see I’m supposed to be in the red dot
right in the middle some years ago I was
interviewing his chief HR officer of a
group the gentleman was good he was good
as good as anybody can be I turn right
he was extremely good I turned left
he was even better but I had this
burning question I didn’t dare to ask
him before I was sure he was the man who
wanted to hire and then I threw in the
question I didn’t see you CV any
education is that an omission or is it
but you didn’t do any education he took
a serious note he stepped back and a
very calm noise he told me you know mrs.
slim I went to the best school of all
the school of life the school of hard
knocks that question threw me back with
my seventeen years of university how
could I trust a person that didn’t do
any schooling to hire my top executives
of a group that was expected to move
from a couple of million dollars to
billion dollars how could this gentleman
be able to appreciate the skills of
those people well then I stepped back
and thought who taught me first to speak
who taught me how to walk who taught me
how to think who taught you how to speak
walk and think our mother one day then I
thought back again who taught me how to
love and be loved who taught me how to
feel as I want others to feel about me
who taught me those difficult things who
taught me how to overcome those
difficult things well it’s probably the
people I met the people that love me and
the people who hated me
the people that pushed me forward and
the people who worked hard to block me
in the past well ladies and gentlemen I
think we learned them in school I didn’t
learn them in my seventeen years of
university I probably learned them more
in the School of Life the school where
we get not hard and then we stand up
well ladies and gentlemen that’s the
school where we learn most of the things
we do well as difficult as it is for a
professor to admit it but we stop
learning for me
when we start schooling why because we
start putting ourselves into frames into
models and Mia culpa for that amongst
others with my colleagues professors we
tend to put math as the only solution we
tend to put black and white as the only
two options live ladies and gentlemen is
not black and white life is all shades
of grey and by the way I learned it the
hard way in the school of life 1991 my
first job application ever with a big
company I wouldn’t name I received that
brilliant polite rejection letter that
was saying mrs. Lim you’re not good
enough as you are come back in two years
an arrogant as I was I send them a fax
at that time somebody remembers saying
that I was good enough and I will never
apply again to this company they never
accepted to interview me again
for your information now what was wrong
in that interview I’m trained
mathematician and I knew only how to
solve problems I knew only that an
equation would have a solution I knew
only that actually one plus one can only
make two well that’s not true ladies and
gentlemen in life most of the problems
we have have a solution of maybe or it
depends and those I honestly didn’t know
them well after reflecting back after
crying of course I cried for the first
rejection of course then I reflect back
and that changed my life I started
exploring other areas I started
exploring the areas of people I started
exploring actually how to deal with
people not machines only I started
working on understanding that gray area
where emotions enters which bring
irrational ladies and gentlemen
nobody knows the future do we so why
would we only believe the forecast
systems by the way that give you 60% of
accuracy at best would you go to a
doctor that would have said I killed six
people so you’re safe now
or I killed four people you’re the fifth
one so you’re safe well life ladies and
gentlemen gives us those type of
situations where actually nothing is
frozen
nothing is in a frame nothing is as
precise as we would think it
now let me give you the good news about
that the good news about that is that
the grading system the traditional
grading system which we all follow the
ABCD and hopefully not earth doesn’t
apply in that there is another grading
system in this school the school of life
and its standing life for letters let’s
start with the end and the school of
life nobody teaches us but we learn l
for learning and unless we continue
learning that’s where we’re doomed to
stop living and the school of life there
is no teacher but us so the I stands for
inner because in the school of life you
are the one who appreciates the failures
to learn from them and you’re the one
who appreciates the successes to build
on them and the school of life the third
letter is F for forces and the school of
life we either find the forces to
advance or weeks get stuck in the past
we either find the force to advance or
the other F will reach us fail now in
the school of life the e stands for
evolution because as a no bicycle if you
stop moving you will most probably fail
so in the school of life you need to
learn what are the inner forces that can
drive you forward for evolution and for
excellence ladies and gentlemen in the
school of life we don’t learn art
because we want to rationalize what is
irrational art is coming from the right
side of our brain it’s not meant to be
structured
science as well is not about the art of
the answer science is about the art of
questions we unfortunately my fellow
colleagues we unfortunately give too
many answers instead of helping the
students ask questions we actually some
of us will be irritated by those
questions that’s the only way and paths
for learning
that’s what differentiate us humans from
machines we asked and when we ask we
start doubting when we doubt we’ll look
for the truth and when we look for the
truth this is where we start learning
ladies and gentlemen life is a school
where actually you’re not competing with
any other else you’re competing with
yourself you’re competing with what some
called fate but really you’re competing
with what you make of the fate now I’m
sure but you all are questioning you
know I started by talking about the
gentleman for your information his his
name is Hammadi whether I heard him or
not who thinks I heard him well let me
tell you honestly I was not courageous
enough as we go through life we mature
but unfortunately we get stiffer and we
get some norms that prevent us from
really daring to there I didn’t dare
hiring him but but don’t worry I brought
a friend to validate the choice and I
told him don’t look at his education
please interview the gentleman when I
got to write a write opinion the good
opinion positive opinion we hired him we
hired a gentleman and Hammadi went on to
be the best hurry I’ve ever met the best
HR person I’ve ever met in my life
he became V reference in HR and all the
Mediterranean now he went on
schooling he did a bachelor and MBA from
a top school and he was part of the
International Association of very sharp
professional and just before I came here
I took the phone and called Hammadi and
asked him Hammadi which school do you
think is the best I think he stepped
back he took a very serious tone and
told me mrs. Lim you know the best
school of all is still that same school
the School of Life the school of hard
knocks thank you
[Applause]
right in the middle some years ago I was
interviewing his chief HR officer of a
group the gentleman was good he was good
as good as anybody can be I turn right
he was extremely good I turned left
he was even better but I had this
burning question I didn’t dare to ask
him before I was sure he was the man who
wanted to hire and then I threw in the
question I didn’t see you CV any
education is that an omission or is it
but you didn’t do any education he took
a serious note he stepped back and a
very calm noise he told me you know mrs.
