Josie Rowe-Setz: WORLD COMPETITIVENESS

Competitiveness is measured by the standard of living and quality of life. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index (scroll to the bottom of blog) was then used as an example of how other nations assess their own success in life. The beauty of having a well populated living environment is that everyone is unique. If we were all to work and collaborate together, we would fit like a jigsaw puzzle. My weaknesses would be complemented by someone else’s and vice versa. In South Africa, our various cultures could function interdependently rather than with a conflict centered mentality of “survival of the fittest”. On a broader perspective though, am I dreaming too much or is this really attainable? The book titled “The World is Flat” says that as soon as we bridge the gap between underdevelopment and enter the technologised world, the possibilities are endless. I agree with Bhutan’s happiness index because without a united spiritual identity, a world of interdependence may just be a dream. What do you think?

Kuseni Dlamini: EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

Mr Dlamini’s words are that we should “think globally and act locally”. His topic was about globalization, continuity and change, beyond faddism, leveraging regionalism, knowledge economy, India and China.

In this globalised world we live in, companies with more diversity outperform those who don’t. That is the reality of the situation. I then wonder why South Africa is behind in the global entertainment industry because we have such a uniquely diverse multi-cultural society. Dlamini then raised an interesting point that the information economy is so vast that the saying “there is nothing new under the sun” prevails. He advised us to rather master the knowledge in “old books” to avoid being compulsive consumerists. The state of being a consumerist is so enslaving for the music industry where most people in South Africa do not know how to create their own ethnic music. Is music not what makes us creative human beings? It seems to me as though the “dumbing down” of South Africans is due to our lack of creating and making our own products-our own music. Why do we need to pay for education? Our ignorance is the cause of our dis-ease! Adding to this, we are the ones that vote for a government that does not deliver on these key necessities. Are we just spectators of globalization- helplessly affected by first world countries? What is our national vision? The rest of the world deserves a significant contribution from us if we want to function in an interdependent relationship with them-not to say that Africa is so bad and the rest of the world is better off without us, but there is always room for improvement in all societies of the world.

Roy Blumenthal: BLOGGING AND CREATIVITY

My experience with Roy Blumenthal’s approach to the world of work was an emotional roller coaster ride! With him, I’m sure the WOWers would agree that our emotional intelligence was tested. Roy constantly presented problems that we had to learn to solve practically. The first was to get our networking forums running and interlinking each to the other. I would say that this seminar can be linked to every other that we attended in the World of Work Training and Internship Program. I always wanted to tap into a deeper state of meditation. Thank you for helping me in reaching that core, Roy. I needed to see the source of my inspiration for my future goals. I would, however, love to find out about other people’s experiences related to deep meditation.

Shameen Naidu: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

I learned that stress is a response to a circumstance or event that threatens and taxes one’s coping abilities. Regarding the issue of stress management, Ptolemy Tompkins would say, in The Book of Answers, those extreme forms of emotional behavior or responses create discomfort in one’s psyche. Steve Covey would state, in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, that one should be mentally self conscious in order to acknowledge that they can choose a response to a given stimulus. This is termed-emotional intelligence. An emotionally intelligent person recognizes a negative stimulant from an analytical rather than emotionally driven point of view. I love our comedians because as much as they bring out the lighter side of life, they do it with such wit that the stresses of life end up seemingly bearable. Perhaps, we dwell so much on outside forces that we have no control over to a point where our stress management is lowered to exhaustion.

Well, anything that deals with the problem is much better than having to stress about how one is actually going to deal with him or herself-alone-in silence-right?

I have even gone as far as drafting a personal constitution. This constitution sums up all the ethics that I value the most. This personal constitution is my source of self-regulation and meditation as I can assess myself according to whether I am aligned with my wants or not. Would you agree that without a form of spirituality, our sense of happiness and intrinsic balance is in a state of war?

