The Cranky Middle Manager Show #312 The Future of the MBA Ken Starkey
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #141 Managing in the UAE, Sarah Shaw
Posted on 28. Apr, 2008 by Wayne in Podcast
Wayne Turmel interviews Sarah Shaw, about what it’s like to manage in the “Oasis Economies” of the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates. Boom times make for interesting conversation. Plus we look at a Bedouin hero named Antarah who had it way rougher than you do…….
Today we welcome a young woman who will help us understand the situation in the United Arab Emirates, as well as dispel some of my stupid assumptions about working and managing there. Sarah Shaw tells us about managing in the booming, constantly changing world of the “Oasis Economies”.
Show Notes
0:00 Welcome to the show. Today we’re continuing our periodic look at managing in different parts of the world- circumstances are different but middle management never changes… hasn’t throughout history, why should it start now. Today we’re looking at one of the most unique booming areas of all… the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates. We dedicate this show to Antarah the Black Knight. If you’ve ever had to do an impossible project to make your bones you can identify.
4:06 Our quote of the week is an Arabic proverb… it’s when you know what you know and don’t know, that’s when you’ll know… or something like that.
5:40 Welcome new friend Sarah Shaw. First we need to understand exactly what, where and how is the United Arab Emirates.
10:00 What are the challenges of creating a native business and management class in less than a generation and a half? The speed of change is part of it. Emirati culture is also an issue in blending Western companies and native Emirati workers. We spend some time dispelling some myths and learn a lot. Anybody want to pay me to go over and check it out for myself?
16:00 The cultural change is drastic. Sarah tells us her family history moving from a Bedouin, nomadic life to a more western one. There are a lot of misunderstandings between cultures, including an arab “expert” who told me something false. There IS an Arab word for customer… it’s Zabun. There, don’t you feel smarter now?
24:00 What’s the situation like there for ex-pats who suddenly find themselves there? Dubai is very much like Singapore in that it’s “Arabia for beginners”. I also apologize on behalf of American idiots everywhere….
28:00 We touch on the role of gender in the workplace… and the changes between the generations.
To Find Out More
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Department
Don’t forget to visit us at www.crankymiddlemanager.com or www.greatwebmeetings.com
Don’t let the weasels get you down!
The Cranky Middle Manager Show #140 Leadership and The Offsite- Robert Thompson
Posted on 21. Apr, 2008 by Wayne in Podcast
Today we look at The Offsite, by Robert Thompson a book that teaches the lessons of The Leadership Challenge. Wayne Turmel talks to Robert about leadership, why Las Vegas is the last place you want to do training and we salute Pericles…
SHOW NOTES
0:00 Welcome to the show for those too low on the food chain to claim Omniscience, but too high for plausible deniability.
Today we salute Pericles, the brains behind the Athenian glory years. We salute him for thinking out of the box…by putting Athens in a box, where it was safe. It also made the world safe for theater and man-boy love….. unintended consequences, more than likely.
2:39 Lao Tzu has our quote of the week… comparing your company’s strategy to cooking a fish is a novel approach, but no more so than some of the other analogies we’ve heard.
Don’t forget to visit us and subscribe to our newsletter…..
4:01 Welcome Robert Thompson, author of The Offsite, A Leadership Challenge Fable. Jim Kouzes has been with us a couple of times so check him out if this interests you at all. (Episode 82 and Episode 112 to be precise). I have selfish reasons for liking it, but it’s a good way to introduce the 5 Practices of Exemplary Leadership. We also discuss why offsites often suck and what makes a good one.
9:23 Robert actually teaches the Leadership Challenge principles and we talk about the challenge of trying to teach leadership. This is trainer’s geek speak. So sue me.
14:30 Why are people so cynical about training, even expensive well-done training. Yes, it’s more about engagement and how to make it happen.
18:46 How does Robert deal with the prisoners- the ones who don’t want to be trained and aren’t there because they want to be?
24:00 The biggest challenge for managers is often the metrics they’re responsible for. How do you challenge the process and keep your job?
27:00 Robert has lots of people who have endorsed the book including our friends Marshall Goldsmith and Steve Farber among others, so he’s in good company. he also recommends
A Long Rambling Post About Memes and Books
Posted on 18. Apr, 2008 by Wayne in General
I have a bad case of mental poison ivy… an idea stuck in my head that I need to scratch and know I shouldn’t. If I give in and scratch it, i’m going to be on the mailing list for every glorified chainletter going (under the fancy name of memes) and if I don’t scratch it I’ll go crazy.
