Lalla Sara

Master Stakeholder Management with 5 Simple Steps

2023-02-11T18:00:00.003-08:00

Project management is one of the most sought-after, yet least understood skill sets in an organization. People know that when there’s a competent project manager around, things magically go more smoothly. More work gets done, superior results are achieved, and everybody feels less stressed.

But how, exactly, is that accomplished? People seeking to become project managers may find the career transition frustrating because of all the “soft skills” involved. These “soft skills” are among the most valuable in our field, and yet they can be the most difficult to quantify. That’s because these are skills that are best learned, not from a textbook, but from the school of life.

Most project managers know what it takes to build a solid project plan, create and maintain a budget, assign and track tasks, and identify and escalate roadblocks. These are skills you can learn from a textbook, at least in theory.

However, successful project managers know that it also takes a great deal of stakeholder management to drive the project to the finish line and obtain a high stakeholder satisfaction that can be measured with a Stakeholder Satisfaction Score.

So what exactly is “stakeholder management?”

There are numerous myths around stakeholder management that I heard throughout my career as a Project Manager. The most prominent ones that I heard even from project management trainers include:

Myth: Anyone Can Be Your Stakeholder

While this is technically true, it misses the point of stakeholder management. Technically, almost anyone you run into in the office or in the institution could have some stake in your project.

However, the key to successful stakeholder management is to identify the most influential stakeholders — those with the most to gain or lose from project success.

Start out by building a tight stakeholder matrix. This is the very first step to properly kicking off any project. When project managers add All The Stakeholders without classifying them, they risk losing sight of who the main stakeholders are, and how each stakeholder can actually impact the outcomes of the project.

Sometimes, these stakeholders may not even realize what their stake in the project is. A great project manager can subtly drive the point home by discussing the potential for gain — or loss — that they see in the project.

Reminding the stakeholder of what can happen if things go right — or if they don’t — can be a powerful motivator to get even the highest-ranking stakeholder on your side, making sure milestones are achieved in a smooth and strategic manner.

Myth: Communication and Rigorous Project Updates are Key

This is another myth that can technically be true — but which isn’t the best version of this idea.

Communication with the stakeholders is certainly key insofar as they need to be updated about the work status. Are there any risks? Is the project on schedule? Is there something they can do to remove roadblocks or expedite the process?

But your stakeholders don’t necessarily want you to be communicating at them. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you’re likely familiar with “email fatigue.” This is the effect that sets in when you get so many messages from one person or project that you simply stop reading them because almost none of them are relevant to you.

What your stakeholders want instead is to be engaged.

Instead of All The Communication, what you want to seek out is the most important and concise communication.

What is the bare minimum of communication and updates that will satisfy the team members and stakeholders? That’s what you want to go for. Perhaps that’s a mere weekly update to help orient everyone on Monday morning, or a monthly executive read-out to keep your high level stakeholders informed about the key updates, risks, and milestones.

If there is a delay or problem, that’s when you want to reach out to the delayed team members or stakeholders with additional communication. But spamming their inbox with daily updates will assure that your updates are simply ignored.

Here are five simple steps to fight these common myths and take your stakeholder management to the next level:

Step 1: Identify & DEFINE the Role of Each Stakeholder

Build a comprehensive stakeholder matrix and define the role, decision-making power, and level of engagement for each one of your stakeholders. This helps to ensure that the most important stakeholders are consistently engaged, without burning out either you or the stakeholders.

You will burn out quickly if you decide to give the same level of engagement to all stakeholders. You won’t get a Return on Investment for all the time and energy you’re spending, and you may waste the stakeholders’ time and energy as well if you are engaging them beyond their stake in the project or their ability to contribute.

Step 2: Know Your Audience & Adjust Your Communications

“One size fits” all communications are unfortunately a common mistake among Project Managers. Every team, industry, and project is different. The stakeholders’ personalities, schedules, and roles in the project may be different.

It is therefore important to create communication audiences “buckets” and adjust your messaging for each category. How often do you think the department manager wants to hear from you? What about the research team? The graphic designers?

Here are some easy ways to prioritize communications:

Reserve whole-team emails for high level updates and acknowledgements, when there’s really something to celebrate. This will ensure that team members feel great about their accomplishments and prospects when they get these emails from you.
Use engaging communication. This is a type of communication that doesn’t merely communicate “at” your team, but which also invites their response in a meaningful way.
When you decide you must update and communicate with them, invite them to interact with the team in a way that gets their wheels turning about the project and shows that you value their contribution.
Task-level project updates, escalations, etc.. Don’t include stakeholders on communications about a task that has nothing to do with them.
Unless she has specifically asked to be copied, the department director probably doesn’t need to know what the graphic design team is up to. Neither do the graphic designers need to know what big-picture release strategy the department director is working on.

By following these principles to streamline your communications, you are increasing the chance that your communications resonate with your audience.

Step 3: Build Relationships

There’s not a lot that’s more annoying than a colleague who only comes to you when they need something.

While we all want to make the most efficient use of our time and energy, and few of us want to chat by the water cooler for an hour, it’s important that you get to know your team members and stakeholders as whole people instead of just bombarding them with demands for updates.

It’s easy for project managers to get swamped with their time-consuming daily tasks of documentation, project delivery, report building and task monitoring. If we’re not careful, we can get so swamped that we overlook the important-but-not-urgent task of building personal relationship building with their stakeholders.

Great managers know the value of going above and beyond to deliver stellar results — even if it means putting some urgent-but-not-important tasks on hold for a little while.

Taking a few minutes for an informal one-on-one with key stakeholders will help you improve your reputation and save time on stakeholder buy-in in the future.

Stakeholders are more engaged in the project and committed to its success when they can build a trust relationship with the project manager.

This will also give you a chance to get to know each stakeholders’ concerns, special skills, and communication style. On top of that, it will give stakeholders a chance to give you feedback in an informal setting before any concerns, delays, or miscommunications become critical.

Connecting with your stakeholders one-on-one in an informal setting may take only a few minutes per day, and it’s one of the best investments you can make in the success of current and future projects.

Step 4: Engage, Don’t Manage

When you build your team, it is very important for everyone in the team to understand the what but also the why of their work. What is the ultimate goal of the project? Who does it benefit, and how? Who is the target audience and final customer?

Engaging your team in getting invested in your end goal and owning the process and deliverable is crucial for increased accountability and team satisfaction. People are happier and more productive when they feel that their work is meaningful to others — so ensure that your team understands the big picture view of how the project will benefit the consumer, the culture, the company, and other stakeholders.

Research conducted by Gallup in 2017, showed that team engagement led to increased productivity and positive business outcomes, and decreased absenteeism and quality defects.

Project managers can use different creative ways to remind their teams of the mission and the stakes and ensure the continuous engagement of their project teams.

Step 5: Set Expectations Early & Keep Them Consistent

Stakeholders love it when they know what they expect during every step of the project lifecycle. This is accomplished by verbally setting out expectations, but also by practicing them rigorously. There is a real sense of security and reciprocity that builds among stakeholders when you are reliable, responsive, and consistently meet their expectations.

Make sure to engage your stakeholders in defining their expectations. Listen, watch, and adjust your engagement plan according to their feedback, and stick to that optimized plan. Needless to say, this includes doing what you’ve promised to do reliably and on-schedule.

Make sure your stakeholders know where they can get real-time updates from if they should want them. I like to provide a dashboard for all my stakeholders where they can see high-level updates about the projects they are part of. This saves time and limits the confusion around the project.

It also cuts down on unnecessary communications, and empowers all stakeholders to come prepared to your meetings!

Project Management for a Better Tomorrow

Project management is a skill that takes practice as well as study. But when it comes together, it can truly transform a team’s and firm’s potential.

The power of a good project manager is in maximizing the productivity and investment of each stakeholder and team member in the project throughout its lifecycle, and ensuring roadblocks are removed along the way.

The Pursuit of Happiness: A Self-Destructive Quest?

2017-09-05T18:15:00.004-07:00

The quest for happiness has long been a central theme in human existence, but is the very act of searching for happiness self-destructive? The question "Am I happy?" can be of the most detrimental questions one can ask oneself. Sometimes we cannot help but be too philosophical for our own good.