slim I went to the best school of all
the school of life the school of hard
knocks that question threw me back with
my seventeen years of university how
could I trust a person that didn’t do
any schooling to hire my top executives
of a group that was expected to move
from a couple of million dollars to
billion dollars how could this gentleman
be able to appreciate the skills of
those people well then I stepped back
and thought who taught me first to speak
who taught me how to walk who taught me
how to think who taught you how to speak
walk and think our mother one day then I
thought back again who taught me how to
love and be loved who taught me how to
feel as I want others to feel about me
who taught me those difficult things who
taught me how to overcome those
difficult things well it’s probably the
people I met the people that love me and
the people who hated me
the people that pushed me forward and
the people who worked hard to block me
in the past well ladies and gentlemen I
think we learned them in school I didn’t
learn them in my seventeen years of
university I probably learned them more
in the School of Life the school where
we get not hard and then we stand up
well ladies and gentlemen that’s the
school where we learn most of the things
we do well as difficult as it is for a
professor to admit it but we stop
learning for me
when we start schooling why because we
start putting ourselves into frames into
models and Mia culpa for that amongst
others with my colleagues professors we
tend to put math as the only solution we
tend to put black and white as the only
two options live ladies and gentlemen is
not black and white life is all shades
of grey and by the way I learned it the
hard way in the school of life 1991 my
first job application ever with a big
company I wouldn’t name I received that
brilliant polite rejection letter that
was saying mrs. Lim you’re not good
enough as you are come back in two years
an arrogant as I was I send them a fax
at that time somebody remembers saying
that I was good enough and I will never
apply again to this company they never
accepted to interview me again
for your information now what was wrong
in that interview I’m trained
mathematician and I knew only how to
solve problems I knew only that an
equation would have a solution I knew
only that actually one plus one can only
make two well that’s not true ladies and
gentlemen in life most of the problems
we have have a solution of maybe or it
depends and those I honestly didn’t know
them well after reflecting back after
crying of course I cried for the first
rejection of course then I reflect back
and that changed my life I started
exploring other areas I started
exploring the areas of people I started
exploring actually how to deal with
people not machines only I started
working on understanding that gray area
where emotions enters which bring
irrational ladies and gentlemen
nobody knows the future do we so why
would we only believe the forecast
systems by the way that give you 60% of
accuracy at best would you go to a
doctor that would have said I killed six
people so you’re safe now
or I killed four people you’re the fifth
one so you’re safe well life ladies and
gentlemen gives us those type of
situations where actually nothing is
frozen
nothing is in a frame nothing is as
precise as we would think it
now let me give you the good news about
that the good news about that is that
the grading system the traditional
grading system which we all follow the
ABCD and hopefully not earth doesn’t
apply in that there is another grading
system in this school the school of life
and its standing life for letters let’s
start with the end and the school of
life nobody teaches us but we learn l
for learning and unless we continue
learning that’s where we’re doomed to
stop living and the school of life there
is no teacher but us so the I stands for
inner because in the school of life you
are the one who appreciates the failures
to learn from them and you’re the one
who appreciates the successes to build
on them and the school of life the third
letter is F for forces and the school of
life we either find the forces to
advance or weeks get stuck in the past
we either find the force to advance or
the other F will reach us fail now in
the school of life the e stands for
evolution because as a no bicycle if you
stop moving you will most probably fail
so in the school of life you need to
learn what are the inner forces that can
drive you forward for evolution and for
excellence ladies and gentlemen in the
school of life we don’t learn art
because we want to rationalize what is
irrational art is coming from the right
side of our brain it’s not meant to be
structured
science as well is not about the art of
the answer science is about the art of
questions we unfortunately my fellow
colleagues we unfortunately give too
many answers instead of helping the
students ask questions we actually some
of us will be irritated by those
questions that’s the only way and paths
for learning
that’s what differentiate us humans from
machines we asked and when we ask we
start doubting when we doubt we’ll look
for the truth and when we look for the
truth this is where we start learning
ladies and gentlemen life is a school
where actually you’re not competing with
any other else you’re competing with
yourself you’re competing with what some
called fate but really you’re competing
with what you make of the fate now I’m
sure but you all are questioning you
know I started by talking about the
gentleman for your information his his
name is Hammadi whether I heard him or
not who thinks I heard him well let me
tell you honestly I was not courageous
enough as we go through life we mature
but unfortunately we get stiffer and we
get some norms that prevent us from
really daring to there I didn’t dare
hiring him but but don’t worry I brought
a friend to validate the choice and I
told him don’t look at his education
please interview the gentleman when I
got to write a write opinion the good
opinion positive opinion we hired him we
hired a gentleman and Hammadi went on to
be the best hurry I’ve ever met the best
HR person I’ve ever met in my life
he became V reference in HR and all the
Mediterranean now he went on
schooling he did a bachelor and MBA from
a top school and he was part of the
International Association of very sharp
professional and just before I came here
I took the phone and called Hammadi and
asked him Hammadi which school do you
think is the best I think he stepped
back he took a very serious tone and
told me mrs. Lim you know the best
school of all is still that same school
the School of Life the school of hard
knocks thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: