One City, One Book

Just imagine standing in the metro in the morning, going to work, reading your book between stations – you look left, you look right - and all around you there are people reading the same book as you. Strangers – but you know you have at least one thing in common – you are all reading the same book. I think that would be a great feeling and would create an instant sense of community. 

I do not know if you ave heard of the ‚One City, One Book‘ initiative, but I just loved the idea the second I heard about it. It is quite old, as it started in 1998 in Seattle under the title ‘If All of Seattle Read the Same Book’. The point is that, during one month of the year, an entire city should read the same book. People can vote in advance on a website and choose the book they want to read – afterwards they can attend different book clubs, readings or meetings to discuss the book or just to meet new people. Nowadays it is even easier to advertise the idea via social media – just image what we could create.

In a big city, characterized by anonymity, a simple book can bring so many people together… We pass by so many people every day – wouldn’t it be great to know that we all have at least ONE thing in common? That we are all lost between the pages of the same book?

I would love to organize such a project, so if anyone is interested, please contact me J

A great example is Dublin!

Step away from the microwave, Ma’am!

When rules are there to be followed

Driving one evening from Vienna to Linz, I realized that I would not find any supermarket open by the time I got home, so I decided to grab a quick sandwich from a gas station. Good food for good value, right? I took a cold sandwich and asked the lady at the counter to warm it up for me.

 Shock. Wonder. 

A cold sandwich – from the cold foods section – cannot be warmed up. It is from the cold foods section, meaning that you are supposed to eat it cold. If you warm it up, the consistency of the ham would change, because it is not a ham that you are supposed to warm up. It is just the order of the world – sandwiches from the cold foods section are to be eaten cold. It is the way things should be, and any deviation from the rule would cause chaos!

You can imagine that this extremely trivial occurrence got me thinking – when are rules to be followed, and when are they to be broken? Can you assume that some rules are more important than others? That some rules must be followed, and others can be bent? And if so, who decides which rule is more important?

Every society follows rules, but not every rule is followed by society.

Having lived for the past years in a highly flexible society when it comes to rules, I have developed a very permissive attitude towards rules, more like: I know about the rules, but I only apply them when I need them. Comfy…but wrong. 

After having seen the other side of the coin, I started thinking: you cannot expect a society to follow some ‘important’ rules whilst ignoring the rest. They either respect the concept of rules, or not. That is why in some countries the system works, and in others it is just a big mess. It is not about deciding which rules are more important, it is about respecting the concept of a rule – if you respect the concept, you will apply it in everyday life and act accordingly. Traffic will be civilized, terms will be respected, work will be valued, people will not cut in lines and cold sandwiches will be eaten cold. But it is just a small price to pay, compared to all the benefits which arise for society.

If we want to be respected, we have to start respecting first. If we want to live organized, we have to start following the ‘little’ rules first.

It all starts with a cold sandwich…

What a horse can teach you about business

Yesterday I went riding again, after a long break of a couple of years. Upon arrival I was taken to my horse Feli and we started to get ready for the riding lesson. But in the end the experience was much more than a riding lesson – it resembled more of a business lesson.

How come a horse can teach you something about how you should work? It’s easy – a horse can teach you several valuable lessons, it will actually teach you the same lessons you would hear in business school:

1. You have to work before you can hop on!

You cannot just take the horse, hop on and start riding. You have to let it smell you first, get to know you, have to brush it, stroke it, talk to it and let it get used to who you are. You first have to make the horse trust you, before you can take it for a ride.

 Just like when meeting a new business partner, you cannot just get to business – you first have to do some work, gain a partners’ or clients’ trust before you can get started on anything.

2. Set the boundaries first!

Every horse will test its rider, see how far it can go with you in the saddle. So do not be afraid to show exactly where the limits are, what you accept, and what you don’t. In the professional life things are quite similar – people will test your limits, see how far they can go. Be clear from the beginning – it is much more difficult to correct things after a while.

