Top 5 (and least loved) blog posts after two years and 100 posts

Wow, two years after I started this blog and I am still at it... 100 posts in all, over 25,500 viewers (not all my Mom and Dad surely), many adventures and countless memories. As people like lists I decided to write another list... the top five blog posts of "all time" and a mention for the least loved....

The list includes both research results and "action learning adventures" - although the action took place in the classroom, on a camel farm and in Japan!

Number 5 with 770 views: Advice to Emirati entrepreneurs at each stage of the entrepreneurship process

The advice given is broken up into the four "basic" stages of the entrepreneurship process as illustrated by this fabulous graphic.

Entrepreneurship process in stages

The advice was developed after several years of research (which resulted in the UAE 2011 GEM Report and the first book on Emirati entrepreneurship) and seems to get a reader or two every week, even over year after it was first posted.

Number 4 with 859 views: Camel racing farm visit - another adventure in learning strategy from traditional industries

Given my overarching theme of learning about what strategy is "now" in the UAE by looking to the past and Emirati heritage, we visted two different camel farms in Sharjah, UAE to learn about camel racing and also to think about the strategy of camel racing...
There is a video here about the robot jockey (an Emirati invention) here:

Camel racing is a fascinating sport, with different strategies and tactics used to train, feed and heal camels - all depending on the age of the camel, sex and length of the race. They are also beautiful animals :)

We are interrupting a 5* dinner with imported fresh grass!

Number 3 with 1598 views: ZU Men's Business Association trip to Japan - Emirati planning in action (Part 1)

During the 2012 Spring break the Men's Business Association at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi went on a study abroad trip to Japan. Ten of the founding members of the Association, myself (the supervisor of the Club) and David (awesome instructor in College of Social Sciences and only Westerner I know who speaks local Arabic!) went on a ten day adventure to Tokyo - this is what we did, but more important how it all came together through the amazing support of so many people at ADNOC Distribution (forever grateful), Mr. Hasan (the most Emirati, Japanese person I have ever met), the UAE Embassy in Japan (will never be able to thank you enough) and ZU (many individuals put a rush on things that are not normally rushed).

This is just part 1 of 3 outlining our adventures, but needless to say we had a great time, visited many interesting sites, met wonderful people and learned to get around a country whose infrastructure is very different than our own - and are still in contact with our student translators who volunteered their time to be our guides. We have even had a visit here from one of them :) 

The group with the UAE Ambassador to Japan

Number 2 with 1755 views: Entrepreneurship as Process

I can only assume that describing entrepreneurship as a process is a term paper question... because this post is viewed in "clusters". It is a simple description of the four phases of the process... but I guess simple is a good thing when it comes to usability!

There are four basic phases of the process :

1.      Recognizing opportunities

2.      Assembling resources

3.      Launch of venture

4.      Harvesting and succeeding

Number 1 with 1908 views: Let them eat cake: Learning strategy through celebration

Manchester City won the Barclays Premier League football (soccer for the North American readers) for the first time in 44 years two years ago. Now, you might not know, but Man City is Abu Dhabi's team - Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment owned and run by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought the Club in 2009 - and just three short years later we won (yes - I am a fan too).

I learned to use all things football to teach different elements of strategic management early when I began teaching the boys... My plans to watch a video turned into a celebration with cake and pop and a video of the winning goal. And I still use this to teach... and yes, light bulb moments happen each time!

Totally yummy cake!

Now, for the least loved - in fact it was my first post welcoming people to my new blog... lets just say visits are barely into the double digits... but that's OK :)

I will continue with my blog... it will change and adapt as next semester I will not be teaching Strategy, but will be teaching Innovation Management to the girls... our action learning adventures will surely be held mainly on campus, but that just requires a bit of creativity and planning - something Emirati women excel at!

Advice from Managers: the Strategy of Listening not Talking

I would like to thank the managers who provided my students with advice and Ms. Taiba Hussain, an instructor at Zayed University and a PhD Candidate at King's College, London, for her invaluable data analysis and collaboration. Sometimes the best strategy we can take is listening to the wisdom of others (and actually following their advice).

A year or so ago my three classes of Introduction to Management at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, one on the male campus and two on the female campus, interviewed a total of 74 managers working in the UAE.  While most of the managers are based in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, there were also several interviewees from Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates.  After the prepared questions were asked and answered, several managers also shared their words of advice to the students.  The advice was interesting and at times surprising…

1. Be Affectionate

The most cited piece of advice was to be “affectionate” and to care about others, your subordinates, your colleagues and your bosses.  In the West, this term would not be used I think, with worries of harassment suits and perhaps a misunderstanding of the word affection.  I think what they meant was “care” and an emphasis on EQ rather than IQ.  Researchers know that emotional intelligence is a bigger part of personal success in business than simple “smarts”.  Knowing “how” and “why” and “who” will set new employees apart from others than simply knowing “what”.

2. Rearch your targets

The second most cited piece of advice was to achieve the goals that you have set, for both you and your organization.  This pre-supposes that you have made goals or fixed objectives or targets, but measurable, attainable future ambitions that new managers (or employees) need to fix, strive for and attain.  Also, to shine in the workplace it would be a good idea to understand for new employees to understand their role in reaching the goals of their team, group, department or organization.

3. Have patience and be determined

Of course, to attain these goals, especially long term goals, one needs patience and determination, the third most cited piece of advice.  When we are young, and even when we are not so young, when we finally decide on our destination and the path that we need to take we tend to want to arrive now… even if that means we are unprepared for our destination.  The managers interviewed, from experience, know that the path (or process) is as important as the destination.  If we skip steps along the way, we simply won’t be prepared.  That being said, we need determination to step around road blocks and accomplish what we set out to do.

Other, great pieces of advice are be a hard worker, committed to your job and your organization, cooperate with others and work on communication skills… yes, it might sound like advice we got from our grade school teachers… but all of us know these are invaluable tips for success in life and in our careers. 

Now we just need to implement these valuable suggestions into our actions to improve our careers - or change our careers. Whether we are newly minted graduates, recently promoted or pre-retirement, words of wisdom should never be ignored.