Category Archives: Pondering

I’m a Specialist Plant

As part of our staff meeting we had a member of our Learning & Development department come along and take us through a behavioural assessment. The behaviour test was based on Belbin Team inventory, and it shows insights into what your preferred roles and least preferred roles are.

I have always been a cynic of these tests. They ask a few general questions which you could easily answer any different way. And then they provide a result which somehow magically describes all parts of your being. I’m smarter than that. I cannot be pidgeon-holed into a category, these tests miss so many considerations.

But the problem is, each time I do these tests they come back with the same result. The same pretty accurate result. I always come out of them thinking they have captured me pretty well.

The Belbin test identifies 10 Team Roles, which you are classified to – according to the statements that you relate most to.

The test found that I had two Team Roles I favour. One was the Plant role. Its typical profile is creative, unorthodox, serious minded, individualistic. It has some positive contributions of Genius, imaginative, intellectual, knowledgeable. They’re good at solving problems and generating ideas. However, they’re inclined to ignore practical details or protocol. A preference to break the rules came through in another test I did at the time of my Emirates interview – which initially concerned the organisational psychologist, but then he believed it could actually be a positive contribution at times. Another “allowable weakness” is they may be too pre-occupied to communicate effectively.

My other preferred team role was the Specialist. They’re typically Single-minded, self-starting, dedicated to their own field. An alleged positive is they provide knowledge and skills in rare supply. But their issue is they may only contribute on a narrow front, and can dwell on technicalities.

The test also provides insight into what your least favoured role is. My least favoured – unfortunately – the Implementer. These are conservative, disciplined, reliable, efficient and predictable. It’s a concern if I look at the antonyms of these words, as describing myself. Positives of this role are organising ability, practical common sense, hard working, self-disciplined. They turn ideas into practical actions. I guess it shows a disconnect with having a profile allegedly capable of Planting ideas.

In other behavioural tests I’ve done, this result was there also. I do see it as a weakness at times, but feel I use some good tools to help manage this. So while I may answer in ways that show I think I have better ideas than being practical, I feel I am usually on top of the tasks I must implement. But perhaps I think other people are better positioned to do it. Or more of a concern, maybe I think it’s somebody else’s job. I have ideas, but can’t bring myself to do the actual work to get them in.

When I first saw this trait coming in these tests, I promised to fix it. But it’s still coming up again four years later. Maybe it’s the same as being an alcoholic. Before you can resolve the problem, you first must admit you have a problem.

The internet is making us dumb

I’ve heard people claiming that with the internet we’re growing dumb by having such a plethora of information at our finger tips. I never bought much into the argument, but maybe it does have some merit, particularly when the information that is closest to our finger tips is wrong.

I’m delivering a presentation today to the CPI software congress. Yesterday I showed a colleague the content, and mentioned the segways I had in mind – referring to the way I would try to transition the content through different slides. He looked at me puzzled, and asked what a two wheel device for getting around the airport had to do with anything. Despite being British, he was only slightly joking. He had not heard the word Segway used in its proper context, only from a product perspective – with particular highlights such as when George W. Bush fell off one.

I suggested he look up the proper meaning. We didn’t have a dictionary at hand, so Google had to do. I was gob-smacked with what came back.

Of a dozen or so references Google sent to his Blackberry; and particularly when you use the dictionary function of define: segway, there was no mention of it actually being a word. Nope. A segway according to the leading definitions on the web is a:

A large update: I’ve traced the etymology of the term, and embarassingly found using the word segway in the context above comes from the Trade Marked product name – Segway.

The internet is not making us dumb, I was dumb to start with. The internet can only help.

An even bigger, and more important update:
Thanks to Tim, I’ve learned the word in question is segue. Which is a real, non-trademarkable word.

The Internet may not change the fact we are dumb, but it does have the benefit of exchange with smarter people.
🙂

Proving I’m human

I have recently subscribed to Twitter – @rbrink77.

I believe I’ve embraced web 2.0 and social networking for a few years now, but Twitter has never appealed to me. But I should try before I refuse to buy.

I guess not having a Blackberry or sophisticated mobile phone puts me at a slight disadvantage. In fact, my mobile could not be less sophisticated. It has no Bluetooth, and I can’t even change the ring tone. Despite this it serves me extremely well, through surviving my 20 month old’s battering and attempts to eat it.

I have noticed some Twitter feeds use Captcha to ensure the subscription is coming from a human. One of the tweets I subscribed to took this to an interesting level, with its Captcha. I’ve uploaded the screen shot below. If you can’t make out the images, the two words are “bootee secretary”.