The problem lies in the assumption that happiness can be measured and labeled like a thermometer, when in reality, it is a fluid and ever-changing state. Our lives are full of ups and downs, and neither state should determine whether we are happy or not. The idea that happiness is something that life owes us is a fallacy. Instead, it is something that we owe ourselves through a healthy lifestyle and a positive attitude.

The focus should not be on the question of happiness, but rather on our responses to the various situations that life presents us with. It is crucial to be mindful of our reactions during both the good and the bad times, and to maintain a positive attitude towards all situations. This requires a conscious effort and a determination to keep our end goal in mind with every action we take.

Furthermore, the tendency to live in the past is another common trap that can lead us away from true happiness. The nostalgic view of "the good old days" is often overly romanticized and can distract us from the beauty and potential of the present moment. More than that, the notion of “good old days” can be poisonous. It is important to focus on the present and to look forward to the future with hope and positivity. Everything black and white feels warm and poetic but was it really the good old days?
In conclusion, the answer to the question "Am I happy?" is elusive, and the pursuit of happiness can be self-destructive. The key to a fulfilling life is not to constantly search for happiness, but to live life fully and to get busy doing what what we love, with a positive attitude and a focus on the present. By doing so, the question of happiness should take care of itself.

But FIRST let me take a selfie!

2017-04-24T12:47:00.000-07:00

It’s not enough to be busy; so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?”
~Henry David Thoreau

Busy is not always equivalent to productive. In the fast paced environment that we work and live in, we are constantly faced with countless daily tasks and an ever growing checklist. We tend to prioritize those based on urgency, at least I know I do. When faced with a task, even as small as answering a friend's text message, we consciously or unconsciously make the decision to prioritize that task. In this case, we will choose to drop all and answer that text message or table it to a few minutes, hours, or days later. The point is we are constantly prioritizing our every day life's chores or activities. The question I ask myself today is on what basis are we prioritizing those tasks?

I realized that often times we let the urgent take precedence over the important. What is important to each one of us differs depending on life goals, culture, age, ambition, or environment. We rarely stop and ask ourselves, what are the most important "things" in my life today? What should I be highly prioritizing every minute, every hour and every day? What are my short and long term goals? Without answering these questions, we let the days meaninglessly pass by without getting any closer to the goals we cherish. We let the days pass by without spending time with our family, getting that certification that could help advance our careers or going to the gym and working towards a healthy lifestyle. We live a life guided by that pressing sense of urgency and let's face it: We end up living in a self created anxiety-filled bubble that controls our life and prevents us from self-progress and ultimately the sense of inner peace. Constantly prioritizing the urgent without getting any closer to the satisfaction of getting or experiencing what we truly cherish and what is truly important to us is stress inducing and can have a negative impact on our lives and the lives of those around us.

Don't let the days pass by without figuring out what is the absolute most important priorities in your life today and plan around that. Urgent is not always important. That urgent bill that you have to pay today, the work or school deadlines, whatever that emergency task you have to check mark might result in a high opportunity cost later on if it does not fit within your life goals. That is to say that if your life goals is to be debt free or financially healthy, then paying your bill IS important. But now you are making a conscious prioritization decision and a fulfilling one.

Do yourself a favor and determine your life priorities in writing, voice memo, in your mind...Whatever method you choose, be concise and clear, stay focused around those priorities and next time make a conscious prioritization decisions when you encounter one. Once you do so, reward yourself because you are most likely one step closer to accomplishing one of your most important life goals.

Healthy Gravitations

2016-12-11T13:59:00.000-08:00

We don't choose family but we choose friends, a commonly believed theory that justified our friendship and companionship selectivity in life. We all develop inner circles throughout the years. Those circles gradually and organically shrink over time as our personalities, likes, and wants develop. In fact, with time and specifically after our mid twenties, we attract a certain type of friends who would quasi-perfectly fit into our own unique life shaped mold. We no longer solely choose friends but also gravitate towards friendships that reflect who we are as individuals and what we represent.

Sometimes, I look around and realize the many ghosted friends and acquaintances. The people who are no longer as a big part of my life as they used to be. I immediately feel a sense of culpability. Is there anything I could have done to stay in touch?...perhaps I should have made time for that lunch or coffee invitation or make additional efforts to enjoy their companionship. But the reality is that as much as I turned away from certain friendships, they also naturally turned away from me. My energy is no longer focused on making as many cool friends as I can, but rather on defining a circle of close friends who are walking my path. They might be ahead or behind me but they saw or eventually will see the world as I see it today. More than that, the time It took me to assess people diminished considerably. We all have people skills, which are constantly evolving mainly thanks to our deceptions. We can better see those traits that can make a person worth the time and effort to be a lifelong friend.

Most importantly, a healthy friendship gravitation happens towards friends who have your best interest in mind, and give back. Giving back, to me, is the most important trait of a true friend. Giving back with a listening ear, a helping hand, or simply by being kind and treating your friends with respect. It solidifies any relationship, not just friendships.

Now, listening and exposing yourself to people with different views, wants, different levels of ambitions is nurturing in many ways and healthy as well. But that is certainly not a friendship we would naturally be attracted to. Life has enough challenges and opportunities to seize, spending time fitting in or pivoting from your maturely developed way of life will be a waste of energy and might create unnecessary additional stress.

To all the healthy, fulfilling, honest, and meaningful friendships out there!

A New Paradigm for Global Education in Morocco

2016-12-11T09:41:00.003-08:00

Written exclusively for: Morocco World News by Sara Amiri

Education in Morocco is often described with a sense of disappointment and anger. It is believed to be the most important factor in the development of the country. After all, it is making sure that generations of bright, efficient, and civilized individuals continue to drive the country forward economically, politically and socially.

This importance of education is being used as a political tool to attract and engage voters, alluding people to truly believe that a better education system is the sole responsibility of the government.

The reality is that despite the relatively mediocre education system that many of us are enraged about, many students have managed to have a beneficial educational experience in the tiniest of villages, unidentifiable to the average Moroccan. This successful experience is, without a doubt, attributed to the ambitious and intelligent nature of the student, but also attributed to their educators, specifically, the educators who inspire and believe in the student’s abilities to succeed and see beyond the limited and not-so-engaging education system.

A great educator inspires students and motivates them. A great institution leader creates that perfect learning environment and engages in the short and long term education of the students. In Morocco, there are many examples within this new generation of hard-working, open-minded, and committed university and school leaders who are ensuring that students see and utilize a variety of learning and personal development opportunities.

Professor Yassine Zarhloule, Director at EST Oujda is a great example representing this group of optimistic leaders within Morocco’s educational institutions. In a short period of time, he was able to apply international standards in his institution. Inspiring students as a professor, he now continues inspiring both students and professors as a school director. His positive attitude and optimism can be seen during the very first few seconds of interacting with him.

When students come to him seeking help he welcomes them with a listening ear and a warm smile. He goes above and beyond his daily dictated responsibilities as a school director, by continually looking for ways to improve his school’s teaching methods and by bringing new opportunities to students and professors at EST Oujda (ESTO). His open door policy and closeness to his students allows him to directly and positively impact them on a daily basis.

“I never went to his office and he turned me down. He always motivates us and provides us a space to work on our creative projects,” says ESTO student Mohammed Ayyadi when asked about Yassine Zarhloule “Moreover, he gives us feedback on our projects and provides mentorship so we can improve our work.” Watine Latnine, also an ESTO student adds: “His passion and dedication to his job has given us a great role model to follow”.

Yassine’s closeness to his students can be seen in his frequent interactions with students seeking advice, help, or simply a listening ear. These student testimonials show how much Yassine’s work is appreciated within ESTO and that more examples like him are needed in Morocco’s educational institutions where students are in a desperate need of mentors and role models.

Holy Idea!

2016-10-20T12:46:00.002-07:00

I am an avid dreamer by nature and ideas are constantly evolving in my mind. Some of them are genius, others are rather embarrassing or idiotic. I am the kind of person who lets her thoughts foster into perfectly achievable ideas and can spend hours entertaining a business opportunity or a grandiose social project, all while comfortably visualizing the resulting success and fame.

