Strangers Who Ask Amazing Questions

In Korea recently, when I was having a great day seeing the countryside with a friend, a complete stranger greeted me and asked where I was from.  San Diego, I replied.  She then introduced her daughter who had recently graduated from SDSU with a MS degree in Marketing!  Amazing coincidence!  We talked a bit, knew some professors in common.  I introduced my friend to them.  It was all like we had known each other.  Yet we did not.  It all happened so fast, I never even learned the names of this amazing mother and daughter.  I just have a picture of them that's all.  I snapped it like we were all old friends....

It happened in minutes.  The woman asked me a few amazing questions, like it would have been great to talk more.  My friend and I went on our way and the day was splendid.  No less splendid for having met two "old friends" so fast, so deep, like it was supposed to happen.  Can I find them out there?  Probably not a chance.  One of those accidents?  Right?

No accidents!

This Was a Game With Winners on Both Sides

Congratulations to Japan's Women's Soccer Team on their World Cup win today!  Same big time sentiments of pride for America's team.  Actually, in all of sport, I have rarely seen a game where the team came from behind twice and won in overtime, as the Japan women did so valiantly.  Our USA women were such amazing pursuers all game long, and it was a game of inches...

Or was it?  At the halftime, with my American pride, I noticed the faces of the Japan team....then their intricate footwork...it sort of gave me a feeling that they may have some destiny here....

As I thought about it, ....and it did not take long...., the Japan team looked like a potential champion and I started to think....well, this would be what Japan needs now......these girls are great, but are they playing with a mission in their hearts?

Alex Morgan was so unbelievably cool and athletic as she got the ball in....her spirit shone strong....all through the game....others too....

Japan kept their pieces solid and mechanical....beat the US on a goal, the shootout was all Japan.....

I had already begun preparing for the idea that Japan would win....its good for the island...its good for their spirit....its good for their economy....something we also appreciate......

However our girls looked beaten and discouraged, Solo looked cool....she congratulated the opponents....
This game was one for the ages.  This game was for the heart of Japan!  There was something bigger than the game going on....but, what a game!

Mid-Summer Views

Sitting here...
The water near....
Looking East....in the evening...

Where rain falls...now...
...where falls rain...pure golden mist...

You are ever on my mind....like the mist...
....I can taste...but not grasp...

The sweetness of summer is with us...
...however far...but as near as the mist....

This California just shines out as a gift of a place on our planet...

Summer in California is an ultimate gift.....

BOOM... BOOM... BOOM IN THE NIGHT

America's birthday!  Lots of good cheer...
American picnics and good beer... and more to share...
Everybody excited up to the minute the fireworks start....
Until for next year, we part....

Sound...light, noise from children laughing and screaming...Boom...Boom...Boom....
It resounds...the sounds...through the trees and all the grounds....
And in the few quiet seconds, there is the profound...the very big, big BOOOMM!

Last year, we saluted the nightwatchman at the Liberty Monument where it was a hot, humid evening.  This year, he still toils and watches more than last year....the night guard at the George Washington Bridge is tense that night....he is looking extra hard for any problems and does not want to find a single one...

Deep into the night these public places quiet down and are almost silent, in contrast to the fireworks that just preceded them...

It is a pause, not an accident, where all can take a breath and just stand still for a minute and focus on the thought of what this moment is and why Americans go "Boom, Boom, Boom in the Night"?

It is to give our children some awe.  It gives us some.  And some fun and laughter.  It reminds us who we are and our roots.

Boom, Boom, Boom.....we were just reminded.....

Yes, America's guardians and nightwatchmen see this too, but they have this special duty, you see, to protect us all from ourselves when we get so excited, not a bad motive, but one that gets stretched when the law enforcement guys speak of dangerous intimidation.

Its 3am in hot Philadelphia at the Liberty Bell....its even hotter in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial.  But there is no going home.  America's treasures must be protected, in whatever heat and humidity.  These men and these monuments are a team and they will be OK.

