza), and the growing tourism industry have worked in harmony to produce one of the world’s fastest growing cities. Emerging as a municipality that thinks like a nation and a monument that belongs to the world, the city of Dubai features more than 120 nationalities (1 in 4 being a national resident) and holds between 15% and 25% of the world’s cranes. Imagine achieving a vision with such diversification and prosperity.
In very little time I found myself secretly deliberating the power of a vision. I remembered a dear friend of mine from the US telling me repeatedly: “Conceive, believe and you will achieve.” To work, a good vision should be born from ideas that will facilitate belief and achievement – namely, a mixture of these principal ingredients:
• A tabula rasa that minces preconceived notions, groupthink, quid pro quos and conflicts to a pulp;
• A seductive courage where ideas are allowed to escape from comfort zones while barriers are reduced to dust;
• A level of engagement and commitment that bounds the unlikely, releases the detached and celebrates the heroes;
• A learning gateway that sparks dialogue, channels thought and opens the mind to new possibilities.
Photo 1: Wooden boat sitting at a pier in downtown Dubai, UAE, May 21, 2007.
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