Making a Difference

Friday was a fairly regular day in the office. The one thing of note we did was SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis with two teams. Besides that is was BAU.

Today has been a totally different story. It was our first of two Community Service Days. We had two events that the entire CSC team participated in and they both took place at STP. The first was a workshop for women and those with disabilities who have SMEs (small medium enterprises). The second was a robotics workshop focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) with junior high kids.

Me with Santi (IBM Indonesia), the Minister of Cooperation and SMES and Demetri (one of STP's tenants)

At my visit with Polar two days ago I invited them to come to the SME workshop. I told them I would do what I could to introduce them to someone who might have some ideas about marketing their wood finishing business. I must say here that the idea to invite them to the workshop was suggested by Candra, our PA, who accompanied me to the meeting on Thursday. After today's workshop I did have the opportunity to introduce them to someone from IBM Indonesia who had some good advice to help them protect and grow their product. While we were talking an employee from the Ministry of Cooperation and SMEs joined us. I won't go into details to respect everyone's privacy, but a really great opportunity presented itself. This was the moment my being on this team was personally confirmed. I tangibly helped make happen what could be a big difference in the lives of local people.

Today was a big cultural learning day. Perceptions of time are very different in Indonesia than they are in the US.Our team arrived, as requested, at STP before 8am - which is when the dignitaries were to arrive. People slowly trickled in. However, the workshop that was to begin at 8am didn't get started until 9:30am. The three presentations we had prepared had to be taken down to one for the sake of time. People didn't seem bothered by the delays. Taking photos is a very big activity in Indonesia. So, while we were all waiting for everyone to arrive there were masses of people going around taking pictures with all of us. I can't even begin to count how many photos I was in today. Additionally, in this culture, there seems to be a lot of activity - talking, eating, looking at phones - while people are talking. This was even true when the Minister of Cooperation and SMEs was speaking. It definitely takes some getting used to.

It's been great getting to meet so many people from the IBM Indonesia office. I've met their manager for corporate responsibility, the director of marketing, the director of communications, someone from the storage team and the CFO. I continue to be humbled by the many new connections I am making within IBM. It's such a large company, but CSC makes it feel a little smaller.

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