5/23 and 5/24

5/23
This morning we participated in a lecture on the topic of Entrepreneurship.  This lecture had me more engaged than the other two, but not my mind as much as my emotions.  I sincerely enjoyed hearing about Brad's story, especially the transparency he showed by letting us hear not only about his success but his failure.  It showed me that it takes passion, talent, and a bit of luck for a new endeavor to succeed.  However, the part of the lecture that I disagree with is the idea that anyone can be an entrepreneur.  It's funny really.  They spent the entire lecture telling us how hard it is, how motivated you have to be, how much selling you have to do, the long hours etc., but then they turn around and say anyone can do it?  Hardly.  Most people cannot be entrepreneurs.  Most people don't want to work 14 hours a day, take on risk, and give up a secure paycheck and predictable schedule.  Most people don't have the charisma it takes to sell your butt off all day and still be able to lead a team.  Telling people who aren't capable to start their own company is huge disservice to them and an insult to those entrepreneurs that actually have what it takes.  The reason I am so opinionated on the matter is that I lived it and observed first hand just how hard being an entrepreneur is.  I know, from experience, that most people aren't cut out for it.  That's ok, I'm not putting entrepreneurs on some weird pedestal  it just requires a specific kind of skill set, personality and luck to pull it off.
The rest of the day on the 23rd we traveled by train to Paris, which was great.

5/24

Today we visited UNESCO's location in Paris.  I really enjoyed this visit.  The individuals we interacted with were intelligent, professional and intelligent.  They also gave off this feeling of warmth and passion.  It was clear how much they cared about the work they were doing.  During our visit we were shown a clip of the Daily Show.   The clip explained that the USA had cut funding of UNESCO programs.  It was funny but informative.  Clearly the clip was only telling one side of the story and intentionally painting a specific picture. I need to do some reading to better understand the other side of this story.  

This afternoon I worked on one our street projects.  It was nice to have some unstructured time to just mingle with the locals and strike up conversation.  Our topic was to explore how French people might be utilizing cell phone technology differently than we are.  It was a bit difficult to just launch into the conversation, but most of the people we talked to use technology the same exact ways we do.  Some differences do exist on how cell phone companies work due to the frequency and ease at which cell phone users travel within other European countries.  One gentleman I spoke with did mention the frustation of dealing with his cell provider regarding travel policies.  Overall, the project was fun, but we didn't really have the time to think the best approach to engage in the conversations we were having.  

5/22

This morning we had the privilege of hearing a lecture by Georges De Nemeskeri-Kiss discussing the financial crisis in the EU.  Honestly, he was amazing, but a lot of what he discussed was over my head.  I found it remarkable that he began the lecture by giving us a choice of topics.  We picked one and he launched into this brilliant explanation and analysis of the crisis.  What's it like to walk around with that much information in your mind and be able to communicate it in clear and organized fashion? Remarkable.  Every time I hear an intelligent discussion on the financial crisis I walk away feeling a bit depressed.  The greed of a few severely impacted the well being of many and it doesn't appear that the lessons have been learned.

This afternoon we visited Galderma.  It was very insightful to get a glimpse of the mindset that employees of such a large company have.  While it certainly did not have the family type environment of Dani-Alu, there was a sense of pride in their company.  It is also fascinating to me to consider the sheer size, numerically and geographically, of Galderma and marvel at the efforts that are taken to get that many people moving in the same direction.  Consider all of the factory regulations, HR considerations, and specific job tasks that are happening at all at once.  I used to run a company with 80 employees across 4 cities and that seemed impossible to keep up with, forget thousands.

Below, friends enjoying a quiet pub after a day of site visits.   

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5/21

Today was our first day EmLyon where we had the privilege to listen to a lecture by Professor Seidel.  I really enjoyed the lecture and especially appreciated they respectful manner in which discussed the differences between European and American perspectives on labor laws and business.  The point that stood out the most to me was the idea that Europeans tend to view business and society on a more collective level.  They maintain the perspective that systems should be built with every level of income and social status in mind.  While this perspective does by nature place limitations on how much one individual can achieve (as well as others), however, it was refreshing in a way to hear a more selfless perspective.

That afternoon I visited Dani-Alu.  A 100% family owned company that uses aluminum to produce railings, covers and other products for construction companies to use.  The visit was confirmation for my personal feelings of what kind of company I want to work for.  For example, they pride themselves in the quality of their product and the effectiveness of their service.  They know that they cannot compete on price, but they make up for it.  The company had sense of family meaning it seemed like they all felt that they were in this together and truly wanted to build a good company together.

5/20

Lyon.  What an amazing city.  Our journey to the hotel primarily took us through the newer part of the city, which gave me a pretty low first impression of Lyon.  However, last night we were able to walk through old Lyon and see all of the shops, restaurants, cathedrals and beautiful old buildings that provide so much character and personality to the city.  It was a good reminder not to make up a decision  before really exploring the depth and details of that decision.  Being able to reserve judgment until all of the facts have been collected is a valuable skill.

The walking tour that we took today only confirmed my feelings from last night.  Lyon is a cool city with a rich history, cool secret passages, beautiful landscape and friendly people.  They used those passages to hide jews during WWII and during the religious wars many of the statues on the cathedrals had their heads cut off, just to give some examples.  At the top of the hill over looking old Lyon lies ruins of on old Roman theatre, potentially 2,000 years old, incredible.

This evening we were treated to an awesome dinner experience at this old winery in the Beaujolais.  Wine, cheeses, bread, chicken, pastries and much more.  The hosts were hilarious and had us doing all of these activities that I really didn't understand but it was still fun.  Our main host, Jean Pierre, busted out some wine from 2003, which was the last year he had run the winery himself.  It was such an honor to share that with him and with my classmates.