I came up with the perfect solution for engaging unexperienced entrepreneurs with the soon to retire small business owners, creating a sustainable model that will give young entrepreneurs the experience needed and give the small business owners the peace of mind of knowing that their business will be in good and "trained" hands. I designed an app helping drivers avoid moose and deer collisions by creating a geo-enabled notifications platform. I conceptualized a senior citizens home for people with alzheimer.

These would have been great success or even failure stories if the ideas were actually executed. The truth is, all these concepts were ideas that never left the ideation stage. These AMAZING ideas...Alright! GOOD ideas, are swinging at a stage where most ideas end up. Many people would wake up every morning with 10 ideas. These ideas can be as simple as a tool to help improve one's organization or starting a diary. Any idea can change something/someone if not the world, but only and only if it is paired with a successful execution and a tiny bit of luck or what some might call "External Factors". The point is until an idea is launched, it is worth absolutely zero, nada, nothing! To put it in terms that everyone would understand...The real value of an idea is $0. The concept of a Million Dollar Idea is completely inaccurate and delusive. Many aspiring entrepreneurs get too overprotective of their ideas and fail to see the value of a successful execution, and that can be translated in their communication to the investors or future partners. The failure to acknowledge the absolute necessity of a great team or individual ready to take the idea out of the ideation stage and launch, and the external factors that will drive the idea to success is what kills every great idea. There is a reason most VCs would refuse to sign an NDA, simply because they know the value of an idea. They know that coming up with the idea is a trivial part of the process of creating change and impact. Taking action towards an effective execution is the most important factor leading to results.

You know, one of the things that really hurt Apple was after I left John Sculley got a very serious disease. It’s the disease of thinking that a really great idea is 90 percent of the work. And if you just tell all these other people “here’s this great idea,” then of course they can go off and make it happen. And the problem with that is that there’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product.

-Steve Jobs

If you are the creative type and have a million ideas that never saw the light of day, share them because their value won't multiply over time and certainly not while deeply buried in your head. If you have the energy to execute but lack creativity, there are a million online resources giving ideas for free or use the many idea generation methods.

Visualize, Write, and Conquer!

2015-12-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

It is December already and we are all beginning to harvest what we have worked for this year, some with disappointment and others with joy and a sensation of accomplishment. I am a big believer in writing down resolutions and goals. I keep a journal, in a hopefully safe place, where I keep track of my life’s ongoing road trip with its curves, detours, and inevitable bumps.

Writing down goals tells the world that you have a plan. And, yes! It listens. We are all going on that road trip whether we want to or not. We might cross paths several times, but for the most part we are on our own. Having a plan (goals) helps the world conspire in your favor. Since, I started writing down my goals, I accomplished all of them…Okay, except for two*. That is to say that, when you picture a goal while writing it down, you want it more and get a greater motivation to work harder for it. It is similar to the old way of memorizing things by writing it down many times.

The world can be manipulated in ways that it can be aligned with your goals, if and only if you really want it. Spoken words are visualized with more difficulty than written words.

Legal Connections

2014-04-23T20:07:00.002-07:00

Connections have always had such a pejorative meaning in my mind, growing up in Morocco and seeing how unfairly connections are utilized everyday. I have seen people skip day-long lines at public service institutions, get admitted to prestigious schools without screening, secure jobs they did not deserve, and even escape from jail time thanks to "connections".

In addition to bribery, illegal use of connections is very common in many developing countries. But when I came to the United States, my perception on connections has gradually changed. I discovered a legal way of exploring connections. I, for long, believed that smart and motivated people will eventually make it without connections and solely based on merit. However, it is not always the case. It is about who you know and what you do with it. It is perfectly legal when the opportunity to make these connections, usually in less corrupt countries, is accessible to all.

The key is networking and meeting people who see your intelligence and motivation. I was always encouraged by my mentors and professors to get out and meet new people, and to never be afraid of asking for contact information, of following up, and building my professional network. Legal Connections can be crucial in getting that dream job or getting admitted to that prestigious university on your list. In fact, it is very common for employers and universities to ask for personal references because you are expected to have made enough connections who can speak in your favor. It is your responsibility but also the responsibility of your connection to assess the extent in which you get helped in getting ahead. But something I learned for sure is that networking and building up your professional network is a skill that can be learned by all and does not necessarily translate to breaking the generally accepted code of ethics or the law.

Are connections still illegally or unethically used? absolutely. However, as long as you believe that you are using a connection obtained based on your networking efforts and hard work, it is not wrong to explore that in your favor.

Happiness Found & Lost in The Strangest Thing

2013-10-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Happiness is bizarre and often times misleading. Rather the quest for happiness is. We all try to find that one object, one activity, one person, one path, or one career which eventually will make us reach that comfort and happiness we have long been pursuing. It is being able to live the moment fully and losing yourself in the sensation of pure contentment and in the state of celebrating life. I hold on to material objects I have never used thinking the day will come where I could use them and that will make me happy. That out of fashion dress, the pen drained of ink, the empty bottle of perfume, a picture, a book....things I think I should hold on to because, hey what if the day I really need it to make my day I would not have it?

In the quietness of a long night studying and reaching deep into my dispersed thoughts, I found myself staring at a board I have almost forgotten existed. The board of ambition, I call it. I immediately brought back my lost thoughts to that moment of contemplation, browsing through the words and numbers on the board. I felt a brief moment of joy and a feeling of satisfaction...Happiness. Staring at numbers, words, pictures, all signifying an objective I wanted to reach. I did accomplish most of my goals. I really did. Everything stopped, I felt great comfort in staring at the board and realizing the beauty of accomplishment. As if everything else I accomplished in between did not matter. All what mattered are the goals posted on that board, because I wrote them up and can now visualize a to-do list full of check marks. I then felt a sense of sadness because now I have to find the next objectives to reach.

As if I am always trying to find that next big thing to do or to own to be happy. I just cannot seem to live a moment in its full sequence of little meaningless events and enjoy it. There always has to be The big thing, that next goal. Got me thinking into whether ambition creates or kills spontaneous long-term happiness and comfort.

Managers Traits

2013-06-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

After spending some time observing each of the successful managers I met, and reading case studies, I wanted to try and capture those common traits that made their management style a success. I was trying as much as possible to absorb those qualities to hopefully one day become a successful manager. And here they are:

Have Passion for what you do. Really? What else could keep a person motivated at all times and lead a team of motivated individuals? Passion is seen in someone's tone, eye contact, and persistence.
Acknowledge the possibility of failure. BUT...of course there is a but, you can't just expect to fail without having a plan B. Most managers I worked with seemed to know they can fail but always had a plan B, C, and even D. They rarely share them.
Keep calm. You might be just like me and can't contain your over-excitement or disappointment. But great managers control perfectly their positive and negative emotions. Being calm not only helps make rational decisions but it also helps keep your team calm.
Motivate your team to solve a problem before asking for help. I had a manager who had a sign on his door saying "Do not come to me with a problem without a solution" It definitely made me think twice before knocking on his door and ask for his help.
Do not over promise but show optimism. This is probably the hardest thing to do. Successful managers know how to communicate their confidence on the ability to complete a project or reach a goal without promising overly optimistic results.
Be consistent in the message(s) you communicate and communicate it often. Nothing is more harmful to a team than a manager changing goals and showing inconsistency in communication. You want your team to move in one direction towards the one goal or set of goals. Communicate that goal clearly and frequently. You are repeating yourself for a good reason.
Delegate. One of the types of personalities in the workplace are leaders and executors. When a manager's personality falls within a mix of the two types, it becomes hard to delegate. But to be a successful manager you need to learn how to delegate, not only tasks but also the decision-making power.
Get to know your team on a personal level. You cannot be surrounded by loyal team members, if you do not show that you care about them as individuals with lives outside of their cubicles.
High level of integrity. Managers have to lead by example and if you want your team to work with great ethics, you need to have that trait yourself.
Mentor, don't just manage. Do I need to expand on this one?

There are more traits unique to each manager, but these are the ones I found common among most if not all successful managers I know.

Failed...Now what?