Actual Captcha image

Dubai 2020 Olympics feasible?

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There have been many murmerings and insinuations previously, but in the last week it was confirmed at the highest level Dubai has an interest in staging the Olympic Games. Both HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and his wife Princess Haya discussed the point at this year’s SportAccord.

I assume the bid if for the Summer games. While Ski Dubai is the world’s largest indoor snow park and field, it probably still isn’t enough to consider the Winter games. 😉

At this point in time consultants are just going to evaluate the readiness of DXB to host the event, then determine how much work would be required to proceed.

One obvious issue is that during the Olympic month of September the temperature doesn’t get much below 30 degrees celsius.

I saw first hand at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 the amount of infrastructure, development and planning that was required to get the nod. My initial thought around the UAE is that we’re not yet ready. However Sheikh Mohammed is always confident on the city’s ability to rise to the occasion:

“if we decide to make a bid for the Olympics, we will be in it to win”

. There are many examples where UAE has proven itself to be able to carry out the near impossible. Most recently the 808m Burj Khalifa should make people wonder.

One thing’s for sure. If Dubai takes the bid on, I’ll be behind it. And another thing is for certain, if Dubai gets the nod, I’ll need to stay here longer than the 5 years I initially proposed. For anyone that’s been to Dubai it will no doubt be a very interesting story to follow.

Who knows, we could be in with a real chance. It seems Hobart, the capital city of Australia’s tiny island state of Tasmania are considering their chances after a radio prank was a little too successful.

http://www.business24-7.ae/sports/other/dubai-evaluates-olympics-bid-2010-04-26-1.236829

Tribute – Stella May Brinkworth

My Nanna passed away Friday 12/03/2010, at the ripe age of 91.

I was asked to say a few words from the grandkids – I did this nine years ago for Poppy also. The following is my tribute, based on various inputs requested and received via social networking – found yet another Facebook use.

It’s a real honour for me to be here today to join in the celebration of Nanna’s life, and to say some words on behalf of her 18 proud grandkids and great grandkids.

We loved the way when Nanna saw us she would always touch our faces with her two hands. We’ll miss her hugs. We’d get a hug and kiss every time we saw her. They were never the strongest hugs, and each year our arms were going further and further around her tiny frame, but her hugs always came from the heart. We were constantly reminded that big things do come in small packages.

We always loved staying at Shorncliffe on our school holidays, playing cards and board games. Being at Nanna and Poppy’s home felt like our home. Jetty Street breakfasts were legendary, with Nanna’s poached eggs out of an egg tray that fit on top of a steaming pan, served on toast and promite. And regardless of how miniscule the fish was that we brought back from fishing on the jetty, she’d always happily prepare it as a meal fit for a King.

We loved the heartfelt cards she’d write to us for birthdays, or any other special occasion which she’d never forget. She made it known she was very proud of us. She was intensely proud of all her family. In her words, we “came from good stock”.
And she really treasured her growing number of great grandkids. She loved holding them. Carrying them she looked truly happy, even though in her final few years a couple of those babies weighed almost a quarter of her own weight.

Nanna thought the grandkids were such cute babies too, but, for a few of us she’d usually follow-up by adding how massive our heads were.

She understood how busy everyone’s lives were and never expected people to go out of their way for her. Every time we visited her, she would emphasise how happy she was to see us, rather than how long it had been since she had seen us.

Nanna was prepared for anything. She always had a handkerchief, which she’d often moisten with her tongue to wash our faces.
And we never went hungry. My goodness!

She could always lay out a spread of food so swiftly, and would always offer seconds. You’d finish your meal, and then a skinny little arm would push another plate of food closer to you. No matter what our size, she always thought we needed more. To her we were all “growing kids”.
And she’d always serve herself last. She was born to be a mother, grandmother and great grandmother.

Nanna and Poppy were also two of the most reliable people we’ll ever know. At their dinner time you could set your watch to 6pm with absolute precision.

And in these modern times, it’s uncommon for kids to have both parents attend their school parades, fetes, award nights, graduations, sporting events and anything else. We always had our parents there, but we were also quite unique and blessed to often have both grandparents there.

In recent times, Queensland has suffered two of its worst droughts in history, and was subjected to severe water restrictions. Nanna’s take on this was almost nonchalant. To her it was no big deal. She had naturally adhered to Level 7 water restrictions for more than 80 years. Whenever we stayed at Shorncliffe, Nanna would wash us in a bath with the tide out. She was an expert at how to be thrifty and make do – two very good lessons for us to learn.