3. Apply moderate pressure!

When the horse does not listen, you have to start applying pressure – through pressing of the legs, pressing with your heels, using your voice or pulling the holster. But if you do all this at a time, the horse will be confused. You have to apply the pressure gradually, have it react to the first signs – if you apply too much pressure from the beginning, you will have no room to increase it.

Again, it is the same in your professional environment – if things do not go in the right direction, you should start applying pressure – but gradually. Try to get things back on track starting with a low pressure degree, do not get too pushy from the beginning.

4. Keep your horse focused!

You are in charge of where you want to go, it is not the other way around. There are so many more interesting things for a horse to do: follow another horse, stop and eat, stare at a bucket or just stand around. Riding for you may not seem very appealing to it, especially compared to the staring-at-a-bucket option. Still, whatever distractions come your way,  you have to be able to keep your horse focused on where you want to go, on your destination.

It is just the same with keeping your business partners focused on your destination – they will see other opportunities along the way, some of them more appealing than what you have to offer, but you always have to know how to keep them on track, otherwise the ride will come to a quick end.

5. Find a common pace!

Too fast, too slow, I can barely keep myself in the saddle… It is not easy to find a common pace with your horse – one that you can both keep up with. You will not be able to force your pace on a horse, because it won’t let you, just as a horse will not be able to force its’ pace upon yourself, as you are the one trying to stay in the saddle.

Setting a common pace is also crucial when working with someone. It is important to have a steady common development of a project, a working pace that keeps everyone motivated, but not exhausted. Goal is that you and your partners can stay in the saddle for the entire ‘ride’.

6. One wrong step, and you can be in deep s***!

So you have built up a relationship with the horse, you trust each other, you are ok in your saddle, tabbing at a relaxing pace…do not become less careful. You always have to pay attention, horses are unpredictable – one wrong step and you can be in deep s***.

 But then again, so are people.  Unpredictable. Never lose them out of sight. Always pay attention to your business partners and react timely to changes. Do not let your horse or partner take you by surprise.

7. Do not stand where you cannot be seen!

Horses have a limited eye sight – there are a lot of interesting articles about equine eyesight in the web. They have been born with a blind spot and many predators, meaning that they cannot see you, if you stand around their back. So if you go to your horse, you should not touch it in the back area first, because it cannot see you and it will get scared. This will obviously trigger a negative reaction. That is why, when going to a horse, you should start stroking it from its head, continue to the neck, body and the back – this way, the horse can feel your touch and knows where you are.

You should avoid blind spots in your professional life as well, as they are dangerous and can trigger highly negative reactions. Feel your way around, let your partner always know where you stand and avoid taking him by surprise. Remember that we all have our blind spots!

8. You can wash, but the smell will stick!

After finishing the ride, cleaning the horse and cleaning yourself, you will observe that a slight smell is still in the air, in your clothes or hair.

People also leave a trail, the work you have done leaves a mark, every action you take is still in the air, even after you have moved on to something new. Do not think that you can just ‘shower’ something off, because you can’t. People can smell you and can tell how you have acted so far in your professional life. Therefore, always consider your professional decisions in advance, consider your actions before taking them, because their reminiscence will stick with you for a long time.

Harry’s Home is your home!

Friendly, colorful, warm and fun! This is my new home for 6 months (have spent already 2 months here) and I can only tell you that it is a great place to stay.

When travelling a lot and spending most of your time in a hotel room, you realize that it is very important how your room is like – because it is not only a room, it is your new home. I am staying at Harry’s Home in Linz and have a Studio Business. It is a studio with a sleeping and living area, a huge bathroom, a kitchen corner, a walk-in closet (more like 2-step-walk-in J) and a cute balcony facing the inner garden. I also have a table and chairs on the balcony, so I can even eat outside if it will ever get warm and stop snowing/raining!

The place offers all you need for a long stay, and even more. Washing machines and dryers are on my floor and they are never too busy. Ironing table and hot iron can be borrowed from the reception at any time, you always have where to park and if you get bored, you can also borrow a book from the hotel library.