Andrew Hofmeyr: PRACTICAL BUSINESS

Andrew Hofmeyr is self-employed and encouraged us to take charge of our own destiny by practically observing and identifying opportunities in our environment where a group of people have similar needs and wants. We should take initiative and offer people and organizations products and services that we know they will appreciate. This lesson was followed by a trip to The Business Place. This organization aims to help SMMEs in starting, saving and broadening their vision and has tapped into a market that is in demand in the world of work due to the unfavorable unemployment rate in South Africa. I was inspired to start my own business-especially because there is an organization out there that is prepared to guide me as I go along succeeding in my mission in life. It made me proud to be a South African.

Aki Kalliatakis: Customer Care

The main point that was presented in this seminar was centered on getting customers to be loyal to you. This makes me think about the Proudly South African campaign through which the government encouraged South Africans to support South African products and invest within the country. Would you not agree that this is hard to attain unless we assume a unified, courteous, secure and credible cultural identity for South Africans through nation-building? This is the focus for my practice as an ethnomusicologist. From what I have observed, there is no South African culture that can truly say that they understand the other 10 cultures within South Africa empathically. Please correct me if I am wrong. A lot of friends of mine that work in the corporate environment are still faced with racial prejudices and a work environment that undermines our democracy.

Kalliatakis suggests that customers become disloyal to products or services because of the following shortcomings:
* poor quality services
* high defect rates
* deficient service
* lack of understanding of the customer’s needs
* time pressure
* poverty
* overwhelmed by cluttered information
* no trust and relationships
* they want to feel special
* they want to be involved in the product design and value-labelling decisions
* the product or service has no integrity
* the product or service does not seek to invest and inspire its employees

Kalliatakis then reveals an alarming 68% of customers that support other products and services because they were bored, felt unappreciated and not special. This is the highest figure in his market research followed by customers who leave because of bad customer service. This reminds me of a performance I recently attended where the jazz artist was so unapproachable that there was no moment of inclusiveness between him and his audience. At times we forget that business is created and supported by human beings. Does it help to treat your audience as if they are not really there and that perhaps they do not see that the performance you have given lacks quality? Is it so hard to put more effort into finding out what your audience wants and to make them feel like they are part of your performance in a pleasurable manner? Like I stated in the beginning, I am not yet convinced that South Africans are loyal to their country. May you be my witness as I strive to be an example of patriotism to my country?

Janet Askew: TIME MANAGEMENT

An important point that stood out for me was that one will always find time for things that matter to him or her. I would be lying if I said that I learnt volumes of knowledge from this seminar because her presentation was contrived from The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I do hope that my other blogthinking partners absorbed some valuable points that I possibly overlooked.

Fiona MacDonald: NETWORKING

Networking is highly relevant for me as a musician because of the precarious nature of the music and media industry. Fiona McDonald defines networking as a manner of connecting with people for social or business related reasons. This manner is mainly driven by mental preparation, confidence, empathy, humbleness, persuasion and expressing a positive image through non-verbal communication. This may sound easy but practicing it is another story!

On Sunday, the 13th of April 2008, my father decided to snatch me from my activities at home to visit a family friend. As usual, he did not want to tell me about the occasion we were to attend. A corporate minded person would think that I was a fan of Shrek because my entire outfit was lime green! My father, of course, had no problem with the way I dressed. He then ingeniously decided to tell me that we were attending a dinner party for the FEPACI (the Pan African Federation of Film Workers) members when we arrived at the gate. I began feeling a bit under-dressed for the occasion but then decided to just be myself instead of letting my insecurities crowd my confidence. The outcome of the situation was that I was surrounded by high profile, yet humble people.
If I did the mental preparation for projecting a controlled image of myself, I may not have had a natural experience of networking that forced me to be myself. Maganthrie of www.input2008.org.za is such a humble and intelligent woman who did not make me feel inferior to her. I then had an enlightening conversation with Hlengiwe Vilakati of www.khomanimedia.co.za .

Shameen Naidu would agree that this manner of networking requires emotional intelligence. A relationship based on emotional connection, giving and advocacy is established where both parties feel that they can have an effective interdependent relationship. In an environment of creative workers, my experience taught me that there should not be a step by step method of networking. Roy Blumenthal would say that the creative thinking hat will free us at any pressurizing situation that requires improvisation.

