In my upcoming book, "Why Not?", Chapter 11 delves into the intriguing concept of "Staying in Your Box," drawn from my hands-on experience with the soft facilities services program leading up to the grand opening of the world’s largest shopping mall, the Dubai Mall in 2008. The chapter reflects on a period of my life that was both immensely stressful and deeply rewarding.
During this high-stakes project, I had the privilege of working alongside Jim Wallace and a dedicated team. One memorable night, after a very hectic and demanding day leading up to the opening of the mall, Jim and I found ourselves navigating the still-under-construction mall in one of Turner Construction’s golf carts. We decided it was time for a drink and some down time. Always thinking ahead, Jim had his own bottle of Jack Daniels stashed behind the bar at the luxurious Address Hotel.
The hotel lobby shared a driveway with the mall entrance, so we drove the golf cart with its yellow flashing strobe light out of the mall parking structure and up the hotel driveway to valet parking. Now, you can imagine the looks we received as we rolled up in our plain white golf cart alongside a row of expensive luxury cars and asked the attendants to park it for us. By this time of night, the hotel driveway was full of Mercedes, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, BMW, and Porche vehicles. Talk about being conspicuous! After our well-deserved break, we returned to the valet station to retrieve our cart, ensuring the yellow strobe light was turned on as we departed with our modest vehicle amidst the splendor of luxury cars. It truely was a testament to the blend of worlds that Dubai represents.
On a more serious note, the Dubai Mall experience taught us a lot about working with other cultures. Dubai is truly a melting pot of people from all over the world. The Emirates are wonderful people, and I have made lifelong friends that I consider my brothers and likewise. What’s more, the New Image Building Services team really did change that part of the world when it comes to employee working and living conditions. The experience taught us that staying within the confines of one’s comfort zone is often necessary but not always sufficient. Sometimes, achieving extraordinary results requires us to push beyond these boundaries.
As you might suspect from this brief introduction, being told at the onset to “stay in my box,” only encouraged me to go way outside the box to get the mall opened. This journey underscores a fundamental truth in business: adaptability and a willingness to step beyond conventional limits can lead to remarkable outcomes.
Stay tuned for more about the Dubai Experience, including training a lawyer to operate a floor scrubber, the shark elevator, honing down a black granite floor, an interesting client meeting in the Turner Construction office, and the retired Pakistan Army General. I bet you’re intrigued.