The hotel is right near the Danube, which is great if you like to go jogging in the evening. If you need to shop, you can find supermarkets within 1 min. walking distance, which is great given the fact that stores here close at 19:00 or 19:30.

The free wireless internet is always working, it is always nice and warm, very clean and whatever extra need you have, the staff will do their best to fulfill it. Speaking of the staff, they are extremely friendly, make you feel welcome the minute you walk in.

I am truly happy I decided to go with this hotel for my 6 months stay in Linz, as I have everything I need and really do feel like home.

I did not bother uploading any extra pictures on the blog, as the rooms look exactly the way they are presented on the internet, which is a rarity in this business.

My tip: whenever you can book a room with Harry, do not hesitate to do so!

You can read all the details on Harry’s website.

Why do people not listen when I talk? The arc of tension

Do you know the movie ‚Super Size Me‘? About that guy who makes an experiment on himself and only eats McDonald’s products for 30 days. I am convinced that every single person who has viewed that movie already knew what the conclusions would be: the guy gains weight, feels tired and unhappy, is more than unhealthy. So everybody who watched that movie already knew what it was about and how it was going to end – still, a lot of people have watched it.

Which raises an interesting question: why did all the people take the time to watch a 100 min. movie, if they could already figure how it was going to end? It was definitely not the ending that they were interested in, as they could figure it out beforehand. It was not the quality of the story, or the special effects, as the movie has been kept really simple – simple plot, simple filming. It wasn’t the characters or their complexity, as it is a one man story. So what was it then?

I believe that our attention is only kept through the arc of tension that is being created by a narrator. There are many kinds of tension. It might be raising fear in a thriller. It could be anger in a revenge action tale. The tension could be pleasant rising anticipation of a pleasure to come. Or simple uncertainty, not necessarily positive or negative. But in every good story, you need to create the tension. And the creation of an arc of tension is not only necessary when we talk about a movie, or a book. If you want to raise some interest for your person and your stories, you need to create the arc of tension in everything you say.

People who get to have more ‘listeners’ do not necessarily tell the better stories. They just tell them a better way! Imagine you went out last night and went to the movies. There you bought yourself a popcorn and went in to take your seat. Of course you arrived a bit too late, because that annoying neighbor of yours blocked your car again with his oh so old van. In the end, you were just happy that you made it to the cinema and also got to buy some popcorn and a metal hammer for your neighbors’ van J. Well, as it was already dark in the cinema when you arrived, you slowly tried to make your way to the seats. Aaaaand, gravity stroke again…there you had it, your popcorn all over the man who looked like grumpy cat anyway. No need to explain that it was not the best movie night you have had and Mr. Grumpy was loud enough when explaining to you that besides being clumsy, you are also late and you probably have a hard way getting through life with this attitude.

Now, maybe the above is not the best example of a captivating story but the point is that every story can be told in different ways. Imagine you would have told the story this way: I went yesterday to the movies and spilled my popcorn all over an annoying man who gave me a hard time. This only happened because I arrived so late. Do you know why?

Ahm..no, and by now probably no one cares why you arrived late or what happened next. And your ‘listeners’ have already found a new topic to talk about. Not because your story is not funny or interesting, but because you have created zero tension.

Just like in the movie, people can imagine the ending, but it is how you take them to that ending.

The same applies to presentations – if you put all your main points on the first 2 slides, no one will want to listen through, as you have already disclosed the essential. Always keep in mind that everyone is in a hurry nowadays and if you give them the essentials in the first minute, they will most probably not spend the second one listening to what you have to say. 

The definition explains it best: arc of tension = the self-imposed delay between the onset of desire and its eventual fulfillment

Let your competition work for you!

Expansion, greenfield investments and growth are a huge topic in many sectors that have started to grow again. Companies always strive to conquer new markets, but on their way to economic victory they now encounter a serious problem: lack of specialized staff. When working in the production industry, no matter what you produce, you need specialized staff – people who have studied law, history or literature will not keep your business going. Unfortunately, less and less young people choose to study engineering, production, chemistry and even less choose to become process specialists.

