dormgrandpop

Outsourcing the submssion of recommendation letters: an IT innovation that I hate

2012-01-15T07:21:00.000-08:00

Please understand that I favor the submission of recommendations on line. It saves time and, for faculty members working overseas (assuming they have reliable internet service) can simplify the submission process.

What I hate is the arrogance of the firms to which this process has been outsourced. Like many IT “customer service” organizations they have designed their process to mesh with their needs (and to some degree the needs of their clients). The opacity and complexity of one set of instructions was so impenetrable that after completing the process, I wrote to a senior administrator of the unit to whom I was submitting a recommendation. He was kind enough to respond and was candid: “the system is designed to meet the needs of the clients (i.e. the schools receiving recommendations) not those submitting them.”

The latest indignity, which I encountered in writing a recommendation this evening, was a lengthy “license agreement” type disclaimer, comprising several paragraphs of legalese. License agreements in general have completely perverted the concept of a contract as an agreement between two more or less equal consenting parties. This “agreement” informed me than unless I agreed to sign, my recommendation would not be considered. Given a commitment to support my students applications, what recourse did I have?

I still consider the task of writing recommendation letters to be one of the most rewarding obligations of faculty members. As an IT literate faculty member, who equips himself with the latest high-end MacBook Pro laptop, this newly automated process poses few – indeed no – terrors. It is only the user-unfriendliness of the online recommendation software packages, that would seem to reflect arrogance and insensitivity on the part of the firms that have created them, that I hate.

Singapore retrospective - a "foreigners" view

2012-01-07T01:00:00.000-08:00

6 January 2012

Clark Quay, located on a canal almost exclusively used for tourist cruise barges, remains one of my favorite Singapore spots. Four years ago, I made my first trip to the island in many, many years. My plane arrived early and when I arrived at a modest hotel in “Little India” that I had chosen from the Internet, my room was not available. After checking my luggage, I picked Clark Quay as a destination on my first Singapore exploration.

It was a good choice. There were few people about and I was able to sit quietly in this beautiful setting for an hour or more, reflecting and envisioning how I might learn and contribute. Then I walked to a nearby waterside café for a coffee and breakfast. Later, there would be further explorations before embarking on a trip that I had envisioned for many years, but never before made it a priority to take – a train journey from Singapore’s Tanjong Pagar station – now no longer in use – to Kuala Lumpur.

My circumstances are so different, this afternoon, as I sit enjoying a Tiger Beer in an outdoor Italian restaurant adjacent to the Quay. Singapore has my encompassing professional priority for more than two years. After arriving for a repeat six-month extended stay devoted to teaching and research, I have just completed my second session of travails with Singapore’s Employment Pass Office, located adjacent to the Quay. On my last extended stay, process of arranging from an Employment Pass was completed with impressive efficiency. This time there have been (to use a Sri Lankan expression) a number of “small problems” requiring resolution. No doubt these are the product of good intentions on the part of the individuals involved. My travails – the details do not matter – have provided a useful reminder that even in a country with an efficient government that I both greatly admire and view as a model, regulatory procedures can be complex and difficult to negotiate. One place this is most likely to become manifest is the domain of foreign employment and immigration. Deciding how to relate to “aliens” is a challenge in any culture. Foreign immigration and employment are often points of friction and potential regulatory impasse (particularly in the US, of course).

As I sip my Tiger Beer, with ice, before returning to my apartment and to my work with Singapore’s National University, I can reflect on how far I have come since that first early morning visit to Clark Quay, sitting on the edge of the canal. And today’s visit to the Employment Pass Office reminded me that despite my productive work in and about Singapore, I am still, of course, very much “a foreigner.” As in my own country, the cordiality “foreigners” experience is both authentic, and not without its limits, simultaneously. There is still much for me to learn about this society and much to do. My search for a deep understanding of Singapore’s culture, society and institutions - and for an unqualified welcome here is only beginning.

"Dear family and friends..." - Dormgrandpop's holiday newsletter

2012-01-07T00:29:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

When writing end-of-year newsletters my recent practice has been to read over my Dormgrandpop entries for the year and compile a list of topics. Then I sought to summarize the year’s events for me and – more briefly – for family members. This year, my letter is being written late, and with the benefit of reading those of other friends first. Reading these conversational missives, simply summarizing family and events often interspersed with a few pictures, made my previous ones seem a bit pretentious; probably boring. They have become this year’s template.

My four grandchildren are now 6,8 15 and 20. In the fall my 15 year old grandson and I spent four days together Washington DC, which I wrote about in a blog, “Non-Judgmental Listening.” More recently, we gathered at son Bradford’s classically beautiful newly purchased historic home in Kentucky. My granddaughters and I devoted time to an activity I can recommend to other grandparents – “writing books” together. They told their stories, and I recorded them on my iPhone. As our partnership progressed, over a long weekend, both began to do their own writing, just seeking spelling assistance for difficult words. This is a great activity for grandfatherly listening and learning. Bradford continues his passionate pursuit of business growth, with priority given to new ventures in China, India and Southeast Asia, as President of Shaklee International. When we met on our first night in Kentucky, we spent nearly five hours in animated conversation, catching up with one another, discussing our lives, the world’s problems and the respective opportunities/challenges we both face.

While in Kentucky I also had a lengthy visit with my stepson, who now is pursuing his horse-breeding/care-giving business on a magnificent 500-acre farm that he rents near Lexington. I always look forward to our rare times together and the window into a very different, rewarding life-path they provide. Sadly, my oldest grandson could not be with us. His present calling combines college and work as a ski instructor in the west where the family lived for a number of years. Dormgrandpop readers may remember the description of his beautiful high school graduation ceremony that I attended two years ago.

Dormgrandpop readers will also know of my daughter’s activities from my recent blog about her “Holidazzle” project. Along with other members of an active artisan community, she has raised funds for a new Art and Music Center in Safety Harbor, Florida. Her landscape gardening business is successful enough that she has to turn away customers. During an all-too-short Florida visit, we had long talks, I bonded with her new dog “Tinglie,” a miniature Daschund rescued from an animal shelter, participated in a parade hyping a fund raiser for the new art center, and at the fund raiser, urged visitors to add links, for a one-dollar donation, to “the world’s longest holographic bracelet chain.” Since, as far as we know, there are no other such chains, we are hoping this will be enshrined in the Guinness Book of Records. When last I checked, nearly 2,000 visitors had attended the event.

My wife continued to pursue her passions of horseback riding, university teaching, and maintaining the beautiful country home that is her base of operations for these activities. No doubt she will have shared news of her rich lifestyle and remarkable achievements, with those whom she thought might be interested. Like, my daughter, she provides a valuable role model of an individual who is skilled at pursuing her passions and surrounding herself with a nurturing, loving and supportive community.

For me, this has been a transitional year filled with completions and new beginnings. Following my mother’s dictum of “leaving the stage while the audience was still applauding,” I retired from American University. The degree to which others were “still applauding” is for others to judge. Sadly, this necessitated that I give up my AU Anderson Hall apartment that had been my second home for nearly ten years. In making this move, I was empowered by the example of my father who, as he lived into his mid-nineties, survived the life-changes that aging inevitably entails, with grace and good humor. Hopefully, I can emulate his example. I was fortunate to find a beautiful new apartment to purchase within five minutes walk of American University’s campus and to receive an exciting offer at the National University of Singapore, combining teaching system dynamics modeling at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Policy with leadership of the “System Dynamics Initiative” at the University’s Global Asia Institute.

The opportunity to move to Singapore full time, which certainly would have been a possibility, was a tempting but would have unbalanced my life at a time when I need to be giving greater priority to family than in the past. Singapore, is after all, about as far from Washington DC and from wife, children and grandchildren as any place could be. However, as in the past, residing in several worlds, simultaneously, appears to be my karma (the product of the causes and conditions that define my life). As I look to the future, with optimism but also an awareness of life’s vicissitudes. It would seem that I may still have promises to keep – and miles to go before I sleep.

Thanks to all for beautiful end-of-year messages and your patience in staying connected with a not very reliable correspondent. May you be fulfilled and blessed in the New Year

Fondly,

Dormgrandpop

"Hollidazzle's" Sources of Happiness

2011-12-28T18:26:00.000-08:00

“Hollidazzle’s” Sources of Happiness

Since I will be living in Singapore for six months, beginning in the New Year, taking time to visit children and grandchildren before this extended sojourn was important to me. The weekend before Christmas, I visted my daughter in Florida. She is part of an embracing community that is an energy-field of artistic creativity. A creative couple who seem remarkably synched with one another, Todd and Carolinda (check them out on Facebook), often play leadership roles. They live in a house that defies description. Every surface, not only horizontal, but vertical is pressed into service as display space for one of their varied artistic creations.

My daughter, Todd and Carolinda, have become a triumvirate that envisioned creating an art center in the small town, Safety Harbor, where T&C live and where Heather owns a home. They raised funds from a Pepsi-sponsored competition on Facebook and matching funds from other sources, T&C donated a building, an architect agreed to provide services at reduced cost, a PR firm donated free marketing services and the Safety Harbor Arts and Music Center (SHAMc) was on its way to becoming a reality.

On Saturday, we all participated in the annual Safety Harbor Parade, along with a multitude of other organizations – resplendently costumed Shriners, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Masons, “Rockettes” (women in 50s dress), the Safety Harbor Alaskan Sled-Dog club (the dogs were obviously uncomfortable on the hot pavement and in the hot, Florida sun) and many, many more. …Including the Hollidazzle team comprising three brightly decorated vehicles, accompanied by a squad of wildly costumed volunteers who handed out brochures and hyped the nightly show and fundraiser at Todd and Carolinda’s to be held every night through December 30^th. I rode in the cab of my daughter’s truck, with her miniature Daschund alternating between her lap and mine, peering out our respective windows to greet parade-goers.

For the show, Todd, Carolinda and volunteers decorated their home and grounds with thousands of lights and artifacts, crafted from recycled materials – especially from aluminum soda cans and bottles. The canopy of tall trees sparkled with additional laser activated projections. There were video displays and a room that changed colors every two or three minutes. For visitors, the experience was a bit like walking through a fairyland maze, with new delights awaiting at every turn.

Holding forth in the “Hollidazzle store,” one stop on the maze, was my task for two evenings, shared with my daughter. Wares for sale included various artistic creations, all crafted from recyclables and SHAMc T shirts. Our companion was a lifesize puppet created by Safety Harbor fifth graders. I manned a display where visitors, for a one-dollar donation, could add a link, along with a personal message on “the world’s longest holographic bracelet chain." My spiel included a promise that the chain would not only be displayed at the soon-to-be-completed art center, but also proposed for enshrinement in the Guinness Book of Records. Holding forth to a plentiful stream of visitors, I was reminded of the days when I helped my first wife, Jan, creator and proprietor of Windy Meadows Pottery, with her craft-fair sales. After promoting the bracelet chain for many hours, on two successive evenings, with nearly two hundred links in place, I felt a bit talked out. But other Hollidazzle volunteers would be staffing the event through the 30^th of December, no doubt producing a chain of awesome proportions.

What is remarkable about this lengthy process – collecting recyclables and creating artwork began in August – is that, apart from a modest architect’s fee to design the Art Center plans, the entire event was a product of volunteer labor. Reflecting on my experience, I was reminded of a podcast interview on “sources of happiness” given by Lord Jonathan Sachs, the United Kingdom’s Chief Rabbi. In my view,” Rabbi Sachs observed, “there are three sources of happiness: (1) doing good for others; (2) having a network of relationships with which one shares a sense of community; and (3) a sense that one’s life makes a difference.” How different, he concluded, are these sources than messages commercial advertisers bombard us with about the sources of happiness. During my two and half days with the Holidazzle volunteers, I was embraced by a community of happy human beings, celebrating the holidays and their contributions to a worthwhile project. The only “costs” were gifts of their time, creativity, teamwork and respectful affection for one another.

"Time is No Longer on Israel's Side" - from commentator Kishore Mahbubani

2011-11-27T08:12:00.000-08:00

Among the most astute commentators on international affairs I know is Kishore Mahbubani, a former high-ranking Singapore Government diplomat who is now Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. The following op-ed, “Letter to Netanyahu: time is no longer on Israel’s Side, published in the 11 November 2011 Financial Times, particularly caught my attention. It provides an example of the kind of literary craftsmanship, addressing public policy issues, to which I encourage my students to aspire.

Dean Mahbubani has grounded his argument that Israel’s policies must change in a nuanced geopolitical perspective, but without the turgid, opaque academic posturing that characterizes so much of “International Relations Theory.” He opposes Israel’s policy, but positions himself as a “friend of Israel” appealing to other friends. His article, like his prescient recent book, The New Asian Hemisphere, is a wake up call, not only for Israel but for Israel’s principal ally, the United States. The remedy he proposes is concrete and feasible. If Prime Minister Rabin had not fallen victim to an Israeli extremist assassin’s bullet, the two state solution proposed by President Clinton, to which Dean Mahbubani calls attention, might have been implemented, long ago.

Dean Mahbubani’s article follows, for study and emulation by international relations faculty members, undergraduate and graduate students of the world. That Prime Minister Netanyahu will read and take heed is, I fear, too much to hope for.

Friends of Israel unite! The time has come to send a common message: time is no longer on Israel’s side. Geopolitical forces are moving inexorably against it.

One cardinal mistake no small state should make is to put all its eggs into one basket, even a basket as strong as the US. Despite its huge influence, Israel cannot change the shifting geopolitical tides. America’s power has peaked: its economy will not shrink in absolute terms but it will shrink irresistibly in relative terms. This would have happened naturally but gradually. But the continuing economic crises in the US will hasten the decline in America’s influence. Shrinking budgets will cut defense and aid expenditures. A crippled economic giant with no rockets to launch its astronauts into outer space will lose its “mystique”. Countries will no longer hesitate to vote against American preferences.

This is what happened with the UNESCO vote of October 31. The news agencies reported correctly that 107 countries voted in favor of admitting Palestine into UNESCO and 14 countries voted against. What they failed to report is that these 107 countries represented 77.5 per cent of the world’s population; the 14 countries just 7.3 per cent. The American founding fathers called in the Declaration of Independence for “a decent respect to the opinions of mankind”. The American decision to suspend UNESCO funding clearly showed no such decent respect.

There can be no doubt where the opinion of “mankind” is headed on the Israel-Palestine issue. The world is exasperated with Israeli intransigence on the two-state solution. It is even more exasperated with the continuous increase in illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Some European states voted with Israel but their citizens are clearly sympathizing more and more with the Palestinians. The world knows that while Americans and Europeans love to preach the virtue of speaking “truth to power”, they have displayed total cowardice on the Israel-Palestine issue.

This cowardice now poses the greatest existential threat to Israel. Few friends of Israel dare tell it the inconvenient truth that time is no longer on Israel’s side. American power is declining relatively. Europe is becoming progressively irrelevant. Equally important, the power of the Islamic world has troughed. Now the relative influence of the Islamic world can only increase, despite the many challenges it faces. Turkey’s assertiveness, especially on the Israel-Palestine issue, is a sign of the new world order that is emerging.

The democratic revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia also end the era of pro-Israel dictators. Future leaders of these countries will have to reflect their populations’ sentiments. No future Egyptian government can impose sanctions on Hamas as Hosni Mubarak did. Pressure to speak out against Israel will grow. In Saudi Arabia, Prince Turki al-Faisal has warned that, “With most of the Arab world in upheaval, the ‘special relationship’ between Saudi Arabia and the US would increasingly be seen as toxic by the vast majority of Arabs and Muslims, who demand justice for the Palestinian people.”

The 5bn non-American and non-Muslim peoples of the world will have to make a clear choice: between supporting Israel (with lukewarm dividends at best from a declining America) or voting against Israel (buying insurance from a rising tide of anger in a more assertive and democratized Islamic world). Equally important, justice weighs in favor of giving the Palestinian people a right enjoyed by virtually every other people in the world: statehood.

Neither the US Congress nor Israeli nuclear weapons can protect Israel when the balance of geopolitical forces tips against it. And Israel could well trigger such a tipping point with any unilateral military strike against Iran. No one can predict the consequences when Israel becomes totally isolated from the global community. But it will not be a pretty picture. Hence, Israel’s friends should act quickly and send a short letter saying: “Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu, time is no longer on Israel’s side. Please work quickly to implement the two-state solution that President Bill Clinton proposed in January 2001.”

The late Israeli foreign minister Abba Eban once said: “The Palestinians never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Sadly, the same may some day be said of the Israelis.

Near Catastrophes Can Make One Reflect on Life's Blessings - and obligations

2011-11-27T08:07:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday afternoon, I was driving to spend Thanksgiving holidays at our country home where my wife lives. Holiday traffic was predictably congested. Between Washington DC and Manassas, about 25 miles West, my average speed was about 10 MPH. Traffic congestion can drive me crazy! I felt stressed and tired. Then the traffic cleared. My spirits rose as I cruised along, accompanied by the sounds of Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro” from my iPod stereo speakers.

About 40 miles out, where route 29 turns off towards Warrenton and Charlottesville, Interstate 66 narrows from four lanes to two. Normally there is no congestion because the traffic divides more or less evenly. Today it was different. Down the road, a holiday traveler, possibly unfamiliar with the route, experienced some confusion or emergency and came to a dead stop. I had become a bit relaxed and inattentive after being freed from more than three hours of congested driving. Fortunately I was able to brake, swerve and turn on my flashers, praying that the drivers behind me, too, were sufficiently alert. They were – there was no chain reaction crash to mar holiday festivities, at least for this group of travelers.

