Got a wicked problem? First tell me how you make toast.
http://media.blubrry.com/the_social_hotelier_show/b8bhospitality.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/TomWujec_2013G-light.mp4Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.9MB) | EmbedSubscribe: RSS | MoreMaking toast doesn’t sound very complicated — until someone asks you to draw the process, step by step. Tom Wujec loves asking people and teams to draw how they make toast, because the process reveals unexpected truths about how we can solve our biggest, most complicated problems at work. Learn how to run this exercise yourself, and hear Wujec’s surprising insights from watching thousands of people draw toast....
read moreFinland a top place to study for weather bitten international students
On our return to Finland in 2013 it was the start of another exciting chapter in my professional career, the formation of b8b hospitality consultancy. The aim was to put my experience and passion for hospitality in good use, and advise hotel owners, hotel investors, with Solutions that Transform their Hospitality Assets. In addition to advising hotel owners, I am also strong believer in education and providing the best education opportunities for people already working in the hotel industry, and for people who want to study hospitality. From my own experience I will always remain thankful to Playboy Resorts & Country Club, a resort hotel in Lake Geneva, WI in USA. I joined the hotel as a management trainee. The hotel encouraged employees to study hospitality, and they paid tuition fees for any employee who wanted to improve their competency. Thanks to the hotel I was given the opportunity to study hospitality courses at a vocational college. I continued my studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and graduated with a bachelors degree in Hotel Administration. I will always be grateful for the opportunity given by this forward thinking hotel company, famous for their magazines Playboy and Penthouse. After return to Helsinki I started to look into how hotel education has progressed since I left Finland in 1976, actually a lot more than the hotel industry in Finland. In order to meet the demands of today’s ambitious professionals and students, schools in Finland have progressed and education is rated highly worldwide. One of the campuses of Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, located in the city of Porvoo, provide Campus for Creative Learning. I found the campus very inspiring for learning, and atmosphere relaxed. The operations of the Porvoo campus are characterized by co-learning and involvement in projects with a focus on working life. The campus is also open to the public daily, giving people access to a nice restaurant, an extensive professional library and a number of comfortable meeting places. Studies are completed in large modules, and learning is promoted in many different ways: reading literature, participating in lectures, seminars and various workshops, and finding solution models independently and in groups. So what does international students think about studying in Finland? The international students who participated in the StudyPortals Student Satisfaction Awards 2014, rated Nordic highest in Europe and particularly Finland was rated number one for; High level academics Great Social Life Satisfying University Services Of course Southern Europe and the Mediterranean countries win students’ hearts with great atmosphere, as well as great student life. Well, Finland has some challenges with the climate as we all know. A nice compromise would be getting best of both worlds, Finnish quality Education in a Mediterranean country. The top scorer of the three Finnish Universities was Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.Finnish education and education system have become increasingly recognized worldwide, and are often seen as models for other countries to follow. Helia-Haaga is the forerunners in export of education from Finland, with projects in Asia, South America and...
read moreGet Out of Own Way
When I lived in Cheju Island, Korea and worked at Hyatt, whenever I could, I went for a run in the hilly terrains of Halla mountain. It is nothing like a mountain race but you can enjoy the thrills of uphill and down hill terrains. Many would think that running uphill is the difficult part, but that takes a bit of fitness and determination. The skill is to run downhill effectively. To run quickly downhill quickly you must be prepared to let yourself go. You will have to trust your body to do what it knows how to do naturally – to relax, allow your feet to find your balance and the right place to land. If your muscles are tense, fighting against each step and with your mind fearful of falling, then your pace slows and you are more likely to fall or injure yourself. Learning to run downhill quickly is to about learning to get out of own way. That is true off the hills too. I was mentoring one of our Managers who was opening manager of a hotel, who was sort of stuck and lacked inspiration. I asked him, what would he do if he knew he could not fail? He said he would become the President of his country, so he could tackle some of his country biggest problems. He was serious about it. Becoming President one day is well within this young persons grasp, should he choose. When we started to explore the possibility, he began to realize that the only thing in his way was the self-doubt and fear of failure. This applies equally in business. Often Senior Management in organizations declare something is not possible, to change or to do something differently. When they start to examine the assumptions they realize that that’s all they are –assumptions. Normally when those assumptions are challenged, they melt away and a new reality emerges. If humankind would have been held back by fear and assumptions, we would have never put the man on the moon or made the highest and the fastest jump in the history after ascending by helium balloon to an altitude of 128,100 feet, like Felix Baumgartner, or see the end of polio. We must learn to get out of our own way, inspired by higher purpose, learn to run downhill quickly. After all, inspirations, like gravity, are on our side- if we allow...
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