burning witches and exploding aliens

Apart from sleeping (a LOT) and washing clothes, i found time for some culture this long weekend. And of course, I couldn't just enjoy the entertainment, i needed to analyze =)

Friday night i caught up on news from back home (meaning the UK). Two stories caught my eye. The 1st was the sacking of the government's senior scientific advisor on drugs, asked to step down for 'crossing the line between science & politics'. His crime? Pointing out the inconsistencies between policies for cannabis and more dangerous (but legal) drugs - alcohol and tobacco. This upset me on one level because I think the rejection of scientific advice on a socially important matter sets a dangerous precedent. It also upset me because the main opposition party AGREED with the government's decision (no doubt concerned with protecting their recently hard-won endorsement from The Sun). Regardless of my own views on drug laws, i think it's very sad if our attitudes towards scientific evidence have gone back 500 years. Now, instead of the Catholic Church, it's the political establishment that's saying, effectively: "We don't care about your 'evidence', what you're saying is blasphemy!" Question the integrity of the evidence - yes. Demand further studies by different groups - yes. But tell them to shut up unless they agree with what you want to hear - this does nothing to serve the development of science or of effective social policy. Well done to the Liberal Democrats (the 3rd biggest party in Parliament) for having the integrity and courage to say this, even knowing it may attract negative tabloid headlines.

The 2nd was the attack on a young gay man in Liverpool by a GANG OF TWENTY. Seemingly his only crime was leaving a club with his boyfriend. Being surrounded by the liberal attitude of my own friends for the last 10yrs, I had started to think that this kind of thing didn't happen anymore in the UK. (Being in a place where it does apparently happen quite regularly, it's something i've thought a bit about, believe me...) At least the guy in question now seems to have made a full recovery.

On Saturday night Diego and I went to watch 'District 9'. Not only enjoyable entertainment, but fascinating because of some parallels with what i've been learning recently about the complex problems of the 'favelas' in Rio de Janeiro. A marginalized community being blighted by poverty and violence, turning to addictive substances for escape. Gangs gaining control by exploiting people's needs. 'Rich world' arms companies looking to make profits from the situation with no regard for the human costs. Am i still writing about the film...? On a lighter note, the added bonus of the film is that it had spaceships, lasers that evaporate people, and dozens of actors trying to fake South-African accents =)

Ok, now i need to go for lunch. But i'll be back soon to finish =)

Being a pioneer

It's been one year since i started my internship with Artemisia. Since Social Business is a relatively new area, one of the phrases that I've used the most during this time is that we are "developing a new field". Today I've discovered some elements of what this means, by participating in a strategic planning meeeting with the whole Artemisia team in Brazil.

1. however much time you spend trying to find answers, there will always appear more questions
2. it's important to keep an open mind and challenge your own paradigms regularly

It's interesting because i believed i had developed this understanding in AIESEC, through my MC and AI experiences. I thought that i was comfortable, even was at my best, working in such circumstancs. Yet several times today i became frustrated, only later realizing that this frustration came from me forgetting these useful lessons.

In AIESEC, although countries and LCs often had very different realities, I could be sure of some fundamental elements of my work, because the organization had 60years of experience in designing, testing, refining and replicating its programs. I had dozens of real examples from my own personal network to underpin my ideas.

Now in Artemisia I'm discovering what its like to work in an environment where your very mission relates to something new, something untested. You need to constantly test your theories - even ones that seem most obvious - in the real world; to ask how and why the reality you observe is different than the one that you expected. You need to be open to challenge not only operational matters but fundamental beliefs and paradigms.

It's incredibly challenging. It requires maturity, patience and humility. It's provoking a lot of reflections about my own behaviours and attitudes. And I feel incredibly lucky to be walking on this journey with such talented, committed and caring people.

Minha nova casa

Below are some pictures from my new home. I'm sharing a 4-storey, 15-bedroom house with around 15 other ppl. They are Brazilian, French & German. We have 4 showers, 1 kitchen and 1 washing machine. As you might imagine, there is rarely a dull moment =) My room has a fridge, cable tv and wireless internet.

And so far, i'm enjoying life here =)

return to Asia

Can there be a more fitting way to share a trip to Asia than through photos?