2013-06-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

I find great passion in horse riding, It is probably one of the very few animals that I find fascinating. Horses built a true connection with men throughout the history. But that is not the point of the post, although I could go on and on about how much I love horses.

Failure is the point. We all have failed at something whether you want to admit it or not. As long as we breath we will make mistakes, or others make mistakes and we have to pay the price and taste failure. Who to blame is not exactly important. But I have a story I want to share because I feel people can learn from stories even when they are not exactly related to the actual situation.

I was enjoying a nice horse ride in the forest with my instructor. It was a sunny April day, rode my favorite horse to go on the weekly "balade" to enjoy the beautiful weather. That particular horse was very stubborn and had a lot of character, probably the reason why I keep choosing to ride him. Most days he behaved well with me. Horses can be pretty sneaky and pull up their "crazy horse" card with certain people when they choose to. The ride was going really well, when my horse saw a few dogs barking at us, he got agitated and managed to make me fall from his back. It was the first time I had fallen from a horse, and besides from the embarrassment, it was painful. The horse got so scared from our reaction to his behavior, that he hid behind a tree waiting. My reaction was very simple: I am not riding that horse again and was convinced to stay in the middle of the forest rather than ride that horse back. My instructor came to me and "ordered" me to ride back right away. I refused, he insisted....I was right back on the horse. I was very angry at the instructor for making me ride the horse while being terrified and in pain. He then explained to me, that he saved me from fearing horses in the future. He said most people who fall from horses are afraid to ride them again and probably would just quit horse riding..Now I do not know how valid is his statement, but It definitely helped me. Because not only I rode back the horse but we went back closer to the dogs who scared the horse and followed the instructor's words on how to calm my horse down and manage his fear. I did.

Things you do after you fail are what matter. Are you going to immediately try again? or just let the fear from failing haunt you? Just when you know you failed and owned it, do not let the fear get to your heart and stop you from trying all over again. Now you may want to try something different, like riding a different horse, but never give up on your passion. Every time you fail you learn something in the process. While you may try one more time to only find yourself failing again, you will without doubt learn something each time you fail...until you actually succeed. I have never fallen from a horse since then, but I am certainly not afraid from it happening again.

Failed?.... Try it all over again immediately.

It is Ok to Make a Fool out of Yourself

2013-06-01T11:03:00.002-07:00

I got a connection request on LinkedIn that brought back a memory so significant in my life, yet almost forgotten until I opened LinkedIn on my browser this morning. A connection request from a friend who facilitated my first introduction to the entrepreneurial spirit.

We were high school students, about fifteen years old when he got this "crazy" idea of building a resort on the beach of Casablanca. He believed so much in it, it was all he talked about. He was not afraid to share his dream with me. I listened and shared some immature thoughts. But he took it a bit further by making his own feasibility study, added his entrepreneurial optimism and enthusiasm to the mix to turn it into a project worth $150 Billion Dirhams, at least on paper.

One afternoon, while wandering around the break court, he came to me and said: "Sara, I want you to come with me, I will be on national TV". I was happy for him, but also flattered he asked me to give him company. The TV show was called "Challenger". It was a business plan contest hosted on the national Moroccan TV. Contestants applied from different cities and different fields. He was the youngest applicant and probably the least experienced. But as a fifteen years old, my thoughts were very typical :

" OMG, I am going to be on national television!".

Once we get to the studio, my friend enters the recording room and was bombarded with questions. Most of which were to embarrass him. After all, he was asking for an investment of $150 Billion Dirhams to build a resort. At that point, I started regretting going along. I did not want to be associated with a "crazy dude", who will be aired on TV for people to get a laugh from. It was pretty embarrassing. But he did not seem to care, he answered the judges' ironic questions with confidence and professionalism. His first words to me after the interview were : "They don't get it, I will make it happen without them". All I was thinking about is the need to get out of there as quickly as possible. I immediately stopped believing in my friend and his "crazy" thoughts and lost hope he will ever make it. It was not until later, that I realized this friend has taught me a great lesson about entrepreneurship. He taught me that It is OK to make a fool of yourself, as long as you believe in yourself and in the greatness of your dream.

He did not let the TV hosts' silly comments, the investors' ironic questions, and the million of viewers' laughs discourage him from pursuing his dream. He had fallen but quickly and surely stood up even stronger. I was surprised to see him come back to me with a new idea a month later. This time, it was much more realistic. To my biggest surprise, in four months he started a summer camp company where he toured the country, animating shows and hosting beach parties. He followed his passion and made a business out of it.

Eight years later, I learned he is CEO of a business expo company organizing trade shows nationally and internationally. He certainly learned a lot from his experience with Challenger but I learned more seeing his persistence and indifference to people's devastating negative comments about his ability to make it as an entrepreneur. He proved everyone wrong, including myself.

Never be afraid of making a fool out of yourself because you dream bigger than everyone around you. And it never hurts to believe in the beauty of your dreams, especially when it comes to entrepreneurship. Today, I certainly believe in his ability to build and run a resort in Casablanca.

Music Background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_eUnxDE8YY

Letting Go

2013-05-06T23:44:00.000-07:00

As I am contemplating the candle's flame burning, I started seeing this flame that is fighting so hard to not let go of its fire. After all there is a disturbing breeze infiltrating through my window. But soon it was not about the candle or the flame's battle anymore, it was about the concept of the fear from letting go the things we have, the things we possess. Why is it so hard to move on and just let go? We hold on to the little or big things although they might hurt us, just like the candle is holding on to the fire that is burning it.

I wrote previously about quitting, and I can't help but find the two topics related...At least in my mind. Moving on without closure resembles quitting an ambition, a dream, a challenge without having hit the dead end wall several times. After all I am perfectly content with holding on to a dream that my mind knew was harmful and irrational, but my heart refuses to listen...Or so I thought. And so, as with every decision I took, I decided to find reason and look for counter arguments to my premature conclusions. Why is it so difficult to move on and leave behind things or people we felt emotionally attached to? and what is the rational behind fearing the unknown emptiness "letting go" will engender?

1. Fearing "letting go" is simply fearing the unknown. We become comfortably accustomed to an emotion, a routine or ritual, a face...If we were to know exactly how things will turn out when we move on, our fear will dramatically be reduced, if not disappear.
2. Letting go means we are perfectly convinced there is better. After all we are all on the quest for the best. Knowing for a fact that moving on will only create better experience opportunities, stability and peace of mind; can only make us want to accelerate the "letting go" process. Ironically the many times we let go of uncomfortable situations, life gets better. But yet we thought our world has come to an end when we took that step. Some people will just tell you: "Everything happens for a reason" and they mean that it is for the best. I specifically got this conclusion from "The Alchemist". I can't remember the last time I was eager to finish a book in one read.
3. Ignorance is also a factor, as harsh as this may sound. We are ignorant about our own good. How many times we looked back in time and thought "what was I thinking?". We all have chosen to walk eye blinded at some point or the other, only to open our eyes to a wake up call from our mind to our heart. It is the call of reason and enlightening.
4. Failing to acknowledge our other options makes us prisoners in our self-made cage. We are so worried about keeping what we think we have, that we completely fail to explore the outside world.

I am sure some will relate to this struggle, but some will just have the same confused face reading through the post. But it is time for me to take away the flame's fire...obviously the candle is not letting go.

Music Background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmjEewiUciw

Relying on Luck?..Well Don't

2013-02-12T23:04:00.002-08:00

Moroccan Lucky Khmissa

As I am sitting here thinking about how lucky I have been with many of the opportunities that were presented to me during my journey in the United States. I began to think a little more deeply about the concept of luck or fortuna. Is luck inherited?...perhaps inherited as we would inherit dark or blond hair? Is it a coincidence... randomly distributed among individuals? Is a power out there deciding whom to bless with it? Can we create luck?

