#ibmcsc withdrawal sets in and random reflections emerge

It hasn’t even been a week since we completed our assignments and I’m going through CSC withdrawal – missing the daily work with our smaller team, the camaraderie of the larger team, the hospitality of our host organization TÜSİAD, and the frenzy of Istanbul.
As I think back on our experience there are a few suggestions to pass along to future CSC teams:

• Try to do as much research on your respective organization, the environment it works in, the country it operates in, best practices, and the related subject matter before you leave – it’ll help you get started more quickly when you get on the ground.
• If at all possible, get ahead on your day job – it'll make the transition back much easier.
• If you’re lucky enough to have a country with a local IBM Corporate Citizenship representative like we were with Ceyhun in Turkey, ask for some country context and a view of the organization you’ll be working with.
• When you get your Statement of Work, ask lots of questions and try to get in a few discussions with your host organization to validate the scope.
• Learn some key phrases in the local language – it’s amazing how far a few phrases and a smile will go.
• Be open to new experiences. While the CSC project is your focus, absorbing the culture is also important to provide context to the work you’re doing.
• Learn something about the countries your teammates are from and reference their personal profiles that we all do near the beginning of the assignment.

From a personal perspective, a few random reflections:

Deirdre getting fresh pomegranate juice

• I’ll never get used to Istanbul traffic but have learned the “critical mass theory” which is: more people, cars stop – more cars, people stop.
• Turkish tea flows endlessly. Turkish hospitality extends to the office with a person assigned to provide tea and coffee to guests AND employees.
• Pomegranates are the fruit of choice. We’ve enjoyed freshly squeezed pomegranate juice everywhere. It ranges in price from 1 to 5 Turkish lira depending on where you are in the city.
• People are the same around the world: each of us wants interesting work that pays well and is productive; a healthy and happy family; and a way to give back to our communities and our world.
• Working together results in grander outcomes both in our personal work, and the projects we’ve facilitated on CSC.

Now the question is, what next?