So, you want to build something, but you do not have the people to operate it. You would like to train them, but it is quite hard to train on greenfield. What can you do? Simple – send them to your competition for an on-site training, while you focus on building your plant. Sounds impossible? It isn’t. You pay your competitors to train them, it is not like they would do you a favor! Of course you should not rush to your fiercest competitor – you will most probably get the door slammed right into your face. Just think and make a list of competitors with whom you have a good relation, or even cooperation agreements when it comes to complementary products. Think of companies that could profit from you being there – a larger market also attracts customers and can create win-win situation for everyone involved.

Sometimes a far-fetched idea is not necessarily impossible to implement. And even in the services industry, the concept can be implemented. Competition is not necessarily bad and cooperating with competitors should be seriously taken into consideration, when trying to grow a new market. 

Modern career jungle

Why don’t you study abroad? Why don’t you look for an internship? Why don’t you get a job in country X, where my cousin’s cousin’s friend said that it is sooo great? 

Easy to ask, easy to say, but when you start thinking about it, when you really start looking to build up some international experience, the options, the advice and the application processes are overwhelming, the amount of information is just too much to absorb. At least this is what I felt at times, when trying to find my way through the jungle of offers and opportunities. Finding an internship or a trainee program that really suits your personality, your education and your future professional goals is quite challenging. Germans have a really great saying: ‘Die Qual der Wahl’ which means ‘The torment of having a choice’ and is not far from reality.

Finally, after years of looking, trying and testing, I have found a program that I really enjoy and would like to share some insights of how an international management trainee program looks like, once you’ve found your way in.
Let’s start with a short description of the program, so that you can decide if it’s worth to keep on reading or not. The management trainee program I am in lasts for two years. It is governed by a big player from the steel industry and is accessible to young professionals from all over the world. (I will get to the requirements shortly).

Every two years they choose 5 young professionals to join the program and this year we are a highly international team, from all over the world.

Throughout the program, you will get to work on 4 different projects, each of them lasting for approx. 6 months. Each project will be in a different country, maybe even on a different continent and you will get to work in the main divisions of the company. Too much steel and metal talk? Don’t worry, I didn’t even know how a steel plant looked like when I arrived here and wouldn’t have recognized a furnace if it had hit me in the face! If you are willing to learn and have the ability to do so, you will soon be able to talk about production processes and understand everything that’s going on around you.

The projects you get to work on are extremely varied and depend on your education and experience. You can work in HR, process management, production, logistics, finance, marketing, sales, strategy….it is basically impossible not to find something that you love doing. And be sure that the HR team will make all the efforts to place you somewhere you can perform well and use your skills. The part I enjoy most about the program is the way it is constructed: throughout the 2 years, you get a mentor who will guide and advise you, but you have a lot of freedom when working on a project. You can really create a concept from zero and make it grow in the 6 months, you can structure your work as you wish. Of course, with great freedom comes great responsibility and you have to deliver good results at the end of each 6 month project, but given the fact that absolutely everyone in the company is supportive, it is almost impossible not to.

So, what are their requirements?

- Academic degree in technical/ metallurgical fields, economic studies, law

- Maximum 3 years of proven work experience in one of these fields
- Excellent English language skills (level A1/ B1 European Reference System)
- Experience in working/ studying/ living abroad
- Willingness to change location on a frequent basis: high level of mobility due to regularly changing work placements

The recruitment phase lasted for about 6 months and I had 3 interviews plus a 3 day assessment center at the HQ. The interviews were a lot different than you would have expected and that experience is definitely worth a separate post.

Maybe I did manage to raise your interest for a valuable program and you have some time to think about applying for an international program yourself!

Never cut your Knödel!

Or how to have some Spaß when working in Austria

They speak German, arrive on time and drink beer, but are not Germans. You can read all the general DOs and DON’Ts on the web, so I won’t bother repeating all the ’be punctual and greet everyone’ tips.

