UAE Strategy Through Photographs: The Event

Part of the team and their honoured guest.

I have been a bit behind in blogging - but I got the final grades for this class in at least and will now blog their group-project/event. How I teach Strategy (well, how I teach everything) is to "force" students to look at the world around them in a different way. Analyse what they are seeing and how it reflects the strategy of a company (or country), the leadership goals of a manager or the "gap" between what is said and what is done.

I also want my students to learn the "theory" of management or strategy as it was been done here in the past (before oil and ex-pat managers if you will) to find if there was a different way/philosophy of doing things than the Western model we teach them from the textbooks. I want them to understand both the Western and the Traditional way of managing, leading, strategising and then find their own path.

I am thinking of writing a strategy handbook this summer about the stories we have learned about the past - that is if my summer ever starts :)

OK, back to this event that I missed being a super nerd in Jordan (which I blogged about and enjoyed so much it made me re-want to be a professor and researcher all over again). The students organised a photography event (first blogged about here First blogpost) to:

1. Raise money for charity
2. Show that the implementation of Abu Dhabi Plan 2030, UAE 2021 and the other Emirate's plans is happening all around us
3. Learn about the challenges of organising a biggish event (especially when we have JBI running the show)

Each small group of students had specific tasks, and yes, there were challenges - they worked through them as a group. They made plans to show the photos on the girls' side too (thanks for the help as always Mariam) but the two day sale was such a success on the boy's side that they decided not to go ahead with it.

They sold a lot - and raised enough money to fund drilling three water wells in Sri Lanka (which is very fitting with all the talk of water in class). They used their own funds to print the photos up and donated the unsold photos to the university.

Here are some photos of the event. I hope you enjoy them and I hope you are beginning to realise that Emirati men (even the young ones) are not like their stereotype that is being propagated even into the New York Times. I will miss them of course, and hope to see them again in the future - and I hope to be invited to sit as the "academic nerd" on their Boards of Directors in a few years' time!

Day 1: already 7 sold in pre-sale

Special visitor Dr. Sulaimann the VP of Zayed University

The one with the blue line (Sheik Zayed Bridge) is in my bedroom!

Banner they had made

ZU's Got Poets - Using Poetry (I don't understand) to Teach

Now technically this was a leadership class project - but it ties in very nicely with an event my Strategy Class has planned on Monday, May 28, 2012. The event this coming Monday is The Strategy of Poetry - and I am on pins and needles with excitment for it!

This post though is about an awesome event organised last year by: Saeed Al Zaabi, Tariq Al Hosani and Yousif Ali Sultan.  As regular readers can tell, I realised quickly that with boys in particular "doing" is the best way to achieve my goal of "teaching" and "learning" - and as a bonus I am entertained, well-fed, learn so much about the culture here and get regular doses of extreme pride through my students' creativity, ingenuity and hard work (to remember in the moments of  extreme frustration when they WILL NOT listen in class).

Poster

I think it is general knowledge that poetry is important in the Arab world - and important in the UAE in particular. It is used to express pride, gratitude, love and it is used for strategic purposes (see, all things really do relate back to strategy). I have had the honour to have wonderful poets in class (not always the ones who pay 100% attention, 100% of the time in class) - and I appreciate how they see the world. I love poetry myself - Jacques Prevert to help me learn and understand French better (French like Arabic is more about meaning than words) - and I even wrote a bit of poetry myself in my angst-filled youth.

The biggest problem is I don't understand Arabic (a good and a bad thing when you teach young men - mainly good I think) - but I "understand" the meaning when they recite a poem (or I feel I understand anyways).

Poets waiting to start

So, back to the event. In my leadership class (only taught once) I had the students organize an event – e.g. using leadership skills in action. There was the Car Show, the Walk-a-Thon and ZU’s Got Poets.

There were five poets chosen to compete for the top prize and an  MC was asked  to host the event. They organized the posters, the medals, the food, the oud, the dates, coffee, and chocolates (!) everything needed for the event (with loads of support from Paul Abraham and  never-ending help from Charif Rabah, and Joy Saneo – love you guys!)

The day of the event was a bit stressful, many male students were needed for another event on the girl’s campus and the organisers were worried about attendance – from the photos you can see the worry wasn’t justified – one of the poets was late! – and yet it worked out in the end of course.

Full house

Saeed thanking people for attending

This was the first Arabic poetry event I had seen and it was amazing, the poets worked to the audience, the audience recited words and phrases back – the audience cheered and laughed and the atmosphere in the auditorium was electric. The poets spoke of love, of pride and respect for their fathers, for the UAE, and it was just a very happy moment for me.

The structure of strategy is similar in many places – but the tactics – what works to implement the chosen strategy is what changes. Here, in the UAE, with my students - Poetry works J

I welcome you to the event on Monday – contact me through comments and I will provide your details to security – sorry, female undergraduate students won’t be able to attend, but I have asked them to videotape it.

Volunteers counting the votes

Ahmed accepting his prize

Khalaf accepting his prize

The poets and organisers