Dubai a Cauldron of Volatile People?

A masked performer, just outside a theater in Festival City, Dubai (February 8th 2008)

Personally, I'm concerned that as stress in our daily lives heighten and as we continue to have an influx of different nationalities, Dubai will become more and more a cauldron of volatile people.

That is what I wrote to Brandy Scott, when I e-mailed her on June 18th 2008, about what I was observing among people in Dubai.  She was a broadcaster and a co-host of Business Breakfast talk radio.  I'd listen to their show every morning en route to the office.  Here is the full text of my e-mail and our exchange:

I'm a Philippine-born, American expat in Dubai. I have a PhD in clinical psychology, but I shed the "shrink" moniker years ago when I moved into management consulting (Middle East, US and Europe).

When I was a psychology professor in that previous life, I reflected on race relations and the dynamics or mechanisms that make these positive or negative. What I came up with was a Model of Cultural Imperatives.

First of all, an imperative is like a drive, a need, or even a force. Whatever drives a moth to flame, e.g., is what I mean by "imperative." There are four: (a) sameness, (b) identity, (c) safety, and, yes, (d) simplicity.

Briefly:

• Sameness - it's what drives people to relate to (hang out with) people of their own nationality or profession or neighborhood etc. We can see this phenomenon at a cocktail party, e.g.
• Identity - it's what a person or group is compelled to establish for itself: Who I am or who we are... [fill in nationality, trait etc.]
• Safety - we humans are geared to protect ourselves, not just physically but also emotionally, psychologically and spiritually (cf. The awful worldwide row surrounding the cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad [pbuh] from that Danish newspaper. Many people experienced these as a threat to their safety, and reacted violently to defend and protect themselves.)
• Simplicity - take the smartest, most open-minded person in the world, and put him or her under great stress, and his or her thinking, attitudes, outlook etc. can become very black-or-white. Such a complex, sensitive issue as abortion in the US has become, at points in time, a simplistic, polarized stand between Pro-Choice and Pro-Life proponents.

Why, on this last imperative? Well, our brains and our disposition have limited capacities. Given high levels of stress in our daily lives here in Dubai (from high costs of living, traffic congestions, construction sites encroaching everywhere), even the best of us can handle only so much. Thankfully, the vast majority of us have good capacities and don't go bonkers. Nevertheless, I think cultural tensions are seeping more and more seeping into the things we say to each other, what we do, how we relate to one another: To wit, "if you don't like it here, get out!"

This Model of Imperatives offers insights into the nature of race relations, cultural differences and human behavior. Personally, I'm concerned that as stress in our daily lives heighten and as we continue to have an influx of different nationalities, Dubai will become more and more a cauldron of volatile people. What I began to build into my Model, however, are ways to improve relations and minimize such combustible tensions.

Anyway, lots to talk about here. Pls let me know if you'd like to discuss.

On June 28th Scott responded:

Interesting stuff! (I take it this is in response to the chat I was having with Alex McNab last week, about the language used in Dubai.) Actually, I've noticed lately how many people seem to be happy to report that others are struggling to make ends meet, or that international reports are saying the boom here 'can't last' - do you think this is because it makes them feel better about struggling themselves? Perhaps makes them feel that it is not just them?

Who are you a management consultant for, btw?

Then, I responded the next day:

It was actually a chat you had with Wael Al Sayegh that morning when I sent my SMS and e-mail to you. The subject was Modhesh and the universality of the brand. A bit later on in the chat, you referred to simplistic attitudes of people.

(BTW: I've met Wael and he's surely an articulate, learned man. Glad you have him on your show periodically.)

Sorry, I didn't fully introduce myself: I'm a management trainer at Emirates National Oil Co. (ENOC) Group, where I specialize in leadership development (2 years in Dubai). I was formerly a management consultant with Personnel Decisions International (US-based firm), and my client work became more focused on the Middle East in the 4-5 years before I left the firm. I left clinical psychology in 1999 to become a management consultant with PDI.