Thousands felt comfort and exhilaration in these days.  It helps national spirit

Boom, Boom,..........Boom, BOOM!!! 

Finale over, another year. 
A few more few minutes to feel our country's history and meaning, and great cheer.

More Than a One in Thirteen Tousand Chance of Being Noticed

Schumpeter writes recently in The Economist (citation) that the world of business schools is indeed huge.  Huge in size--13,000 programs worldwide and counting...big in power--graduates line up for "master of the universe" tittles, and very big in rich, fast, jet-set values.  He asks if the many cosmopolitan polyglots are spun into a hall of mirrors where it is a false reality in terms of the actual global world.  Wall Street can develop tunnel-vision...narrow streets, tall buildings, monetary vertigo, you know?

The globalization has been rather sudden.  I estimate the number of business schools has actually doubled in the last 12 years.  It cannot sustain that pace for long.  The world market is not big enough for that.  There would be a bubble or an overbuilt global supply and it would lead to a blemish on the shining star rising of the MBA credential.  Nobody can afford that!

Partner and sister school relations across borders is still exploding and is very exciting, but may be elite oriented and may be trying to tap a small segment of the total market....those who can actually afford to and want to leave ho,me and travel to another land for study abroad.  Europe and Asia are leading in this category, and the US is following far behind.  So very few US students still travel out there and study.
Schumpeter does not deal that much with another of the big rocket-propelled grenades of this higher education global business-ed picture.  That is the huge mass market distant learning schools and programs which actually cross borders electronically and sort of inhibit travel-oriented students from the temptation to get up and actually travel abroad for study.  It is so easy to be an armchair student.  But masses are doing it and getting "global exposure" from home, literally within their house.

Our school is one of 13,000 on the planet.  CIBU is defining its uniqueness daily.  But, for any of you who is wondering if we are bold enough, here is a snapshot of CIBU's brave stake in this game.

You are in a class in an MBA program at CIBU.  Your student team has:  One Canadian, one from Holland, one from France, one from China, one from Vietnam, and one from Korea.  They all have the necessary background degrees, test scores and minimum English to be qualified to be there.  BUT, English skill varies across the students and in the order of the above listed team members it goes from very fluent to just intermediate.

Now introduce the team's project:  it is a real live case.  The company under study is a Korean company in California.  The team must make a research project, and a presentation to the Korean executives.  A Powerpoint slide show is going to be key.

The team members are restless.  A few of the very fluent in English ones are very uncomfortable with the few who are not.  This leads to feelings of which ones are most important and which ones are not.

Now, enter how CIBU is different:  at CIBU under these conditions described above, the presentation and powerpoint to Korean executives live in person, must be in both English and Korean!  That is CIBU policy.  No exceptions.  No English-only superiority or forced linguistic-cultural superiority will be allowed.  The client wants it and deserves it in both languages.  That is real world.  The same is true at McCann-Erickson Worldwide, Citicorp, Siemens, Toyota or Hyundai in any professional global environment.  English is the platform and the universal gateway agent language, but the client culture and language is totally honored and respected and used.

Now, who is the very most important member of this student team?  Who may be less dominant, but deeply knows the cultural manner of communicating the message with ultimate best emphasis, tone, rhythm, and drama?  It is the Korean student, of course.

In many, many, many business schools, this is totally overlooked and not practised.  At CIBU, it is everyday policy.  CIBU is not only global, it is like an international airport.  English is the base, but we are multilingual.  Striving for multicultural homogeneity through an English-only classroom is a contrived and false reality and leads to students being overlooked and neglected by all.  CIBU breaks this mold with bravery and boldness.

I figure I sit at least 100 hours each year for 20 years or more in rooms and meetings where I hear other languages and I do not follow or understand.  We always come to English.  But I always show respect.  It is never time wasted.  It is time invested and respected.  That lesson starts at CIBU, not on the first job assignment.

We are defining our true uniqueness everyday and every minute, and every student is equally a miracle.