DUBAI // When Tarifa Ajaif walks into an organisation with her goal of inspiring the staff, she does not use a white board and a marker. She uses Lego.
Managing director and founder of Go Glocal, a consultancy that offers motivational ideas to organisations by applying global approaches to local situations, Ms Ajaif, 33, strived to go beyond the boundaries of traditional teaching methods.
"I was looking for a method where we can enable youth to learn different theories," she said. "I noticed that when we usually tell them to develop their soft skills, we take them to another classroom and we lecture them, so we don't really teach them anything apart from the regular methods."
At first, it may seem odd that grown adults would be experimenting with Legos in a professional context. But Ms Ajaif said there is much to learn from the colourful plastic bricks.
The Lego training method, she said, allows individuals to express themselves through the objects they construct. For example, one project that clearly showed how this concept could highlight individual identities was the "duck ice-breaking activity".
"We gave everyone the exact same number and type of bricks and asked them to build a duck," she said. "Despite the fact that everyone's set of bricks was identical, each student still formed a different duck - demonstrating that everyone brings their own flavour to the team."
It all began in the autumn, when Ms Ajaif decided it was time to break the mould after working 12 years in higher education. "I believe in pragmatic education, that the hand-mind connection and out-of-the-box thinking adds more value to a learning experience than that of a classroom. I had one condition, however, this new method had to be something fun."
After coming across Legos, Ms Ajaif knew there was more to them than being children's toys. She contacted the Lego headquarters in Denmark and discovered they have a training programme, called Lego Serious Play, tailor-made for enhancing innovation and business performance.
Not wasting any time, Ms Ajaif immediately hopped on a plane to Denmark and became the one of the first certified Lego Serious Play facilitators in the Middle East.
"I saw international situations where the concept was implemented in the fields of health service, education and business," she said. "To me, Lego was always a tool for children. And to find out that it has different aspects that can bring the CEO of an organisation to the table to discuss real solid business ideas amazed me."
She then decided to package the product in a manner that would target four segments: children, students, social applications - such as special needs and counselling - and management.
"Organisations could use this method for team building by identifying individuals' characters. For example, those who believed in a solid foundation would use a solid base to place other objects on, and those who built a flower depict the need for a nurturing environment that allows their potential to blossom."
Ms Ajaif has worked with various universities and institutions such as the Dubai Women's College (DWC), the Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid Women Leadership Program (WLP) and the Sharjah Business Women's Council, and both her students and collaborators have been intrigued by these non-traditional teaching methods.
Samia al Dahhan, the WLP program coordinator, said participants were impressed by Ms Ajaif's workshop. "We wanted something that tackled personal development and thinking styles, and we invited Tarifa to run a demo workshop with us," she said. "We truly enjoyed it. She showed us how to use different thinking styles to gain ideas by working as a group."
Sangeetha Thomas, a career counsellor at DWC, from which Ms Ajaif is a graduate, asked her to run a brief version of the workshop at the college's CAREERS department. Describing the workshop as "extremely innovative", Ms Thomas said that she was surprised to find the methodology quite complex and that it would work within organisations.
"It's a completely different experience, something that would stick to your memory."
However, Ms Ajaif said that the journey was not always smooth and that she did face challenges along the way. Also a mother, Ms Ajaif was reluctant to divulge personal information. "Every day, I have to face two stigmas - one of being a woman and the other of being an Emirati," she said.
Ms Ajaif said that stereotypes about her demographics, such as women prioritising family over work and the lack of Emirati commitment, did pose a challenge but only motivated her to dispel these preconceived notions.
"Instead, I try to be a role model for young women. And the government has played an important role in supporting us" she said. "I try to keep myself focused. Whatever the stereotype is, I do the opposite. For example, if a meeting is at 10am, I'll show up at 9:30. I hope that through my performance I will set a standard for others."
mismail@thenational.ae
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Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
Employees: 200
Amount raised: $3m
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Date started: March 2020
Co-founder/CEO: Ahmed Eissa
Based: UAE, Abu Dhabi
Sector: Insurance Sector
Size: 50 full-time employees (Inside and Outside UAE)
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
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Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
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Fixtures (all times UAE)
Saturday
Brescia v Atalanta (6pm)
Genoa v Torino (9pm)
Fiorentina v Lecce (11.45pm)
Sunday
Juventus v Sassuolo (3.30pm)
Inter Milan v SPAL (6pm)
Lazio v Udinese (6pm)
Parma v AC Milan (6pm)
Napoli v Bologna (9pm)
Verona v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Monday
Cagliari v Sampdoria (11.45pm)
Founders: Abdulmajeed Alsukhan, Turki Bin Zarah and Abdulmohsen Albabtain.
Based: Riyadh
Offices: UAE, Vietnam and Germany
Founded: September, 2020
Number of employees: 70
Sector: FinTech, online payment solutions
Funding to date: $116m in two funding rounds
Investors: Checkout.com, Impact46, Vision Ventures, Wealth Well, Seedra, Khwarizmi, Hala Ventures, Nama Ventures and family offices
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1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