I hope you enjoy the trip :)

Generation Y

Just got back from an interesting event called "Generation Y: Work, consumption, thoughts, business and fun." A series of half-hour presentations by speakers from diverse backgrounds (age, profession, region), attended by around 150 ppl.

A lot of information that i had already heard, but also a lot of new insights, ideas and references. And extra satisfying because i was there alone and the whole event was in Portuguese (that means more than 4hrs of speeches absorbed!)

Particularly eye-opening to learn many of the traits i identify in myself are considered to be typical of my generation. Impatience, curiosity, self-confidence, connectivity, anxiety, indecisiveness, independence, relentless search for new experiences & challenges. Useful for me to realize that, although i grew up on the other side of the world, i can identify in many ways with my peer group here in Brazil (the global nature of the theme was touched upon, but the main focus was Generation Y in Brazil) and also these are not characteristics unique to AIESECers (something i have tended to assume) and therefore i still need to bear these things in mind in my work even though i'm working much less with AIESEC these days.

Great to have the opportunity to attend this kind of event (and for free!). Already looking forward to the next one! (there's that impatience again...)

A very interesting excerpt from a new book led me to this hilarious article evaluating the contribution and prospects of MBAs in today's world.

The book proposes to expose the 'reality' of the management consultancy industry, from the point of view of someone who spent 11 years revelling in its decadence and over-confidence. I found the content paticularly interesting because:

• so many of my friends from university and AIESEC have gone into this industry, but very few of them have revealed anything like these insights
• at several points during the last few years i myself considered this as a career option (not entirely unrelated to point#1)
• although the author's assertion that "one must dispose of the naïve idea that consulting involves the transfer of knowledge" is backed up by convincing arguments, I can't help wondering how many of the industry's (extortionate-fee-paying) clients (not to mention their now surplus-to-requirements employees) were fully aware of this when they agreed to pay
• it reminds me of how willingly many people accept the 'advice' of self-proclaimed 'experts' without the need for the latter to have proven their expertise. In fact the author tells us that "Wherever I was in the world, at the beginning of every consulting project, one thing was certain: I would know less about the business at hand than the people I was supposed to be advising."

As for the MBA article, it's appealing combination of analysis, sober warning and tongue-in-cheek damnation is summed-up nicely by these lines, probably my favourite part:

"The only semblance of a theory behind modern business education is that it purportedly produces "experts" in shareholder-value maximization who are capable of forming an ideal, self-regulating market.

It's a neat theory, of course, and pretty radical, too. But not since the fall of the Soviet Union has a system of belief woken up with so many parking tickets on its windshield."

If you're a management consultant, i look forward to reading your response. If you enjoy poking fun at people who take themselves too seriously, I suggest you check out the articles =)

And finally, if you're currently saving up to apply for an MBA, I suggest you invest your money in something safer, like shares in a US missile manufacturer, copyright for "Brown wins re-term" t-shirts, or maybe Newcastle United Football Club. Of course I know what i'm talking about - I studied economics 10 years ago, and my boyfriend's mother is a tarot-reader. What more convincing do you need? Perhaps a reference from a management consultant ...? =)

Free speech

There's a pretty hot debate going on in the UK about whether an extreme right-wing political party (the BNP) should be invited onto a mainstream talkshow on the BBC (Question Time). Such a sensitive topic has obviously elicited a lot of strong opinions (some rational, some emotional, some contradictory, some incredulous).

But i did enjoy very much this attempt to inject some (black) humour into the debate:

"Sadly there will be some who will listen to their talk of immigration as the root of all evils and agree without wanting to blame the reckless search for mega profits in the banking industry... They will listen to this man who lives in a massive house in the Welsh countryside and believe he understands what it's like to live in a multi-cultured inner city. It seems to me he has more in common with the anti-homosexual, anti-foreigner Taliban (though with a nicer house) than with the normal everyday British man. Perhaps we should invite the Taliban on with him to show how much they have in common :-) "

That would surely be worth the TV licence fee! (Not that i pay one these days, living off The Island...) Thank you, 'Royalty in the Chamionship', for that gem

Addition to the previous post

I just discovered that São Paulo did have an official 'event' to mark the Brazilian independence day. It was a military parade. There were apparently 30,000 participants.

So, less than 1% of the number who participated in the gay pride.

Who says military coups pose the biggest threat to governments in Latin America? :)