With adrenalin pumping and the opera turned off I continued down the road, reflecting on other near catastrophic experiences that might have changed my life. As a late-teen-aged young man these were often the result of bad judgment, in particular three foolish risk takings that nearly turned out badly and could have cost me my navy-funded college scholarship, or worse. There were the usual juxtapositions of automobile and alcohol, imperiling me and my companions, but fortunately no serious accidents. During my naval service, there were the periodic typhoons, accompanied by 80 to 90 foot waves, that coursed through our North Pacific Ocean patrol station. Later when, I worked in Sri Lanka, visiting yearly for more than two decades, there were acts of random and intended violence that killed several friends and in which I could easily have been enmeshed.

Driving along, I reflected that life is a fragile chancy business, with one’s well being dependent, more than we recognize, on circumstances and the behaviors of human beings over which – and whom - we have little control. Near catastrophes remind us to fully appreciate life’s blessings, every minute of each day and night. And they should remind us too, of our obligation to make the fullest use, for good purposes, of the time, talents and resources with which we have been blessed.

A holiday message for US Congress members from the Dalai Lama

2011-11-27T07:57:00.000-08:00

During the past several weeks, words like “shame,” “embarrassment,” “disgust” and “despair” are those that most often come to mind when I contemplate the machinations and dysfunctions of the U.S. Congress. Sadly, the failure of the “Supercommittee” is but the tip of the iceberg. I think of the “water” of which this metaphorical iceberg is comprised as being mostly garbage filled. Soon I will be departing for an extended period of service overseas – in Singapore. What will I say to my colleagues, friends and students at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy when they query me about the recent events that have been unfolding on Washington, D.C.’s Capital Hill? What does this communicate to the world about a country in which I have taken pride, America?

Fortuitously, the Wednesday November 23 “Insight from the Dalai Lama” from my calendar offered the following message to ponder. I will be sharing it with my own Senators and Representative.

“Sometimes we look down on politics, criticizing it as dirty. However if you look at it properly, politics in itself is not wrong. It is an instrument to serve human society. With good motivation, sincerity and honestly, politics becomes an instrument in the service of society. But when motivated by selfishness with hatred, anger or jealousy, it becomes dirty.”

Operate from Love

2011-10-28T19:52:00.000-07:00

This evening, I paused from the tyrannies of a never quite completed “to do” list, and a never quite empty “priority email inbox” to continue hanging more pictures, news-stories, and other artifacts that chronicle a long life. Among them was the obituary of “Scientist, Writer Donella Meadows,” who died on February 20, 2001. Dana was one of my mentors, as well as a collaborator. Along with Jay Forrester, Herbert Simon, my mother and father, my US Navy Captain, E.W. Ostlund, my global modeling mentor/collaborator Mike Mesarovic and a few others, her picture, taken not long before she died, has a place in the “mentors gallery” that I created to share with students during my years as Director of Doctoral Studies and then with faculty that I mentored during the years I directed American University’s Center For Teaching Excellence. Tonight, however, I found a picture of a younger Dana Meadows, taken at about the time we were working most closely together. As such pictures do it brought back many joyful memories – and the anguish of opportunities lost.

When I sat down at my computer, viewing Dana’s picture prompted me to look back through my files of her writings and correspondence. My search came to rest on the following passage. It is an important message to a troubled world from the conclusion of her coauthored book, Beyond the Limits, published in 1992.

It begins with the imperative, “Operate from Love” and continues….

One is not allowed to say that in public any more. Anyone who calls upon the human capacity for brotherly and sisterly love, generosity, compassion, will be met with a hail of cynicism. Once when I tried to do so, a high government official stood up to say, "Of all scarce resources, love is the scarcest."

I just don't believe that. Love is not a scarce resource, it is an untapped one. Our jazzed-up, hustling, quantitative culture does not know how to tap it, how to discuss it, or even what it means.

I am a child of that culture, and worse, a scientifically trained one. I have been educated to trust in practicality, not in love. But I have also been trained to see whole systems, and the more I do that, the more I see that practicality and love are in fact the same thing. What is love, but the ability to identify with someone or something beyond your own skin? Love is the expansion of boundaries, the realization that another person, or family, or piece of land, or nation, or the whole earth is so intimately connected to you that your welfare and his, her, or its welfare are one and the same.

In truth, of course, we are all intimately interconnected with each other and with the earth. We have always been. Love has always been a practical idea, as well as a moral one. Now it is not only practical but urgent. It is time to accept the astonishing notion that to be rational, to ensure our own preservation, much less that of nature and of future generations, what is required of us is to be GOOD. We have to look far into the future, react to signals before they come, care for and share the resources of the earth, and moderate our numbers and desires. We have to create a culture that draws out of us not only our technical creativity, our entrepreneurial cleverness, our individualism, competitiveness, and cynicism, but also our wisdom and our goodness.

It can be done. We can be patient with ourselves and others as we all confront a changing world. We can empathize with resistance to change; there is some clinging to the ways of unsustainability within each of us. We can include everyone in the challenge; everyone will be needed. We can listen to the cynicism around us and pity those who indulge in it, but refuse to indulge in it ourselves.

The world can pass safely through the adventure of bringing itself to sustainability only if people view themselves and others with compassion. That compassion is there, within all of us, just waiting to be used, the greatest resource of all, and one with no limits.

An Inspiring Meeting with the Organizers of the April 6 Youth Movement in Egypt

2011-10-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

With so many writing tasks and project management responsibilities from afar (in Singapore) it would be easy to lose connection with the communities at American University that have been so central in my life over the years. Sustaining ties to those communities, however, is one of the reasons I purchased a condo close to American University when I gave up my apartment in Anderson Hall.

Last Friday, afternoon, I took time off from proposal writing for a late-night conference call meeting with Singapore colleagues, to attend the International Development Program Student Association Friday Forum Series. The speakers were the Ahmed Maher, co-founder of the April 6 Youth Movement (in Egypt) and Waleed Rashed, spokesperson for the movement. They mostly answered questions from an overflow crowd of about 400 in the School of International Service Founders Room. It was an inspiring event, I thought. Questions from audience members, many of them young-women SIS students with ties to the Middle East, were thoughtful and evocative. Both Waleed and Ahmed had spent time in jail, been subjected to beatings and torture by the Egyptian security forces, and lost relatives and friends. However they were upbeat about their experiences, viewing the the future with a mix of realism and good humored optimism.

The submitting online recommendations obstacle course

2011-10-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

Sunday October 16.

For professors, submitting recommendation letters has always been a time consuming process. However for me, it has always been a joyful one. I only agree to write letters for students about whom I am enthusiastic. I craft each letter carefully, paying particular attention to the individualized requirements of the department to which the student is seeking admission or the program from which she or he is seeking funding. I share a copy with the student and encourage her or him to share it with parents. Why shouldn’t a parent have the opportunity to feel proud when a mentor writes specific, complementary thoughts about their son our daughter?

Now, however, the introduction of online procedures for submitting recommendations has made the process more burdensome and far less enjoyable. Unfortunately, the time required to sort out problems with not-fully-debugged-online submission software is often greater than the time needed to write the letter of recommendation itself.

As Dormgrandpop readers would know, I am not a technology Luddite. For nine years, I directed a IT and multimedia customer support organization at American University that received very high marks from faculty, students and staff for service. Computer modeling, using differential equations is one of my professional specializations. I agree with Norbert Weiner who wrote in The Human Use of Human Beings about the promise of that computers offered: making life less routinized and more rich and fulfilling for human beings.

In the domain of submitting online recommendations, and many other domains, it hasn’t turned out that way. My experience in attempting - and finally succeeding - to submit of recommendation to the Institute of International Education, on behalf of a Fulbright program applicant is a case in point. I learned tonight that IIE has now outsourced the recommendation-submission process to an outside vendor, comprising IT specialists who, in all likelihood, know little or nothing about the Fulbright program or the circumstances under which faculty writing recommendations may work. I know from experience that when IT specialists are developing software, they are most often working under optimal conditions with the latest equipment (almost always IBM compatible running Windows operating systems) and with fast, reliable internet connectivity. When designing systems they assume, without giving the matter much thought, that their clients are reasonably IT savvy individuals operating under nearly similar conditions. Could clients be using a MacBook, lack a readily accessible scanner or have a slow internet connection? The possibility is unimaginable, or at least not something that should be taken into account in the design process.

These assumptions, of course, bear little relationship to the circumstances where their clients may be working, especially in a program where recommenders may well be working - and having to fill out recommendations - overseas. In my case I was working overseas, but did have good internet connectivity, however I was informed that my letter must be submitted online using a scanned document. Since I had no access to scanning technology, I had to wait until I returned to the US. There was no option offered for submitting recommendations by fax or mail. Fortunately, my travel schedule fit within the IIE’s deadline and I had scanning hardware and software in my DC apartment. Will every faculty member writing recommendations have this capability? It is unlikely.

But then I made the mistake of thinking I could easily complete the recommendation at my home in rural Virginia, where I only have a satellite internet connection. It was possible, but inordinately time consuming. The server response from the IEE software vendor was glacially slow, due no doubt to my slow satellite connection and the fact that the vendor’s software developers had only planned for lightning fast, totally reliabie, internet connectivity on the part of all Fulbright recommendation writers. I spent considerable time viewing the message “waiting for Embark.com” and wondering whether the problem was my connection or the fact that the software had not been fully debugged for MacIntosh users. Downloading the recommendation using my normal browser, Safari, proved to be impossible. After long waits and fruitless attempts to reload the Embark.com software, I switched to a different browser and repeated the process. This time, I decided that I would pass the time by writing this blog, while waiting to see if the Embark.com server would respond. After an extended waiting period , it did. The document was successfully downloaded and I was able to complete the recommendation. Had I been overseas in Sri Lanka or perhaps even Singapore the task might well have been impossible.

The author of a cover-page-highlighted-obituary of Steven Jobs in the Economist described what made the products he designed so distinctive and appealing. He cared about what customers wanted and needed. He made his products and the software that supported them beautiful and user friendly. Most IT specialists who write software for Microsoft operating systems and including those who designed the recommendation software purchased by the IIE for the Fulbright program are cut from different cloth as I was once again reminded to my sorrow, this evening. I fear that Norbert Weiner was wrong about the human use of human beings. Steve Jobs and Apple are the exception. It is Microsoft and software vendors such as Embark.com that are the norm.

Human resources – The Investment Sri Lanka needs most in its post-war era.

2011-10-08T22:59:00.000-07:00

A small event, but indicative, I believe, of a larger whole, motivated this reflection. After spending a week in Sri Lanka, my return flight to Singapore was delayed by seven hours due to “delay in the arrival of the aircraft.” Fortunately I had purchased a business class ticket, mostly because on one occasion economy class check-in was so crowded and disorganized that I almost missed my flight. Since airport-check in required at 3:30 AM wake-up call for a scheduled 7 AM departure, I was able secure a small cubicle with a comfortable recliner, normally used by passengers with long late-night or early morning stopovers. Among the cubicle’s fittings was an elaborate combined fan and reading lamp, the latter with two adjustable dimmers. Alas, the reading lamp had no bulbs in it.

This vignette, unimportant in itself, illustrates a problem that I have observed in Sri Lanka and that may become more apparent as, under the driving leadership of its charismatic president, Mahinda Rajapakse, the nation redirects its energies from ending the war to development and purchases new technologies to help speed the development process. The country lacks a sufficient pool of talented, creative, highly intelligent, high-energy human resources to manage the complex technologies and institutions necessary to effect a transformation (to quote the title of Singapore’s former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew’s autobiography) “from third world to first.” Interestingly, Lee Kuan Yew’s latest book, Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going, places an even greater emphasis on talented leaders, carefully selected, as the key to Singapore’s success.

The availability of talented Sri Lankans, with the ability and skills to transform their island nation “from third world to first” is not a problem. There may be no nation, of comparable size, that has produced a comparable number, per-capita, of professionals, researcher-scholars, managers and entrepreneurs. However all but a very few of the most able do not live in Sri Lanka. Their energy and skills are contributing to development in Canada, Australia, England, the United States and, to a lesser degree, non-English speaking nations such as France and Germany. This is not because Sri Lankans don’t love their country. They do. It is because they see so few opportunities there for themselves and, especially for their children.

The exodus of talented Sri Lankans began in response to the official language policies of the 1950s. It accelerated in response to the demonstrably pro-Sinhalese policies codified in the Republican constitution of 1971 and then, massively, in response to the black July riots of 1983. As conflict became protracted, with devastating economic impact, the migrants included many talented Sinhalese as well as Tamils. “All my children are living abroad” is the sad refrain I hear from many Sri Lankan friends of my generation. I mean to cast no aspersion on courageous, talented, patriotic Sri Lankans who have remained when I observe that those who have migrated were, in preponderant instances, those who could. They had the talent, drive, and resources to create opportunities for themselves elsewhere.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visionary, broad spectrum manifesto for Sri Lanka’s future, The Mahinda Chintana (“Sayings of Mahinda”) highlights creating an environment that will draw migrants back to Sri Lanka as a major priority. I believe this should be the most important priority, because it speaks to the human resources that will be necessary to realize other priorities. Talented human resources will be essential if Sri Lanka, like Singapore before it, is to be transformed “from Third World to First.” When migrants begin flooding back to this beautiful land, as they have begin flooding back to India and China, President Rajapakse will know Sri Lanka is on the right path to realizing his vision. When newly installed capital investments, from new high-speed rail links to state of the art reading lamps in the Bandaranaike Airport Business Class Lounge are maintained at peak efficiency that, too, will be an indicator.

In praise of non-judgmental listening

2011-09-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago, my grandson visited me for a long weekend – Friday through Sunday. My somewhat more relaxed schedule and new Washington apartment will make such opportunities to play an authentic “grandpop” role with my four grandchildren more frequent.

I wondered if my approach to engaging in extended conversations with a fifteen-year-old should be different than what had worked with eighteen, nineteen and twenty year-old dorm residents over the past decade. I found this was not the case. Our conversations were candid, lengthy and wide-ranging – great fun for me and hopefully for my grandson as well. The key, I believe, was non-judgmental listening.

Non-judgmental listening is, I believe, a most effective way of relating to teen-agers and university students, who are seeking authentic relationships with adults than are not freighted with authority, judgments (mostly negative judgments) and expectations. Think about it. Who are the adults with whom young people are mostly in relationship: parents, coaches, teachers, principals, deans, bosses; sometimes police officers. Virtually all of these relationships involve authority, judgments and expectations. When an individual is subordinate in an authority relationship, inauthenticity and attempts to manipulate the authority figure are almost inevitable.

Sadly, I fear that many other relationships, including those that are the most intimate ones (purportedly), between lovers, husbands and wives, parents and adult children are mostly barren of non-judgmental listening. Since non-judgmental listening is an important element of loving, caring, empathic, genuinely intimate relationships and such relationships are one of the most important elements of a life that is worth living, this is more than just sad; it is tragic.

Conversations with our grandchildren might be good place to begin practicing non-judgmental listening. As one becomes’ more skillful, it might be possible to extend the practice to other settings and relationships

Dormgrandpop's Retrospective

2011-09-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 25th.

For some reason, I have had little inspiration to write in the past several days, though there has been much to reflect on and write about. With lengthy sojourns in Singapore impending, I it was clear that my 10 years as “in residence” dormgrandpop must come to an end. “Better to leave the stage while the audience was applauding” as my mother used to remind me. After only a brief search, with great good fortune, I found the perfect alternative to Anderson hall, a reasonably-priced 2 bedroom condominium within walking distance of American University. We completed the sale on 31 May and I began the process of packing and moving.

Moving is one of my least favorite activities, though perhaps the purgative experience it entails is character-enhancing. Packing up, after 10 years brought the packing-up experience, with assistance of siblings, of my father’s assisted living apartment after his death to mind. How does one accumulate so much “stuff” I asked myself. If one needs a reminder that material possessions, however beautiful, are as likely to be an impediment as a contributor to happiness, packing up is a good one. Among accululations is all that “stuff” that I couldn’t decide to throw away because it might be useful,..., sometime.

Of course student dormitory residents face this every year. The secure nook they sought to create in September, along with their room mate, must be reduced to its components and crammed into a car for the trip home - or stored. It is a good reminder of what inevitable later-life transitions will be like.

For most students, parents are on hand to assist with moving out just as they were on hand to assist with moving in. My parents, of course, were no longer on hand to assist - both had died (or transitioned to their next lives). But I had my daughter, who was kind enough to fly in from Florida. She played a key role in moving, two trips to Ikea for needed new furniture, furniture assembling, providing decorating ideas and picture hanging . She had played this role in several moves of her own and assisting friends. She was a congenial, non judgmental, colleague and helpmate. What a gift to have children whose company I can enjoy, who are helpmates and from whom I can learn.

By the end of Friday night, not a single one of my possessions remained in 101 Anderson Hall. Sitting in the overstuffed arm chair, from which I had listened to so many student voices, over teas and dinner, I could close my eyes and envision a changing tapestry of those scenes and friends. By now, those who were my first Anderson Hall friends were men and women of 29 or years or more and had, no doubt, experienced their share of life's tribulations and joys. I could also experience, in a very personal way, the Buddhist concepts of impermanence and emptiness. To the degree that Dormgrandpop’s 101 Anderson Hall sojourn constituted a “reality” it now existed only in my consciousness; also in the consciousnesses of others who had experienced it and remembered.