But, I can give you some tips on working in a traditional Austrian company. I have started a 6-month project in January and am working for one of the biggest players in the steel industry, which is a highly male-dominated environment. So, you’ve got the picture: traditional Austrian, male dominated, maybe not so easy to blend in as a 25 year old girl from the East. Still, not impossible. Of course I did some mistakes in the beginning, but I have quickly learned my lessons:

1.       The world has The Harlem Shake, Austria has The Handshake!

If you are not used to shaking hands all the time, all day long, you’d better start practicing! In Austria the handshake is of high importance, especially in Upper Austria, as I have been told. It is usual to shake everyone’s hand – shake our colleague’s hands when you arrive at the office in the morning, when you meet them on the hallway or when you have a meeting. Especially when you have a meeting, it is good to arrive a bit earlier, otherwise you will have to walk the round and shake 25 hands before you can go and take a seat.

You should also shake hands when you leave, ladies first, of course. I myself have forgotten to do the handshake a couple of times in the beginning – it is not a tragedy, but it is considered to be very impolite and people will let you know!

2.       Talking – less is more

When you are the ‘new kid’ on a team, people will be more cautious in the beginning and not approach you directly. After 2 or 3 days they will start asking you questions and showing a lot of interest in who you are, where you come from and what you have done before. You will enthusiastically start answering those questions and let them know about yourself, but that is not always the best approach. If you say too much about yourself, about your education or career path, it might be considered as bragging, even if you have been asked about those topics. I have figured it is best to engage in a conversation but, as long as you are at work, keep the details to yourself. Show people who you are, but keep it on a very professional level and do not go into many details – my impression is that Austrians are more private and they expect you to be the same. So, instead of putting yourself out there, let them discover you step by step.

3.       Don’t start running, learn how to walk first

Austrians are very specific at work, very accurate and they invest quite some time into planning and discussing a project. Coming from an environment that was very fast paced and with a stronger hands-on attitude, I was not really used to discussing a topic or project for a long time, I was more the ‘we will see along the way’ type.

Here, you do not see how something develops along the way, you discuss all the possibilities before and most probably also have some alternatives for everything that might deviate from the initial plan. Try to find the appropriate working pace by analyzing how your colleagues work – in some cultures, if you are faster than the rest, you will be appreciated. In Austria, if you try to be faster, it will most probably mean that you have not invested enough time into planning your task and you have not discussed it with all the persons concerned. In conclusion, rather than trying to change something, you should try to adapt to your working environment and blend in, rather than standing out.

Other than some working cultures, Austrians do not only focus on the result, but also on the way you got to that result, which is a quite healthy approach.

4.       Keep it simple

The same way you should keep it simple when you talk, you should also keep it simple when you dress. Other than in the East, no one cares how you dress or look like when you go to work. If you spend too much time dressing up or doing your hair, you will most probably be the target of your colleagues’ jokes. So focus on what is in your head, not on your head. If you are a good professional and master your assignments, you will be appreciated.

Speaking of appreciation, do not expect to get public praise or very much feedback – you will sense that people appreciate your work eventually, even if they do not say it directly. If you are a feedback fan, you will have to rethink your attitude, because you will not get a lot of direct feedback here. Learn how to read between the lines and you will know if you are on the right side of the road.

5.       Don’t assume – ask!

As you do not get a lot of direct feedback, you might fall in the trap of assuming stuff. Do not do that – if something is not clear or if you do not know if you are steering your project into the right direction, just ask! Austrians like direct, open people and they will never leave you in the dark with your work. People at work are very supportive and I have not sensed any type of unwillingness to help. So, instead of imagining things, just put them on the table and you will have your answers right away.

And what about the Knödel thing? I have read that you should never ever try to cut your Knödel, because it is impolite – you should only break it with your fork!

What can I say? Good luck with breaking this one:

Study in the cloud!

MIT, Berkley, Harvard -  for many of us hard to reach, because of the distance, the finances, the pre-requisites and so on. Well, not anymore!

It is time to create your edX account and get access to great online, free courses from top Universities. edX is an open-source online learning platform, where you can register for free and take up any on-line course you want, from Biology, Justice to Coding or Artificial Intelligence.