At her 90th birthday it was touching to see Nanna cry at the memory of Poppy. But she was still able to show how much she loved spending her time with us.

Nanna and Poppy’s love story will always inspire us. Long-lasting or eternal love is an amazing story. Poppy was the love of her life, and she’s missed him so much over the last nine years.
That love they had for each other has passed on through the family.

Although it’s sad she’s left us, we’re happy they’re together again.
Nanna and Poppy always danced so well. We assume they’re dancing together now.

Christmas in Dubai

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This year we had our first Christmas in our adopted country, Dubai. Being a Muslim country and away from all family, it was always going to be different. But it was still extremely enjoyable with some good friends taking the usual place of family.

It seemed that most of our friends went home, or decided to travel over the Christmas break. I should mention, the Christmas “break” was a break by accident only. The holiday season is irrelevant over here. We were just fortunate that December 25th happened to fall on a Friday – the first day of our weekend.

We knew a handful of friends were staying in the building Christmas day, so we invited them to come to our place for a traditional Christmas lunch. Well, not quite traditional. We happily substituted the baked ham for a baked lamb as we had Muslim friends join. And also, the Christmas crackers that we’d expect to pay a few dollars for in Australia were the equivalent of $77 AUD a packet. So we got the cheapest kiddy ones, and used them sparingly.

Our Emirates Group IT Santa

Our Emirates Group IT Santa


For the months before, there were quite a few shops advertising the Christmas season which surprised me. We were even able to buy a tree – we chose the only one that would survive the attention of a headstrong 1 year old called Lewis. So it was certainly beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We even had a Christmas lunch at work which was unlike any Christmas lunch I’ve ever had. Karaoke was the theme of the day. And Santa was not as pale as I recall. He had dark skin from the Asian subcontinent, as well as a penchant for Bollywood dancing, which made for a fantastic entrance!

It also seemed at least one of the local police were in the spirit of the season when he booked me just one muqalifer(?) – fine – instead of the two I was deserving.

The traffic infringement happened on the way into work. I found myself in the wrong lane for the turn I wanted to make, so just like everybody else – which is apparently no excuse – just before the traffic lights I cut over a solid line when I saw a break in the traffic. This got the attention of a policeman on a motorbike, that I did see a few minutes earlier. He shouted a few things at me, and the only thing I comprehended was driver’s license which I gave to him. After this he wanted to see the car’s book (registration). I was driving a friend’s car while they were out of town, so I had no clue where the rego paperwork would be. I tried all the obvious places starting with the glovebox. I didn’t want to make the policeman more angry so I started handing him each piece of paper in there. Handing him things from the kids’ school didn’t help matters. We drove a little further where we could stop. He started dishing out a few more fines to people as he parked his bike – man this guy was efficient! I used the extra time to search the car completely, but to no avail. When I checked the boot I spotted an “I love UAE” scarf on the back window. I half-considered inconspicuously putting the scarf around my neck to appeal to his patriotism and let me go. But I thought better of it. At times like this there’s probably a fine line between trying to make a genuine connection with a guy in authority and taking the piss. The fine was just for “Not presenting vehicle registration card when required”. He dropped the charge for cutting the line. Ho, ho, ho.

Otherwise the Christmas was great. Technology enabled us to beam into my family’s Christmas celebrations in Australia, where everyone was well. Our boys loved riding their new bikes and Insha’Allah won’t break any bones. And our table full of friends – who incidentally spanned four continents – all shared what Christmas has always meant to me, having fun and enjoying the company of others. That is, despite all of us eating way too much – an obligatory Christmas tradition!

In fact we had plenty of food remaining, so we filled a few plates and sent them to the security guys who work in our building. Ordinarily they’d gobble this up and be extremely grateful. But it was sort of pleasing to hear that they couldn’t accept the food. Their fridge was already overflowing from loads of other tenants sending down food for them also. ‘Tis the season.

The day after Christmas I woke up early at 5:00am to watch some of the Boxing Day (Cricket) Test match – a bit of an Australian festive tradition.  After watching just half an hour of play between Australia and Pakistan, I had the clearest demonstration of the time difference between Dubai and Australia I’ve had.  Despite rising before the sun did in Dubai, play had already finished for the morning and it was time for the lunch break!

I hope everyone else had a lovely Christmas.

Acceptance

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The other day, in the face of a total lack of logic I found myself not willing to argue, disagree, or even comment. Instead I just accepted it as a standard Dubai thing I have grown accustomed to. It got me thinking of all the things in Dubai that we’ve found to be very different to what we grew to expect in Australia, but have grown used to. This isn’t meant to be a rant and rave about how things back home are better. It’s not the issue.

