The Most of Posts

After a year and a half of blogging I have noticed that my entries are either regarding the work or the work location. After some thought, I have decided to add a small indicator to my posts for easy reference.

The FarsidePost will contain information regarding the work location. As in the past it will focus on interesting information about the people, their culture and their experiences.

The InsidePost will focus on the work I do – ranging from wide-scale civil service reform to small scale organizational diagnosis. It will include advice, brief guidelines and helpful hints to facilitate the development, implementation and sustainability of workforce management changes in the public sector.

I hope you find them useful. My website will also be upgraded shortly. Stay tuned for further announcements.

Leaping for Clarity

Large scale organizational change often brings leaders with a slight moment or two of puzzlement and obscurity: the landscape appears to have a new look that is neither shaped to what it was nor modified to what it should be. Here are a few suggestions that may help to bring clarity:

1. The balance between consistency (operational expectations) and innovation (change) is difficult to maintain at a level where both will be satisfactory. For careful monitoring, operational indicators should be reviewed against targets and milestones set for change projects to ensure an adequate balance is maintained throughout the change.


2. Reporting on what was achieved often does not take into account how it was achieved. More precisely, are the change activities implemented in a manner that align with the desired cultural values and beliefs? This can be critical to an organizational change that largely depends on a change in culture.


3. Not being able to see the forest through the trees happens when a change is driven by a passion that blurs the world around us. Relying on a change management team excelling in objectivity, rigor, humility and fastidiousness is an absolute must to bring executive snapshots cabable of feeding change efforts with a daily regimen of clarity.

In the midst of it all there is always something that brings to life achievement; often in the place you least expect it. This toad hiding in this barren land is proof enough.

Photo: Vientiane, Laos, April, 2005.

Know your Wheels

Carrying the past into the future is often fraught with fear by organizations undergoing change. Some leaders believe that putting too much emphasis on the past promotes values and beliefs that may curve innovation; tighten perspectives; limit opportunities and nurture emotional dependence to things that no longer fit. To some extent, this may be true –but not always. .

There is often times a pearl with perpetual clarity and lustre, despite numerous changes around it. The wheel is certainly an example of this. Across the ages this rotating circular device has continued to support, drive and facilitate creativity while in a larger context, meeting a most basic economic need: that of transportation.

It is up to organizations to identify and build from devices that will stand the test of time; from inventions or inventors that will continue to shape the organization’s history. Change can forge ahead and progress can embody brilliance even more so when key contributors to an organization’s success are identified to build a better future. People, systems, products and relationships should be assessed for their ability to be the catalyst for change as opposed to a target for change. This will contribute to easier changes and better outcomes. In short, know your wheels.

Photo: Driving to work in Kabul, Afghanistan. February, 2008.

Tinkering at the Borders

Most of the time we only see what our world brings: the son’s hockey game, the daughter’s dance lesson, the odd training event at work, the favourite restaurants, the early morning traffic, the three meals a day, the weekly trip to the bank, the visit to the local gym and the pre-programmed radio and television channels.

This world is our theatre – the place where we get to interact with the rest of the world in a manner that we were taught it should be. Providing consistency, assurance, and yes – comfort – because all is how it should be. The theatre provides a platform of enduring content unifying environment with expectations, building in us a fairly consistent view of the world. This theatre provides a stage with borders that we rarely tinker with; but when we do – the view does change and we grow.

Recently, in a conversation with a colleague, I was told that there was a mid-day event planned at the Canadian Guesthouse in Kabul. Normally my day is dedicated to a few meetings, time at the computer, a phone call at home, a Dari lesson and a brief exercise session. But here was an opportunity to tinker at the borders – so I expressed an interest and was graciously invited to attend.

The event in question was a party of sorts for a group of Afghan orphans ranging between the ages of 1 and 15 years of age. Most were girls and all liked to play, very much. So I wore my flats and spent a wonderful hour playing ball with several girls. My work with the Ministry of Justice took a different meaning – reminded me of who this work was for. It strengthened my resolve and launched new perspectives - all while making very special friends. Here are a few pictures of the event.