I once had a brief conversation with my French teacher in Morocco about luck. The conversation lasted no more than 5 minutes, but every single word of it remained engraved in my memory forever. As many Moroccan students in their senior high school year, I was preparing for my Baccalaureat exam. Studying countless hours for that decisive two-days exam, which will determine my future, make my parents proud, and open doors for a higher education at a prestigious university...Le Bac! While trying hard to absorb content from 9 different ten month long classes, I decided I needed to complain a little, after all it may release some of my stress. I entered the teacher's conference room and told my teacher that studying for the baccalaureate exam was pointless, because in the end it is luck that matters. If I am lucky I will pass. Many bright students didn't pass because they were unlucky, or so I thought. He listened to me for a couple of seconds and said: " If I am testing you on one chapter of your book, and you read half of the chapter and came to the exam, what are your chances of getting a 20/20?". Without thinking much I answered: "50%". He then continued: "Let's look at a different scenario, if you actually read carefully the entire chapter, what would be your chances then?". Again, without much thinking, I answered: "100%". He then says: " See how you were able to increase your chances by 50%? What makes you think you can't do the same for the Baccalaureate exam?". The moral of the story was that we are able to increase chances by working harder. You cannot leave chances decide for you. His words were of great motivation, since I was able to not only pass the exam, but get an honorable grade. I didn't let chance play with me, I played with it and maximized it.

Now, can we create luck? Of course we can. Another great phrase I like to quote here is " Get Up, Get Out, and Get Something" by Jerome Love. Jerome is one inspiring entrepreneur I met at one of the C.E.O National Conferences in Dallas. Reading his book was only to confirm what I learned over time on catching those opportunities that fly by and need little or great effort to be seen and embraced.

Just when you think you are unlucky, do yourself a favour and get out of your comfort zone to meet new people, experience new things, and learn. There are endless opportunities but not enough people with the talent to create luck out of them. Stay alert, work hard, and strive to increase your luck or simply your probablity of succeeding! And Just when you feel you are lucky, take some time to celebrate because you most likely worked very hard for it.

Arab-Israeli conflict: the conquest of Palestine

2012-08-27T09:34:00.001-07:00

The Arab-Israeli conflict is the main axis around which all the conflicts in the Middle East turn. It started in the 19^th century when Zionism came into being. Zionism as defined by Goldschmidt as a nationalist and political movement aiming at forming a Jewish state in Palestine. Many Jewish people joined the movement and started immigrating mainly from Eastern Europe with the help of Lovers of Zion and Beit Ya’cov ichu vnelcha, two organizations that sent young Jews to Palestine. This first immigration process from Russia to Palestine was called the “first aliya”.

The choice of Palestine wasn’t made randomly as many people might think, but the land of Palestine that is today Israel is believed by Jewish people to be the Promised Land. They believe that they should form Israel as a Jewish state in Palestine and await the Messiah.

Britain, on the other hand, has played an important role in the establishment of Israel in Palestine. In The Balfour Declaration, Britain had promised The Zionists to support their cause. However this declaration didn’t give The Zionists as much material support, however, it did give them hope and more determination to accomplish their goal. Zionists proceeded first by an immigration plan and then land purchases, which were faced by an increasing resistance from the Palestinians and Arabs in general who became more aware of the colonial intentions behind those purchases. Soon after World War II, a great number of Jewish people immigrating from Europe settled in Palestine and established organizations for self-defence, political parties mushroomed. They set up factories, food processing plants, and even a construction company (Goldschmidt 281). The next steps were to have the United States’ support for their cause and declare the creation of Israel as a Jewish state on 14^th May 1948. And since then, Israel tried to conquer more land. In 1967 the Israeli forces conquered the Gaza strip and also Sinai in Egypt, parts of Syria and Jordan during what is called the six days war. The colonisation of Palestine caused the frustration of Muslims around the world because of Jerusalem’s mosque, which is as important to them as Mecca in Saudi Arabia. That explains the support of Muslims to the Palestinian cause and their refusal of approving the creation of Israel even though most of the Arab and Muslim states recognize Israel as a Jewish State.

Peace in the region is quasi-impossible because it is home to two strong nationalist movements Arab nationalism and Zionism that both claim their right to establish and maintain their state in Palestine or what is now called Israel. And today both parts are victims of terrorism taking lives of innocent civilians among Palestinians and Israelis.

The fairest proposed solution for peace is the establishment of a state where the three Abrahamic religions’ followers can live in peace because this particular land is of equal importance to Muslims, Christians and Jews. For that to happen, a Jewish state or Muslim state cannot be officially declared. There is need for a secular state where politics is free from religious bonds.

American Moroccan Competencies Network Forum ( AMCN) 2012

2012-07-31T09:42:00.000-07:00

Before I break the news here about how great the forum was, let me start by defining the word competency. It is defined by others as "the ability to do something successfully or efficiently". Competency is excelling at what you do and going above and beyond of what is expected from you. At the AMCN forum, most, if not all participants were competent, but what striked me most was their ability to innovate and engage in activities that were beyond their job descriptions and "the expected". It was heart warming to see how motivated these Moroccans were and how eager they were to give back to their home country.

When the President of HMEMSA, Amine Chigani, suggested I submit a project proposal for the forum, I immediately thought of an idea that I have been thinking about for a while. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to actually start the definition and planning phase of the idea. I did not know how fast other people will get seriously involved and push the idea to the next level. I immediately connected with people who could help, and got great feedback from people in Texas, New York, California, Wisconsin, Virginia and even Morocco. Not that I didn't believe in the idea, but having feedback, support, and another person than yourself tell you it can work, made a big difference and gave me more motivation. Henry Schwartz and Boushra rafi were the biggest part of this initiative. From day one, they believed in the concept, worked hard to make a strong case for it, and took crucial roles as team members.

I had the opportunity to present the idea of "E-Mentorship" at the forum in front of government representatives from different ministries in Morocco and in front of business professionals coming from all over the U.S.

Me, Ambassador of his majesty to the U.S, and Boushra

The forum was also a fun event for me to meet other Moroccans and connect with the community while learning about all the great achievements they have all done in the United States. The words from the ambassador of his majesty on the official launch of the American Moroccan Competencies Network, were very well phrased, as it showed his commitment to helping the community, and helping us give back to our home country while shining in our fields of expertise here in the U.S.

The next meeting was announced to take place in Rabat, Morocco in March 2013.

Peer2Connect on Whitewaterbanner.com

2012-05-11T16:32:00.002-07:00

PEER2CONNECT LLC --- Jan Olson UWW College of Business Assistant Dean is discussing the Beta Version of their International Student connections offering with partners of PEER2Connect, Maxim Abdusselimov an international student from Kazakhstan and Sara Amiri is an international student from Casablanca, Morocco.

PEER2CONNECT LLC "Your Global Academic Network" - The main goal of Peer2Connect LLC is to create a strong network of specialized support services for international students around the world. They provide international and exchange students with social, cultural, and learning experience throughout their college career abroad. The web page is under development.

Source: www.whitewaterbanner.com

ZARA's Supply Chain Performance

2012-04-04T22:16:00.004-07:00

Zara is a fashion forward company based off a business strategy that is very unique within the industry. Fashion lines and trends are created similarly with other companies about six months away from being in store. However, it’s the process and strategic plan that separates Zara from the rest. The company’s innovative idea to keep up to 40% of manufacturing operations in-house allowed for in-season manufacturing, which creates a flexible inventory system. For example, if an item is selling well executives make a decision to stop manufacturing the product to create an unsatisfied demand on purpose. This creates a culture that the customer better get it today because they might not find it tomorrow. The company’s ability to respond to in-season demand is what gives Zara a different fashion risk profile from other apparel retailers. By having such a flexible inventory system and responsive manufacturing capability, Zara is able to operate with a very high close-to-sale-time manufacturing system. This system creates short lead times that are incomparable when considering other apparel providers. The innovative idea to create a product line based on its manufacturability has created the ability to provide the customers with trending items that are more in demand than any other product offered by competitors.

The European textile industry is one of the first victims of globalization and discrimination based on price. The most important textile markets are located in Europe, the United States, China and Japan. In this extensively competitive environment, brands like Zara saw the need to undertake major changes in order to survive in this global competitive market. Fashion companies share some characteristics; however, Zara is unique because it distributes fashion and luxury products to a wide audience.

