The beginning of the story... I received a message via WhatsApp from a dear brother about a training program for non-profit organization managers at Harvard Business School, stating that there was one free seat sponsored by a group of Harvard alumni in Saudi Arabia as their contribution to developing the sector.
It was destined for this seat to be mine, and I praise and thank God, as well as the generous individuals who participated in this initiative and nominated me to join the program, and the colleague who sent the message ?.
From the first moment you start filling out the application form, you realize you are facing an educational experience that requires extra effort, as the form is not short and contains many questions related to the goals of the organization you work with, the impact you aim to achieve, what strategic challenges you face, how you have dealt with them, and why you want to participate in this program.
Three weeks before the program, I received an email with a link to access the materials and prepare for them. For me, it was somewhat shocking!! I was required to read over 400 pages in academic English which lacked flavor or smell, analyze it, and express my views on the challenges faced by these organizations that I was reading about.
The materials consisted of case studies for non-profit entities (around 17 entities) facing challenges, and with each case study, there are a set of questions to help you analyze in order to enrich the discussion during the program. For example, you might get a question (Do you think this organization is successful? Why?) (If you were the manager of this organization, what would you do?).
The case studies are real and discuss a specific historical period in the organization’s life, and the great thing is that after the discussion, they look at what happened to the organization currently, either through an interview with its executive director or by hosting the hero of the story to talk more about it.
There are 160 participants from around the world in the program (the picture shows the countries), and accommodation is on campus, with every 8 people in a private wing that has 8 rooms, a meeting table, and a buffet.
The first thing you start your day with is a discussion among these 8 about their views on what will be studied in the morning for an hour, then heading to lectures. At lunchtime, the group gathers again to discuss the second session's lectures.
The program is designed to make you experience the educational journey differently (learning through discussion and analysis), the first on an individual level through your reading and analysis, the second by discussing with another person the main issues addressed that day, the third on a small group level, and the fourth in the lecture halls.
The program's curriculum tries to answer five questions:
1- What impact do you want?
2- How do you lead the organization to change?
3- How do you build an effective internal business model for your organization?
4- How do you create a clear culture of innovation that is systematic?
5- How do you build an effective impact model for creating effect with the target group?
The training session was led by 4 individuals, 3 of whom are professors and the fourth is an associate professor (public administration – business management - service management - marketing) and practitioners in the field, some of whom wrote the case studies.
Each session lasts for an hour and a half; initially, the lecturer explains the organization's problem, then starts asking participants for their views, writing everything down, then tries to consolidate ideas into one model, and finally gives his opinion along with some important points?
At the end of the program, a book on social entrepreneurship (400 pages) was distributed, along with a one-year subscription to Harvard Business Review.... I learned a lot from the experience, and now it's time for application, and we ask God for success and support. May God ease it and there could be discussions about some cases and some models.
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