Here is the link: edX

After successful completion of a course, which also involves handing in a number of tasks and demonstrating that you master the subject, you will receive a certificate. The certificates will be issued under the name of the University from where the course originated (Harvard, MIT or Berkley).

For most of the courses you need no pre-requisites and there are no limits regarding age or country.

So start learning and discovering, invest some time in yourself!

The average trap

Simplify, standardize, streamline – this is what everyone aims for, politics, education, companies. Does our strength really lie in this mass standardization we are chasing, or are we on the wrong side of the road?

I have recently read  a book called ‘The average trap’ and some interviews with the Professor who wrote it, the Head of the Institute of Medical Genetics in Vienna, Prof. Markus Hengstschläger.

One of the main questions in his book is: Why is averageness a trap and not the objective? The answer to this question is given via a simple example: ‘Imagine 20 children in a gym hall. The teacher asks them to position themselves in such a way that they can catch a ball that could come from anywhere and at any time. Politicians seeking to help the children would most probably assign a commission of experts to deal with this question. If in the past the ball had come 10  times from bottom left and 10 times from top right, the mean value would suggest that it should come from the middle. But it has, in actual fact, never come from the middle as yet. The expert commission unfortunately then advises that the children position themselves at one central point in the gym hall. In reality, however, the children stand the greatest chance of catching the airborne ball if every child takes up a different position.’ The children even have a better chance of catching this ball if they run around the gym, instead of standing still, meaning that we all have greater chances of catching a ball through individuality combined with flexibility.

Still, fact is that instead of driving our individuality, we all stand in the middle of our gym hall and keep wondering why we never catch a ball. We all have different strengths and capabilities, some genetically determined, others developed throughout our lives. We all get a pen and a paper, but have to write the story ourselves.

Sounds really nice, but we keep standing together in the middle, thinking it is better for our career, for our personal life, it is easier to find a partner, easier to have kids and then encourage them to also stand in the middle with us.

Education should give us the possibility to practice, to discover and let us create instead of memorize. The next logical question arises: are all creations worth the same? Which talent is better? Which talents should be promoted for the benefit of society? The author of the book simply states: ‘We cannot know today which talents will be needed tomorrow’. The statement is true, but the conclusion would be that we should equally support all talents – in my opinion, it is almost impossible to achieve this, as we would need a tailor-made educational system, not to talk about the financial implications. Europe is governed by a trend of standardization and integration, which just adds up to the already existing class of averageness. We do have human capital and we should make this our strength.

Just think about the company you are working in or any company at all: Most companies have evaluations and checklists to identify the ones who are performing under average and develop programs to enhance their performance a.k.a. make them average. 

How many companies invest the same amount of work into discovering who is performing over-average? How many companies have programs to motivate their employees to innovate and be different than the rest? This is actually a very important task of the management, often neglected – managers have to discover talents and support them. They must be able to create an environment in which existing talents are not wasted just because they have to perform the same routine every day. A good idea can only be born in the right environment, otherwise you will be stuck in the same routines for decades, some even for a lifetime. And this is also reflected in the numbers – who do you think will bring more money into a company? The under-average employee who is now dutifully performing his mediocre tasks, or the innovator, who discovers a new business opportunity, shortens workaround times, improves processes or increases customer satisfaction?

All the HR trainings teach you that human capital is the most important in any company, which is absolutely false. The most important is if you know how to place your human capital. If you, as a company or as a manager, fail to place your resources somewhere they can be productive, you have already lost. If you strive to keep them all together in the middle, you will probably grow old and they will never have caught a single ball. And which company or manager wants to be the coach of a losing team? In theory – none. But practice shows that many companies and managers actually still are coaching losing teams.

So, if you are in a position of promoting someone, your child, your team member, your colleague – do it! Push them out of the middle and let them explore the edges. We have all been innovation followers for too long, it is not too late to be the innovation leaders.

The article is based on the book 'The Average Trap' by Markus Hengstschläger and the interview from 'Succeed' Magazine, issue 01/2013.