Yeah, I think you're right. But there's just so many complex things about us human beings that there's no one explanation for the things we do or say:

• It could be denial - a flat refusal to accept the reality that one is struggling: 'It's them, not me!' (imperative of identity, the need to set well-delineated boundaries between us/me and them).
• It could be the sort of solace in "misery loves company," where 'I feel better, knowing others are struggling, too' (imperative of sameness, which is comforting to many people).
• Then, it could be the cruel nature of some people, who take pleasure in others' pain, misery or unhappiness (imperative of safety, perhaps, if that cruelty arises from feeling supremely vulnerable or threatened underneath it all).

I hadn't thought much about my Model of Cultural Imperatives in recent years. But as cultural relations become more and more of an issue in Dubai, it's rising up to my consciousness again. Your chat with Wael was definitely a trigger.

Create Comprehensive Plan, Get to Root Causes

Muslim leaders and scholars in the U.S. have issued an open letter refuting the ideology championed by Islamic State.

This is a short but crucial clip that the Wall Street Journal posted on September 25th.  I have had the privilege and pleasure of traveling to, and living in, the Middle East over the past decade:  first, as a management consultant, then as a Dubai resident in the United Arab Emirates.  I can tell you that Islam is a religion of peace and kindness.  I shared the clip on Google+ with the note:

Any extreme or radical group can commandeer any religion to serve its destructive purpose. 

Therein lies the issue, I believe, with the Islamic State.  I greatly appreciate what Ahmed Bedier and his fellow leaders and scholars relay, which I reiterate here: (a) The plan to resolve conflict must be comprehensive.  Singular, destructive approaches, such as bombings and killings, will ultimately not work, whether by the Islamic State or coalition forces.  The plan must mirror the complexity and depth of the conflict, and thereby adopt a multidimensional tact.  (b) This comprehensive plan must adequately address root causes.  What are the fundamental grievances of people in the Islamic State movement and in segments of the Muslim world?  How well can we understand these grievances, and what do we need to do to resolve them effectively?

It is a simple rule of gardening, that I learned from my mother and my wife: That to eradicate weeds, I must get to their root and remove it. 

Peaceful Protest as Hallmark for Change

In today’s video, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services are providing a new guide to law enforcement officers that compiles information, tools, and best practices to maintain public safety while safeguarding constitutional rights during First Amendment-protected events. Attorney General Holder reiterated that the Department of Justice encourages law enforcement officials, in every jurisdiction, to work with the communities they serve to minimize needless confrontation. And he reminded all individuals that—while demonstrations and protests have the potential to spark a positive national dialog and bring about critical reform—history has shown us that the most successful and enduring movements for change are those that adhere to non-aggression and nonviolence.

This is a fine message from the Attorney General.  It seems at times that people, and their communities, are so easily inflamed when wrongdoing, injustice or offense takes place.  Emotions are part and parcel of human nature, and so is the will to survive and to fight when threatened.  But while aggressive or violent action may stop wrongdoing, it inevitably begets more aggression and violence.  Such action may also convey the message that any injustice will not be tolerated, but if the action itself is against the law and creates more harm, then the message is dangerously twisted: It becomes a matter of injustice vs injustice.  A momentary win-lose scenario inevitably becomes a lose-lose scenario, if the root causes of the original wrongdoing, injustice or offense aren't addressed adequately or resolved effectively.  So I cannot emphasize enough what the Attorney General relates:  Peaceful protest as a hallmark of change, as are dialogue and debate and earnest problem solving. 

The new guide for law enforcement officers is available here: Department of Justice Releases Resource Guide to Help Law Enforcement Strengthen Relationships with Communities.

Call You Creative, Maybe?

Call Me Maybe is, of course, the runaway 2012 pop hit from Carly Rae Jepsen, and this clever gentleman fashions a business card that is endearingly contemporary and delightfully clever.  Business people, and the like, can be positively droll, can't they.  I know, because I am one of them.  But if it suits any of them personally, and their business can appreciate something different and something funny, then why not?