Companies in the textile industry, therefore evolve in a chaotic environment. Fashion is, by nature, in constant motion: it embodies the tastes of the moment. In addition to the uncertainty of time, there are many other variables to consider when Zara was developing its business strategy. To attract a large number of customers in a very competitive industry Zara needed to be creative and unique in its business modeling, business management, design of collections, and marketing and communications strategies. Zara chose a strategy that contrasts with that of its main competitors. They chose the vertical integration to implement their different strategies. The vertical strategy is achieved through a thorough organization and logistics. It allows Zara to implement its management of scarcity as mentioned in the previous answer.

The vertical integration also allows Zara to cut cost and time by choosing not to outsource any of its channels. The company is therefore faster in production, more effective and more efficient. Vertical integration also prevents conflicts that can potentially arise from having different channels. As mentioned, Zara manufactures and distributes its collections in small batches, which makes it more efficient to manage the design, logistics, and distribution of its products in house instead of outsourcing. It gives Zara more flexibility in following the market trends and customers tastes and adjusting to them in a short period of time. Zara’s vertical integration is one of the main sources of success and competitiveness in the market of textile and fashion because it allows the company to not only be efficient and cut cost and time, but to develop a competitive merchandising strategy, hence the establishment of the environment of scarcity, opportunity and fast-fashion model.

Supply chain performance can be determined by many financial metrics such as Return on Asset (ROA), SG&A / Sales, Days of Total Inventory, Working Capital/Sales, and Days of Account Payable. As in earlier discussion, inventory incurs total supply chain cost and also increase total asset in the company’s Balance Sheet. Thus, top supply chain management (SCM) companies such as Zara, which better utilize their inventory to generate net income, will have the higher ROA than their competitors. Second, Sales, General and Administration (SG&A) expense also incurs cost. Top SCM companies with better integration with upstream and downstream partners will incur less of this transaction cost and result in lower expense than other companies providing the same level of sales. Third, Days of Total Inventory fortop SCM companies is expected to be low. Since companies may each have same level of sitting inventory, but if one can sell it all faster than the other, it will handle less demand uncertainty as well as face smaller loss of price marking down at the end of seasons. Forth, working capital/ sales fortop SCM companies is expected to be low as well. Since top SCM companies better manage their working capital, the companies will have the capability to use less working capital to provide the same level of sales as competitors or use the same level of working capital but provide more sales volume than their competitors. Lastly, Days of Account Payable for top SCM companies is oftenlow. Unlike traditional firms, purchasing managers in top SCM companies are making a trade-off by giving favorable payment terms to their suppliers in return for excellent performance and closer relationships. Considering market capitalization, the research shows that top SCM companies higher attract investors since the companies provide both higher and less variable returns on share (ROS) by generating significantly higher average monthly stock returns when compared with rival options.

Given the expansion plans and the strategies pursue by Zara in its supply chain processes, several positive aspects can be marked as effective models for different firms in the operations level. Zara choose markets that are not only can expand in it but also that are compatible with its strategic plans; for example Inditex excluded the United States markets despite the fact it is active market, which is achieve its plans by entering new markets even if it is limited but still give the minimum margins financially on one hand and a shape the structure of the production on the other hand. In this context, Zara launches limited amount of products into the market to spread a unique culture among its customers to buy at the beginning of the seasons and to pursue a precautions policy to keep inventory relatively little to reduce the holding costs, however; there is a distinctive ability to meet the demands in a maximum period of a week. Another method to reduce the holding costs is to move the items that have not been sold in certain store to other stores or locations to be sold and to avoid the markdown policy. In this context, Zara uses a pricing strategy that is compatible with different target markets or countries Finally, the most prominent strategies in Zara is its ability to create a competitive advantage in the in house-production versus outsourcing whether for one stage or for the all stages in production besides shifting some of the productive sector to other countries in order to take advantage of skilled labor and low wages such as China and the Asian countries in general.

Authors: Sara Amiri, Matthew Radke, Dalia Alsaleem, and NuntidaWatcharanurak

IPO Process: Benefits and Techniques

2012-04-04T22:11:00.000-07:00

An INITIAL PUBLIC OFFERING (IPO) allows companies to diversify their assets with funds raised from the public and to facilitate the trading of securities that shareholders decided to retain. In the case when the government or governmental institutions are selling securities in the stock market, it is mainly to restore public finances and facilitate more effective management practices within the organization.

For a firm, the IPO process can help raise more funds and capital, promote acquisitions or expansions in operations and to increase its visibility to the public. It usually sends good signals to the consumers about the company and encourages people to think that the company is in a strong position. Furthermore, the IPO process helps companies sell securities to many different investors such as: institutions, individuals, employees.

Looking at the technical process of IPOs, the introduction to the stock market may include a primary market (which is the sale of shares newly issued by the company), and / or secondary market (which the sale of existing shares). Placement techniques depend on whether the securities are placed with institutional investors, individuals or employees. The global placement (or guaranteed investment) is the technique most commonly used to distribute securities to institutional investors.

One or more banks organize the marketing, promotion, and sale of securities to investors using a technique called the book building, and banks not wanting to take this opportunity of substantial commissions. Following this procedure, the offer price is set to open simultaneously at the same open-price offer (OPO) which can benefit individuals. The global placement offers banks that are loaded by companies IPOs discretionary allocation of shares and fixing the IPO price (based on analysis of financial information relating to the undertaking concerned). Placement to individuals (or made available to the market) meet the regulatory requirement to invest at least 10% of the shares to individuals. Receipt of orders are then centralized by the Exchange (Euronext France), and not by a bank.

The techniques available to the market are numerous and include: direct quotations which are usually for a transfer to another stock exchange or on the SME market Alternext of Euronext, minimum price offer (OPM, used very little ), price offer (OPF), Open-Price Offer (OPO, the most frequently used). In fact, direct quotation is identical to a normal trading and the first course is set up so as to enable the exchange of the greatest possible number of shares (minimum sale price fixed, non-centralized purchase orders by the company scholarship). Furthermore, the minimum price offer (OPM) is a sort of auction process. Buyers interested in the shares of the company listed soon denominate their trading orders, valid only on the day of introduction, "at any price" or a limit price or minimum price 10% above. And finally, the price offer (OPF) and Open Price Offer (OPO, which implies a price range) sets the issue price of the securities, which is announced in advance.

Women's rights: International Voices

2012-04-04T21:42:00.009-07:00

When I was in high school, my French literature professor brought up a discussion about women’s rights in Morocco for which I had a pretty indifferent opinion until she made us watch a video trying to convince us that feminism was a great cause and women in Morocco should fight for their rights. It had left a negative effect on me; it was the exact opposite feeling of what my professor was hoping for us to have after watching the video. I had to disagree with the theory she presented!

The documentary video showed Moroccan women living in smaller cities and villages being oppressed by their husbands, each woman shared her story. In the documentary, a women’s rights association interfered in the lives on these women, who were mostly illiterate and unaware. Association activists saw divorce as the solution for these women’s issues and helped most of the interviewed women divorce by paying for the lawyer’s expenses as a humanitarian act, they were thinking. It is contradictory with our society’s family values. I do agree that women should not be oppressed in any way and that they have the right for education and for professional advancement. However, suggesting divorce as the solution was not appropriate. While many of those women suffered from oppression and violence, they were not ready to divorce and live independently from their husbands, which were in their case, the main providers; not only for them but for their children as well.

A year ago, I started a discussion with several friends coming from different countries and studying in the United States. I was curious to hear their perspective and opinion on women’s rights and family values. I could clearly see that students coming from western countries and student coming from eastern countries had opposite point of views. It was interesting, but not surprising to see that!

The question I asked was very simple:

“What do you think about the role of women in the society and of feminism as a theory?”*

Ivo from Macedonia: I don’t think anything :)

Alberto from Peru: They are out of control, they want to pretend they can do everything, and be comparable to men, but in reality they don’t want to do it, they just want to say they can do it. They want to give the idea that they are independent. I think the whole women’s rights and feminist movement has put American women in lower scale than women elsewhere in the world. I don’t think it is right. It is the society that makes women like that. Americans take pride on the fact that they are free, but they don’t understand that there are other countries where people can do what they want. America is not the only country with democracy. Obama is always saying America is the land of freedom. Because they think like that, the society pushes women to believe in that. It is just the wrong the path for women. Like my friend Mohammed once said. You have to lower your emotions when you talk to American girl. Women want to be equal, but in reality everyone look bad at men who stay home while women is working... it is controversial!