It isn’t about the debt limit or the economy, its about winning

2011-07-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Some years ago I agreed to testify as an expert witness on behalf of a defendant in a lawsuit. The subject matter of the litigation is unimportant. Before the case was to be heard, I spent an afternoon in the New York offices of the attorney defending the case reviewing my testimony. This was my first expert witness experience. The way the attorney - he was also a casual friend - introduced our discussion has left an indelible impression.

“Trials are not about justice,” he emphasized, “trials are about winning!”

It is hard not to believe that a similar rationale explains what appears to be Republican intransigence in the current debt limit debate. Consider the following:

[1] Winning the next presidential election is - understandably and appropriately - an overarching Republican goal.

[2] That the state of the economy is critical in determining the outcome of presidential elections is well known. If the economy turns around, this will reflect favorably on President Obama, enhancing his reelection chances. The worse the economy performs; the worse Americans suffer as a result, the more likely a Republican candidate will emerge victorious in 2012.

[3] Expert consensus that an American default will adversely affect both the global economy and the US economy is overwhelming.

[4] Whatever the short term costs, they are worth incurring in order to ensure the defeat of President Obama or, if he should not be renominated, another Democratic nominee.

As I said, the current debate is not about the debt limit. It isn’t about the deficit. It isn’t about the economy. It isn’t about the well-being of Americans. It isn’t about America’s international standing. Its about ensuring that the Obama Presidency is seen to be a failure. In short, it’s about winning.

Leading research centers effectively

2011-07-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Not long ago a colleague who is a senior staff member at a world-class research university outside of the US wrote to me. She has been tasked to draft a manual that will provide guidance for research centers at her institution and asked if I would share any suggestions I might have. I thought an abridgement of my response might be worth sharing more widely.

“Here are some brief thoughts on research centers, drawing on my experience with a number of them. I am not sure they will be helpful in drafting a handbook because I think that the function a handbook can play in contributing to a successful center is a fairly limited one.

“What distinguished every center with which I worked was the presence of an effective, even charismatic leader who had a clear vision. He or she had the ability to attract, inspire and empower those working at the center with the feeling they were participating in an important enterprise and making a difference. The people they attracted could produce results. The leaders were great mentors, though they sometimes assigned demanding, seemingly impossible tasks. They were also not afraid to fire non-producers or, if that was not possible, to deftly move them to peripheral activities. What is interesting is that these leaders were not good “managers” in any conventional sense. In particular, they did not hesitate to think out of the box and break the rules when the rules impeded their vision and objectives. I like to think that I exemplified some of these qualities myself when I built the Center for Teaching Excellence at American University though it wasn’t exactly a research center.

“Managing such leaders “from above,” as your department will be doing, requires patience, flexibility and a light touch. Creating a non-hierarchical context of partnership, teamwork and mutual empowerment is essential. It is, however, important to have disciplined financial management, which can be the Achilles heel of a research center and an area of weakness in charismatic, creative managers. How to impose disciplined financial management without stifling creativity is a challenge but it can be done. The principle is to combine maximum discretion with an emphasis on results and accountability.

"It never hurts to look at “best practices.” Pick research centers that are outstanding and develop a clear understanding of how they work. If possible, talk with those who have been successful leading such centers and take their suggestions seriously.

"A book I would recommend is Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t, by Jim Collins. It is not a book about research Centers, but offers some great insights on effective management. Another is The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge.

"Best of luck and my best wishes for the success of your project.

For moments of anxiety

2011-07-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

This has been a hectic time of transition as I completed the semester, and packed up my belongings from Anderson Hall, after nearly 10 years as faculty resident. My new “second home” is in a nice condominium apartment, less than 10 minutes walk from the university. During this time I have noted down many blog topics – such periods in life evoke tumultuous thoughts and feelings – but actually writing and posting them has not made it onto my list of urgent “to dos.” It seemed a form of self-indulgence, taking time from more pressing imperatives, even though I recognize that my reflections may sometimes provide value to others.

During the moving out > moving in process, however, I have continued to listen to “On Being” (formerly “Speaking of Faith”) podcasts. An interview with Silvia Boorstein ( http://being.publicradio.org/programs/2011/what-we-nurture/ ) entitled “What we nurture” has proved particularly valuable and readers may find it valuable as well . Boorstein is a founding member of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre California. She was one of the first to begin raising consciousness of Americans about the value of Buddhist teachings in the 1970s. Like The Buddha himself, she does not identify Buddhism as a religion, primarily, and continues to identify herself as Jewish. The combination of humor and wisdom that characterizes her teaching is captured in the title of her first book, That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Buddhist and in the two brief excerpts from her teachings, below.

I call the first, “the war between the two wolves:”

Two wolves are at war for my heart.

One is loving and compassionate.

The other is angry and resentful.

The wolf that wins the war will be the one that I feed.

(Note how this captures ideas about how the way we think actually changes the structure of our brains, described in the work of Richard Davidson and others on “neuroplasticity.”)

The second teaching is a reminder she speaks to herself in moments of anxiety.

Sweetheart.

You are in pain.

Relax; take a breath.

Let’s pay attention to what is happening.

Then we’ll figure out what to do.

Take time to listen to Krista Tippett’s interview with Silvia Boorstein. I promise you won’t regret it.

What little I have learned about Buddhist philosophy and practices, so far

2011-06-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

Buddhist philosophy and practices have interested me for many years though I do not think of myself as a “Buddhist.” In fact, in some of his writings, The Buddha, himself, says that that his teachings are not intended to be “a religion.”

About four years ago, I decided that regularly following a meditative practice might be useful. I had read several of the Dalai Lama’s books. Those personally close to him were unanimous in describing this remarkable spiritual leader as someone who embodied The Buddha’s teachings to an unusual degree. While not excluding other sources (for example Sri Lanka’s Pali Canon that is the foundation of Theravada Buddhism) I have chosen to focus my study on the Dalai Lama’s writings and base my practice on guidelines those writings provide.

Over past four years, I believe I have some made some progress, though mostly in becoming more conscious of shortcomings in my meditative practice and attempts to be guided by precepts of daily living for laypersons that the Dalai Lama teaches. For me, a particularly useful resource, though a challenging one, has been Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Lama’s Heart of Wisdom Teachings, written by the Dalai Lama’s long time translator, who is a Professor of Buddhist Philosophy and former Buddhist monk, Geshe Thupten Jinpa. Philosopher. Here is the essence of what I believe I have learned so far.

All beings seek happiness and seek to avoid suffering,

Fro human beings, the surest path to happiness (contentment) is to live a life guided by altruistic compassion.

The two principles providing the best guidance for altruistic compassion are these: (1) If possible help other sentient beings. (2) If that is not possible, do no harm.

The surest foundation of altruistic compassion is recognition that emptiness (dependent origination) is the ultimate reality. That is what The Buddha means by "enlightenment.”

The mastering and practicing of concentrated meditation is the surest path to attaining enlightenment.

This is not easy. It may take years of concentrated application or even, if one believes in reincarnation, several lifetimes.

Is there a distinction between what is legal and what is moral?

2011-06-04T08:46:00.000-07:00

In the past several days there have been a number of radio interviews discussing the role of the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs in the recent financial crisis. A particularly theme has been the manner in which Goldman partners not only survived the crisis, but profited by simultaneously selling securities to clients and “taking bets” that those same securities would become valueless. In Congressional testimony, Goldman executives defended this as a practice that was legal and therefore perfectly acceptable. They seemed puzzled that questioners believed their could be a distinction. I was reminded of a question that Senator Sam Ervine often posed during Senate hearings on the Watergate scandal that lead to the resignation of President Nixon.

“I understand that you believed what you did was legal,” the Senator would ask, “but did you believe it was proper.” At the time, I remember querying a much-respected older friend and mentor, an attorney, about this. To my surprise his view was that there was, at least in the matters related to business and public policy, no distinction between what was legal and what was moral.

It seemed clear that the views of the Goldman Sachs Executives were similar. The adverse impact of their actions on clients might have given the executives their trust as well as their savings was not a matter of concern. A question comes to mind: In the domain of morality is there any real distinction between these executives and the much-maligned Bernard Madoff, except that the executives were far more clever?

The following is a May 31 excerpt from my “Insight from the Dalai Lama” calendar on the topic of greed.

When it comes to dealing with greed, one thing which is quite characteristic is that although it arises from the desire to obtain something, it is not satisfied by obtaining it. Therefore, it becomes limitless or boundless, and that leads to trouble. The interesting thing about greed is that although the underlying motive is to seek satisfaction… even after obtaining the object of one’s desire one is still not satisfied. On the other hand, of one has a strong sense of contentment, it doesn’t matter whether one obtains the object or not, either way, one is still content.

PLEASE DON’T OFFER CANDY TO OUR STUDENTS!

2011-05-30T05:18:00.000-07:00

May 24, 2011

Though I wouldn’t have wished for it, my final days as Anderson Hall Resident would not have been complete without a fire alarm evacuation. Evacuations almost always occur in the small hours of the early morning: today’s was at 5AM. They are announced with ear splitting gongs and flashing strobe lights. Sleepy students (and at this time of the year, a few adults in addition to myself) pour out of our three buildings and stand, sit or lie on the curbs and adjoining grass. At least in the summer months – now – it is not freezing cold.

Some years ago, a friend provided an idea that has helped me lighten this bleak experience – handing out candy. I set aside one of my large salad bowls, filled it with wrapped Reese, Mounds, Butterfinger and Reese Butter Bars, and began distributing the contents to my partially comatose neighbors. Later, I added a flashing red light, borrowed from the back of my bicycle. The way students gravitate towards my light brings to mind the way sacred goldfish in one Kyoto, Japan temple pond gravitate to food pellets that worshippers and tourists provide for them.

Often this now traditional custom lightens the atmosphere. It evokes amused smiles, thank yous and even an occasional “we love you!” A septuagenarian, sarong-clad Professor distributing candy in a bowl festooned with a flashing red light belies customary student images of a “faculty member.” My practice (along with other Dormgrandpop activities) has been mentioned in campus publications, the Washington Post, the Washington Times and an Associated Press news story, several years ago, that received wide national distribution.

This early morning was the same as most until I reached a small group of adults (I assume they were coaches of young women’s field hockey teams who were visiting campus for a competition). One of them, a dark haired adult woman with oversized glasses accosted me as I passed by. “Please don’t offer candy to our students!” she said firmly.

I was not only nonplussed; but also irritated – so surprised at this first-ever reaction to my largesse that I simply said nothing and walked away. Soon, the bells ceased and we returned to our rooms for a few minutes of sleep before the workday began. But I did not forget the incident.

Later, I had to opportunity to reflect on my reaction, with the realization that, after several years of meditative practice, my journey on the path towards attaining altruistic compassion remains a long one. Instead of remaining silent, I could have expressed thanks for this concern with her student’s well-being. I could have asked that she identify her students so I could be sure to skip over them (perhaps with an explanation). I could have asked her to recommend more healthy snacks that I could provide during the next evacuation. I could have sought to enroll her as my partner in distributing them. Instead, I simply felt irritated and walked away. The incident, including the irritation, remained with me. The Dalai Lama and other teachers – Buddhist and Christian - whose works I am studying would have done better, as I must in the future.

This tale has a postscript. The next afternoon I encountered three young-women hockey competitors who were watching television in a lounge across the hall from my apartment. They were Princeton students and we shared experiences from our Ivy League educations and athletic competitions. Rowing was my intercollegiate sport, though only for three semesters. In course of our conversation, asked about the prohibition against eating candy. My teammates and I had often eaten candy and gulped from jars of honey before a race in the hope the sugar would provide us with an energy burst. The young women looked puzzled. “Who told you not to hand out candy?” they asked. “We do have training rules of course, but a prohibition against eating candy certainly isn’t one of them!”

A customer service "good news" story

2011-05-29T14:09:00.000-07:00

May 27, 2011

I am in the process of completing a complex legal and financial transaction related to a major purchase. Among those involved were real estate agents, management companies, bank staff, attorneys and brokers. Since we are constantly warned about information being stolen from internet sources and then put to nefarious uses, I am being more circumspect about the details than I once might have been.

It is worth taking time to acknowledge (I hope I am not being premature, since there is one more step to be completed) the number of competent, congenial, proactive individuals I have encountered. They included two realtors, my financial management firm, my bank (both the local branch and headquarters) and-on-the ground property managers. There was only one weak link in the chain, an off-site property management staff member who provided inaccurate financial information in a transfer document and required repeated promptings and reminders, from several sources, to make the necessary corrections.

All of us have horror stories to tell about dealing with the bureaucracies of health care providers, insurance companies, IT support organizations (with the exception of Apple) and government bureaucracies such as the Social Security Administration. A close acquaintance often shares this concern, in frustration: “We have college educations, reasonable incomes, internet connectivity and a degree of IT literacy. How do are fellow-citizens, particularly the elderly, who may have none of these get the support they need and protect themselves from getting scammed and cheated.”

That being the case I wanted to share the following excerpt from a letter of acknowledgement I wrote to one of my financial advisors. He is not located in Washington. Our connection has only been by Email, paper correspondence and telephone. But in this recent and many other occasions, he has demonstrated what is possible in a well-managed organization that recruits high-quality professionals with integrity and then empowers them to do their very best. My letter follows:

Dear Edward,

Thank you for both your phone message and email. I checked my account balance on line, this morning, and the funds were available. However I decided I would complete the bank process before getting back to you. All went smoothly and believe we will be ready to complete our transaction early next week..

Please know that I do not for a moment take lightly the consideration, effort and skill that you brought to the process of making these funds available, on relatively short notice. At every step along the way, I had complete confidence that if there was a way to have things go smoothly, in a timely manner, you would find it.

Sadly we have entered in era when, in the name of “efficiency,” we must often seek “customer support” from indifferent, faceless minions employed by disembodied bureaucracies, situated in distant locations. With this reality as normal, the engagement high quality support, congeniality and professionalism that I have come to know as your hallmark is not only to be gratefully acknowledged, but celebrated and cherished.

With best regards and best wishes.

Dormgrandpop

Taking Time...

2011-05-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon’s commencement ceremony was the last of several events where my completion of 36 years as a School of International Service faculty member and an American University faculty administrator was acknowledged. The event did not mark a sharp bifurcation, of course. After greeting graduating students and their parents in and around our magnificent SIS building, I simply returned to 101 Anderson Hall, hung my academic robes in the closet and cooked a light dinner.

Then I returned to reading and commenting on “substantial research papers,” which have taken the place of MA theses for most of our graduate students. One paper proposes a microenterprise initiative to be established in Argentina, A second seeks to understand political violence and unrest, between nations and over time, in Africa. A third assesses human rights education in India and Bangladesh. A fourth examines “Women’s Intersecting Vulnerabilities in Post-Disaster Areas and Their Implications” focusing on a cyclone in Bangladesh an earthquake in Maharashtra, an earthquake in northern Pakistan and the South/Southeast Asian Tsunami. The authors of these papers are all international students, from Argentina, the Philippines, India and China.

The myriad of tasks that filled Monday were much the same as usual - more correcting papers, responding to emails, and meeting with a doctoral student to review her research. There was one exciting bit of personal business however, I rode my bicycle to Georgetown for a meeting that confirmed a deal I had been negotiating to buy a condominium apartment near the university. While my status at AU will be “Professor Emeritus,” living close by will enable me, when I am in the US, to retain ties with American University and, in fact, to more fully enjoy the myriad of events the campus offers to students, faculty, staff and neighbors. When one’s time is less rigorously programmed by work obligations, maintaining contact with an engaged community becomes even more important.

About 7 PM, I broke with my customary routine - which normally involves work until 10 PM or even later. I put my computer to sleep and took time for a relaxed walk about the campus. Thanks largely to the efforts of former President Benjamin Ladner, who mandated hiring of a full-time landscape architect, our campus grounds are distinctively beautiful, and especially so in the early evening twilight. On Monday evening, careful grooming, so that AU’s best face would be shown to graduates and their parents, was still evident. There were beds of blue, white, and magenta flowers everywhere. Shrubbery was meticulously trimmed and garden beds weeded. The newly mowed lawns were a vivid green. Long rays of early evening sunlight, caught the leaves of trees surrounding our campus center and made them stand out vividly.

Only a few human beings are blessed with the opportunity to live and work in such a beautiful setting, especially for more than three decades, as in my case. As I did yesterday evening, I need to take more time to appreciate this beauty, and to be thankful.

Being in a position of authority - a note to my International Development class

2011-04-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Dear International Development Class Members,

One of the things I particularly appreciate about members of this class is your tolerance of my mistakes, confusing communications and oversights. The most recent example is my leaving two names off the oral presentation list. I don’t seek to justify these shortcomings - far from it - but they - along with your gracious responses - do illustrate principles of effective governance that I presented last class session. The principles are also relevant to effective management and effective development, I believe. They are these:

[1] Mistakes, oversights, confusing communications, misunderstandings, etc. are likely to occur in any process where human beings are involved.

[2] Those in "positions of authority” need to be realistic in acknowledging their own shortcomings. They need to create an affirming - even loving - organizational culture where those subject to their authority feel comfortable in pointing out mistakes and shortcomings, including their own. The communications will be most effective if given with civility, grace and forbearance.