I have networked widely over the past decade, and I have my business cards on hand at all times and certainly welcome them in turn from my colleagues.  The majority of them are well designed but straight laced, but one of hem kept it simple but as clever as David Coppini's (above):

This card certifies that you had a charming experience meeting...

I certainly had a good experience meeting this dude, and I count him as one of my friends now.  

So give it a try, if it suits you.

By the way, Jimmy Fallon, a TV host, talent and all-around funny guy performed Call Me Maybe with Jepsen, and proved that one piece creativity can indeed beget another piece of creativity:

The Tao of Project Management

Perhaps you've seen this telling cartoon on project management, or some variation of it, on social media timelines.  There's no such thing as flawless communication or understanding, but that's no excuse for neglecting the paces of clarifying, agreeing and planning a project collaboratively.  This cartoon uses humor, even ridicule to convey a point:  That sometimes 10 of us will witness the same exact event, and come away with 10 different observations and interpretations.  Of course this point is a hyperbole, but while there may actually be agreements among us about this event, there are bound to be some disagreements as well.  So one of the key things I've learned to do in consulting projects is to check regularly with my clients, just to make sure we were truly on the same page and on track with our efforts.  This way, we keep any mistakes to a minimum and at manageable levels.  This is the way (Tao) of project management.

Personal Vision and Creative Destruction

Transcript:

Disruption is always the mechanism by which real economic growth is generated.

I am Clayton Christensen -- a professor at the Harvard Business School. I had spent my academic career studying the problems of innovation, and in particular: What is it that makes success so difficult to sustain? The economist, Joseph Schumpeter called it, "creative destruction."

The economy and innovation kept going; but, the mechanism by which it kept going was, it destroyed the old, as it created the new. And, I think my contribution is a model called, "disruptive innovation" -- that is, the causal mechanism, by which creative destruction occurs.

The advent of sophisticated communications technology really has facilitated disruption, so that it happens at a faster rate.

So, prior to about 1990, if I needed to call you, the electrons actually travelled on a physical circuit, to the telephone company's switching gear. And then, it switched, and went on a physical circuit to your phone. And so, when we talked to each other, the electrons actually travelled on a single physical line.

And, Cisco came up with this concept, called a router. And, what a router did was, it took the data -- whether it was voice, or information -- and, it packetized it, in these virtual envelopes; wrote the address on each virtual pocket; and then fanned it out over the Internet.

At the beginning, the router -- with its packet switched technology -- could get information from here to there, with about a four second latency delay.

And, that meant, if I wanted to do voice with you, over a packet switch network, it was just very frustrating. You had to be a desperately poor graduate student to do voiceover IP. So, Cisco and the network of companies that worked with it, didn't try to address voice -- they went after data, because packet switching, with a four second latency delay, was infinitely faster than first class mail.

Lucent and Nortel, that made circuit switched equipment, looked down at the router; and, they couldn't see value in it, because it couldn't be used for voice. And so, they kept investing in bigger and better circuit switching equipment, to make the quality of voice conversations better and better. But then, coming at the bottom, Cisco just kept improving the safety, and the speed, and the accuracy of its packet switching technology, until today -- you really can't tell the quality difference between a packet switch call, and a circuit switch call.

And, voiceover IP just pervades the world. Nortel is gone; because they listened to their customers; and, their customers needed faster and better voice. They didn't need data transport. So, the fact that we can shift data, in such extraordinary ways, in terms of volume and speed, is really attributable to the fact that, Cisco disrupted circuit switching.

CEOs ought not stop listening to customers, at least not categorically. But they also ought to know when not to listen to them. No CEO can be like a Steve Jobs or Henry Ford, and think he or she can just eschew market research. But Jobs and Ford have important lessons to learn: Some CEOs may have those moments when they need to see their own personal vision and listen to their own inner voice. 

That vision and voice can alert the CEO that a creative destruction may be, or is, underway and it affects the business, industry or market in some way.  So it's a call for him or her to act accordingly.