Carlo Nino On-Line

While working in Bangladesh I have worked mostly in the operations role and field.  That means procurements, finances, HR responsibilities, staying abreast of all IT related issues, SECURITY, it goes on and on. I’m not on the program side of things.

What is not missing if daily interaction in Bangladesh.  Some days are more successful than others and sometimes when I’m saying hello or good morning to my staff it can appear gratuitous.

Developing cultural agility takes time and time+errors builds experience and lessons learned.  I found it valuable to keep a journal but also mouth shut and eyes and ears open.  What does the country have to say to you, what to the people have to say to you, how is it said and what’s your orientation?

Lately I have been exploring more and more of Participatory Rural Appraisals or PRA.  They are an alternative to using survey’s and questionnaires putting the local population in charge of it’s own affairs and listening and learning how to proceed vs asserting an outside influence on how to get things done.

PRA ranking exercise being carried out by members of a Farmer Field School in Bangladesh, 2004

I set about asking how does one go about developing basic skills for cultural agility and guess what?  I found the following and they are extremely helpful.

Six key skills that will help you master cultural agility from Michelle Randall:

1. Self-awareness. Being aware of your own cultural biases, behaviors, and worldviews.
2. Being attuned to your environment, and to cultural nuances. Adjusting your behavior to harmonize the relationship–without mimicking.
3. Adapting to cultural differences and ambiguities. Being flexible to the situation.
4. Being authentic. (It’s not about putting on somebody else’s culture, but about being able to interact in a way that’s relevant and important to them.)
5. Acquiring knowledge about other cultures. Immersing yourself in the foreign culture and seeking out new experiences.
6. Continually assessing how you’re developing in each of these areas, and looking for opportunities to grow.

Every person will find what works for them.  My father gave me a copy of, “The Ugly American”.  A book written 1958, a political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer which influenced the way the American overseas behaved and impacted policy, helping to form the Peace Corps.

The Ugly American is a 1958 political novel by Eugene Burdick and William Lederer which depicts the failures of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Southeast Asia.

The authors were disillusioned with the style and substance of U.S. diplomatic efforts in Southeast Asia. They sought to demonstrate through their writings their belief that American officials and civilians could make a substantial difference in Southeast Asian politics if they were willing to learn local languages, follow local customs and employ regional military tactics.

Hi all.

I have been asked for the notes on my brief and I’m including them here.

Thanks for all who attended.

Remembering Who You Work For – The Beneficiary?… the Recipient?… the Donor?

Thoughts on ethics in project management.

I was recently asked to talk on any professionally relevant topic of my choice before a large PMP credentialed audience in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Heralding from the Marine Corps my first answer was leadership. Sadly, that option had been taken by some other lucky fella. Were I back in the Marines their next choice would undoubtedly be on the topic of ethics and character within the workspace. How do the concepts of ethics and morality play against each other in the work environment where we are asked so frequently to compromise ourselves so we can keep our jobs or just “go with the flow”.

Well my friends, I’m no diviner of final objective truths but what I can offer are a variety of good reasons why it’s best practice and policy to approach your projects with humility, an attitude for learning and a bit of self-worth and dignity that we may never feel we much compromise ourselves.

Personal Brand

A person’s integrity and their character will inform others of your brand. Are you reliable? Dependable? We’re talking about making the right choices for their own sake but are there not practical benefits for simply doing right by your staff, your clients, vendors or indeed the recipients of your goods and services? Your brand and reputation will precede you. If you have a storied history of cutting corners, looking the other way or indeed not taking positive action when you see something wrong and thus become part of that problem in your complicity you are not doing yourself or the work culture around you any favors.

Good Business

Staying in business is of course just one part of why you are in business for whatever it is you do. There are all kinds of climates out there on the range from toxic to ideal. We have a lot to say about best practices and lessons learned if we really want to actualize a business environment conducive to honesty, transparency and a name for doing right by others. Others here are defined as your stakeholders as well as your vendors and indeed… your very staff. None of these relationships can exist silo’d off and away from each other. Understanding what your business code of ethics is helps you blend those elements with the quality of work you do and in turn promotes your brand and encourages business growth.

Replicable Events

You don’t want to just have one good business deal, you want repeat business. How does choking a customer or client on a one-time high fee only to lose their business afterward. What about that proposal you submitted? How much quality is behind that? Will you stand on it? Put your signature to it? You might win that proposal but how much of that was luck? You want to be competitive and you want to win more proposals (ideally) and you get better each time. You want to capitalize on that success with future endeavors and you do that by incorporating and blending best practices in terms of having a consistent reputation of being transparent, cost effective, reliable on time and budget, bankable. Holding yourself and your organization to a higher standard becomes mutually profitable.

The upshot of all this is of course we want to do the right thing but it becomes a little harder to do in a lot of gray areas in life and the workplace. Allow yourselves to be human. Understanding time and place, flexibility, creative options means you are aware of the decisions that are in front of you and you are being an active participant in the choices that follow. Working for an INGO like Helen Keller International means I have to hold myself as well as my colleagues to a higher standard. I’m often kept on my toes and I thank my team for that. Remember my friends, the light at the end of the tunnel might be you.

I have been working in Bangladesh for 2 years now for a non-profit named Helen Keller International.  Principally the organization is dedicated to reducing blindness in children through food security efforts.  That’s all to say they attempt to reduce blindness by assisting implementing partners (local NGO’s) with best practices and models for showing families what vitamin rich foods to eat.  The idea is to reduce wasting, stunting, obesity, blindness and improve general health and well-being.

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is one of the areas we focus on.  This is an over-simplified explanation but essentially babies who are placed into incubation receive higher than normal exposure or dosages to oxygen rich levels.  This causes the retina to become swollen because the blood cells become oxygen rich and causes permanent damage in the form of blindness.

The organization also deals with diabetic retinopathy as well as education for women of reproductive age to enhance their breast-milk with nutrients for children in rural areas.