[3] Those subject to authority also need to feel empowered to communicating about areas where improvement is possible.

[4] Where shortcomings are identified, on the part of those “in authority” and those subject to it, they need to be acknowledged and corrected. Lessons need to be learned from the experience and put to good use.

[5] The organizational culture these principles creates fosters an environment that encourages creativity and risk taking that can be mutually affirming - even joyful.

[6] None of the above is inconsistent with setting high standards and demanding high levels of performance. In fact, precisely the opposite is the case.

My 'Last Lecture' at American University

2011-04-15T19:59:00.000-07:00

Since I soon will be officially retiring from AU, this spring is a time of “last [.....]” events. Yesterday morning, I led what will very likely be my last American University class. (I taught my first university class in September 1963 and my first at AU in September 1975.)

There is a growing “last lecture” tradition at Universities, including a memorable last lecture by a terminally ill Carnegie Mellon computer science professor, available on youtube. However mine was not intended to be memorable. In fact, the students in SIS 337, “International Development” didn’t even know it was probably my “last lecture” at AU.

Like many we have held this semester, much of our class session was a richly textured discussion of fundamental issues facing those who may choose to commit themselves to “international development?” “What visions and values should guide such a life?,” we asked ourselves. “What ‘models’ seem to work best? What skills should one master to contribute most effectively?” Our wide ranging conversation included examples from rural Mexico, from Bolivia, from Singapore, from Nairobi, and of course, from Singapore and Sri Lanka. We explored the contrasting implications of planning-oriented models of governance (such as Singapore and China) and democratic models (such as the United States and Scandinavian alternatives). We discussed the role of the Japanese Imperial family and the British Royal family in governance. We considered the moral and development dilemmas raised by the protagonist figure of John, the “savage” in Aldous Huxley’s classic, Brave New World.

Each week, I ask students to write short (2 pp. or less) “reaction papers” in which they reflect on assigned readings from the context of personal values, concerns and experiences. We almost always conclude the class by displaying excerpts from some on our viewing screen and discussing them. This week’s reaction paper, from AU undergraduate Rachel Hoffmann, seemed particularly apt as a conclusion for our class, the semester and my teaching career at American University.

Linking all of these ideas together, I think that youth can be the most empowered group and the most influential in making change. Sometimes I feel as though my ideas are squashed by the wiser, more experienced generations. But I think youth are those who often start the biggest social movements and are most outraged by inequalities because at times it affects them most. I think terrorism and aggression based on social inequalities can be combated by empowering the youth and getting them involved in development projects…. Most of all, allowing for youth to have a voice and say their opinions and share ideas across cultures will allow for a better understanding of the issues, and will hopefully lead to a better solution.

The research experience: pursuing one's passions in the face of "tough and struggling" challenges

2011-04-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

This semester, I am making a swan song reappearance as School of International Service Director of Doctoral Studies. I held this position previously, from about 1989 through 1999. We are presently in the midst of the “conversion” process, which is admissions jargon for “converting” students admitted to our doctoral program into enrolled students. As part of the “conversion” process, I write personally to all accepted students who do not immediately respond positively to our offer (we are, of course, competing with top schools for virtually all of our Ph.D. students.) I discuss the distinctive culture of our program, the opportunities it provides and the names and backgrounds of individual faculty members with whom the student might work. Not infrequently, our dialogue continues through several iterations. Were I continuing as Director of Doctoral studies, as in the past, it might continue over a decade, or even much longer. Some of my relationships with former doctoral students span more than 30 years.

Here is an exchange with a prospect from Singapore - each exchange of course needs to be framed in the appropriate cultural context. A Sri Lankan, Hungarian, Brazilian or Malaysian student could receive the same message, but it would be phrased differently. In response to my initial reaching out, the student characterized the process of deciding where to pursue her degree as a “tough and struggling thing.” My response was as follows:

“Like reaching the decision of where to pursue a Ph.D. degree, the process of pursuing the degree itself can be, to use your words, “tough and struggling.” However in my experience, that process, too, can be deeply fulfilling and not without its moments of great joy. Overall, it has much in common with the most important challenge that doctoral students face, crafting their first major ‘contribution to knowledge,’ the dissertation. Many years have passed since I completed my dissertation and then held it in hand as my first published book. That was a joyful moment, preceded by many tough and and struggling ones. Each subsequent book – there have been a few – has encompassed similarly tough, struggling and joyful moments. The sum total has been rewarding and fulfilling. I believe you have made the right choice in embarking on a life path that begins with completion of a Doctor of Philosophy Degree.”

Sunday night's Faculty Resident's Dinner - For AU Community

2011-03-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

YOU ARE INVITED TO FACULTY RESIDENT’S DINNER SUNDAY MARCH 27 - 8PM

JOHN’S APARTMENT – ANDERSON 101

MEAT (BEEF ONLY) AND VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

CAESAR SALAD – GARLIC BREAD

FRESH FRUIT & KLONDIKE BARS

ANDERSON HALL LOBBY

How do you pray?

2011-03-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

I have recently offered, one day each week, to share a “morning time of quiet and reflection” with Anderson Hall residents. (None have yet accepted this 7:00 - 7:30 offer, which I believe provides more insight regarding diurnal vs. nocturnal rhythms of student life, than student spirituality). However for me, prayer is mostly a personal and private matter.

On the other hand, there have been two occasions, one recently and one several years ago, in the context of discussing meditation and spirituality, when friends have posed a question in almost the same words: “how do you pray?” In response to the more recent questioning, I have had a leading to share a few elements of my daily practice. This morning, I am choosing to follow that leading.

My practice began as a serious, albeit scattered, imperfect commitment (which it remains) when I read my friend Elizabeth Neeld’s small book, A Spiritual Primer: A Guide to Quiet Time and Prayer. Among other readings that have helped along the way are George Fox’s Journal, the Gospels in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the Psalms in the Old Testament; my colleague Akbar Ahmad’s, Discovering Islam; The Dhammapada or Way of Enlightenment (an early teaching of the Lord Buddha); the Analects by Confucius, the The Tao Chi Ching by Lao Tse; Louis Fisher’s The Essential Ghandi and Richard Bach’s Johnathan Livingston Seagull. Most recently, my reading has emphasized teachings of the Dalai Llama, including How to Practice: Guide to a Meaningful Life and, presently, Essence of the Heart Sutra: The Dalai Llama’s Heart of Wisdom Teachings.

Though this sounds like what professors often do when students pose a question: they respond with a course syllabus - my practice has not been primarily about reading, it has been about practice. It has evolved over a period of five years or so and continues to evolve. I neither offer it as a model, exemplifying some virtue, nor apologize for its shortcomings, about which I am conscious every day. It has made a difference in my life. My purpose here is simply to describe, as I did in responding to my two friends, for whatever value that description may provide.

Practice begins with a recitation of a Mantra from the Heart Sutra, an early teaching of the Lord Buddha, which is an exhortation to seek “enlightenment” in a disciplined way. Recitation of the Mantra is a regular part of Tibetan Buddhist practice and I recite it in the language used by Tibetan Buddhist monks. This is followed by an exercise in which I focus on my breathing (“breathing in” and “breathing out.”) When the Lord Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree, seeking enlightenment, it is said that focus on breathing was an important part of his practice. Next comes a meditation on the eight stages of dying - again a practice of the Dalai Lama - which he repeats eight times each day. Even though my schedule is far less demanding that his, I only manage twice each day - early morning and before going to bed. Next comes another Dalai Lama teaching, a prayer about “seeking enlightenment for the sake of all beings” through “the collection of merit from my giving, morality, patience, effort, concentration and wisdom.” This is repeated three times. Occasionally, I remember to clap three times at the end of these recitations. Mostly I forget, unfortunately, at least so far.

Next comes what is known as “the St. Francis Prayer” which may be known to many Christians and is addressed to the Christian God. It begins, “Oh Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace, where is hatred, let me sow love, where there is injury, pardon....” and concludes “let me seek not so much to be understood as to understand, to be consoled as to console, to be loved as to love; for it is in giving we receive, pardoning that we are pardoned, in the death of self that we are born to eternal life." Next comes a recitation of what Christians know as The Lords Prayer, taught by the Lord Jesus as part of what is known as the “Sermon on the Mount.” the Lord Jesus teaches us not to pray in public, but to “go into our closet” when we pray. (I has occurred to me that some will view this posting as a violation of that teaching. I did consider this before acceding to the strong leading, coming to me over many days, that I should write it.)

Finally I pray for specific people. I began to include this in my practice after becoming conscious of the fact that sometimes, when a religious person was enduring a trial, I would say as a comfort “I will pray for you,” however I rarely did so. The "prayers" part of my practice sought to remedy this. In praying for specific people, I don’t ask for anything in particular, rather I simply try to visualize them and “hold them in the light” (a idea from Quaker practice). At the moment I am praying for some cancer sufferers that I know personally, for some specific members of the American University community and for soe community members with whom I work in Singapore. I pray for my grandchildren, my stepchild and children as well as those close to them, my wife and former wife, my siblings, including those presently or formerly close to them. I pray for my parents and grandparents; for members of my extended family; to show compassion to evil doers in the world; for all human beings and for all sentient beings.

My evening practice incorporates some of the above, but I am still too undisciplined and usually too tired for more than a very few recitations and prayers. Perhaps, in time, I will do better.

I hope this public response to my two friends’ queries may be of value to someone; or at least that it will do no harm.

Introducing my students to a Washington Post reporter

2011-03-07T04:57:00.000-08:00

Towards the end of last semester, a Washington Post reporter contacted AU’s Public Relations Office about meeting a class of international relations students to provide information for an article she was writing. A PR staff member contacted me and I suggested the reporter join students in my undergraduate “International Development” class for our end-of-semester dinner, held in my Anderson Hall faculty resident’s apartment. When she agreed, I thought it would be helpful to introduce her to this special group of School of International Service students and the distinctive culture we created during our semester together. Here is what I wrote:

I thought it might be helpful for Janna (the reporter) to also know a bit about our class members. The course is 300 level, primarily juniors and seniors, but with several sophomores who have been very engaged and effective participants. Like other students in the School of International Service, many have international experience. One student is from Haiti, another form the Virgin Islands, another from India, another from Jordan. Four spent a Semester Abroad in China. One lived and worked for an extended period in a Nairobi slum.

The subject matter of the course is “International Development” which could be roughly translated as “initiatives, programs and policies to end poverty in the poor countries of the global south, but also including Washington DC and other US cities”. As an Honors Supplement one student is doing a film on homeless people who work with the DC weekly newspaper “Street Sense.” We will be viewing it Monday night. Another has done anthropological field research on the lives of four single poor women who live in DC.

Class sessions involved lots of sharing and discussion. Students were asked to write five “reaction papers” during the semester (an idea I borrowed from a colleague at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy where I was in residence as a Visiting Professor last spring). In these papers, they were asked to reflect on class readings from the vantage point of their own values and personal experiences. Many of these, which we discussed in class each week, were moving and evocative.

What I have found inspiring about this class is the degree of affection and mutual respect with which we have come to regard each other. Contrary to the image some hold of AU as Washington’s “liberal” university, class members’ political views range across the entire spectrum from “Right” to “Left”. For example, some strongly oppose military involvement in development projects. Another hopes to make a difference in development pursuing a career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. (My own background, incidentally, includes five years of active duty service as an officer in the United States Navy.) But whatever views are held and expressed, they are listened to fully and with respect. This class provides a model of civil discourse from which members of the US Congress could learn much.

Sources of Happiness

2011-03-07T04:51:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite inspirational sources has become the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, Lord Johnathan Sachs. As with so many inspirational sources, I first learned of him via an “On Being” (formerly "Speaking of Faith") podcast. The podcast reproduced a dialogue that also included His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Reverend Dr. Katherine Jefferts Schori (of the US Episcopal Church) and a leading Islamic Scholar, Professor Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University in Washington DC. The topic of the mid-October 2010 public dialogue, held in Atlanta Georgia, was “Pursuing Happiness.”

I was washing dishes after breakfast and made what may have been incomplete notes of Rabbi Sachs’ remarks, but the essence was this: “In my view,” he said, “there are three sources of happiness: (1) doing good for others; (2) having a network of relationships with which one shares a sense of community; and (3) a sense that one’s life makes a difference.

“What is surprising,” Rabbi Sachs concluded, “is how different these sources are from the hundreds - perhaps thousands - of advertising messages we hear and see each day about the sources of happiness.”

Viewing America’s health care system microcosmically - a ‘good news’ vignette

2011-03-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I switched my health care insurance from a “one stop” Health Maintenance Organization, Kaiser Permanente, to “Care First” a more traditional insurance provider. Care First offered greater flexibility, which I needed, but the switch was not made without trepidation. Friends who were Care First clients warned of opaque, legalistic documentation, difficult-to-negotiate procedures and bureaucratic, indifferent staff. These warnings were amply confirmed. Staff members of the outstanding internist I located and the fine surgeon that he recommended informed me, when I made my first inquiries, that problems with Care First had lead them to disaffiliate as “preferred providers.” One had a poster communicating this information prominently displayed for viewing by potential clients. Waiting-room anecdotes advised me never to trust information from Care First customer service staff received over the phone - to insist on written communications, via email, for anything of importance and, even then, to be prepared for interminably protracted negotiations in which I would be treated as an adversary.

But once I accepted the reality that dealing with Care First would require all the skills I had learned as scion of a family of lawyers, plus years of negotiating experience with developing-nation and academic bureaucracies, things began to improve. Yes, health care would be more expensive and battles with my “insurers” would have to be fought. But I have discovered health care professionals - from modestly compensated office and hospital staff to physicians - who genuinely care about serving patients in a manner that is only skilled and efficient but compassionate.

My experience with Washington DC’s Sibley Hospital, completing an in-and-out abdominal surgical procedure provides the case in point that has motivated me to write. Once my surgical appointment had been made - and my surgeon’s organization (Foxhall Surgical Associates) would make another good news vignette - I received two follow up calls from hospital staff just as promised. The voicemail message from the appointments nurse was among the most cheerful and courteous I have ever received - I told her so. When I arrived at the hospital I was immediately impressed with the efficient congeniality of staff members greeting me and pride they expressed in Sibley. Everyone with whom I met seemed to have been employed there for twenty years or more.

Waiting times at each stage of a fairly complex check-in process, with many documents to sign, were brief. There was no sullenness or resentment when I asked to read documents before I signed them. When I called attention to a small inaccuracy, the response was immediate, forthcoming and apologetic. Staff members wore name tags, with first and last names prominently displayed in easily read block letters. They seemed pleased when I introduced myself, asked their names and used them in our interactions. When I asked how long they had worked at Sibley all seemed to have time to share a professional experience and a bit of personal information. When an emergency delayed my procedure, a nurse provided an immediate explanation and asked what she could do to ease my waiting. In my six-plus hours at Sibley, meeting with numerous staff - professional and non professional - every single one communicated congeniality, professionalism, efficiency, pride on their work and pride and their organization.

In leading two very different programs at American University, each for a decade, I always emphasized the importance of generating “Good Karma.” I defined this has the ability to have every individual who has any interaction with our organizations come away feeling good about the organizations and themselves. Good Karma, I always emphasized, accumulates (Buddhists believe this) and is infectious. Good Karma, I believe is the most important leadership/management principle that should guide customer service organizations. In hospitals, when customers (patients) often feel at their most vulnerable and disempowered, communicating Good Karma is particularly important and, sadly, all too rarely encountered. The good news vignette I have experienced - and shared - suggests that Sibley Hospital’s leader/managers have discovered the secret of delivering efficient, high-quality health care that embodies Good Karma. It is a secret that should be shared, They have my deep gratitude - and my deep respect

Remembering Dana Meadows on the 10th anniversary of her death

2011-02-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday (Monday February 21) was Dana (Donella) Meadows' 10th year death anniversary. A reminder of this transition appeared on my calendar. On this date, in past years, I have often shared one of Dana’s reflections on love, ethics or systems. But yesterday morning I heard a public radio piece on the arrival of the seed catalogues.

All her friends know that gardening was an important part of Dana’s life, and the arrival of the seed catalogues in frigid New Hampshire was an important, joyful, part of the garden cycle. I can remember the trays of seedlings that would appear on Foundation Farm’s first floor sleeping porch, catching the sun’s rays through the window. Later there might be almost too much garden to mulch, weed and cultivate.

In memory of Dana, here is David Mallett’s rendering of “The Garden Song”

Inch by inch, row by row

Gonna make this garden grow

Gonna mulch it deep and low

Gonna make it fertile ground

Inch by inch, row by row

Please bless these seeds I sow

Please keep them safe below

'Till the rain comes tumbling down

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones

We are made of dreams and bones

Need a place to call my own

'Cause the time is close at hand

Grain for grain, sun and rain

Find my way in nature's chain

Till my body and my brain

Tell the music of the land

CHORUS

Plant your rows straight and long

Season with a prayer and song

Mother Earth will make you strong

If you give her loving care

Taking time for quiet and reflection - a note to students

2011-02-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

Announcing a new Faculty Resident Event: A time of quiet and reflection - Faculty Resident’s Apartment, Anderson 101, 7:00-7:30 AM, Wednesday mornings, beginning tomorrow.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Most mornings each week, I seek to set aside time for quiet and reflection. This practice has roots in many traditions - Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Bahai, Christianity, Runi, and including traditions that are not “spiritual” in any conventional sense. Remaining quiet and reflecting for thirty or minutes or more, “emptying ones mind” as some Buddhists say, sounds as if it might be easy. I have not found it to be so, but I have found it to be valuable.

