The 2 things (ok, 3) I needed to make it through the MBA

It's 2012 already and I feel like I completely missed out on 2010 and 2011. What was I doing on January 1st, 2011? Catching up on my readings for classes that were starting again a few days later. This year, on January 1st, 2012, we spent the afternoon cooking what turned out to be a nice family dinner.

What a chance this year: lots and lots of sleep. Lots of time with friends and family. It feels like coming back to life.

During the holidays I was talking with a friend about my program and what it took to survive it. Here is the conversation:

(Me) To do this program, you need two things. First, you need to be unaware of what you're really getting into. Because if I had known how much work it would be I am not sure I would have chosen to do this program. Second, you need pride. Strong pride. The kind that keeps you from giving up because you just can't look all your loved ones in the eye and admit that you failed. That it was just too hard.
(My friend) You know, some people would call this courage.

There you go, the recipe for MBA survival, Speciale K style:

Ignorance of the true challenge that lies ahead
Pride to keep you going when you're just too tired to care anymore
Courage to wrap it all with a nice bow

About the blindness of self-imposed limits

So, here's the funny story of the day: this morning I was in the gym, getting the leg press loaded for my sets. Last week, I was able to press 300 lbs, and I was hesitating on adding more weight today, or going for more reps of that weight. I decided not to add weight, feeling that I was touching the limits of my strength and I was worried adding weight would make it too hard for me.

As I was doing the exercise, I felt good and it was going well. It was not as hard as last week, and I started wondering if I should add more weights since it felt easy.

That's when I saw them.

Two 25-lbs weights, on the secondary weight supports of the leg press. I though I was lifting 300 lbs, but really I was lifting 350! And it felt easy!

That got me thinking: how often do we stop ourselves from being great at something, not because we are unable to be great, but because we think we can't do it? How much have I stifled my own progress and growth by my lack of belief in myself?

What about you?

Really, how clean do your hands need to be?

It's been a while since my last rant. So here goes.

Just saw the Kleenex campaign: Your hands are only as clean as the towel used to dry them. It's an ad for home-use paper towels.

I just can't wrap my head around using paper towels in my home. That is a lot of paper to throw away - think about how many times we wash our hands at home in a day. Is that really a responsible, sustainable thing to do?

The second problem is the assumption that bacteria is bad. Bacteria is part of our life. We have it in our bodies, we use it and eat in cheese and yogurt. Bacteria is no Darth Vader. In fact, bacteria is good for us.

I find it irresponsible and exploitative of advertisers to play on parents' fears to sell products that are not good for the environment, and to promotie a level of cleanliness that has shown no health benefits above and beyond regular cleaning products.

What if Jack was the beginning?

In Canada, we’re all sad that Jack Layton, our beloved left-wing politician, has died. It feels like we lost our most decent, positive, smiling political man. And we certainly did lose an admirable man.

What if, as a people, we decide to honor Jack and honor his memory by demanding change in our politics? I’m not talking about political ideas here. I’m not suggesting we all go orange in the next election. What I’m talking about is bringing back decency in the House of Commons. Bringing back positive campaigning. Eradicating personal attacks between politicians. Making it wrong for a political party to launch a smear campaign against an adversary.

Any political idea that is good enough should be able to stand on its own. It should not need to bring down the character behind the opposing idea.

Ideas should be debated. Not dress style or coffee preferences.

In Jack’s memory, let us Canadians show the world that politics can be a clean fight too.

The lessons of biking in the rain

This summer I decided I would bike to work rain or shine. Barring events that require a car, I ride my bike to work. Now, in Quebec City, we've had A LOT of rain since bike season started.

Hence, here are the lessons I learned from the rainy month of May:

Biking in the rain is far less bad than it looks. When biking, I didn't feel the rain that much.
Biking in the rain is dirty work. Water splashes from the bike and the wheels and I my legs get mucked up all the way up to mid-thigh .
Bikes don't brake well in the rain. It's like driving on ice: there's no such thing as accident-free emergency braking, and I need to allow extra time for the bike to stop.
When it rains, there are few bikes on the road: fewer bikes mean a smoother ride when it comes to bike traffic.
Even after 30 minutes in the rain with a face wind, biking feels great.

I decided to bike rain or shine because in previous seasons, I ended up biking only once a week on average because of the uncertain weather forecasts. Now that I bike whenever I can, I ignore the weather (don't even look at it) and I enjoy the rides.

Global Business Project - The Hunt Is On!

I am getting to the end of my Master’s degree (only 5 months until the end of classes!!!) and it’s now time to think about our team project. The Global Business Project is a team assignment that must be completed outside of North America. It’s a project that must be done for real (for a real organization). This project can be “market entry into a new country, by a Canadian company,” or “market entry into Canada by a non-Canadian company.” It can also by a consulting project, such as “how to organize team” or “reviewing and proposing a new compensation system.” Essentially, it’s pretty open. The project includes a 5-day trip to a country outside of North America.