Here’s the setup and then I’ll tell you why i can’t stop thinking about this.
Eric Pennington (from Episode 138- Waking Up in Corporate America) sent me this invitation:
“Sending you this your way to let you know that I’m tagging you for a book meme. The rules are as follows:
* List the books you are reading
* Pick up the closest book to hand
* Open to page 123
* Find the 5th sentence
* Post the next 3 sentences
* Tag 5 more people”
Now, I get these all the time and as I say I usually delete them immediately. I’ve spent too many years training people not to forward me “the funniest thing they’ve ever read” or email chain letters to backslide and give in. I wasn’t going to respond, but then the itch started.
First, it asks for books plural. I am only reading one book this week (as opposed to the 4 i usually have on the go because publishers love having their authors on the show) so I’d have to include the last books i read or was juggling, which is fine. So here are the last five books from the current effort backwards.
Natasha’s Dance- A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes
Doctor Zhivago- by Boris Pasternak
Beyond Booked Solid- by Michael Port (for the show- not going to happen)
The Blood King- Gail Z Martin
Fired Up or Burned Out Michael Lee Stallard (for the show- it did happen and you should listen)
Here are the sentences in question.Feel free to snore:
” Ivan Argunov, the Shermetev’s artist, depicted several ‘unknown peasant girls’ who were most probably wet nurses. The fact that a girl like this should become the subject of a portrait painting, commissioned for display in her owner’s house, in itself speaks volumes about her position in the culture of the Russian Aristocracy. Pavel Sumarokov,recalling daily life among the nobility in the eighteenth century, said that the wet nurse was given pride of place among all the domestic staff.”
Okay, wake up. Here’s what went through my brain in doing this exercise in no particular order of itchiness:
- I was a little embarrassed by the list and for all kinds of reasons. “What kind of pretentious idiot reads a cultural history of Russia? People will think I’m putting on airs…..” but then it makes sense because I had just read Doctor Zhivago (inspired by the movie “Into the Wild”, trust me there’s a connection) and I do love me a good fat Russian novel and I’m a Russian history freak, especially the Revolution(s). So I was seeking context.Pavel, Adam, any chance someone wants me to speak there?
- Or was I more embarrassed by reading The Blood King (which I had to read because I’d just finished The Summoner, it’s prequel)- I am a sword and sorcery fiend… I read all kinds of crap like this…. i like it…. so sue me. Not really a reason to be embarrassed except if you read Eric’s blog on this and follow back to the folks he got tagged by they are all reading high-minded self-improvement stuff. I’m worrying about whether the mage will…well I won’t bore you with it.
- I’m all about following whichever rabbit hole I come across…. one Russian novel leads to another, or a history book, one cheap fantasy novel leads to the next in the trilogy (why are they always trilogies?)
- Does a mixed reading bag like this mean I’m well balanced or does it explain why I’m so broke? Should I get more serious and focus on reading what’s “useful”? I read these other people and it’s serious book after serious book….
- Do I lack focus or am I one of those elusive polymaths?
I won’t tag 5 other people, since they’ll probably have been tagged by the time I get to them anyway, but this is a fascinating experiment…. what are YOU reading?
Is this meme outdated because so many of us get our input from the Web (and how long will it be until the paper book is a relic)?
Is your input focused on one area or are you, like me literarily promiscuous ( the first Mrs. Cranky used to call me a book slut, but literarily promiscuous sounds more, well, bookish). I am now trademarking “literarily promiscuous”.
No judgments, share with us if you’d like. Just asking.
Get “Straight Talk for Success” And Cool Stuff
Posted on 18. Apr, 2008 by Wayne in General
Bud Bilanich, The Common Sense Guy is someone I’ve been meaning to have on the show for a long time, and it will happen soon (probably mid-May). His new book is out, “Straight Talk For Success- Common Sense Ideas That Won’t Let You Down” and he obviously wants you to buy it. But here’s the deal- if you buy it on on April 22 you’ll get about a thousand dollars worth of free stuff.
Click here for more details and watch the skies for an upcoming interview with Bud.
Hey, nobody loves you like your humble servant. Happy to be of service.