I thought it might make a contribution to share this practice each Wednesday morning, from 7:00 to 7:30, with any who might be interested. For about fifteen minutes, we will take time for silence, perhaps being conscious of our own breathing - “breathing in - breathing out.” For the last fifteen minutes of our time together, there will an opportunity for sharing thoughts, leadings and, for those for whom this is part of their practice, prayers. When others are sharing, we will listen fully and compassionately, without seeking to evaluate or judge.

We will conclude with a prayer attributed to the 12th and 13th century friar and preacher, Giovani Francesco di Bernadrone, known as St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Francis is venerated by Roman Catholic Christians as the patron saint of animals and the environment. His example has also inspired many who are not Roman Catholics or Christians, for followers of any faith tradition at all. Interestingly, it is reported (by Wikipedia) that in 1219, St. Francis traveled to Egypt, where crusaders were besieging the city of Damietta and reconciled with the Muslim Sultan.

The “St. Francis prayer” is a personal favorite of mine:

O’ Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

Where there is sadness, joy.

O’ Divine Master,

Let me seek not so much to be understood as to understand,

To be consoled as to console,

To be loved as to love.

For it is in giving we receive

Pardoning that we are pardoned,

In the death of self, that we are born to eternal life.

Following this, we will acknowledge each other using the South Asian gesture of respect and acceptance, Namaste. At 7:30, for any that wish to remain for a few minutes, there will be tea and coffee.

Dormgrandpop

Knowing one's limits

2011-02-15T21:19:00.000-08:00

My son recently sent me the following quotation from Vietnamese Buddhist Monk Thich Nhat Nguyen.

We have to know our limits. We have to organize our lives in such a way that we can continue to get the nourishment and healing that we need. The solution is in your community. If you work with a community that practices together, a Sangha, you receive the collective energy of support. When you begin to feel exhausted by your efforts, the other brothers and sisters in your community will help with the work so you can take the time to restore yourself and continue. You must also have the courage to say no, or you will lose yourself very soon, and that will not profit the world. Learning to say no is difficult, but it is not impossible. You have to serve in a way that you can preserve yourself. To preserve yourself is to preserve the opportunity to serve others. Preserving yourself and your compassion is the answer. And that can be done easily within a community of practice.

Receiving missives such as this from one's adult children is among the great rewards of being a parent.

Acknowledgement of AU’s Honors Program Director, who is stepping down

2011-02-15T21:06:00.000-08:00

It was recently announced that the Director of AU’s Honors Program, who had served for many years, was stepping down. Since the Honors Program adjoined the Center for Teaching Excellence (now the Center for Teaching, Research and Learning) where I served as Director, I could witness the service rendered by this compassionate, effective leader from an unique vantage point. Seeking to capture what I had observed, I shared the following acknowledgement.

Dear [Director],

Though my mother always told me “It is better to leave the stage while the audience is still applauding.” I was saddened to learn that you will soon be completing your tenure as Honors Program Director. During the years we were “neighbors,” I came to appreciate - and greatly respect - the passion and sensitivity with which you carried out this critically important mission. You demonstrated that a commitment to the well-being of and fair treatment for students is not inconsistent with demanding academic requirements and high standards. There was never any doubt in students mind that you were in their corner, but like the “second” of a championship prize fighter, mopping their brows, staunching their wounds and sending them back into the fray. You will be greatly missed, though the business school will, no doubt, be enriched and strengthened by your full time presence.

With best regards and best wishes,

Dormgrandpop

A Humane, Creative, Empowering Culture

2011-02-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

As readers of this all-too-infrequently posted blog know, I will be completing my full-time service at American University, this spring, after 35 years. The recently published School of International Service Newsletter (The Diplomatic Pouch) included a “farewell” interview in which I described creating a “humane, creative, empowering culture” in AU organizations that I helped develop and lead as a major accomplishment. (The complete interview is posted at

http://www.american.edu/sis/news/upload/DPouch_Spring_2011_F_web.pdf )

A colleague wrote that she liked the concept but that it was new to her. In response, I provided the following elaboration.

I’m glad you liked the concept of a humane, creative, empowering culture, (perhaps sub-culture would be better) though I haven’t thought of it as all that revolutionary. This was my goal both as Director of Doctoral Studies and especially as Director of the Centre for Teaching Excellence. Creating such a culture simplifies the task of leadership since those functioning within it come to behave appropriately as a matter of habit - like not picking up food with your left hand in rural India and Sri Lanka and presenting a credit card or accepting a cheque deferentially with both hands extended in Singapore. If the culture is, indeed, humane, creative and empowering, members of the organization come to look forward to their work day - my staff often told me so and they stayed on, turning down higher paying jobs. I believe most human beings want a work environment where they feel productive; feel that they are making a difference; feel that their creativity is being affirmed. This is a self-reinforcing process. In such a culture individuals become more productive and the rewards they receive, both intrinsic and extrinsic grow.

Recent Travels to Singapore and Sri Lanka

2011-01-22T15:46:00.000-08:00

Among the many amazing applications on my Mac Laptop and iPhone is a calendaring feature. It allows one to change time-zones effortlessly and to specify the time zone of events when making entries. I found this particularly useful during December when I was making plans for the new semester and planning short, intense visits to Singapore and Sri Lanka. Entries for DC, Sri Lanka and Singapore were often being scheduled on the same day.

The Singapore trip’s purpose was to push forward with System Dynamics computer modeling initiatives, to catch up with friends and to begin discussions about a possible additional stay or two, beginning in January 2011. In Sri Lanka, I helped “Launch” the second set of Paradise Poisoned translations into Sinhala and Tamil, entitled Lessons from the War II – Path to the Crisis and firmed up plans for the third set, to be launched at the Colombo Book Fair at the end of September.

The pace of this trip gave me an opportunity to appreciate in a small way, the demanding schedule that is routine for my son, an international businessperson who travels extensively in Asia. I left Washington on a Monday morning and arrived in Singapore early Wednesday morning – absorbing a 13 hour time change. Meetings began Wednesday afternoon and continued through the week. After the meetings, there were follow up communications and further discussions. Over the weekend I was completing the syllabus, and a “remote” first lecture for my AU spring course and preparing a guest lecture to be delivered to systems analysis graduate students at the Lee Kuan Yew School. There were two long meetings about a future System Dynamics modeling project, to be conducted under the auspices of the National University of Singapore’s Global Asia Institute where I am a fellow and there was correspondence to be completed related to the upcoming launch. The process continued virtually up to my departure from Singapore on Thursday mid afternoon.

The pace of life in Singapore is swift. Each day is full and opportunities to make a difference seem to abound. But it is relatively easy to meet the demands of a tight schedule. With few exceptions, people are on time for appointments. Taxis are plentiful and inexpensive. People with whom one meets are not offended if one sticks to a meeting agenda, addresses several topics in a short period and ends at a scheduled time, even abruptly.

Sri Lanka is different, though, with the conclusion of the war, some government leaders are striving to bring more Singapore-like efficiencies to the “Island of the Dhamma” (the Island of Enlightenment.) It is not clear to me that this goal will be attained or even that it should be. What I have always cherished about Sri Lanka is the slower pace of life and the attention given to human relationships. This does not mean, of course, that it is, perpetually, the “Paradise” of perpetually smiling faces, now being extolled in post-ward tourist publicity. But it does mean that meetings and discussions rarely “get right down to business” without first attending to the human relationship side of things. This is especially true when one has been away from the Island for a period of time, as I had been. The logistics of day-to-day professional activities can also be challenging, especially when one is on a very tight time schedule. On this trip, I lodged on the “Executive Floor” of a downtown Colombo five-star hotel. I thought this was the best way to optimize my use of time – and it was, to some degree. But not everything worked smoothly or as advertised. For an experienced Sri Lanka hand, as I am, sorting through the “small problems” (a common Sri Lankan expression) that arose only required patience, time and good humor. But on a visit spanning only three full days, time was a scarce commodity. I kept repeating the mantra I chose for my stay “Remember that time is your friend, not your enemy.”

Fortunately, I do not have to choose between the two islands – they are only an inexpensive plane ride apart. Sustaining my ability to function in both cultures will probably help to sustain mental and physical health. In fact I intend to spend much of my projected Sri Lankan sojourns in a relatively remote Southern town, best reached by a seven hour train ride with the last two hours on a 30 KPH maximum single tracked line dotted with frequent, often picturesque, colonial era local stations. There are no Executive Club accommodations in Matara, but there is a small Buddhist temple, located on an island and accessible only by a narrow footbridge. There, the sound of ocean waves on the rocks and nearby beach can be heard as one meditates. This is not a place to be “fitted in” on a three-day visit, however.

viewing the past year - post holiday newsletter

2011-01-22T15:39:00.000-08:00

18 January. Written over the Pacific enroute from Tokyo to DC

Dear Family and Friends,

This was a year of travels and the beginning of transitions. If I am to keep to my self- imposed 1 page length, I can do little more than recount events, with few reflections. As some may recall, I stepped down officially as Director, Center for Teaching Excellence and began a one-year sabbatical in July 2009. In early January, I loaded up books, electronic equipment and other necessaries for a 7-month stay in Singapore as of Visiting Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. The environment was welcoming. The Lee Kuan Yew School, located adjacent to Singapore’s Botanical Gardens occupies buildings on the site of what was once “Raffles College,” where the late Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew, Choo Kwa, ranked first in her class and “Minister Mentor” Lee ranked second as secondary school students. I moved into a spacious two-bedroom 10th floor apartment in National University of Singapore subsidized housing. Each day, I could view Singapore awakening from my balcony.

My principal projects were completing a paper drawing lessons from Singapore’s post independence history that would be relevant to global sustainability issues, deepening my knowledge of Singapore’s political economy and promoting the use of System Dynamics computer modeling as a planning tool to Singapore government officials. I pursued these while my wife, her horses and our cats were coping with mountains of snow in the worst winter Washington DC had encountered in years. My Singapore sojourn offered the advantage of easy, inexpensive access to Sri Lanka, where the project to translate Paradise Poisoned: Learning about Conflict, Development and Terrorism into 16 pamphlet sized booklets (8 in Sinhala, 8 in Tamil) continued to progress. The second two were “launched” in January 2011, just a day or so ago. The summer concluded with presentation of a paper at the Annual System Dynamics Society Meeting in Seoul entitled “The Relevance of Urban Dynamics to Singapore’s Development: Lessons for Moving Beyond the Crisis.” This was co-authored with Lee Kuan Yew School graduate student colleague new friend, Elizabeth Ong Ling Lee.

Full time teaching was the fall semester’s principal agenda, including an undergraduate class “International Development” that was my first attempt and a graduate class “Quantitative Research Methods” that I can taught many times, but not for 10 years. Both classes were relatively large – 25 in the graduate class; 33 in the undergraduate. I had forgotten how long correcting papers can take, especially if one provides fairly extensive comments. Fortunately my students were both bright – and patient – which made things easier.

For Christmas, I drove to Kentucky to spend three days with our four grandchildren, my son, and other family members. Once retirement transition is settled, I intend to spend more time “grand parenting,” Its fun. Wife E… continues to live an intense and interesting life dividing full days and evenings between teaching, riding, caring for her horses and spending time with friends. She won the prize for “most helpful member” at the Old Dominion Endurance Riding Association’s annual banquet. Daughter H…. divides full days between her landscaping, restaurant serving and a new practice – mosaic murals, including an awesomely large and beautiful production in Tarpon Springs Florida. With friends, she has purchased property in Panama that she hopes to develop as a resort. Son J…’s broodmare nurturing business in Kentucky appears to be doing well; he continues to pursue a vocation he loves in some of the most beautiful country in the US. Son B…’s work as President of Shaklee International appears to be thriving. I attended events in Johor Bahru and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was impressed with his charismatic platform presence before what appeared enthusiastic cadres of salesperson-representatives… That’s all the news one page will allow – my love and best wishes to all in the New Year. Dormgrandpop.

Helping policy makers to view climate change as a system

2011-01-22T15:24:00.000-08:00

In early August, I attended the Annual meeting of the System Dynamics (computer modeling) Society, held in Seoul, South Korea. My last visit to Seoul was many years ago when I attended the International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences, organized by the Rev. Son Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church. I was amazed at how city had grown and how much more relaxed and self-confident the Koreans I encountered in my walking about appeared to be. Among my conference roles was serving as Rapporteur for the concluding plenary session, focusing on environmental issues. I thought the two papers given and the issues raised, summarized in my notes, were of sufficient interest to merit a more general sharing. I do acknowledge this is a bit long for a blog posting.

RAPPORTEURS NOTES ON THE ENVIRONMENT PLENARY

John Sterman, Andrew Jones, Thomas Fiddaman, Elizabeth Sawin, Travis Frank, The Road From Copenhagen: Supporting International Climate Negotiations with the C-ROADS SIMULATION.

When John Sterman, spoke at the 27^th International Conference in Albuquerque, the Climate Interactive Group, which he leads, was preparing for the December 2009 Copenhagen Conference. The audience mostly comprised true believers, who accepted climate change as a manifestation of global overshoot and collapse. They respected – perhaps even revered – John’s work as the best System Dynamics modeling has to offer. Most were aware of the C-Roads Model. Some had used its findings as a basis for similar presentations, workshops or university courses. Yet John’s passionate delivery brought to mind the prophet Jeremiah’s vivid description of probable scenarios leading to the conquest of Israel and the privations its people would face. In retrospect, I believe John may have been using the Albuquerque venue as a warm-up for presentations he would be giving to less congenial audiences in the upcoming months.

John’s post Copenhagen retrospective delivered in Seoul highlighted many climate change projections that the Albuquerque audience had heard. (Many participants in the Seoul conference had not traveled to Albuquerque and were less familiar with C-Roads.) Temperatures were rising more rapidly than had been projected. The impacts that are already visible will become more severe. Coastal cities will be threatened, the ecosystems that support present agricultural production systems will be altered, the trend of more frequent extreme weather events will proliferate. “Runaway changes” with unpredictable, irreversible effects are becoming more and more probable. “We are playing Russian Roulette with a revolver in which nineteen out of 20 chambers are loaded,” John concluded this part of his talk. “The risks will be borne by our children.”

But vitally though this message was, it should not be the most important take-away for Seoul participants. The take-away should be about how difficult it is enact any significant policy change, requiring transformation of deeply held attitudes, where the status quo is reinforced by entrenched institutions, limited grasp of system complexity, myopic time horizons and self serving powerful actors. In 2009, John drew an analogy between reversing climate change and effecting meaningful civil rights policy. In 2010, his message was that effecting policies to reverse climate change is, for a variety of reasons, the far more daunting task.

Since the early days of the Club of Rome and the IIASA Global Modeling conferences, an aging generation of System Dynamics Modelers has grappled with the challenges of changing public attitudes and influencing policy makers regarding global-scale challenges. The work of the C-Roads team demonstrates how much has been learned, by at least some members of our community. The work is grounded in high-quality scientific research. There is a serious commitment to dissemination and recognition that dissemination is fundamentally different enterprise than research, with its own imperatives, technologies and pitfalls. There is recognition that raising public consciousness and influencing policy makers, too, are different, though interdependent enterprises. The work is being carried forward by a talented, multifaceted team with adequate funding and a commitment to the long haul. There is much to be learned from their experience. We can help forward their important work with our approbation, our support and our prayers.

Andrew Ford, Greening the Economy with New Markets: Lessons from System Dynamics Simulation of Energy and Environmental Markets

That I have less to say about Andy Ford’s fine paper and presentation should not be interpreted as a reflection on its quality. In fact, the two plenary presentations and the issues they raise are interrelated. Andy is grappling with climate change proposals under consideration at the national level. His paper “focuses on the CLEAR Act introduced by US Senators Maria Cantwell (of Washington) and Susan Collins (of Maine). It calls for the imposition of a scientifically based cap on CO2 emissions. The cap would apply to the upstream companies that produce or import fossil fuels. The higher prices of fossil fuels would then work their way through the US energy system, sending improved signals to al business on the value of avoiding CO2 emissions.” Legislation such as CLEAR, backed up high quality modeling work such as Greening the Economy… describes, will necessarily play an important role in reversing the process of climate change, if it is to occur.

Greening the Economy…, presenting a model Andy describes as “preliminary” is none the less an exemplar of how public-policy oriented System Dynamics modeling should be executed and documented. It is the sort of paper I assign to my students with the injunction “if your final project paper looks like this, will have met my expectations.” The model, of mid-level size, is presented with a stock-flow Vensim diagram that is easily understood. It illustrates a strength of System Dynamics modeling, the ability to seamlessly combine physical and financial stock-flow dynamics within a single structure. It provides the capacity to explore scenarios that fall within the CLEAR legislation’s purview and those that extend beyond it. Model results show that the “cap and dividend’ mechanism proposed by CLEAR shows promise, but that market volatility is a possibility under some scenarios, raising concerns that may need to be addressed in regulatory regimes that are implemented under the legislation. Further work at the University of Washington is envisioned.

