On Standards...

I grew up a refugee... My earliest memories start with our arrival in a refugee home in Karlsruhe, Germany. As my memory is very selective - it filters out the bad ones - I do not remember the conditions of that refugee home and the fights between different groups of people... but I remember a little football (green and white) that my dad had bought me and how we played every day on a large grass pitch. I also remember how my parents would study German every day after they had put us into bed.

After our ask for political asylum was accepted, we moved into our first apartment in Schramberg and my sister and I were immediately sent to kindergarten. I do not recall feeling lost there... instead I remember how I found my first German friends: Oliver and Michael. My mom always jokes that it took my parents almost 40 years of learning and still my sister and I spoke better German after 1 week in kindergarten.

As a child one literally is like a sponge... once you put that kid into kindergarten it absorbs the language... it also absorbs many elements of the culture incl. songs, rituals, and standards.

After about a year - I was now 5 turning 6 - we moved to Aachen, so that my parents could study at RWTH Aachen as it was only one of three German universities that not only taught electrical engineering (my dad's field of study) but also chemical engineering (my mom's field of study).

Here it was a bit more difficult to find a kindergarten spot for my little sister... but my mom (with her broken German) insisted to talk to the kindergarten's manager and begged the lady in charge to admit my sister because otherwise she could not finish her studies. That manager was so taken by my mom's story and her ambition, that she - despite not having any space in the kindergarten - decided to admit my sister into the kindergarten as if she were her own child. That lady had standards. And to this day, my mom mentioned to us several times that our life especially her life would not have been possible without that lady.

I entered school in the summer of 1988. Back then, I was one of maybe 5 out of 25 kids with - as we say today - an international biography. This means one fifth or 20% of the kids in my class had either moved to Germany or had parents that had moved to Germany. I was the one that had moved here latest... yet I was the only one who spoke German fluently. Despite having been in Germany only 2 years, I had spent more time in German kindergarten than the others. Many of the others had either not attended kindergarten at all or only one year... and in that year not even full time.

Compared to the German kids, I did not face any disadvantage... I spoke the language as well as they did. At the age of 6, I could already read, write and do math because my parents had worked on all of this with me prior to us moving to Aachen. But the other "migrant" kids were behind from day 1... none of them made the cut to Gymnasium after year 4 and none of them managed to enter university let alone graduate.

My parents never forced me to learn... but they set the standard by learning themselves. Although we were poor, I was always surrounded by books and both of them read a lot... and they still do at the age of 70. Later in life, I read about a study that identified the number one predictor of a child's academic success is the number of books in the household the grow up.

Being very competitive, I aimed for being the top student in every subject... My parents had instilled in me the belief that academia was our way to move up in society and to be able to live the life I dreamed of: A nice house (not a mansion), a car and most importantly a beautiful and kind wife, and children with whom I could go on vacation. My biggest dream as a kid was to travel because that was something we could not afford back then... I took my first flight at the age of 18 from Brussels to Malaga.

In order to set standards, my mom checked our homework every day... and by that I mean every day. So after studying all day long and dealing with our chores at home, she set down with me every day from 6 pm on and checked my homework. She also tested me on vocabulary, spelling, maths, and science every day. She checked every single one of my tests and exams and identified where I had strengths and weaknesses so that we could work on those.

To some, that might sound terrible... I actually enjoyed it. Remember, I have a very selective memory... everything bad is filtered out, but I still remember sitting with my mom at our kitchen table, going through my work, learning and laughing together. That was quality time. And I knew that was necessary to move closer to my goals.

I also knew that I was not doing anything exceptional... as I was accustomed to the standards set by my parents. They did not expect anything from me that they would not do themselves ten times more.

These standards set and lived by my parents in terms of work ethic but also standards in terms of how we treat each other, became the bedrock of who I am today... I would not be where I am without my parents - not geographically, not financially, and not morally.

In addition to my parents, there were many other influential people in my life... from the baker across the street who woke up every morning at 2-3 am to ensure there was fresh bread at 6 am. To my teachers who dealt with a huge number of children and still managed to make all of us - at least me - feel seen and heard and inspired us to learn. To my professors in university who opened doors for me which they did not have to. To friends of my parents all across the world that welcomed me in their homes during many travels after that initial flight. To my first employer Bain & Company that made me feel home despite being one of very few migrants and one of even fewer medical doctors on their team.

As I look at German society today, it seems that many of the standards especially in terms of work ethics but also in terms of contributing to society or just one person's life have diminished.

When I was a kid, it was no problem to sign up for a sports club... be it football, basketball, swimming. The only sports that were out of reach for us were tennis and ice hockey because they were too expensive. But if we had the money I could have easily entered a club.

Today, it is incredibly difficult to find a club that is willing to take on children... I already wrote about my daughter's desire to join athletic gymnastics. There are still plenty of football clubs... but that's it. The only reason my older daughter gets to play basketball is because I and another father volunteered to coach their team.

When I was a kid, it was no problem for us to get a doctor's appointment... although we were not privately insured. Today, it is very difficult depending on the type of specialist one needs to see. Back then, hospitals were functioning organizations... today, it is a nightmare to go into a hospital even as a privately insured person.