Abey Mokgwatsane: BUILDING SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

Mokgwatsane’s recipe for success in the world of work is from an executive or leadership point of view. It includes making sure that he adds value to the company through balancing his organizational strategy by managing and measuring every aspect of the organization thoroughly. He strongly believes that empowering employees with knowledge regarding the organisation’s target market, financial and cultural nature, acts in favor of the organization in the long term. An example of this is that once the employer has a better vision of his or her position in the company and understands the organisation’s culture, the employee willingly becomes an ambassador for the company at social occasions as his or her worker morale is boosted. This interdependent approach to viewing the employer and organizational efficiency works wonders for Mokgwatsane’s marketing business. The essence of this marketing firm is that a brand that people want to be associated with is created inside-out. Similarly, if I want other people or organisations to be associated with me, I need to continuously develop and broaden my skills in order to ensure that I am a brand that they can rely on and be proud to be associated with.

Dan Sonnenberg: AN INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS

Social etiquette in the workplace was Dan Sonnenberg’s approach to introducing us to the business world. In the three hour seminar that he presented, the command of English was his point of departure. One example of this lesson is that when facing a problem in the workplace, one has to pay careful attention to how a good report or e-mail (DR KEMPE) says a lot about how you think as an individual. Roy Blumenthal stresses that one should ideally aim for control over the resulting reader’s perception of whatever that is presented on a public forum. Going back to Sonnenberg’s seminar, one should not present an issue or problem without suggesting possible solutions to the problem. Being courteous is another communication skill that is valued in the workplace. I cannot help but wonder when one may draw the line between being courteous and being pretentious. My sense of creativity and unconventional behavior may be a challenge if I become a part of a strictly formal business environment, although it may not be detrimental to my character.

Lesley Emanuel: CREATING THE RELEVENT JOB TITLE

Lesley Emanuel is the most energetic person in the WOW team! I love her enthusiasm!! She made us realize that the nature of the world of work is that employers want to know that the skills I have will benefit them at the end of the day. They may not be concerned about how many degrees I have. She argues that the reason why humanities students are the least employed is because they are already perceived as unemployable in the world of work. The reason for this is because their skills are unidentifiable through tangible evidence. She then equipped us to use mind-maps to link all those lessons that we learnt through the World of Work internship program as the tool for persuasion. This method of note-taking helps us to save time and absorb the information rationally and creatively at the same time.

The mental process required in doing a mind map includes silencing the critical left side of the brain and allowing the right side to take precedence in order to allow our creative juices to flow. One needs to create links and allow organizations to surface in order to create new paths. This strategy to learning and connecting new ideas with existing ones will be even handier during our internship where we will have to adapt to the environment as quickly as possible!!! A mind map can be simulated through blogging and may be used in learning, education, meetings, problem solving, planning and verbal presentations. I will definitely take this skill to my workplace as it links the analytical and logical left brain to the creative and vision oriented right side of the brain! For more information, visit the following website: http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2007/08/the-creativity-.html

Dr Elspeth Kempe: PROFFESSIONAL WRITING SKILLS

Dr Kempe is an expert in writing skills. She suggested we join Linked In, an alternative to facebook. My linked in address is as follows: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kmakhene . The benefit of joining this website is that you are automatically linked to professionals who are in the same career as you are. The profile is set almost as a C.V as you will learn more about my activities throughout my university and professional career. This website enables you to improve your connections by expanding your contacts to potential employers, business partners etc. I strongly urge you to visit the site for more information if you haven’t already.

Dr Kempe’s advice was centered on how one may secure a job through an internship. The onus is upon us, as work seekers, to research other employment opportunities through word of mouth within the company, blogthinking and Linked In. She also advised us to keep our e-mail messages professional and respectful in the workplace. The importance of the subject heading was also highlighted because it reveals one’s ability to think rationally-equipping one with the skill to make the reader’s life easier by making an all inclusive heading. This is very important because time constraint is one of the key determinants of a company’s success. Wasting time on less urgent matters can be avoided through a clear subject heading. Adding to this, in writing a report or bibliography, one has to avoid verbosity, grammatical, format and spelling errors. This lesson is invaluable. I will be forever thankful to Dr Kempe and the WOW facilitators for polishing our level of professionalism. As a South African musician, this program has equipped me with the responsibility to change people’s perceptions about musicians and their level of professionalism. For that, I am eternally grateful.