Juxtaposing this model alongside C-Roads raises the evocative question of how the team at WSU should set its priorities. The next milestone in their project seems clear: refinement of the model and publication of results in one or more peer reviewed journals. But what then? The experience of the Climate Interactive Group and others in our community point to the challenges a commitment to dissemination poses, and the resources it requires. In academic communities, there is little agreement that the sort of dissemination C-Roads represents is an appropriate activity for university faculty members, especially those seeking tenure. Once this fine model has moved beyond the preliminary stage and results have been published, Andy’s team will face the challenge described so beautifully by Poet Robert Frost in “The Road not Taken.”

the Nicest Guy at AU?

2010-12-23T14:56:00.000-08:00

Some weeks ago a reporter from AU's student newspaper, the Eagle, stopped by to do a story on my “Decade in the Dorms.” To my great surprise, not long after, my picture filled the front page of the November 8th issue with the headline, “The Nicest Guy at AU?” (Note the question mark?) I am flattered, of course, that the reporter came away with that impression and her editor agreed. I have the page posted on my bulletin board where I can view it each day as I leave for my office, to teach a class or do other university business. The Nicest Guy at AU?: others must judge whether the label is deserved, but checking the page out each morning does give me something to live up to.

Pursuing Happiness

2010-11-27T15:58:00.000-08:00

Pursuing Happiness

Here is a link to a wonderful audiofile on the topic, “Pursuing Happiness” from a live event at Emory University. The event was moderated by Krista Tippett, creater of the program, Speaking of Faith (recently renamed “Being”). I often listen to podcasts of her interviews as some may know. The podcasts were a particularly meaningful link to home during my nearly seven month sojourn in Singapore.

Participants in the conversation were the Dalai Lama, Rabbi Johnathan Sacks (the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom), the Rev. Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the US Episcopal Church and Islamic Scholar Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasir from George Washington University. I found the comments by Rabbi Sacks, who is an international leader in interfaith dialogue, particularly memorable and evocative.

Nelson Mandela in his own words

2010-10-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

This is "pledge week" for public radio in Washington DC. I am a regular listener to American University's public radio station, WAMU. I appreciate the need for private funding in in a society where the notion that government should support anything worthwhile, excepting "national defense" and privileges for those with resources to make political contributions, is eroding. So I make my contribution and then listen to the BBC on line. This morning, there was a BBC documentary, Nelson Mandela in his own words. It is based on Mandela's extensive diaries and letters dating back to the time that he was first incarcerated. This is definitely worth listening to as a starting point for furtther explorations into the writings of this remarkable historical figure.

Acknowledging an uniquely successful academic leader, AU's Dean Lous Goodman

2010-10-22T01:25:00.000-07:00

Last week, AU’s Dean of the School of International Service, Louis Goodman, announced that he was stepping down after 24 years of service. Today, I was contacted by a reporter from American University’s newspaper, The Eagle. She is writing an article on Dean Goodman’s tenure and was seeking my thoughts. Here is what I wrote in response.

I have known Dean Goodman as a friend and served as an SIS faculty member under his leadership for more than 20 years. I dedicated my most recent book, Paradise Poisoned: Learning About Conflict, Development and Terrorism from Sri Lanka's Civit Wars (2005) to him. In my dedication, I wrote this: "As Dean of American University's School of International Service, he has established himself as one of the world's most effective leaders in International Relations higher education. A measure of his leadership is ability to demand that faculty meet high standards, while empowering them to follow their own intellectual lights..."

When one of my students became Dean Goodman's Executive Assistant (she held the position for more than a year) I told her that her position outside his office was a vantage point for observing one of the world's most effective academic administrators, from whom she could learn valuable lessons. "What did you learn," I asked, at the end of her year of service. "Dean Goodman is an incredibly effective time manager, though he does work incredibly long hours," she told me. "This gives him the opportunity to he far more accessible - not only to faculty and staff, but also students. He uses these meeting times efficiently, but always gives those with whom he meets his full attention. Students are amazed and empowered by these conversations - they tell me so. And he maintains contact with them - supporting and encouraging - over many years..." Dean Goodman is not only admired and respected but even beloved by many. This is because of this unique ability to hear people out; then to encourage and support them in ways that make a lasting difference in their lives. This is also his strength as an administrator. He leads by example, drawing forth the creative energies of his staff and empowering them to do their very best. He is very different from leaders, found in some organizations, who rarely listen to anyone and try to get results by ordering people around.

Reconnecting with fundamental commitments

2010-10-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

It is four o’clock, early on a Friday morning. I just finished a lengthy conference call to Singapore - the time difference is 12 hours - and decided I need to start blogging again. What explains the long gap between August 5th, when I wrote my ‘Singapore reflections’ and now?

I have been consumed by readjusting and by teaching. Returning to Washington I faced boxes full of stuff, needing unpacking, in every venue - the home in the country where I often spend weekends, my AU Anderson Hall apartment and my office in AU’s spectacular new School of International Service Building.

But more than that, I have found myself totally consumed by my obligations as a teacher and my commitment to take them seriously. In the semester before I stepped down as Director of AU’s Center for Teaching Excellence, the challenge of smoothing the transition to new leadership consumed me - teaching took second place and this was reflected in atrocious teaching evaluations. I felt compelled to write the students in my class a personal letter of apology, scant compensation for a semester in which I provided them far less value-added than they deserved.

This semester, I vowed things would be different. I am teaching one entirely new course and one that I had not taught for more than ten years. This has required intensive course preparation, an ongoing, semester-long process. Teaching is a craft. Like any craft, it requires practice and discipline, which takes time. Putting all else aside, to make quality teaching an overriding priority has been all-consuming, but it it is paying dividends and is intensely rewarding.

I believe I had some success as a university administrator - the Center for Teaching Excellence grew more than twenty-fold during my tenure and then survived the transition to new leadership in AU’s Office of the Provost. But I never saw myself as a career academic manager. My self image was always, first of all, as a producer of new knowledge with a commitment to making that knowledge accessible. Second I saw myself as a teacher and mentor with a commitment to empower creativity, discipline and out-of-the-box thinking in my students.

Reconnecting with those fundamental commitments has been a challenge that is ongoing. But I begin to feel I am progressing and it is good.

Singapore reflections - a shape of things to come?

2010-08-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

During my last weeks in Singapore, the sands of time running through an hour glass was an image my mind often conjured. When one arrives at a new place every detail is newly experienced and therefore more vivid. This is partly because one is seeking to carry on life’s basic functions in an alien cultural context. This is true even in a society renowned for its “efficiency.” Where is the shuttle bus stop and which bus do I take? What are the procedures for opening bank and computer accounts? How can I keep track of new logons, passwords and telephone numbers most efficiently while seeking to initiate a research program? Why is it so difficult to master the complex architectural layout of my home campus at Bukit Timah, where Lee Kuan Yew and his wife Choo once spent their student days? How can I best remember the faces and names of numerous colleagues students and staff to whom I have been introduced and with whom I have had conversations? Where can I buy groceries? What are the bus and rapid transit routes - and stops - on which I will depend regularly?

When departure is imminent, one is again sensitive to every detail, but the sensitivity is different. There is an effort to fix favorite, familiar images in memory. For me these included the beauty of the Bukit Timah Campus and adjacent Botanical Gardens; the vividness of flowers and greenery everywhere; the ubiquitous construction projects reflecting Singapore’s ongoing commitment to “creative destruction.” I will remember viewing the city awakening in the early morning from my 10th floor apartment balcony. I will remember the faces of acquaintances I made at my favorite hawkers stands, especially the lady who served me Carlsberg Beers (with ice) and the one who collected dishes and cleaned tables on the nights I ‘ate out.’ I will remember the taste of two favorite dishes, “dumplings and noodles” and roast duck (price only S$3.00 per plate).

Life in Singapore is intense. Most Singaporeans work 12 hour days, six days a week and often half a day on sunday, as well. I found myself to be more time conscious than ever in my life, seeking to put every minute to good use. Some report that they find Singaporeans ‘unfriendly;’ however that was not my experience. Especially after my injury (as I reported in an earlier posting), I found strangers to be helpful and forthcoming. This was particular true of people whose income was modest - bus drivers, gardeners, janitorial staff, security guards and the like. Such individuals seemed always ready to exchange friendly greetings and engage in casual conversation - with a smile. The same was true of my Lee Kuan Yew School and Global Asia Institute faculty colleagues and staff.

I came to Singapore hoping to learn how this remarkable nation ended abject poverty sustainably. This concern had become more personal as a result of contacts with a homeless woman I came know and with “Street Sense” vendors who sell the weekly newspaper of the DC homeless community at metro stations and on street corners. While I have made progress on that project another also engaged my attention upon arrival, viewing Singapore as a model from which leaders of other Asian cities could learn. This was occasioned by a promise to have a paper drawing lessons from Singapore’s development accepted for presentation at the 2010 System Dynamics (computer modeling) Society Conference in Seoul, South Korea.

My limited - so far - probings of Singapore’s postwar history pointed to a conclusion that had previously escaped me. Singapore’s circumstances at the time of independence, when it was expelled by Malay leaders from the Malaysian Federation, closely resembled challenges that problems of “overshoot and collapse” will pose for large swaths of humanity in mid-century. These problems were first posed by “Global Modeling” studies members of the Club of Rome catalyzed (and in which I participated) in the early 1970s. The principal conclusions have been reaffirmed, in broad outline, by many subsequent publications including, most recently, the third iteration of the 1972 Limits to Growth study, Limits to Growth: The 30 Year Update. In his prolific writing and speaking, my friend Dennis Meadows emphasizes that while System Dynamics model scenarios can target the time when symptoms of overshoot and collapse will surface massively, how these symptoms will become manifest is unpredictable. He points to the recent financial collapse and the collapse of the Soviet Empire as analogies.

For many nations, especially the United States with its bountiful natural resources, the potential challenges of physical limits, overshoot and collapse remain hypotheticals. Debates over their reality are filtered through ideological lenses. In Singapore, the physical limits of water, land, energy and virtually all other natural resources have been ever-present realities since independence day. In one the first speeches I heard him give, Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, remarked, “when I awoke in the middle of the night, in the days and weeks after independence, what I worried about was Singapore’s water supply.”

Singapore’s leaders argue that disciplined planning, with a long time horizon, is essential for national survival; that western-style “one person, one vote democracy” does not always produce good policies; that making tough, unpopular decisions for the greater good is a leader’s responsibility; that all human beings are not created with equal endowments. Singapore’s distinctive society, political economy and governance institutions have been shaped by these views and by imperatives of national survival. Other societies, too, are facing similar imperatives, but have done far less well in coping. Within a few decades such imperatives will be undeniable planet-wide realities. Who can say that Singapore’s distinctive mix of free market capitalism, socialism and a commitment to living humanely within limits does not have lessons to offer? Who can say that it may not offer a “best possible” shape of things to come as our human species faces the imperatives posed by overshoot and collapse?

Welcome to America - no complaints!!

2010-08-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

It may seem that most of my travel blogs are kvetching about customer service (except when writing about Singapore). My arrival in New York’s Kennedy Airport has been an unabashed good news story - at least so far. Perhaps because of a relatively early arrival - 11:00 AM - there were no lines at immigration. Despite a fairly complex itinerary, including two trips to Sri Lanka (including travel to agricultural regions) and a trip to Seoul, a somewhat weary, middle aged immigration officer simply returned my greeting and asked no questions. Ditto for customs despite a seven month overseas stay. Rechecking bags for my trip to Washington’s Dulles Airport - no problem. Checking in for my Delta flight to Washington, only one small problem, easily resolved.

The carpet in the gate waiting area was grimy, with a number of stains from ground-in chewing gum, but many might say that is a small price to pay for living in the land of the free, rather than (their widely misperceived view of) Singapore. I was a bit struck by how dispirited and tired most of the service personnel looked but despite that, they seemed to be doing their work efficiently. The ambience was rather like that of a well-managed Greyhound Bus Station in the downtown area of a large American metropolis such as New York, Washington DC or Chicago . As I said, I could find nothing to kevtch about. I will miss Singapore. I hope to return and continue contributing to this small, resilient country which welcomed me so graciously and taught me so much. But America is my culture and my country.

The secret to understanding abysmal ‘customer service’ at Frankfurt International Airport.

2010-08-05T15:37:00.000-07:00

This is my fourth fairly recent experience passing through Frankfurt Airport. None have been pleasant. For business-class transit passengers, the contrast between Frankfurt and some other international airports (Quatar and Changi for example) could not be greater. Should one want to use the spartan business class lounge, one must pass beyond security, trace a lengthy circuitous path, struggling to interpret confusing signage. The modest amenities grudgingly provided are definitely not worth the effort. An additional downside is an extra security check before boarding.

The alternative (which I chose) is to stand waiting in a sterile corridor (or if fatigued, sit on the marble floor), for about 30 minutes before entering the security check-point and gate waiting area. There one experiences US style long lines, with the scanning administered by unsmiling German personnel who speak no English (my smile and expression of thanks did evoke a modest smile from one). This wins you admission to a bleak gate-waiting area, offering seats for only about 70% of boarding passengers. Because I arrived early, I was at least able to get a seat. To return to the aircraft, where one is enveloped in attentive service that is intended not only to meet, but to anticipate ones every reasonable need, was a great relief.

What about the “efficiency” for which Germany is known in Europe as Singapore is in Asia. In past Frankfurt Airport encounters, I have puzzled over this. How could an environment be so unwelcoming. This morning I had a realization. Frankfurt Airport, like Changi and Quatar is efficient, but the criterion by which those in charge to measure efficiency must be different. Frankfurt Airport managers have created a system that is principally intended to save money and serve the needs and well being of their staff members. The needs and well being of passengers, while not completely beyond the pale, are nearly so.

What one hopes for in professional meetings but rarely, if ever, encounters

2010-07-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

July 30th

The occasion of my brief Korean trip was System Dynamics Society Annual meeting. The Society meetings are what one hopes conventions and association meetings will provide - high quality papers, conversations with colleagues sharing common interests, an opportunity to make new friends and a remarkable sense of community.

The field was founded by one of the great intellects of modern times - Professor Jay W. Forrester, now emeritus at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Since the field is new - the first papers appeared in the 1950s - most of the field’s leaders and founders are not only still living but attend the Annual Meetings regularly. (Tragic exceptions are MacArthur Genius grantee, Donella Meadows and creator of the first graphical user interface for System Dynamics Modeling (Stella), Barry Richmond). Most studied with Professor Forrester at MIT (as I did for a memorable year, but later in my professional career). In contrast to many fields, leaders and luminaries mingle freely and informally with newcomers and students. No other field, in my experience, is as friendly, welcoming and inclusive. The world’s most widely read book based on a computer model The Limits to Growth (the first report to the Club of Rome) uses System Dnamics theory/methodology. So do parts of other "global models."

The fact that all members share a common theoretical-methodological language (emphasizing dynamic behavior generated by feedback loops) also sets the field apart. Whether the topic of discussion is sustainability of the planet earth, urban development in Asia (my own present interest), efficiency in project management or improving product marketing in the pharmaceutical industry, all can understand the presentation and contribute. Discussions are lively, informed, respectful and collegial.

Even if you feel you have no interest in System Dynamics modeling or have never even heard of it, you should check out the System Dynamics Society website and even consider attending an annual meeting (the next will be in July 2011 in Washington DC). The experience will remind you of what you may have hoped for in a professional association but had - sadly - come to accept that attaining that vision of professionalism, community and collegiality was probably not possible.

Returning to Seoul after more than 20 years

2010-07-30T08:55:00.000-07:00

July 29.

My last trip to Seoul was in 1984 or 1985. I was an invited participant in a “Conference on the Unity of the Sciences,” sponsored by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Other participants and I stayed in the city center. Our hotels were among the very few high rise buildings. There was no underground metro; a Korean Buddhist Temple, surrounded by a tranquil park was nearby. In the morning - about 6 am - I arose and walked around the city in an early December snowfall. The setting was very much like Colombo and smaller Sri Lankan Cities are now - many small shops and eating places in one and two story buildings. I was impressed with the Koreans discipline and industry. They were up early, opening up their storefronts, making tea over small open fires and scrubbing the sidewalks clean of snow and debris. I remember the complexes of underground passages, constructed to serve as bomb shelters during the Korean war. They were still available for that purpose - their unpredictable neighbor to the North remained a brooding, threatening, unpredictable presence. “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung was still in charge, with ‘Dear Leader,” son Kim Il Jong waiting in the wings. However they were filled with small commercial establishments.

What a transformation Seoul has experienced. It is now a city of nearly 20 million, with a public transit system that is more extensive and complex than Singapore (and far more extensive and complex than Washington DC). In the downtown area where I walked as a much younger man, the storefronts have been replaced by modern office buildings, fronted by wide sidewalks (often with bicycle paths). Expensive automobiles fill the streets and there are frequent traffic jams - no Singapore Style (automobile) Certificates of Entitlement or Electronic Road Pricing in Seoul. In the neighborhood where I stayed, near the site of the 1998 Olympics, there were high-rise apartment complexes that were taller and more extensive than Singapore’s Housing Development Flats. They were interspersed with parks, playgrounds and fitness areas but, surprisingly, no commercial establishments or Hawkers’ Stands. Whre are there places for people to shop and eat out, withing walking distance, I wondered?

Surprisingly, the pace of life in Seoul, at least where my limited walking took me, seemed more relaxed than in Singapore. In the apartment complex where I walked, along the streets and in a beautiful park adjoining the Olympic Parkhotel, couples strolled, with mixed couples and pairs of women often holding hands. In Singapore, strolling - and holding hands - are very rare. When people walk, it seems mostly to be with a purpose. And Singaporeans almost always walk fast.