When we entered Germany, this country was the first world... I could not imagine a better country to grow up in. Yes, I faced racism from time to time... but that was not from any governmental institution... not in the school (with the exception of a few teachers) and not in university.

Today, we are witnessing the rise of right-wing party whose members (certainly not all of them) chant and sing that they want to send people like me back... back to where? My wife was born here... she is half German, half Palestinian. My kids were all born here, they are half Iranian, a quarter German, a quarter Palestinian. The only one they could really send back is me.

Now, I have significantly benefitted from this country. I received some of the best education in the world... this opportunity together with the work ethics I displayed have allowed me to become who I am today. And this country has also benefitted from me. From the jobs I have created, the taxes I have paid, and the people and organisations I have helped. This relationship has been a win win ;-)

There are many explanations for the rise of this right wing party... What I believe is the most fundamental reason is that this nation has lost its standards. By that I do not mean every person... but there is no doubt that many people feel that things are not going in the right direction.

The political cast (and I use this term intentionally) of the established parties has completely lost touch with society and with the daily struggles of people. They do not see the 80 year old lady that is looking for deposit bottles in trash bins just to make ends meet because her pension is too low. They do not see that many people - not only "organic" Germans - are afraid of the city centre because of clans of migrants making the inner cities unsafe. They do not see that schools are far from what they should be - a safe space for kids to flourish. They do not see that companies that give people a job and through that a living are closing down due to economically tough times. They do not see that people across all political parties and socioeconomic levels are fed up with the double standards displayed by Western politicians.

I could go on and on...

I voted for the current government... I voted for the social democrats. But what I realize today is that they have all lost touch to the important things in people's lives and that they are completely incompetent to lead... because they never learned to do it.

Just take a look at our current minister of foreign affairs or our minister of economic affairs... sorry to bash the Green Party, but they are to me the biggest disappointment and contribute the strongest (I do not believe intentionally) to the rise of the right wing party. Which part of their previous work experience qualifies them for leading the most important European country in their respective areas?

We can also look at all other ministers... from either of the three governing parties. With the exception of the minister of health affairs - who I am not a fan of - none of the others is qualified based on previous experience for job they have been given.

To all those who would claim that this would never happen in the business world... take a closer look at Volkswagen and its Board of Directors. It is frightening to see that Germany's largest automotive company has so few engineers on their board... I counted 2 or 3 out of 20 (!!!). Independent from that Board of Directors being too big and just based on that probably dysfunctional - for comparison Apple and Tesla only have 8 board members - it consists of people with no idea what it takes to be a leading automotive company.

How is the VW Board of Directors or our current German government supposed to set standards that move VW or our nation forward if they do not understand what it takes to maintain the status quo?

Germany did not rise to be an economic powerhouse which increased the standard of living throughout society and allowed for refugees like me to build a life here by feeling entitled to a 4-day work week with full pay and working remotely at all times.

Germany was built by the many people, Germans and "guest workers" from all over the world, that would rise early every day and get to work. It was built by people taking their work seriously and aiming for achieving a high standard of quality.

These standards - not everywhere - seem to be gone... They have been replaced by people aiming for optimizing "work-life-balance" not realizing that if we do not raise the bar constantly or at least maintain it, we cannot expect our quality of life to remain the same.

People believe that our governments can just print money to keep the party going... not realizing that every Euro printed will ultimately result in inflation.

People believe that technological advancement will take care of all problems... not realizing that we will still need people to make food available, take care of the elderly or sick, and so many other things.

I personally do not see a scenario where we stop working and maintain our standard of living... I also do not believe that would be in any way good.

Today, adults in Germany in average spend 5 hours per day in front of screens not working. This means they spend 5 hours per day streaming, gaming, texting, etc. None of that contributes to the advancement of humanity. 50% of people in Germany are obese... because they do not eat well, not move well, and do not sleep well.

I do not believe that giving people more time based on less work, will make society healthier. Instead we need to aim for people taking pride in the work they do and how they contribute to a functional society.

We also need to set new standards in terms of engaging in society through coaching a youth sports team, supporting in elderly homes, helping set up local libraries for children who do not have the advantage of growing up in a home full of books like I did, etc.

The standards we set as a society should have the aim to move our society forward... make it healthier which to me means more productive, more humane, and more sustainable.

We need to increase our level of curiosity and our will to create... instead of making us purely consumers of mediocre content streamed on so many platforms.

We need to create the hunger and stamina to address the tough challenges... instead of looking for easy ways to get rich and famous.

It used to be cool or at least respected to be an entrepreneur, a doctor, an engineer, a lawyer, a craftsman, a nurse... today society glorifies the likes of Kim Kardashian who is famous for being famous.

We need to reset or at least rethink our standards. A society full of Kim Kardashians will not allow humanity and all other species on the planet to thrive. We need more people who can create, people who are willing to do the hard things that result in meaningful impact.

And next to standards for work ethics... we also need moral standards that guide how we want to live together not only in one nation but across all nations. Maybe that's an article for another time.

These standards are set by every person every day... always remember, Culture is the next 5 minutes. Raise the bar for yourself, your team, and your organization in every interaction.

#FromNothingComesNothing