Written by Flavia Stoian, Bentley MBA Candidate '16
When we arrived at the Santiago airport in mid October there were 22 of us that had never laid a foot in Chile before.
We came from five different continents, itching with curiosity, anxious to get to know the country, the culture, the people, and — why beat around the bush — the well-renowned wine, of course. Our schedule was excitingly populated: We were scheduled for a trip to the U.S. Embassy, business visits to local companies from different industries, a flight from Santiago to Valdivia, a deep dive into the surviving Mapuche native culture, and, lastly, an afternoon spent talking with startup entrepreneurs from Santiago. Added up, it was seven days, six planes, two cities, all packed in one fascinating country: Chile.
As I saw it, we had everything but time at our side to learn as much as we could. The 12 hours of flying could not stop us from exploring the city the minute we arrived. There were five hours to spare until the welcoming dinner. I dumped my luggage, marveled at the panoramic view from our beautiful hotel room, grabbed my camera and hit the streets of Santiago with classmates Olga and Ariel.
It’s hard to put in words how truly relevant it is to see everything you’ve been intensively taught for the past couple of months brought to life...
The city has a European allure to it, with broad boulevards, high glass building all over the center and a general growth buzz around it, fueled by construction sites, street festivals and graffiti art at every corner. The atmosphere took on an air of Europe as well; that Sunday, the streets were empty and we suspected everyone was spending time with family until we reached the beautiful central Plaza de Armas. Flanked by historical buildings, the small park of the plaza was packed with people, clustering around music bands, street shows, photographers, religious evangelists or activists pitching for their cause. As proof that everyone was ultimately attracted to this place, we were reunited with the rest of our cohort, most of them spread out across the plaza, watching this unexpected transgression from the silent side streets.
I really enjoyed that moment when, without pre-established meeting points, without having GSM coverage, in this big, foreign city, we all met up and kept the group together. We moved toward the hotel in what I think was a key moment in our experience, one just as important as the academic reasoning supporting these trips. It was the moment when we started to function as a group, traveling together, caring for each other. You know, that feeling when you count the people at the airport, when you feel accountable for their whereabouts and welfare, when you see a small souvenir in a window shop and you instantly think of someone in the group who would love that? Yeah, that feeling! Traveling brings people together in a very special way and we were lucky to start that process the very first day. And what a good start it was!
We spent the next days traveling across Chile, getting to know the culture, the business environment, the economic and political climate. From understanding the power of vision when building a private vineyard to learning the intricate implications of geopolitical interests that influenced the proud Mapuche native culture, we developed insight into the space and the people around us, including our own cohort, our team and our friends.
We’d been talking about creativity for weeks in the innovation module with professors Andy Aylesworth, Gesa Kirsh and Nicholas Brunsveld. We saw it on a company visit to Kingston Vineyards, when owner Timothy Kingston was passionately talking to us about the art of blending varieties of grape to get the most of the year’s flavors.
We’d been meditating about mindfulness with professors Wiley Davi and Duncan Spellman and a lot of us felt like we'd reached a breakthrough. But listening to the INDAP (El Instituto de Desarrollo Agropecuario) managers talk about how they reach out, help and sustain small farmers around Chile gave us perspective on how compassion expands and critically contributes to making people’s life better.
We’d been studying strategic management with Linda Edelman and I thought I fully grasped the concept of disruptive innovation. But walking the fields of the Mapuche people and seeing how they decided to approach reforestation from a culturally and environmentally sustainable perspective added depth to the possibilities in which one can take up the challenge of steering a community.
It’s hard to put in words how truly relevant it is to see everything you’ve been intensively taught for the past couple of months brought to life, functioning outside of the protective shelter of the classroom.
Coming back from Chile is just a reversed association. At least every two days, when we talk about marketing, supply chain, complementary goods or risks, Chile comes back to mind ever so vividly.
During a recent academic colloquium, while talking about sustainable supply chain, I was smiling to myself, thinking about the fish market of Valdivia, where fisherman got rid of the leftovers and unwanted remains of the fish and seafood products by throwing them to the sea lions and the seals that were patiently waiting for their share. And there’s this “private” energy that flows in class when we answer our professors’ questions with examples from Chile. We’ve been there, we saw it happening. It’s almost like we’re sharing our insights, rather than answering questions.
Chile was a multi-layered experience. On top of all the experiences shared with us — the people we’ve met, the initiatives and the labor we witnessed, the food we had, the songs we listened to — we had the opportunity to strengthen our team to become friends even more, to understand and care for each other. Right now, everyone in this studio is counting down the days until we leave for our next trip — to Texas!