We are 9 members on our team: I in Quebec City, 2 members in Montreal and 6 in Ottawa. We have a total of 675 hours to invest in the project, at no cost to the organization. Our team includes a wide range of specialties: sustainable development, video game localization, public relations, change management, consulting, business leadership, sales, and marketing. We are a complementary, very efficient team that can bring a lot of value to the organization that will choose to trust us.

Do you know a business or non-profit that would like to explore international opportunities, but does

n’t have the resources or the time to move forward? A great project that would be perfect for a team is professionals about to finish one of the best-ranked MBA programs in North America, Cornell-Queen’s Executive MBA?

Please contact me!

Thanks for forwarding this message to your network!

Here's more about our team members:

This is our team:

Don't fear the pain

I've been thinking about this for a while now, but I didn't know how to present it without looking like a masochistic, pain-seeking, crazy woman.

Then I watched this TED video. It's about being wrong. How it feels when we're wrong and we don't know it, how it feels when we realize we're wrong, and how society teaches us that being wrong is bad.

I've been thinking about being wrong for a while, using the pain angle. I love to bike. I love to hike. Unfortunately, I don't have very good coordination. This results in regular falls. I trip on roots in the trail. I loose my balance when I try to turn on wet pavement and get thrown off my bike. Hell, after 3 days on the GR-20 trail in Corsica, my legs looked like this:

So, one solution to this "problem" would be to stop hiking or biking. I could go towards softer sports. I could avoid situations where I could get hurt.

Here's another way to see this. It's NOT a problem, it's just a by-product of doing things I love. I am not afraid of hurting myself. I don't do it on purpose. I don't enjoy being hurt. I don't seek harmful situations. I just go about my life, and one of the consequences of that is a pretty good collection of bruises and stories of the improbable ways in which I got them.

OK, here's the point.

If I decide that I don't want to have bruises anymore, then I will only do sports in the gym where it's safe for me. I will no longer explore. I will no longer expeirence the joy of biking and hiking and rock climbing.

Being hurt is not always physical. If I try something at work to get more clients, I could succeed or I could fail and bruise my reputation. If I live in fear of hardships, I'm not sure my life will be worth living - it will be a predictable, boring life.

It's not about the pain.

It's about doing what we think is right, wihtout always planning for a mattress to fall on. It's about knowing that a life worth living comes with some bruising. A career worth advancing comes with some painful parts.

We can't live life without the pain. It's not either/or.

The submarine principle

We rarely get to chose who we work with. We get a job in a company that already has employees, join a team with colleagues that are already there. Even in my MBA journey, we are organized in teams that remain the same throughout the 18-month program. In short, our colleagues are imposed on us, and we have to make do.

No changies.

Now even the most perfectest person can get on our nerves. It's normal. And no one wants to leave these issues unattended, since they tend to only get worse.

Or do they?

My colleague at work is very tolerant. He lets bygones be bygones and that makes him quite the diplomat in the team. He learned about tolerance when he worked on a submarine. Here's how he explains it:
"When you're stuck with 60 other people in a metal box at the bottom of the ocean, things are different. You can't leave, you can't get out. It's very small, and you have no privacy. You can't go for a walk to cool off. You can't isolate yourself. So you learn that a lot of things are not important. You learn to let go of many things that you would not if you were in the city. You can use the same principle at work: what is really important? Is it worth picking a fight over it?"

This struck me. And now, when I have a problem with someone, I ask myself: it I was stuck in a submarine with him for two months, would I let go of this issue or would I address it?

It helps me become more tolerant, and it helps put things in perspective.

Technology done right: OPUS card system

I've been taking the subway in Montreal quite a bit in the last year, while Mr. Wonderful has been taking the bus in Quebec City. We've both gotten OPUS cars, the system being implemented at both the RTC in Quebec City and the STM in Montreal.

Here's where the cool thing happens: you can use just one card for both systems! We can carry credit for both transit systems on one card, with no bugs, no confusion, no issues.

Now this is quite wonderful! I'd like to salute OPUS for having the forethought of scalability when designing their system.

My new favorite gym accessory

Those things are Vibram Five Fingers shoes. Yeah, they look weird. And they certainly feel different when I put them on. But here's the deal: they are the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn in the gym. They actually feel like they're not there.

I noticed my gym shoes needed to be replaced. My boyfriend had been running with them for a few months, and absolutely loved the shoes. On my side, I'm a little bit of a paradox when it comes to shoes: I'm either wearing 4-inch heels or I'm barefoot. There is very little middle ground for me.

Think about it: what's the best-designed thing for humans to walk on? Yes, our feet. While shoe technology has advanced tremendously in the last 20 years, the best marathon runners are still Africans who do it barefoot. Could there be a link there?

If you practice sports like hiking or running, check them out! There are many different models, depending on the sport and the amount of protection needed. They're less expensive than good running shoes or good hiking boots. And you'll stand out in the crowd :-)

Chez Speciale K

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