GOOD SUNDAY TIMES

It's Sunday and I am at Wits University catching up with all the blogging activities. I was reading about Bhutan's Happiness Index and realised how relevent this is to South Africa's socio-cultural development. I even included the website under my additional post "MORE THAT JUST MUSIC" if you scroll down to the end of my blog. I am so excited!!! I just discovered a way of linking my blog to other websites!!! Wow! You won't believe how much fun I am having!... I wish I could do this everyday.

Anyways, I have decided to write my reflections on what I have learned on my p.c at home. In doing this, I will no longer worry about leaving the internet lab late at Wits University, or worrying about my safe journey to Walkerville using our special taxis. I decided to rather dedicate my sundays to posting what I have learned during the week. This extended post will therefore be exceptionally long as you will notice from the date. During the week, I wrote about what I have learned from the very first seminar that we had. I will post each daily report on my personal development through the WOW training course separately. This is to allow you space for comment.

LESSONS FROM THE WORLD OF WORK TRAINING PROGRAM

Dr Tanya Abramse: EMPLOYABILITY

Dr Abramse is very passionate about people’s development and environmental conservation. She places importance in diverse specialization for one’s employability and self development. In order to increase one’s chances of employability, one needs to be mentally prepared regarding knowing as much information as possible about the potential employer. She advises one to have a close relationship with the specialist magazines relevant to one’s career. The information gathered will empower the work seeker with ideas on how his or her skills will be undeniably beneficial to the employer. Above all else, it is important for one to have a thorough understanding of one’s intrinsic centre.

My understanding of this intrinsic centre was deepened by Roy Blumenthal in the Creativity workshop that occurred two weeks later in the course. Prior to this experience, I did not realize that my drive for a democratic and cultural music direction was driven by the most emotional experience in my life. This event resulted in my loss of a dear friend who was killed in my presence. Having experienced the harshness of the remains of apartheid, I looked into the initiatives produced by the SABC and the City of Johannesburg. With the SABC, there are programs that display the beauty of the remains of South Africa’s traditional cultures. I have not yet seen or read of an initiative that will link our diverse South African musical cultures into one that will unify us all as South Africans. I am so passionate about this that I will find my place in the workplace to unify our South African musical cultures into one.

THE BENEFITS OF BLOGGING FOR THE WORLD OF WORK

Essentially, the benefits of blogging become evident as soon as one recognises the quality in failing. Steve Covey would say that failure equals opportunity. All we need to do is recognise that opportunity. Roy Blumenthal would explicitly state that in blogging, we have to take complete responsebility for the kind of information we display to a public forum such as this one. This should teach us- amature bloggers, to write reflectively and proactively. This all reminds me of ethnomusicological research methods that require you to think rationally by writing in a reflective way.

In Venda, each night we would right about our experiences of vhaVenda's music and its function in their culture. We would then look at our understanding of their music and culture as outsiders and how our presence affected the way we learned to become like them. The aim was to think about their music and culture the way that they do.

This brings me to my point about the benefits of blogging. I am discovering more things about myself,the way I view others and possible ways of managing my weaknesses through my interaction with others as they are the observers of what I do.

My Initiation to blogging

I love learning new and valuable information so this will be such a great platform to pose my ideas and sense of being to you. I am also looking forward to your responses. The power of word of mouth is more powerful than I emagined because before we discussed networking today with Fiona McDonald, I was slightly sceptical about about forming my own blogspot. After her insightful presentation about the value of networking, I am convinced that my ethnomusicology and musicianship success will depend immensely on it. Life is trully interdependent because had it not been for this program, and Fiona's presentation more especially, I would not have imagined that I could have anything incommon with an independent management consultant proffessional whose main interest is working with corporate businesses such as the Rand Merchant Bank.

I must salute the World of Work Training and internship program team for assisting graduates in the mental preparation required to fit in and retain your place in the world of work.