Juani gets a tutorial from a client |
Let me be very clear up front: I am one of the most fortunate people on the
Morocco 6 team. I am one of four people
on the time whose first language is English, and English is the official
language of the project. I am also one
of four people on the team with a working understanding of French, which is the
primary language our clients use in the office. I’ve also been doing strategy consulting as
my day job, which means I’m used to sitting down with clients, investigating
their objectives, and working with them to come up with strategies. This means I have twice the opportunity to
understand and reflect on what is being said (once in French and once in English)
in a addition to background in working on this type of environment, which
almost no one else has.
And still, this work is hard.
Consulting is almost never straightforward; it takes a long
time to properly understand a client, their mission, their needs, their strengths
and their weaknesses. But for me, the
path that leads from discovery to solution is what makes it interesting and
worth doing. Nearly 75% of the way
through this CSC assignment, I find myself reflecting on how many things I take
for granted when I start new projects at home.
Everyone speaks English. We’ve
all been working in the world of Defense for several years. Usually, we have a common understanding of
the overarching mission of the leadership above us before we even get started. Things that are confusing can be clarified
with little to no trouble.
This project is just 4 weeks long, we had almost no
background on the project going in, and our client is ambitious and focused,
which is good – but it means they expect a lot.
We’re also juggling 3-4 languages (English, French, Spanish, and Arabic). None of us have a shared understanding of the
operating environment, but everyone has great ideas. Things that are confusing need time to
unravel, because we need to translate from one language to another, and even
the same word translated directly holds different meaning for people who come
from different corners of the world. I have tremendous respect for the incredible professionals on this team who have none of the advantages I have but are still providing great value to their clients. Honestly I don't know how they are all doing it (to those of you reading the blog, hats off to you ;).
Kavya Listening Intently |
The good news is that this difficulty is making me listen
more, think harder, and reflect more before I react. Because it’s so difficult to clarify a
misunderstanding, choosing my words wisely – and choosing when to speak at all –
has become much more important. We’re
getting better at it every day. We’re
also making good use of our sense of humor to diffuse tension and our hands to
make ourselves understood. I found
myself thinking today as I watched my English speaking teammate communicate pretty
effectively with a French-speaking client that the true sign of being in an
international work environment is that our arms and our smiles speak more
clearly than our tongues.
#ibmcsc morocco6