Hi folks,
I will be flying to Queretaro, Mexico on the 3rd of August as part of IBM's Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program. I will be working for a month with a team of 13 other international IBMers on a community-driven economic development project.
The CSC has often been called a "corporate version" of the Peace Corps. Participants provide technology-related assistance to both local governments and community organizations. Issues they tackle include local economic development, entrepreneurship, transportation, education, citizen services, health care, and disaster recovery. It is a very competitive program so it is an honour to be accepted. Participants are asked to blog about their experiences to give a flavour of what the overall placement is like without revealing any commercially sensitive information or boring readers to death. I shall attempt to avoid both.
A little about me: I have primarily worked as an integration applications specialist with everything from team leader to systems admin to general coffee maker in the mix at some point, so this is going to be a completely new experience for me which is 90% exciting and 10% terrifying (percentages vary depending on the day). The most comparable experience I have to this was building houses with a Habitat for Humanity team in the slums of Delhi last summer which ended up being a life changing experience. No one hit me with a pick axe while I made bad jokes in 42 degree heat there so I'm reasonably confident that the CSC experience should also lead to new friends and memories while equally being outside my comfort zone.
The preparation requires waking up at 04:30 every Thurs morning for twelve weeks for a conference call with my colleagues to bond and to discuss the challenges ahead. I will not miss the early starts but it has been good to get a feel for peoples' personalities before we go. Usually teams know exactly what projects they are working on at this stage so detailed project specific research can be undertaken in advance, but our client has not finalised the team allocations yet. One of my greatest strengths and occasionally a weakness is that I am a planner. I like to know what needs to be done so I can quite happily detail and execute a plan. If you need an application infrastructure built or a holiday for twenty people organised then I am your man. But learning patience and understanding of how different cultures do things is one of the intended benefits of the CSC, so it is probably no harm to start now.
The other IBMers and I have been told that we should be working on one of the following projects, but nothing is finalised as of yet:
1. TOURISM STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR QUERETARO
2. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR PROMOTING INDIGENOUS HANDICRAFTS
3. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR TECHNOPARK
4. PROMOTING / SUPPORTING WOMEN ENTERPRENEURSHIP
In the mean time, I need to focus on potentially the greatest challenge of my entire CSC experience - Packing a month's formal clothes and smart casual clothes plus holiday clothes for two weeks afterwards into one suitcase. Anyone have a spare TARDIS?
#ibmcsc
I will be flying to Queretaro, Mexico on the 3rd of August as part of IBM's Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program. I will be working for a month with a team of 13 other international IBMers on a community-driven economic development project.
The CSC has often been called a "corporate version" of the Peace Corps. Participants provide technology-related assistance to both local governments and community organizations. Issues they tackle include local economic development, entrepreneurship, transportation, education, citizen services, health care, and disaster recovery. It is a very competitive program so it is an honour to be accepted. Participants are asked to blog about their experiences to give a flavour of what the overall placement is like without revealing any commercially sensitive information or boring readers to death. I shall attempt to avoid both.
A little about me: I have primarily worked as an integration applications specialist with everything from team leader to systems admin to general coffee maker in the mix at some point, so this is going to be a completely new experience for me which is 90% exciting and 10% terrifying (percentages vary depending on the day). The most comparable experience I have to this was building houses with a Habitat for Humanity team in the slums of Delhi last summer which ended up being a life changing experience. No one hit me with a pick axe while I made bad jokes in 42 degree heat there so I'm reasonably confident that the CSC experience should also lead to new friends and memories while equally being outside my comfort zone.
The preparation requires waking up at 04:30 every Thurs morning for twelve weeks for a conference call with my colleagues to bond and to discuss the challenges ahead. I will not miss the early starts but it has been good to get a feel for peoples' personalities before we go. Usually teams know exactly what projects they are working on at this stage so detailed project specific research can be undertaken in advance, but our client has not finalised the team allocations yet. One of my greatest strengths and occasionally a weakness is that I am a planner. I like to know what needs to be done so I can quite happily detail and execute a plan. If you need an application infrastructure built or a holiday for twenty people organised then I am your man. But learning patience and understanding of how different cultures do things is one of the intended benefits of the CSC, so it is probably no harm to start now.
The other IBMers and I have been told that we should be working on one of the following projects, but nothing is finalised as of yet:
1. TOURISM STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR QUERETARO
2. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR PROMOTING INDIGENOUS HANDICRAFTS
3. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR TECHNOPARK
4. PROMOTING / SUPPORTING WOMEN ENTERPRENEURSHIP
In the mean time, I need to focus on potentially the greatest challenge of my entire CSC experience - Packing a month's formal clothes and smart casual clothes plus holiday clothes for two weeks afterwards into one suitcase. Anyone have a spare TARDIS?
#ibmcsc
Gary, enjoying your blog already! Rolling the clothes is the only way ;-)
ReplyDeleteBest of luck Gary, and no doubt you will rise to whatever challenges are placed in front of you. Enjoying the blog, so looking forward to many more updates.
ReplyDeleteHey, thanks for following me on Twitter! Exciting that you are going to Mexico! I have a friend there who was with me for Indonesia 3 assignment. :)
ReplyDeleteI will read more about your adventures! Enjoy!