Abdullah from Saudi Arabia: I think women are being insulted with the rights talk, because they think these are the rights they deserve but they are not. There is not as much respect for women as back home. They think they are respected but actually they are not. Saudi Arabian women are different because we follow Islamic law and we have to respect women, because they are our mothers, sisters, daughter, cousins, teachers…etc. But I do see women’s right to drive as a good right. The first look to American girls by American guys is purely sexual, there is nothing wrong with that but it is too much. There is no respect for their girls. There is something missing, they don’t think about the girl emotionally, their soul is not working a 100%. If you treat American girl like a foreign girl you will look idiot. You have to pretend you don’t have that emotional side or at least lower it. The image of women is being used to make money: their body as image to make money. Women are already strong but it is different power to be exercised!

Karam from Iran: I think that some women are so feminist that they focus solely on that rather than on seeing the good things that are going on around them, they just complain and ask for more rights, they want to be able to do everything. I see that particular thing as a bad thing. They should focus on family and women should solely focus on stabilizing the family because men can’t! That’s one of the things women can do and man can’t. Women have patience and love for the family. Who cares if the man is doing a little more work than women? It is expected. I think we will progress more if they just stop trying to push for more rights and enjoy their talents of caring, loving and raising future generations. Women need to be educated though.

Amanda from USA: I think that everything should be equal, it shouldn’t be a man’s job or women’s job, a husband should be able to be a housewife and a woman should be able to be money collector.

Takumi from Japan: Women rights in the USA are very similar to Japan. Women do the same job as men, and they are becoming even stronger and more present in the workforce than men in Japan. A long time ago, women had to stay at home to take care of the family like cleaning the house, preparing food…etc and now it completed changed! In rich countries, they are having trouble with the old population; there is more old people than ever before and no new born babies. I think it is because of women’s rights and the feminist movements. But, I agree with feminists, because I want to get a job in the future and women should have the right to take control and the world should have equal opportunities for everybody in everything. Guys cannot be stronger than girls. Women have the right to be strong and powerful However, I would not be ok with men staying home and women working. I am totally not OK with that.

Wendy from USA: My boyfriend will be the housewife and I will go to work and he takes care of kids. My relationship with my boyfriend is so untraditional. In fact, my mom brings in more money than my dad.

Alexander from Russia: I think they have a lot of rights and it is not necessarily good because on my perspective women should be concerned more about family and stability then their career or financial independence. Giving women more (made-up) rights and letting them rebel against the old culture, ruins the true definition of family. It is sad that nowadays taking care of the house is counted as housekeeping! Cooking for your family and keeping the house in a good condition is not necessarily slave work. Female by nature are most of the time led by their emotions and that would make wrong decisions, because emotions will lead to ineffective decisions. I don’t look at it from the wrong side and say that they have shouldn’t have rights, but I can see where that inequality is coming from, as in their behavior, their reactions to stressful situations. Men when they are in stressful situation, they can control their emotions.

Brian from USA: I see no problem with men and women having equal rights. Who is best for the job? That's what I care about.

What do you think?

*Names changed for privacy

Peer2Connect LLC advance to the second phase of the Governor's Business Plan Contest

2012-03-16T19:45:00.002-07:00

51 firms advance to next round of Business Plan Contest

Fifty-one entries from 19 communities have advanced to the semi-final round of the ninth annual Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest.

The contestants were selected from a field of 248 first-round entries by an independent panel of about 60 judges organized through the Wisconsin Technology Council.

The semi-finalists are spread among advanced manufacturing (14), business services (11), information technology (13), and life sciences (13). Also entering were companies in energy, clean tech, software, industrial processes, health diagnostics, drugs, and medical devices.

The 51 entries competing in Phase II of the contest are writing summary business plans of no more than 1,000 words. Phase II plans will be filed online by 5 p.m. March 19; the next judging period will last about two weeks.

About two-dozen plans will move on to Phase 3, in which contestants will write a full business plan.

Prize winners will be announced in June at the annual Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ Conference, to be held at The Pfister Hotel. The top dozen contestants will give live presentations at the conference, with judges scoring those pitches as a part of selecting the winners. Total cash and in-kind prizes in the statewide contest exceed $200,000.

The semi-finalists include:

Ankit Agarwal	Madison	Imbed Biosciences
Sara Amiri	Whitewater	Peer2Connect LLC
William Bazeley	Whitewater	NexVex Home Services Exchange
Joe Beck	Madison	Bacterial Concentrator (USE)
John Bender	Sussex	Simple Campus
Erwin Berthier	Madison	A Painless Cholesterol Test
Joseph Blustein	Madison	Artificial Vision Device - AVD
Boyce Doyle	Greendale	Sensational Exploratorium
Andrew Brown	Madison	HS Stats
Matthew Buerosse	Thiensville	COMFY CRUTCH
Rimas Buinevicius	Madison	RoWheels
Bill Checovich	Madison	IFAST
Brian Curry	Pewaukee	Lumen HC
Joshua Curry	Milwaukee	NutriGenix LLC
Ryan Dover	Lake Geneva	LocalGrown
Paul German	Oconomowoc	Imas Technologies
Mike Goodman	Madison	Retail Prescription Filling
Tim Gorsuch	Mukwonago	The Smart Sight
Roald Gundersen	Stoddard	WholeTrees^TM Structures
Shawn Guse	Madison	Apartia Pharmaceuticals
Michael Harper	Milwaukee	ROAM
Brian Jensen	Madison	Fishidy.com
Chris Johnson	Middleton	Pilot Training System
Christopher Kemp	Milwaukee	Soil & Sediment Clean-up
Aaron Larner	Madison	Style Shuffler
Jeff Leismer	Sheboygan	VibeTech, Inc.
Nick Maris	Mequon	Reza-Band UES Assist device
Frederick Montgomery	Middleton	Novel Nitric Oxide Treatment
Connie Nadler	Madison	Smart in a Box
Leena Palav	Sussex	Natural touch bra
Nathan Patterson	Madison	PolarD - Radiant 3D Printers
Bobby Peterson	Madison	My Coverage Plan
Peter Petit	Pewaukee	V-Glass Vacuum Insulated Glass
Scott Pristel	Peshtigo	Self-DJ®
Ronald Raines	Madison	Hyrax Energy
Justin Reed	Madison	Capacitive Exciter
Dan Reed	Madison	Revolutionary Fishing Software
Pradeep Rohatgi	Milwaukee	Lightweight Composite castings
Abdalla Saad	Madison	Anticancer Nanomedicene
Jason Sevener	Shorewood	EnaCloud
Robert Shimmel	Madison	NCD Technologies
Alexander Smith	Beaver Dam	AxMax Tremolo
JT Smith	Madison	The Game Crafter
Jonathan Stojan	Hudson	ThriftyWrench.com
Menachem Tabanpour	Madison	Phophate Upcycling
Constantin Tivis	Dickeyville	Parallel programming software
Wayland Tobey	Sauk City	Cycogs Robotic Wheels
Karisa Trudgeon	Verona	inSIGHT by RedTwine
Woody Wallace	Madison	Cloud Machine
Dave Westlake	Delafield	Print Command
Ching-Hong Yang	Mequon	Pathogenesis inhibitor

Source: http://www.ibwisconsin.com/In-Business-Wisconsin/March-2012/51-firms-advance-to-next-round-of-Business-Plan-Contest/

Disconnected

2012-02-26T23:46:00.001-08:00

Our addiction to technology became the subject of many news articles, scientific forecasts, and target for technology innovators seeking millions of dollar in revenues. It is given, proven, and taken for granted that human's addiction to technology is, with no doubt, increasing over time. Tonight, sitting in front of my laptop's screen, with itchy eyes and burned out energy, I started wondering about how life will be today for people who choose to get disconnected from their cellphones, laptops, television screens, iPods, and their different social media sites. I didn't have to look for the answer, because I experienced it and I can tell you that it is a strange yet a great feeling of time appreciation and freedom.