After walking several miles I was getting hungry, Finally I reached the periphery of the housing complex and a bit further on, found a commercial area, including one narrow street fronted by many bars and restaurants. Apart from my hotel, this was one of my few experiences with Korean food. Unlike in Singapore, knowledge of English is rare in Korea, even in areas regularly frequented by tourists. This may partially explain the greater popularity of Singapore as a tourist destination. The paucity of English extends even to most restaurants where menus are in Korean only and none of the staff speak English. Menus do have pictures, as in Japan, but it is hard to figure out what the pictures represent. This makes any meaningful sampling of Korea’s idiosyncratic cuisine, in which varieties of seafood seem to predominate, difficult. One eating place offered live eels writhing in a tank from which one could choose. In the restaurant I fselected on Monday evening, I finally pointed to something that looked like stew. It turned out to be richly varied thick seafood soup that was served in a large earthenware bowl. It was edible - even tasty - but I have no idea what more that half the ingredients were. In general I am wary of seafood when traveling, except in Japan, but experienced no adverse effects.

Another evening I ate with friends at what was reputed to be a popular Korean barbecue restaurant. Interestingly this not particularly pricey establishment sent a shuttle van to pick us up and transported us back to the hotel when we were done. (We did have to get out and give a push, when it got stuck in a pothole exiting the parking lot.) The dinner was OK and we enjoyed each other’s company, however I will not be returning to Korea for the food.

But the friendliness of the Korean people might motivate a return visit. Those whom I encountered, both in commercial establishments and casual meetings might bring me back. What they have accomplished as a nation in 20 years is quite remarkable, though my impression is that they are less concerned about issues of sustainability than the Singaporeans and much less skillful at attracting tourists. This makes the bleak circumstances of their brethren in the north all the more poignant and tragic.

"Best Practices" in international air travel

2010-07-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

July 24/29 - Traveling from Singapore to Seoul and back again.

Flying Singapore Airlines business class on long haul flights is a memorable experience, as I have written in previous postings. From check in-to landing, every detail is managed with such attentiveness and efficiency; one wishes the flight might last a bit longer. But I had never flown economy class and wondered what that experience would be like. On today’s medium distance from Singapore to Seoul, I had the opportunity to find out.

From years of post 9-11 international travel, I have habituated myself to 3 hour early airport arrivals, with additional cushions for untoward events built in. War ravaged Sri Lanka requiresthis, but so does the United States, where highways can be jammed, checkin lines long and (especially in the US) security check in lines even longer. This morning, I arrived early. Check in took ten minutes with no lines. The service was more modest than the spectacular level business class provides, but cheerful, conscious and efficient.

Whenever I check in at Changi airport or fly Singapore airlines, I wonder, with a bit of nostalgic sadness why American airlines and airports can’t be better. In my early years of international air travel, Pan American World Airways and the Pan Am Terminal at Kennedy Airport set widely admired standards to which others aspired. I wonder if executives of US Air and United Airlines - to target my worst offenders - ever travel incognito on their own carriers, experiencing the dispirited (sometimes bordering on hostile) checkin and cabin service that I have experienced. Do they investigate the best practices of carriers such as Singapore and Qatar, regularly ranked #1 and #2 by international travelers. Are they trying to set a standard of excellence and failing due to incompetence or lack of effort. Or is it that they simply don’t care.

PS. The gate check-in process at Inchon Airport (on my return flight) - was well below Singapore Airlines standards. It was so much below my usual experiences I asked if those in charge were Singapore Airlines employees. One said “yes” but the others were employed by their “partners.” Insofar as is possible, it seems to me that SAL should choose “partners” with care and, having chosen, should be attentive to the level of service they provide.

Sri Lanka Diary #4. Viewing the clear night sky in Matara

2010-07-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

It rained in the early evening, but now the night sky is clear. Standing on my beachfront balcony listening to the surf, I can see a multitude of stars but the constellations are, of course, unrecognizable. My freshman year midshipman cruise on the battleship USS Wisconsin came to mind. As the ship steamed north from Valparaiso Chile, other midshipmen and I would lie on the after part of the ship (the fantail) watching films and the stars overhead. The Southern Cross, which Magellan’s sailors viewed as an omen of their impending death, was often clearly visible. Tonight, I reflected on the ensuing years since that young man, 19 years of age, viewed the stars in the Southern Hemisphere night sky. I thought, “If I should die tomorrow, I would be grateful for the opportunities that life has offered to follow interesting paths, in many parts of the world, and to make a difference.” It was a peaceful moment.

Then I remembered the briefing notes on the dynamics of aging I just completed for a task force examining new research opportunities at Singapore’s National University. One slide featured men and women who had made major contributions - sometimes the major contributions of their lives - after age 70. One notable example, among many, was Deng Shao Peng, who did not begin the reforms that have transformed China until after he had celebrated his 74th birthday.

Clearly it is too soon for self-satisfaction. There must still be challenges and opportunities on the road that lies ahead, The must be promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Sri Lanka Diary #3. Early morning sights in Matara, uniformed schoolchildren, crows, dogs, and cattle.

2010-07-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

Sri Lanka Diary #3. Early morning sights in Matara, uniformed schoolchildren, crows, dogs, and cattle.

As I wrote in a blog last April, Matara is now my favorite Sri Lankan destination. It is four and a half hours drive from Colombo and about five hours - or a bit more - by train. I particularly wanted to make a longer visit here because of the Buddhist temple located on an island about 100 meters from the shoreline, near Matara’s main market. The temple is unprepossessing. There are just a few small buildings surrounding a worship and assembly hall, fronted by a large Buddha statue. The statue is framed by white curtains which, however, leave it visible to worshippers. When I first saw this hall in April, it seemed as if it would be a tranquil place to meditate, with little more than the sound of the ocean, plus an occasional crow cackle horn bleat from the nearby bus station in the background. This visit has confirmed my intuition.

I have been walking to the temple for an hour or more of meditation about 6:20 each morning. A few yards away from my very modest room at the “Brown’s Beach Rest” are miles of unsullied ocean beachfront. Browns Beach Rest has only seven rooms; only two (mine and another) have ocean views. Four are interior rooms with no view at all. There are only two other accommodations for visitors, of about the same size, on the beachfront. Matara is definitely not a major tourist destination.

At 6:30 in the morning, the beachfront’s principal occupants are flocks of crows and dogs, some alone and others in small packs. Crows are ubiquitous in Sri Lanka, though less prevalent in Colombo than was once the case. They are self confident scavengers, sharing the terrain with humans and other living beings fearlessly. The dogs are of a small to medium sized variety, common in Sri Lanka. I call the breed “entropy,” something like what you would get if all dogs in the world bred with all other dogs an infinite number of times. Some are running and playing with one another in small packs. Others are alone. Mostly, their disposition is cheerful and they mostly seem healthy and well fed. I have not yet figured out whether they have owners. There are also a few middle aged walkers, almost all male. Some pump their arms vigorously. They are getting their daily exercise. Greeting strangers is not the custom in Sri Lanka, unless the stranger is obviously a tourist and the greeter wants something from him or her.

As I walk towards the temple, busloads of schoolchildren arrive to populate the four schools on the beachfront, two Christian (one for boys, one for girls) one Muslim and one Buddhist. Most wear the traditional uniform of white trousers and shorts for boys and white dresses for girls. One group wear blue trousers or skirts and white shirts. All wear ties. With very few exceptions, they are quiet and orderly. Some stare at me with smiling curiosity as I walk by. I smile back. I have seen only three other non Sri Lankans in Matara. There are none walking along the beachfront at 6:30 in the morning.

Under a copse of trees on the beachfront near the marketplace, a small number of apparently homeless men and women congregate. One is a mother with a small child. Some have set up housekeeping with spreads on the ground, possessions in plastic bags and articles of clothing hanging on a nearby fence to dry. Clearly they are not picnickers. It occurs to me that if homelessness was my karma, Matara might not be a bad place to live out that life.

Walking back from the temple, 90 minutes later, the scene has changed. Arriving busses are now packed with commuters and, perhaps, shoppers. Schoolchildren have disappeared into their walled compounds. The walkers have completed their rituals and turned to other tasks. Few dogs remain. Where have the others gone? But now, the grassy strip, about twenty meters wide, between the road and the beach, is occupied by a number of grazing cattle. Others, along with crows, are sampling the refuse heap adjoining the market place. They seem placid and reasonably well cared for. Later in the day, as I write this posting, I can see about twenty taking their rest from the open door of my second floor balcony, adjoining the beach front. The appear not to care about an ocean view; most are looking toward the road. At nightfall they they will be gone. I have no idea where? When I have long sojourn in Matara, as I intend to, there will be time to learn more about these things.

Among all these creatures the crows seem most robust and resilient. When there are no longer dogs, cattle, schoolchildren, homeless people or other human beings living on planet earth, my sense is that crows may well continue to thrive and prosper.

Sri Lanka Diary #2. Running errands in Colombo and a drive to Matara: only a few “small problems” to be resolved.

2010-07-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

Having expended more than 90 minutes at the airport in my fruitless attempt to install Dialog GSM’s portable internet service, I was now late for a dinner party in my honor, hosted by a friend who values punctuality. To save time, I chose to negotiate transport to Colombo and a vehicle and driver for the next day with the first Airport Transport employee who accosted me. His firm I shall call “Reliable Tours and Travels.” He was cordial and the price he offered, with little haggling, for the drive to Colombo plus a car and driver to run errands and make the 160 KM run to Matara, on the Southernmost tip of the island, seemed reasonable. I signed on and paid for the service in advance - about $130.00 US. My only requirement, I said, was a driver who knew Colombo and was reasonably fluent in English. The Reliable Tours employee, whom I will call Mr. Gunawardena, assured me he understood fully. “You wouldn’t want to make such a long trip with someone with whom you could not speak,” he volunteered, corroborating my views.

The next morning, my car and driver arrived punctually in a comfortable vehicle with - as we discovered - only one small problem, brake pads that, while they functioned effectively, made a rasping noise each time they were applied. It then unfolded that there were two other small problems, the driver, whom I shall call Mr. deAlwis, had only fragmentary knowledge of English or Colombo geography. Fortunately, my knowledge of Colombo is sufficient, after many years, and we were able to communicate sufficently to reach my various destinations. There would be no extended dialogues between Mr. DeAlwis and myself, however.

With errands completed, we were ready to depart on your journey. But wait.... There were two other small problems. First Mr. Gunawardena had not informed Mr. deAlwis, not a regular employee, that he would be making a 320 km round trip, lasting the entire day an into the evening. Second, Mr. deAlwis had no funds to purchase petrol (gasoline) for the vehicle or meals for his journey. A triangular mobile phone conversation in English and Sinhala between Mr. Gunawardena, Mr. DeAlwis and myself, as we drove through Colombo’s chaotic mid-day traffic, ensued. This was futher complicated by a third very small problem - Mr. DeAlwis’ mobile phone ran out of minutes in the middle of our conversation and we had to switch to a back up. Mr. Gunawardena of Reliable Tours apologized for the miscommunication between himself and Mr. DeAlwis. He would provide the funds immediately except that... there was a fourth small problem. He was not in Colombo. He would have to drive through heavy traffic to a rendezvous - estimated (unrealistic) waiting time for us while he completed the journey, about 30 minutes. Fortunately I was carrying sufficient emergency cash - a routine practice - so that I could cover the costs of Mr. DeAlwis’ return trip and pay for his lunch and dinner. Further negotiations with Mr. Gunawardena remain, however I believe that in the end, I will recover the funds.

The conversation between Mr. DeAlwis, a most polite and congenial young man, (especially considering the unanticipated agenda for his day) was limited, however he did share some information about the circumstances of his employment. He was not an employee of Mr. Gunawardena but of a “middle man” who owned the car with the rasping braks. The car owner contracted with Mr. Gunawardena who contracted with me. Mr. DeAlewis compensation was “15%” which I assumed would be 15% of the gross amount that Mr. Gunawardena had received from me 12,500 Sri Lankan Rupees. Estimating (from the funds I provided Mr. deAlwis) that the petrol costs for the trip were Rs 4,000, this left Rs. 8,500 to be divided between Mr. Gunawardena, Mr. deAlwis’s employer, and Mr. deAlwis. I am assuming, then, that Mr. deAlwis received approximately Rs 1250 (roughly $11.00) for a day of work than began at 7 AM and would end at about 9 PM - about 14 hours - an hourly rate of roughly $.80 US per hour.

In the end, our journey was a pleasant one marred only by nagging concerns that the rasping brakes might fail completely - they did not. The five small problems we encountered were easily resolved with patience and relative good humour. Parts of the journey, along Sri Lanka’s southwest coast road, were quite beautiful. We arrived safely and - hopefully - Mr. deAlwis returned to his new wife of only six months safe, sound and not too late in the evening.

Sri Lanka diary #1. My fruitless attempts to arrange mobile internet service

2010-07-18T07:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday July 11,

Even for a frequent visitor, adjusting to Sri Lanka’s different rhythms and culture of efficiency does not happen at once. When we disembarked from the plane and walked down the corridor to the arrivals hall, we were greeted by a succession of six foot high posters advertising the “Luxury Train Service to Colombo.” The journey would take only half an hour. Tickets would be available at the counter in the arrivals lounge.

Before passport control, there was a new “Information Desk” staffed by three attractive young women. I stopped to express my delight about the new service, the early fulfillment of a promise in President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s election manifesto, The Mahinda Chintana (sayings of Mahinda). The women looked puzzled when I asked for details. They seemed unfamiliar with the new service or even that it had been announced. Presently, they told me, there was only one train, which departed at 7AM ach morning. It was not clear the posters were announcing future service, rather than service presently available, but that was the case. I could find no counter with information about luxury train service in the Arrivals Lounge.

However I was pleased to see that there was a counter advertising plug in mobile internet service. I was hoping this would be available, enabling me to avoid the predatory pricing that the AT&T iPhone monopoly imposes on international travelers. Thanks to AT&T, I must already carry a separate mobile phone when traveling internationally, in order to receive reasonably priced service from a local carrier, however iPhone internet connectivity in Singapore, while expensive, is priced reasonably enough that I avoid a separate PDA. I only have to carry a separate cell phone. Not so in Sri Lanka. My carrier in Sri Lanka, Dialog GSM had a reasonably priced contract and I gladly signed up. ...But to be certain before leaving the counter, I decided to check out the service on my computer. It didn’t work, perhaps because my computer is a MacIntosh - they are rarely used in Sri Lanka - who knows? On my last trip I had borrowed a plug in from a friend and used it without difficulty. After working for an hour with the Dialog GSM technician/salesperson we had to give up. I was going to be late to a dinner party at which I was the guest of honor. The technician suggested that I try the Dialog GSM main office in Colombo in the morning where expert assistance would be available.

The next morning I did try. After a brief wait, I sat across from the technician who was to help me - but he had no help to offer. After I explained my problem he told me that neither he or anyone and the Dialog GSM main office knew anything about MacIntosh computers. His suggestion was that I drive across town to another office where assistance for Apple computers might be available. Then he might be able to sell me the service. What struck me most about our exchange was his apparent indifference to whether or not I received the service his company was in business to provide. I like to think he may have been exception among Dialog GSM Sri Lanka employees. His colleague at the airport, under far more stressful conditions, with other customers waiting, made a good faith effort to help.

Dialog GSM’s competitor, Mobitel, was worse. In the hope that they might offer software more compatible with MacIntosh I walked down the street to their office, which, upon entering seemed depressingly down at the heels. Like Dialog GSM, the office had a “customer service” desk and several technicians in cubicles. The customer service desk was unmanned. I stood there for several minutes, thinking the responsible staff member might have stepped out to the rest room or for a tea break. No one came. Finally I decided that AT&T’s preditor-priced monopoly iPod service for international travelers was my only Sri Lankan option, at least for this trip. Using email frugally and eating the exorbitant costs incurred would be my only option.

Practicing compassion

2010-07-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Is altruistic compassion something that can - indeed must - be learned - and mastered - through regular, disciplined practice? Thus, is it analogous to the discipline required to become a world class musician, athlete, chess player or scientist?

As regular dormgrandpop readers know, I listen regularly to podcasts of the US National Public Radio program, Speaking of Faith. To be fully absorbed, many of them merit several listenings.

One of my favorites is host Krista Tippett’s interview with Buddhist monk and spiritual teacher Matthieu Ricard. Ricard grew up in a prominent and intellectually brilliant family, the son of French philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and artist Yahne Le Toumlin. He earned a Ph.D. in cell genetics at the Pasteur Institute studying under a Nobel Laureate. But during his studies his imagination was captured by images of Buddhist spritual teachers in a documentary, The Impressionable Faces of Buddhist Silence, a friend was editing. Later, he reflected:

‘I had the impression of seeing living beings who were the very image of what they taught. They had such a striking and remarkable feeling about them. I couldn’t quite hit on the explicit reasons why, but what struck me most was that they matched the ideal of sainthood, the perfect being, the sage — a kind of person hardly to be found nowadays in the West. It was the image I had of St. Francis of Assisi, or the great wise men of ancient times, but which for me had become figures of the distant past. You can’t go meet Socrates, listen to Plato debating, or sit at St. Francis’ feet. Yet suddenly, here were beings who seemed to be living examples of wisdom. I said to myself, ‘If it’s possible to reach perfection as a human being, that must be it.’

