9.430
When I spoke with Prof. Marie José Garot back in June, I learned that she loves XIXth century French literature and in particular Les Misérables by Victor Hugo. Well, the next thing I knew, I was reading that book all summer at a pace of 3 hours per day till I found myself crying while reading the last page of Jean Valjean’s marvelous story. I just didn´t want it to finish.
I suppose I found a way for it to continue with the shooting of this video, in which Prof. Garot ponders the meaning of Justice and Law, and the European Union, while making reference to Victor Hugo, who was apparently among the first to think about The United States of Europe. Where else to film this video but in the incredible surrounding of Segovia´s former prison?
I leave with you a quote from Les Misérables and the good feeling I had shooting this video with Prof. Garot. Strangely enough I studied law myself, but for longer than I wished. If only I was a student again, I would love to have her as my Professor of Law.
“Have no fear of robbers and murderers. Such dangers are without, and are but petty. We should fear ourselves. Prejudices are the real robbers; vices the real murderers. The great dangers are within us. What matters what threatens our heads and our purses? Let us think of what threatens our souls.”
Going to the Top
Hungarians are the only ones capable of entering a revolving door last and coming out first, the great Billy Wilder once said. Well, it’s not that Hungarian Prof. Monika Hamori plays tricks on you in an attempt to come first, it’s just that it’s inevitable. Once you begin to talk with Prof. Hamori, she will be so full of knowledge and because of that, the only option is to let her go first, if you see what I mean.
When I first spoke with the pilot of the helicopter, I sensed that he was a bit skeptical about who this Professor was and what he business was being in and talking around in his helicopter. But, you guessed it, in the end, it turned out that he and Monika ended up getting along just fine. In fact, they ended up firing questions at each other to resolve issues facing CEOs. Have a look.
She teaches human resources but also has a master’s in Hungarian literature and linguistics. “Few academics combine Hamori’s appetite for “proper” research with such interesting, behaviour-changing conclusions, says Thinker50. And she is among the world’s 40 best business school professors under the age of 40, adds Poets & Quants.
A Hawaiian Passion
The idea to shoot ¨A Hawaiian Passion¨ came about in Colombia while Entrepreneurship Professor, Paris de L´Etraz, Juan Jose Güemes, and myself were attending two different IE Business School events in Bogota. During a coffee break, Juan Jose happened to mention to me that Paris is passionate about paddle boarding, which he practices in the island of Kauai in Hawaii, where he has been vacationing for the past 15 years.
Obviously, upon visiting Kauai, I immediately loved the place, not to mention paddle boarding, which I had never even heard of before. Nothing stimulates me more than my ignorance.
In this video, Paris talks with mythical board shaper Dick Brewer, to whom he offers a present from the painter and surfer, Miguel Panadero. We also meet the amazing handicapped painter, Mo Hamilton. Apart from that, Paris quotes Paul Theroux and introduces a Hawaiian concept called ¨Holoholo,¨ a tool he thinks entrepreneurs can use for idea creation.
I hope you like it.
Whistling
In a conversation before the making of this video, Quantitative Methods Professor, Tang wenjie (汤文捷), told me about the trip she made, on her own, to Russia and Kyrgyzstan, among others… And how, after graduating in Physics, she ended up at Insead, France, for a Ph.D in Decision Sciences. She also happened to mention that she often whistles. Coming from the Canaries, I am very familiar with el silbo gomero, a traditional whistled language from La Gomera, the island which got awfully burnt this past summer. And so, I had the privilege of listening to Wenjie whistle in Elizondo, the village of José, that famous bullfighter who fell madly in love with Carmen.
Prof. Tang wenjie says in the video that quantitative methods is like weight-lifting. Well, it’s for you to believe her or not.
On the topic of whistling… some say it is the music of the soul. It’s interesting to consider that even before there were any instruments, there was whistling.
Talking to strangers
When Professor of Leadership, Diversity and Social Capital Steven D´Souza told me on the phone that he wanted to go to the London Olympic village in Stratford to talk to strangers, my immediate thought was that I was that first stranger. I had never met him before. Then, for no reason, or maybe because I also play tennis, the film “Strangers on a train” popped into my mind. The main character in the film is an amateur tennis player named Guy Haines who meets a stranger, Bruno Anthony, who is already familiar with Guy’s marital problems thanks to gossip items in the newspapers. At some point, Bruno tells Guy about his idea for the perfect “Criss-cross” murder(s): he will kill Guy’s unfaithful wife and in exchange, Guy will kill Bruno’s father. Since both were strangers to one another, unconnected, there would be no identifiable motive for the crimes and thus no suspicion.
Well, Prof. Steven D´Souza and myself did finally met each other in London, and met other strangers (a Czech Olympic volunteer and a South African Olympic athlete.) I am happy to say we never plotted to kill anyone… but only talk about the importance of meeting strangers to strengthen social capital.
Photo Professor Steven D’Souza in theotherphoto.blogs.ie.edu