Tichka, Atlas Mountains

A couple of years ago, my family and I went on a trip to Tinzar, a small berber village located in the suburbs of the city of Ouarzazat in Morocco. I can still recall my excitement to visit the village where my grandfather came from, visit family members that I have heard of but never seen in the past. We drove many long hours, passing through the mountain of Tichka, famous in Morocco for its dangerous curves. When we arrived to the city of Ouarzazat, I felt reassured, thinking that we finally made it safe, until we were told that we have to park our car in the city and wait for a truck driver to drive us up the mountain to the village where we were staying. To my big surprise, he was the only driver with the ability and expertise to drive up the narrow curves of the mountain leading to Tinzar. The ride was full of excitement, the narrow curve could only take one car at a time, giving us the feeling that with a little wind we could have fallen down from the tall mountain. All I could think of the whole way was how in the world am I going to survive our departure and having to drive down the mountain.

Soon my fears were forgotten, and I began to enjoy the uniqueness of the village: people, their houses, their food, their simplicity, their generosity, and joie de vivre. It was incredible. But the most unique aspect of my trip was the disconnection from all technology that is enslaving us in the city. There was only one place that provides internet connection and it was an hour drive from where we were staying. Grocery stores and markets only opened once a week, there was only one house with TV and dish network in the village, and my phone signal was playing hide and seek with me during my entire time there. It took me a few days to get accustomed to the life-style and not to take a peak at my phone every 10 minutes checking if my phone signal has found its way to Tinzar. But soon, I started to enjoy the daily gathering of family and friends, long walks around the village to almond trees plantations, by the rivers and the beautiful water falls. I felt a strong connection to the people and to the environment around me, and the moon has never been any closer to my sight than in Tinzar. I spent a long time every night contemplating the moon and the light it reflected on the village, it was in fact the only light illuminating Tinzar after sunset.

People seemed very healthy, motivated, and most importantly Happy! They weren't wealthy people, but they were rich with culture, with ambitions, with love, and with health. While there, I suddenly felt that every minute counted and that I had more time in my day to spend with my family, new friends, and with myself. Some of my relatives there had to walk 60-90 minutes to get to their schools everyday, when it snowed it took them even longer. However, they were very happy to be able to go to get an education and dream about a very bright future.

Today, looking back at this trip and thinking of the stress-free mind that I had during my stay in Tinzar, I wish I could be disconnected from every piece of electronic device that is around me for some time. Perhaps, I should take on this challenge: No technology for a week... Just the thought of it makes me picture the many things I could do during the free time that this challenge would offer me.

Issues and Ideas (Whitewater TV)

2012-02-22T13:59:00.000-08:00

Issues and Ideas

Maxim and I were invited to Whitewater TV to talk about our success as international students and about Peer2Connect. The show was hosted by Kirsten Kozik from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

To Quit or Not To Quit

2011-11-12T20:01:00.000-08:00

About a year ago, I had a great conversation with one of my close friends Mehul Kar about the right time to quit. I always have the best conversations with Mehul as I consider him a wise and reassuring friend who seems to make minuscule whatever problem or issue I encountered since I have met him.
The conversation about the right time to quit evolved from my premature decision to quit my position with Whitewater Student Government (WSG). I have always wanted to work with WSG, I still remember walking everyday past the WSG office and thinking to myself: "I want to be part of it!". I knew it was going to be hard to join it for several reasons, the most obvious one was because I was an international student and joining a governmental organization on campus could be a challenge, another reason was that I had nothing in common with the members of the organization except that I was a student and I cared about the campus and its students. But later my dream became a reality and I was hired to join WSG, I was very excited and could not wait to start working there and have my space in the office. I wanted to make it the best experience and tried to work hard to satisfy my duties but things didn't turn the way I wanted and had opposition from the members of the organization to the point that I wanted to quit my dream and enjoy the last months left in college with no pressure or stress. But when I spoke with Mehul, he asked me one question that totally changed my decision: "Are you in a dip, in a cliff, or in a cul-de-sac? ". I had to think the whole night about this question to come up with an answer. My answer the next day was "A dip!". I was not ready to quit but I was ready to push myself more and succeed. I did not want to fail and was ready to make more sacrifices in order for me to stay with WSG, meaning I had to work with the opposition around me to make progress and I did!

You probably wonder what are Cliffs, Cul-de-sac and dips, right?
Well cliffs refer to the situation where everything is going very well now but you know it will eventually go wrong and make you fail, so you have to quit. Cul-de-sac, as fun as the name sounds, it refers to the situation where there is no future ahead, the road is closed in front of you and you have to make a detour (quit), a dip in my understanding is the situation where things are going bad but with more hard work and persistence you could overcome those obstacles and succeed. Clear?

A year from my conversation with Mehul, going through more experiences and having to overcome more obstacles, I realized that this philosophy is wrong! If someone came to me today with the same issue I will ask them: "Are you ready to reinvent yourself?". Quitting is not the right answer anymore. When you are in a cliff or cul-de-sac you have to reinvent, change things in you and around you. I read in an article that if you are in the newspaper industry you are in a cliff because the industry is failing and you have to think of quitting, I would not call it quitting but I'd say reinventing. The word "quit" seems to me so negative that I don't want to believe in it.

Two years ago, I started working on a business idea called "studentutor" with a partner. In a couple of months I realized it was going nowhere, I didn't quit! I reinvented by changing partners and reinventing the idea to come up with a better idea, and that is where Peer2Connect came from... from reinventing.

Summary: When you think that there is no hope and that the road is closed ahead or around you, start by changing (reinventing) yourself and your environment. You might let go something for another that is better, but you are not quitting.

Internship 101 - The Interview Process

2011-10-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

The Reinvent Yourself Workshop
The Tranel Financial Group

I know some of you have been waiting for my post, hence Blue Perez. But let me know tell you that the only thing that has been holding back from writing is my busy schedule at work. I actually have much more to add on to my post, so enjoy!

I want to start out by telling you, in the next posts, about my experience at my second internship here in the United States and how life changing it was for me, not only on the professional level but also on the personal level. I have been having The Experience of A Lifetime. I say that because I feel the change and I hope you feel it too after your internship wherever that would be.

I started interning for The Tranel Financial Group in May 2011, and I think I have to mention how I got the internship…The answer is simply by being ME. Like any other student in my graduation class, I have been looking for a job or internship months before graduation. I have had a couple of interviews, mostly over the phone and it did not turn out well. I was too nervous, I felt the time emergency and really wanted to be at my best during the interview or perhaps be someone else they might like better than myself. I think that is how many students prepare for interviews; they become less themselves and more someone else that they think has more chances to get the job! It did not work for me. After a couple of interviews and many disappointments, I became desperate and even thought of giving up, but my friend Maxim came to me one night and suggested I interview with The Tranel Financial Group, because they seemed like a good fit for me. I thought about it the whole night and thought it would probably be my last attempt. I was not nervous at all because I thought to myself “what could possibly happen?”... “another rejection letter?”.

The day of the interview, I didn’t take too much time getting ready. Threw on the first black pants and button shirts I could see in my closet and printed two copies of my resume & cover letter, and left for my interview. Of course I did some research about the company and connected with one of their employees “Kyle” on Facebook. I wanted to put a face to the company and I could do that through connecting with one familiar face I could relate to. Once there, I was shockingly calm and surprisingly myself. I conducted the interview like I would in a mocking interview with a close friend (Sachie). I suddenly became relaxed and confident, thinking that if my interviewer did not like me the way I am then I should probably not be working for the company. The interview lasted 15 minutes, after that it was me sharing personal stories, being humorous, cheerful, over excited…being myself. When I got the positive answer I have been waiting for, I felt I wanted to jump around, of course being myself I did not stop myself from showing my big smile and sparkling eyes. I felt I made a big step forward to accomplish the dreams I came for to the United States.

Moral of the story: Be Yourself! When you try hard to be someone else, it shows and translate your lack of confidence and self esteem. It also makes the interview awkward and makes it hard for the interviewer to connect with you. Don’t build that obstacle between you and the interviewer with your own hands!

"Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version

of somebody else."

by Judy Garland