A modern town like Alice
A short comment this week as we are in Dubai exploring the opportunities for corporate management development and vocational training in this exciting growth centre.
In my youth, one of my favourite books was A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute. In the last part, English girl Jean Paget, who has survived World War II as a prisoner of the Japanese in Malaya comes into an inheritance that enables her to return to Malaya to repay the villagers who helped her to survive. But her return visit changes her life again, when she discovers that an Australian soldier she thought had died has survived. She goes to Australia in search of him and of the town he described to her. Jean sets out to apply the same determination that helped her to survive the war, to turning the community into a town ‘like Alice Springs’.
The development of this small rural community was for me pure fantasy, absolutely encapsulating what I would have loved to do with my life – creating a community from nothing. In fact, of course, I have lived that fantasy through my work in organisational development. But I have always kept my interest in architecture and town planning.
Dubai is a reincarnation of that town like Alice. The difference is that it is real. In the 15 months that I have been away, the emirate has continued to grow and to invent even more new free zones. Each meeting we have reveals new opportunities for us here. Do visit us at HRD 2006 at Olympia in London on 4-6 April and find out more about how you can work with us and be paid to visit this sunshine state.
One report we received today is a major company’s disappointment with an in-house MBA in comparison with more practical lower level project-based management training. It pleases me greatly to hear of a move away from academic status towards practical response. As a thrice degreed lover of learning I do not decry academic excellence but wonder whether often the status of a degree certificate takes preference over actual learning, development and practical improvements. Brefi Group is in Dubai with a joint team from Matthew Boulton College with whom we are forming a partnership that will enable us to accredit our own programmes. We believe that this will get the best of both worlds – quality and relevant training combined with a nationally recognised credit towards a certificate that candidates can take away at the end.
One example of this is the development of programmes in coaching and mentoring accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management.
USEFUL LINKS
- Subscribe to the CorporateCoach RSS feed
- A Town Like Alice, Neville Shute
- Books on managing change
- Dubai, Knowledge Village