I just think it’s interesting how some things we get used to quite quickly and easily. Others I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.

The following is no where near exhaustive, but it’s a list of some of the key differences I can recall that we’ve encountered, and just how long it’s taken us to accept or get used to them.

Different thing How long before we got used to it
A total lack of logic or common sense in some people and processes Around six weeks – although it still raises a wry smile at times
Driving on the right-hand side of the road 1 – 2 weeks from driving, although still getting used to this in car parks. Driving again on left side took more than two weeks to revert back
Driving in a crazy scary fashion A good six months to learn what to expect. And from my parents’ feedback when they holidayed here, it took me less than seven months to start driving the same way.
No household recycling Throwing paper in the regular bin took couple of weeks, but still feels strange to throw cans in the trash
Kids jumping around in the back seat not wearing seatbelts Not used to it yet, and I’m sure it’ll always haunt me
Prevalence of hired help at home 3-4 months – but couldn’t get it myself
Being able to get literally anything home delivered 2 months, and it’s disappointing that everywhere else doesn’t do this
Not being able to show affection in public Immediately off the plane, I know a few guys that are jealous of this
Working week starts on a Sunday At least three months – but still occasionally refer to the week’s end as Friday, and tell work mates I’ll see them on Monday
Massive height of the Burj Dubai Around nine months. It’s a good sign I’ve been here more than a little while, cause it honestly doesn’t look that big.
Massive proportion of luxury cars Four months, but some cars will still revert me to a 12 year old when I spot them
Often seeing two guys, always just friends, holding hands 2-3 months before it seemed normal, but it continues to shock when I see them holding hands while walking into a public toilet

Sick of people bashing Dubai

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Last night a banner ad on Facebook caught my attention. It was for a group called, “I am sick of people bashing Dubai” (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=79706383856&ref=mf).  Perhaps the title is a bit strong, but I did sign up.

The last couple of weeks I’ve received at least four different articles about Dubai and how terrible the place is.

One of the more scathing and regular is from the Independent, http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html entitled The Dark Side of Dubai.

But all the stories follow a basic theme.  As a permanent resident of Dubai it’s made interesting reading, mainly to identify all the inaccuracies. While some of the concerns are correct, some of the conclusions are questionable at best.

My eyes have certainly opened to the level of bias in various forms of media.  I’ve never been ignorant of it, but just how much the mainstream press sells its news is quite a shock.

I’m glad people have sent the stories on though.  Ever since friends and family have learned that we were planning to  here, we’ve been getting a steady stream of emails of all things Dubai.  Some promote the wonder of Dubai and all the extreme developments, but more and more it’s been the stories of Dubai sinking amidst the financial crisis and suffering from being too ambitious.

All I really know is things aren’t as bad as they seem. I can’t remember if it was Frank Sinatra or Carrie Bradshaw who once said that New York is so big that no matter what you’ve heard about it, it’s probably true. Well, I would suggest no matter how many articles get written about Dubai it’ll never be like New York.

From Elle……….

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Well, our first month in Dubai has certain gone quickly, it doesn’t seem that long ago that I was freezing my bum off in Tassie with Cath. Not any more however, it’s getting hotter and hotter here. Each day Myles, Lewis and I go for a walk in the mornings around Deira. We were going around 11am then coming back home for lunch, but we have had to start going at about 9am as by 11 it’s way too hot for poor Lewis in the pram, and for Myles and I as well! We have discovered some interesting things on our walks so far, namely some very beautiful Mosques which Myles finds fascinating. I have also discovered a chocolate shop which makes handmade chocolates which very nearly compare with Anvers. I don’t think they will replace Anvers as my favourites, but it’s certainly been a good find regardless.

I have been trying to find a school for Myles for the past few weeks, but with little success until this week. We have finally reached the stage of actually going into one school for an appointment, whereas previously I had only been able to get onto endless waiting lists, some of which they actually wanted you to pay for (that’s right, you pay to go a list, when you might not ever actually get a place!) The schools here are quite different from Australia, most are private schools and all seem to have endless waiting lists. There have been a lot of expats leaving Dubai lately though, so it looks like some places might finally start opening up. The school year starts in September here as well, but I’d love to get Myles into a school as soon as possible as he is starting to get bored staying at home with me and Lewis all day. It’s quite difficult where we are living at the moment as there are no parks within walking distance and it’s too hot to go out by mid morning, meaning we have to stay inside all day. This is certainly not what Myles is used to, but he has been finding lots of ways to keep himself busy. He has started learning how to write, and is progressing well through the alphabet.

Last week I got my Dubai drivers licence, and since we now have a car this week the boys and I have been on a few outings. We went to Creek Park again on Monday morning. We were the only people in the park when we got there at 10am! People here tend to go out later in the day and in the evening, which is quite different from what we’re used to in Australia. The one advantage though was that Myles had the whole park pretty much to himself, which of course he took full advantage of – running around yelling his head off and generally having a blast. We also made yet another trip to the local shopping mall to do the grocery shopping. That has been quite an experience so far, as every time we have been there it has been absolutely packed with people and quite difficult to find anything that we’re looking for. We usually just grab the essentials then escape as quickly as possible. We went early this time though, and again found the place to be almost deserted. It was good to actually be able to have a look on the shelves and see what’s available. We have found a few familiar brands so far (Milo, Kellogs, Nestle) but have also had some difficulties finding some products. Most of the labels on things are written in Arabic, so it’s hard to know exactly what you’re buying sometimes. I suppose it’s been good in a way though, as we have certainly tried some different foods from what we would normally eat in Australia. The shops where we go have a good selection of Australia meat though which is good. They do have Australian vegies as well, but they are nowhere near as good as what we get back home. That’s one thing that I am definitely missing!

Dubai is also very family-friendly. The locals here absolutely love children. It’s hard to walk around the shops at times because they always want to stop us and look at the kids. The children here also like to just walk up the Myles and Lewis and touch them on the face, which Myles thinks is fantastic. Lewis is probably not so sure yet, as he has copped a few fingers in the eye from over-enthusiastic kiddies! I haven’t had any issues here so far being a female yet either. At some of the shops, I have found that the Arab men will act as though you are not there and push in front of me in the queue, but I haven’t had any other dramas. I have found the streets here are very safe to walk alone for a female. I sometimes walk to the corner store after dark and feel completely safe, something which I would not normally do at home. I’m not sure why I have the feeling of being so safe here. There are a lot of police, but it’s just a feeling that you get walking around. People here, especially the locals, are generally very friendly and very helpful to foreigners.

We have a Nepalese security guard in our building named Manoj. He is a lovely guy who does the day shift for our building (12 hour shifts, from 6:30am – 6:30pm). He has become quite fond of Myles and Lewis,  I think especially because he hasn’t seen his own family in Nepal for well over a year. There are a lot of workers in Dubai who do the blue collar jobs like security and construction who have come from countries such as Nepal, India and Pakistan. These workers get paid what we consider to be very low wages (around 500 AED or $180AUS a month) It is however a huge increase on what they could earn in their home country, so lots of them come to work here, and then send all their money back home to their families. They work very long hours though, and generally don’t get any days off at all (maybe one a month).

When I first arrived here, I discovered that Ryan had been employing our building’s cleaner Sathi to clean our aparment (floors and bathrooms). When I found out how little these workers were paid each month, I was quite hapy to let him keep cleaning our apartment once a week. We pay him extra (around 50AED) which is a huge help to him. It has been quite hard for me to not feel guilty about going out and spending money, or going to nice places and then coming back to the building where Sathi and Manoj have been working all day. Despite this, they always greet us with huge smiles, and offer to help me upstairs with the kids and shopping. It has certainly made me appreciate how very lucky we are and also what a wonderful country Australia is.

All in all I am thoroughly enjoying Dubai and all the new experiences we have had so far. I’m looking forward to lots mre exciting adventures over the next month or so.  Will keep you posted.

Is there something wrong with my son?

My four year old son is interesting to say the least.

With tongue in cheek, I have to ask.  Is he normal?

I know a lot of kids of the same age, but my son’s certainly different.

In a country where you see a large representation of the most flash cars on earth, he’s most interested in seeing a VW (“Herbie car”), or a mini (“Mr Bean’s car”).

While most of his friends back home ran around bare footed, we have to battle with him to take off his shiny “work boots”.

With such a huge variety of kids clothes bearing the latest cartoon movie motifs, he wants nothing but plain coloured apparel.

And in regard to simply wearing clothes in general, we know more than a few kids who don’t like getting dressed at all. Yet Myles selects his own clothes early each morning, and quite often wants to wear a neck tie as well – even if it’s one he’s made himself from drawing on a piece of cut-out paper.

I guess the conclusion is simple. He’s definitely not normal. He’s hilarious and fantastic.