The images contrasted with how he experienced some of the world renowned intellectuals who gathered for conversation at his family home. While they were brilliant, he observed, they did not necessarily seem to be very happy, contented or compassionate. Their teachings and their beings often were at odds with one another. This contrast lead to successive visits to Nepal, and, eventually, the decision to forgo his promising scientific career and pursue a life of Buddhist spiritual practice.

This brief biographical introduction provides context for just one of Ricard’s observations, suggested by the title of this posting. Its source is experimental results from research on the relationship between neuropsychology and Buddhist psychology. The research has been motivated by discussions between leading western psychologists and Buddhist spiritual teachers at the periodic “Mind and Life” conferences held under the Dalai Llama’s auspices.

Not long ago, neuropsychologists believed that there were few changes in the brain structure after adolescence. But recent work in a subfield known as neuroplasticity has refuted this belief. New electronic brain scanning techniques have made this work possible. For a longer period, scientists have been able to associate different parts of the brain’s physiology with different psychic and psychomotor functions. The more recent findings demonstrate that disciplined practice changes the brain’s neurophysiological structure. For example London taxi drivers, who must memorize names and locations of 20,000 streets have brains in which areas dealing with spatial relations are more fully developed. Violin virtuosos have more fully developed brain areas that link sounds, symbols and finger dexterity - and so forth.

These findings have lead neuropsychologists to perform studies on Buddhist monks who, like violinists, chess players and London Taxi drivers, have devoted thousands of hours to their craft, meditative practice, with major priority given to cultivating altruistic compassion. Ricard, who has logged more than 60,000 hours of meditative practice, participated in these studies. He was uniquely qualified to participate as scientist, Buddhist psychologist and subject. The results were similar to those from studies of other master practitioners. The neurophysiology of experienced spiritual practitioners showed greatly enhanced development of brain areas having to do with altruistic compassion and happiness. Indeed based on Ricard’s brain scans, while meditating, one neuropsychologist friend dubbed him “the happiest man in the world.” Not surprisingly, Ricard immediately distanced himself from this ‘honor,’ describing it as a misleading oversimplification that would detract from an important area of scientific research.

But he points to one finding of the research that does offer important practical lessons. He asks, if we believe that compassion is an important value, why do we believe that it can be cultivated in a few minutes each week, or month. Why would it not require - and deserve - disciplined endeavor similar to the practice of violinists, chess masters and London Taxi drivers?

There is a sad corollary Ricard does not mention, but that must certainly be true as well. If we regularly cultivate - and practice - anger, hatred, envy and resentment, that, too, will alter our brain’s neurophysiology, in addition to impacting the other human beings whose misfortune it is to cross our path.

Viewing a sunset

2010-06-28T19:30:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon marked the end of four intense, exhausting days. I chose the opportunity of an important, but what could have been a fairly routine presentation to make a first breakthrough step in adapting Jay Forrester’s Urban Dynamics simulation model to Singapore and an Asian Context. This took more that fourteen hours of completely focused concentration - no interruptions allowed. It was good to know that I am still capable of that sort of modeling work. Then there was designing just the right Power Point slides - simple but elegant; to be viewed, not read; each with a simple, clear message, sparsely phrased.

When the event and the luncheon that followed were over, I had to acknowledge that I was completely drained. It was not the Buddhist state of ‘emptiness’ but my mind was a blank, resisting any new onslaughts of will power. I returned to my apartment, did a chore or two, sought inspiration by reading a few pages of Lee Kuan Yew’s autobiography and collapsed.

I had planned an afternoon and evening of catching up on four days of neglected emails, but knew I was not up to the task. I decided on a walk through Clementi Park, adjoining the Kent Vale apartment complex, followed by a Hawker’s stand meal at the West Cost Marketplace.

Kent Vale is located on “Kent Ridge” one of the highest points on Singapore’s west side. The Park adjoins it on a hillside sloping down to the busy West Coast Road. On the other side of the road is a commercial area, Housing Development Board apartment flats, and further west, the West Coast Beach Park and a busy cargo container complex. Every scrap of land in Singapore is used for something.

Kent Vale is a ‘gated community’ with gates manned by security guards 24 hours each day. They work twelve hour shifts, six days a week. It is hard to see why this is needed in Singapore. Perhaps the university administration believes it makes the foreigners who are Kent Vale’s principal residents feel more secure. One of the gates, at the top of the hillside, is an exit from the community to the park.

Working as a security guard is boring. I remember this well from my days of military service - and I never stood twelve hour watches. You wait - and wait - and wait - for the time to pass. Sometimes you wish for a disturbance or emergency, just to break the monotony.

As I walked from my apartment to the gate, I had no agenda. One project was done and I had not even checked my short and long-term ‘to do’ lists to see what came next. I had space to view and enjoy a surpassingly beautiful sunset. The sun was partially hidden behind two layers of grey and white clouds. The sky was orange-red, shading towards blue-grey between the cloud formations more distant from the sun. The thought came to mind. If I were a security guard, I would be able to watch this transition from daylight-to twilight-to dark every day --- and I could write Haiku about it.

I had not thought about Haiku in years. But some years ago, during an interval between relationships following a divorce, I wrote six haiku a day for an entire year. There were nearly three thousand of them. All were lost during a transition between computers, but no matter. The point of writing them was not so they would be read by others.

My friend, Peter, one of the security guards was manning the gate. When there is not a lot of traffic we always talk and joke for a few minutes. Last evening we admired the sunset together and then I asked him if he knew anything about Haiku. When he said he did not, I explained and suggested he might write some to pass the time - like about the sunset. After a while, I continued, perhaps he could collect them in a book, sell the book and retire on the proceeds. We were joking of course, but I said I would give him some information about Haiku. Last night, I searched the web and printed a description of the genre, along with some examples from my favorite Haiku poet, Issa. I will drop them off on the way to work this morning.

I don’t know if Peter will start writing Haiku. I hope that he may. I would love to read what he writes. But as a result of the conversation, potential Haiku now keep popping into my head, like:

Viewing the sunset

A security guard’s job

Need not be boring

Reflections on "love."

2010-06-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

My mother, certainly the most influential woman in my life, was sparing in her praise. I believe that child-rearing practices in the 1940s, when I was being reared, emphasized discipline rather than affirmation. And the world “love” almost never crossed her lips - at least in my presence. Apart from literary allusions - she could be the most vibrant, engaging conversationalist I have ever met - I only heard her use the word twice in serious conversation. Once she told me she believed I was “in love” with someone. Since we had never discussed such matters, I was dumbfounded at her perceptiveness. It was true. On another occasion, when I told her that I “loved” a difficult close relative we had in common, who was facing a crisis in her life, she responded “I don’t know what that would mean.” I know others whose use of the term is equally infrequent. Perhaps they believe that their “love” is like a precious jewel that would lose its value if reproduced in large quantities or a non-interest drawing savings account that would run a deficit if too many withdrawals were made. My mother said as much about her view of the matter, when I once asked her about this.

Christian marriage vows include promises to “love and honor” however I am convinced that most individuals making such pledges have little appreciation of what they might mean. Certainly this is true in the case of first marriages but frequently in the case of second or subsequent marriages as well. For many, perhaps most, a more descriptive pledge would be, “I promise to love and honor you, as long as we both shall live, so long as you fulfill my expectations.” Why is this so?

My thinking on the topic of “love” has been enriched by a distinction - between “love” and “attachment” that the Dalai Lama emphasizes in several of his books. Being “in love” which is the initial basis for most intimate relationships and, I believe, most decisions to marry, is almost always based on “attachment.” Attachment is significantly tied to physical attraction, but also, typically, to shared interests, congeniality, shared cultural compatibility and perhaps a need to feel loved and to feel secure. For women, especially in traditional societies, a stable income source to provide for themselves and children has also been a consideration, though this less true today. Attachment often involves dependence, which stifles authentic communication. This complicates the possibility of lasting relationships and lasting “love” still further. When circumstances change, attachment fades. “You are not the woman - or man - I married” one or both ‘partners’ will say or feel. This, of course, is inevitably true - not only of marriages but of any long-term close relationships.

“Compassion” is a term the Dalai Lama sometimes equates with love. In one of his writings he offers a powerful illustration. He tells of a monk who spent seventeen years in “a Chinese Gulag” where periodic torture was part of the regimen. Later they became friends. “On several occasions,” the monk recounted, “I faced serious danger.” “What was the danger?” the Dalai Lama asked. “Being unable to love and show compassion toward my Chinese guards” was the response. Mahatma Ghandi, believed that God was love and that oppressors should be loved, though not their evil deeds. A similar message is found in many quoted sayings of Jesus, chronicled in the Gospels of the Christian Bible. I common theme in all of these equates love with unconditional acceptance.

Perhaps my favorite passage on love is from a friend of many years, the late Donella (Dana) Meadows. Dana wrote:

Love is receiving someone in a space of total trust, openness, good will, acceptance.

I can take each person I know and rank them on a scale which is the degree of openness and love with which I receive them – the amount of careful attention I am willing to give them, the ability I have to be with them. Notice that the quality lies in me, not them.

Some people in my world are objects, which I have a fixed concept about and am not at all open to any information to the contrary.

I can change who they are just by opening myself to them.

What Dana is saying, in a somewhat more personal way, is similar to the wisdom offered by the Dalai Lama, by Buddha, Jesus, by Gandhi, by the monk who was released after 17 years of imprisonment and many others. The world around us and those who inhabit it are, in large degree, an artifact that we create. Should we wish to live in a world that is mostly inhabited by lovable people, and have such a “reality” be the basis for loving relationships, we have that choice.

Protecting pedestrians from the rain in Singapore

2010-06-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, there was a Monsoon-like rainfall in Singapore. There seems to be no Monsoon season here, as there is in Sri Lanka, but heavy downpours are frequent. Most often, they occur in the late afternoon and early evening.

It is more than a quarter mile from my apartment to the bus-halt. I carried my umbrella with me, but didn’t need it. There is a fully covered walkway protecting the entire pathway and street crossings. This is true in virtually all government administered housing estates, where more than 85% of Singaporeans live. Lee Kuan Yew writes in his autobiography that when he was Prime Minister, he decided that Singaporeans who live in public housing estates and ride public transit should be protected from the rain. The estates all included covered walkways. The practice has continued.

This seems like an obvious amenity, but I am aware of no other city among many in which I have traveled, worked and lived, that has adopted this practice. Some do have small bus-halt shelters, in contrast to the generous ones that Singapore provides.

There is one exception, but it is fictional. The American socialist philosopher Edward Bellamy, in his powerful book, Looking Backward, provides a futuristic description of Boston in the 21st century. (Looking Backward was published around 1900 as I recall.) In the Boston of Bellamy’s imagination, pedestrians, too, were protected from the rain by covered walkways. Bellamy’s narrator explains this to a “visitor” who has been transported to the futuristic Boston from his own time. He draws a metaphorical contrast between the individualistic values of society in 1900 and the evolved society of the 21st century in which concern for the well-being of all is an overarching value. In 1900, he observed, everyone protected himself or herself with an umbrella which dripped rain on others, especially those who could not afford umbrellas. In the 21st century umbrellas were replaced by covered walkways that protected everyone.

Singapore and Bellamy’s 21st century Boston differ in many respects. (For example in Bellamy’s city everyone earns equal income as a right) but they are similar in their valuing of public spaces. Also in Singapore, there are housing complexes that do not have covered walkways protecting pedestrians who chose to use public transit.

In fact, many of these complexes are not even close to public public transit - one must call a taxi or, more likely, own a car. These are the growing number of private “luxury apartments” that are springing up around the city to cater to the desires of a growing number of affluent Singaporeans. Advertisements for these complexes now clog the television channels. The occupants all appear to be beautiful male and female fashion models, in their late 30s or early 40s who drive expensive automobiles (one add features a Bentley) and live lives of leisure.

Presumably these individuals never walk to public transit stops, but I suppose that the maids, security guards, and gardeners and maintenance personnel whose work facilitates their lifestyles (or the lifestyles of the real people the models are impersonating) must do so. Hopefully the affluent residents at least supply these ‘common people’ (to use a Confucian term) with umbrellas.

Viewing a familiar space with “fresh eyes”

2010-06-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

After living alone for several months, I have a housemate sharing my apartment. I will call him Majid. Majid is a young man in his twenties from Bangladesh. He completed his studies at the National University of Singapore a few months ago and then secured a Research Associate position at the Institute of Water Policy. Recently he learned that the apartment in which he had been living with four others would no longer be available. When attempts to find a lodging that he could afford proved fruitless, he sought assistance from the Institute of Water Policy’s Director. The Director knew that I was living alone in a spacious two bedroom, partially rent-subsidized, apartment and asked if I could help out. I was happy to do so.

One could not ask for a more accommodating housemate than Majid. He is proactively considerate, temperate and low-key. I knew he would accept whatever circumstances my apartment offered cheerfully. Yet as I contemplated his arrival I found that I was viewing my apartment with “fresh eyes.” My experience was analogous to the way we may view our houses before a dinner party. My mother used to say periodic entertaining is good because it provides motivation for a thorough house cleaning. When the Vice President for Campus Life is coming by my AU Anderson Hall apartment I look closely - and then vacuum the living room and kitchen; wash the bathroom floor; scrub the basin and toilet.

The day before Majid’s arrival, though I knew his standards would not be as exacting as the Vice President’s or my mother’s, I did the same sort of looking. There were spots of dirt on the white tile floors - I had not wet mopped for several days. The kitchen floor needed sweeping. Several waste containers were full. Some surfaces were cluttered. Succumbing to pressures of a workdays that begin in the early morning and end after 8 PM, I realized I had been too casual about daily cleaning and picking up. Entropy was encroaching. I postponed my trip to the office for two hours in order to vacuum, mop scrub and organize.

The experience reminded me that regularly viewing the circumstances of our daily lives with “fresh eyes,” whether those circumstances be our priorities, work life, living accommodations or especially relationships with other human beings, is always valuable. And we do not need the prospect of a guest in the house to do so.

M two favorite 'Speaking of Faith' Podcasts

2010-06-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Though I think of myself as knowledgeable about multimedia and social networking, I have a new friend who knows much more. Among many accomplishments, she has been a TED (Technology, Education, Development) Conference fellow. I have already followed up - and gained inspiration from - several of her suggestions and have several more to explore. Among them are TED Ideas Worth Spreading, Oprah’s Soul Series Webcast and Steve Jobs 2005 Stanford Commencement Address.

Our exchanges lead me to think about reciprocating with podcasts that I had found particularly valuable. Here is what I wrote.

I know your uTube and podcast gifts were given with no expectation of reciprocity, however, in the same spirit, I wanted to reciprocate. Here are my two favorite Speaking of Faith podcasts among scores to which I have listened. “The Wisdom of Tenderness” is an interview with Jean Varnier, the founder of L’Arche. L’Arche is a community centered around people with mental disabilities. His insights on humanity and the nature of love are what made this encounter special for me. “The Happiest Man in the World” is an interview with Tibetan Buddhist Monk Mattheu Richard. Among many insights, his metaphor equating compassion with sunshine - the sun’s warmth is given independently of the recipient’s “worth” or “character” - is one that has particularly remained with me.

If you have favorites worth sharing, I hope you will follow my friend’s example. We can always use a bit more inspiration as we seek to chart our path through life and respond to its challenges.

The aging process - thoughts, questions and issues

2010-06-09T03:35:00.000-07:00

A few days ago I was asked by a colleague to prepare notes for a briefing he was giving on “Key Issues for the Future of Asia with Regard to Aging.” Though - obviously - I am aging myself, I had never viewed aging as a subject of study. The project evoked a set of “thoughts, questions and issues” that I thought might be of interest.

Aging issues need to be framed in the context of models that take into account population dynamics within a broad context – these suggest the range of options that are possible
Cultural issues and cultural sensitivities are more relevant in this area than many others where planning is undertaken. Lee Kuan Yew’s attempts to shape the marriage decisions of Singaporeans, when Prime Minister, provide one illustration.
Singapore becomes an important case study because the issues of reaching and sustaining an equilibrium population have surfaced earlier – also Singapore’s population is more accepting of planning initiatives and the skills available for implementing planning are greater. It is both “the canary in the coal mine” and a test bed for solutions in this as well as many other areas.
Should lengthening life – as opposed to increasing the quality of life be a priority if tradeoffs are to be made. Is there an optimal length of life as there might be an optimal age structure? How should this be determined?
When dealing with aging issues, how should the responsibilities of the individual, the nuclear family, the extended family and the state be balanced?
How do marriage and child-rearing decisions enter into the age structure picture? Are there interventions that can alter these decisions?
What does gerontology have to say about these issues? Should this be a research area? (The NUS Center for Gerontology Research?)
How can programs to address aging bring generations together rather than segregating them? As a dorm resident I am particularly sensitive to the importance and value of this? Young people can benefit from the wisdom and experience that compassionate, elders who are willing to listen provide. The elderly can benefit from the energy, idealism and creativity of the young.
Since changing attitudes both to marriage and child-raising, as well as aging are important, what role should and understanding of culture and spirituality play? These considerations can be included in System Dynamics Models?
Members of aging population cohorts should be included in the discussion – has anyone asked Minister Mentor (Lee Kuan Yew) for his thoughts on this topic; including the discussion of research and research topics?