9 Things I Realized On Kick-Off Day
As you may have seen from my teammates’ entries, it has been quite a busy weekend for the #CSCCan1 team. Amidst the fanfare and activities, I have come to realize some things that I did not expect or if I did, it hasn’t really sunk in until we landed and got oriented.
9. All eyes are on us.
Okay fine. It is a given that since CSC is a pretty awesome project for all parties involved, it would get attention. I just didn’t realize how much! We’re ambassadors for IBM and we’ve got to look and act the part. It is exciting and terrifying at the same time, to know that so many people, communities and organizations are staying tuned. That being said, the challenge for me is how not to look like a child next to my teammates. :D
8. We are meeting a lot of important people — and we don’t even know it, at first!
Liesl our brilliant contact from DOT., informed Kat and I that the Philippine Ambassador was finding time in our schedules to meet with us. The Premier of Nova Scotia, Stephen McNeil welcomed us during our kick off. The mayor, Mike Savage, and a lot of other organizations and media joined in as well. Needless to say, we were overwhelmed by the warm welcome.
7. THERE ARE SO MANY FILIPINOS HERE.
Halifax is the entry point for a lot of immigrants and I met a lot of kababayans even if we’re only on week 1! I am very honored to be working with the Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia (ISANS) with my team Kate Nørager, Ganesh Kasturi and Alexandra Tanef, where we’re looking forward to providing recommendations on how they can improve the already outstanding work that they are doing.
6. My teammates are some of IBMs brilliant minds — It is surreal to see it in action.
During our calls prior to the in-country assignment, my CSC teammates seemed very focused, efficient and brilliant. We had one-on-one sessions which allowed us to get to know each other outside of work, but even that paled in comparison to the wonderful, diverse individuals that I met when we landed. I was even more astounded when we had our first Design Thinking session, where I got to see all sub-teams in action. I was blown away. This, I thought, just confirmed what I already knew — IBMers are some of the best and brightest in the industries they are involved in, and CSC picks the cream of the crop.
5. I cannot go without rice for too long.
This is a given. After a few days of bread and potatoes, I had bought rice through Manvi Sachdeva (thanks girl!) and cooked rice, without a rice cooker, for the first time in my life. I have been happily eating it with my aunt’s bottled herring. :D
4. Design Thinking Works
Going back to the short DT workshop we had last Sunday, we were able to effectively come up with a workplan that will address our organization’s challenges by focusing on the user. The results of the session we had has been guiding us in our deep dives as well as our plans to conduct mini-DT sessions with our stakeholders.
3. Our Mentors are very sweet and protective of us.
Shout out to Andrew MacDonald, Mark Campbell and Rick Power, among others. They have guided us through our pre-work, flew in to meet us in-country, ensured our every need is met, and even took it as far as ensuring we all had somewhere to go for thanksgiving. They drive us around and have taken us on grocery runs and we are very grateful. (So mama, don’t worry, they are taking good care of us. Hehe. )
2. I am not used to a place that is so peaceful and quiet. Where is the pollution? The noise, heat dust and crowd?
For Ganesh and I, it is very surreal to try and cross the road and have the cars stop. It’s also quite nice taking a walk outside, foregoing public transportation to get places because it’s always pleasant to just walk to our destination — provided we’re bundled up.
- Developed Countries need help too.
On the 10th anniversary of IBM Corporate Service Corps , they extended their reach to developed countries. At the time I had applied, CSC was only deploying to developing countries. I was pleasantly surprised when Jamie McDonald, CSC Operations Manager, emailed us with additional options. She pointed out that while developed countries certainly have better situations compared to others:
- All countries, like all individuals, have something they can improve.
- There is not one country on the planet that has fully met all of their goals for its entire population, so all countries need some help.
- For that very reason, CSC expansion projects, like all CSC projects that have come before, will focus on having a positive impact on under-served communities.
CSC Canada 1 is very hopeful and confident that we can affect change this way, and we are glad and proud to do it.
