I hate flying.
Actually, it’s the take-offs that I hate. I don’t know why, but I only feel safe when the aircraft levels off at 11,000 feet.
I was asked this morning to fly to Portugal. “Could you fly out tonight? Just for a couple of days. Technical sessions.”
So I’m on the plane thinking about the tomorrow’s sessions.
I love doing technical sessions. I’m quite good at it. I enjoy the thrill of the challenge. I know what excites techies and CTOs. I’ve been doing it for years and still enjoy it.
Technical sessions in a foreign country adds an additional level of complexity to overcome – Culture and Language.
The introductions at the start of the meeting are always very formal. Each person states his name and title with a very serious look.
I’m always aware that they look at me as a posh toff from London.
The ice-breaker at the start of the meeting is my most important hurdle.
I like to start off with a joke.
I stand up slowly. I apologize for not knowing Portuguese. And then, with a very serious voice, I slowly say:
“A person who knows how to speak many languages – is called Multilingual”
“A person who knows how to speak two languages – is called Bi-lingual”
“And a person who knows how to speak only one language – is called British”
Nothing breaks the ice better than a bit of self deprecation.
BPM in English is the same as BPM in Portuguese. Or is it?
Is BPM influenced by local culture?
Does the fact that the British are used to queuing and bureaucracy – make implementing BPM easier here than, let’s say, the US.
Is Switzerland or Germany the ideal candidate for BPM projects?
Is BPM universal?
Adam Deane 
LOL @ posh toff from London….
BPM *should* be Universal, unfortunately the language is muddled with technobabble and the desire to create more and more dialects and phrases which causes confusion and *regionalisation*
BPM, no matter what country, is looking at the same end goal; improving the organisation in a holistic manner whether by pure management discipline alone or as a combination of that discipline plus technology to enable and support it (note: enabler, not leader…)
It doesn’t explain *why* some countries are better at BPM than others though, perhaps it’s not a case of language but when the light bulb moment happens. Some may be quicker at it than others partly due to the fact they’re late entrants, so in other words like a child picking up a new language adapts easier than an older person, new places exposed to BPM will pick up the reigns a lot faster than those steeped in the BPM legacy.
Perhaps we should look to those for innovation more than ourselves for that very same reason.
By: Theo Priestley on 28/04/2010
at 9:31 am
Hi Theo,
I agree with you that BPM, no matter what country, is looking at the same end goal.
I think that late beginners is one of the reasons for the differences, but I feel there must be more…
Liked your BPM definition: “improving the organisation in a holistic manner whether by pure management discipline alone or as a combination of that discipline plus technology to enable and support it”
Cheers,
Adam
By: Adam Deane on 28/04/2010
at 5:26 pm