It started out like most CPP Open classes with two exceptions; I was wearing the same clothes I had started the trip in four days earlier and most of the participants were wearing the traditional Arabic Thobes and Ghutras. I was impressed with their English (much better than my Arabic!) and they were very gracious. However, as we progressed into the meat of the CPP course material, I became aware that this group was different from many others and not in a cultural way. They were really getting what course was about and they were by far the most enthusiastic when it came to the hands-on exercises.
Every break I found myself talking to various delegates in regard to questions and mostly about how they saw opportunities to apply what they were learning. One delegate from an affiliate of PriceWaterhouseCoopers often talked of a project he was working on for a large Saudi client which he had already modified the approach to include CEM to help deliver a better result for that client. He was really struck by the significant effect that even an internal process has on the customer. The delegate from the Saudi Electric Company saw very similar opportunities for his division.
The Secretary General for the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry was one of the most humble and gracious men I have ever met in such a high position. The power of the innovation techniques is what he really took and ran with. I was also awestruck by how quickly and thoroughly the two delegates from the Ministry of Communications and IT grasped the CPP concepts, as folks from governmental agencies can sometimes find it a challenge.
The Middle East has enthusiastically embraced the presence of BP Group partner on the ground, Dr. Fahad Altwaijry (contact him here) and there are several projects underway with consultancy and training around Advanced BPM and the Customer Expectation Management Method.
The next Riyadh Open class is led by Steve Towers, BP Group Lead Coach. Steve says “I am deeply impressed by the leadership offered by Dr. Fahad. We are meeting and working with several clients and I was honored to lead our first in-house class in the Kingdom during March. Am I going back? You try stopping me!”.
You can sign-up for next Open class in the Gulf in March (Dubai) with the early bird offer here.
About the Author
Steve Towers, Co-founder and Chair of BP Group (www.bpgroup.org), is an expert on process and performance transformation. Steve founded the first community focused on business process management in 1992.
Steve has bases in Europe (UK), New York and Colorado.
