We started the week with one goal, to review the intelligence acquired through 25 hours of interviews, draw insights from them and start creating recommendations in conjunction with our host organization.

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We use agile practices in IBM, which encourage iteration and collaboration to quickly create an outcome. As we were reviewing our insights, we quickly identified gaps in some of the process and workflow knowledge we needed to most effectively help our host organization. Over the next three days, through Wednesday, we interspersed our data reviews with an additional six hours of employee interviews that rounded out our view of our host organization.

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Through this time period, we diverged and converged (agile practices where thinking alone and then, later, working together create a better outcome) multiple times and really started to gain a good idea of where we were going to end up in terms of recommendations to our host organization.

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We met with the CEO of the organization informally to discuss our efforts, our findings and to check on us in general. Our host organization, which I can’t name, has been extremely welcoming, and is really looking out for us, both in terms of this project and our entire stay in Morocco. Their pride in their mission is apparent and they are eager to have IBM here, working pro-bono, to help them extend their reach and help the Moroccan economy.

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Again, lunches and dinners, by bread and salt, we are united. Understanding how food is woven into the lives of Moroccans has yielded insights to the IBMers here, especially myself, in how important food is to a shared culture and to our learning of both Morocco and our host organization.

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You’ll see pictures below our how our work effort has expanded as well as a figurative taste of the meals and bonding that we are experiencing. Please feel free to comment below.