Eye Catching Change

Each time I complete an international assignment in a developing country my perspectives and beliefs change a little. Change is inevitable with exposure, experience and exchange involving new cultures and extraordinary economic and social realities. As we have all witnessed, change occurs in many ways. Here are four that have recently caught my eye:

1. The Organic Growth: creating change that begins and is sustained from within – it is scrupulously homemade, created with ingredients that require no explanation, instructions or special tests. It is the least invasive and the most welcomed, comparable to a smile on a tired face.

2. The Cosmetic Cover-up: creating a layer of change that unintentionally or intentionally hides what is not changed and perhaps the cause for dragging you down. It would be comparable to painting the visible part of an iceberg pink and believing that the remaining 90% located under the water is also wearing pink.

3. The Magic Code: Same input – same output. Change will happen when the input is different. Less food - less weight; more spending - less savings; less cold - more heat; less stress – better digestion. It takes a magic code to build commitment to change the input and meaningful outputs to keep it going.

4. The Boiled Frog: According to Dr. Linda Duxbury, one of Canada's leading workplace health researchers, if a frog jumps into a pot of boiling water it will jump out. But if a frog is sitting in a pot of room-temperature water with the heat turned up gradually the frog will remain until it is too late to escape. Gradual change – good or bad – is sometimes unnoticeable to the senses – and this sometimes can be a bad thing regardless of whether you are a frog or not.

Photo: Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris), California Coast, March, 2008

Happy International Women's Day!

This is a tribute to all women who through their generosity have contributed to other women's development; but mostly to the millions of courageous women around the world who have improved their lives by working with them.

Visit: http://www.internationalwomensday.com.

Walk on By

Their dress is as unique as their culture. They all have a story to tell and we too often walk on by.

Engaging Minds

This morning I woke up with the sound of helicopters hovering just above our heads. It made me think of the opening to the TV program, M.A.S.H. – but without the background music. Indeed, there is a constant buzz of insecurity fluttering in the psyche of people in Kabul.

Non Governmental Organizations (NGO's) have played an important humanitarian role in Afghanistan - and yes, helping people to forget about overhead helicopters is part of it too. By November 2003 there were more than 1,600 NGO’s registered with the Government of Afghanistan and the number has been steadily growing. Their mandates range from producing jobs to overseeing production; from building bridges to restoring buildings; and from exposing smiles on concealed faces to resealing wounds from exploding land mines.

In recent discussion with colleagues and friends, I have been introduced to a couple of NGO’s, both of which have a book describing a story about Afghanistan:

Turquoise Mountain Foundation: Led by CEO, Rory Stewart Turquoise Mountain specializes in urban regeneration, business development, and education in traditional arts and architecture. They seek to provide jobs, skills, and a renewed sense of national pride to Afghan men and women. Book: Places in Between by Rory Stewart at Amazon.ca

Kabul Beauty School: Created by Deborah Rodriguez, born and raised in Holland, Michigan, the school provides a haven for women to share their stories, heal, strengthen and carry on. Her book describes what it takes to launch and run an NGO in a war torn country. Book: Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil by Deborah Rodriguez at Amazon.ca

Photos taken in Kabul in 2008

Capturing Hearts

With three weeks left working in Kabul and the uncapping of St. Valentine’s Day around the corner, I cannot help but share my craving for family and friends in Canada. Back at home where temperatures have reached the -40 C, sending heaps of warm loving thoughts is quite timely and a great way to workout the sags and swells of the heart.

To no surprise, working overseas for prolonged periods can be heart wrenching for the international worker, regardless of the degree of harmony and attraction existing between the people, the work and the international worker. Thankfully, there are several computer aided telephony options and of course the internet to keep in touch.

Still, international workers stationed in Kabul have found many other ways of coping with the separation from their families and the isolation caused by the frequent restricted mobility alerts. Some internationals partake in a Kabul “Hash”, some play Frisbee in secured areas, learn how to read, write and speak Dari, pursue their distance learning programs; while others workout at gyms located in their guest house or local compounds. There are also evenings for card players; trivia question night, karaoke competitions, and the odd shopping excursion on Chicken Street.

By having more freedom and involvement with community based grass roots projects, some internationals working for Non Governmental Organizations have the opportunity to expand - quite gracefully - the breathing space available in Kabul. (to be continued)

Photo taken by Sophie Swire February, 2008.

Springing a Meltdown