On Kindness, Experience and Mentoring - A Sojourn in Sweden

"Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see" - Mark Twain

The very first encounter with Swedish Kindness

In the August of 2006, I boarded a plane to Copenhagen with a couple of friends. All three of us were headed towards a small town in Sweden, called Ronneby. The intention was to pursue graduate studies at the Blekinge Tekniska Högskola. We had different programs of study in mind; in my case, it was Artificial Intelligence.

If I remember correctly, it took around 9 hours or so before we landed in Copenhagen. As relieved as we were to have reached Copenhagen, we were soon to find out that the last train to Ronneby had already left. It was about 9:00pm, and there were no more trains until 6:00am the next morning. Tired and perhaps a bit frustrated, we found a few vacant benches and decided to settle down for the night. Since we had a lot of luggage with us, one of us would watch the luggage while the other two would catch some shut eye. But as always, time passes. And soon it was time to board the train.

The train took us from Copenhagen to Malmö. We took another train from Malmö to Kristianstad, and then finally a bus from Kristianstad to Ronneby. On this bus is where we first encountered the kindness that we would later learn is a cornerstone of the Swedish culture.

At one of the stops on the way, a passenger boarded the bus. He took a seat across the aisle from where I was seated. Without wasting any time, he took out his laptop and started working. After about a half hour or so, one of my friends decided to ask him how far Ronneby was. To our surprise, this simple question triggered an interesting conversation about the University and studies. That passenger was a faculty member at the Blekinge Tekniska Högskola.

Finally, around 9:00am or so, we arrived in Ronneby. We had quite a bit of luggage and no idea how far and in which direction the University campus was located. The professor made a few calls to check which bus route would be the most feasible for us. After spending a few minutes on the phone, he realized that none of the bus lines were going towards the school anymore. So he called a taxi for us. He waited with us at the bus stop until the taxi arrived, informed the taxi driver where to take us (since none of us could speak Swedish), wished us good luck and took off to the university on foot (as per his routine).

I can understand that it might not be possible for all the readers to grasp the significance of this particular event. To me, however, this act of Kindness made an ever lasting impression. Almost five years have passed since, but I still remember this event as if it happened just yesterday. I hope that someday, I can extend the same kind of help to someone.

The “Do it yourself” and “All are equal” principles

The semester started about a week after we arrived in Ronneby. Now everything was about studies. Even though the faculty was very helpful, there was something that made the studies feel quite tough. I did not realize this at the time, but it was in fact a combination of two specific aspects of the Swedish education system, which were significantly different from the system I was used to.

Perhaps the most important factor was what I like to call the “Do it yourself” principle. A standard lecture appeared to be a mere attempt by the lecturer to guide the students in the right direction. That's it! … No spoon feeding. I think we were used to spoon feeding; studying to score high on the exams, rather than studying to actually learn and apply the knowledge. The stark contrast in the systems made the initial learning curve quite steep, but thankfully, I was able to adapt quite soon. Then onwards, I could only appreciate how vital the “Do it yourself” principle is in enhancing the student's learning capabilities. I think it makes everything seem possible, and the fear to explore unchartered territory is significantly reduced. This of course is not to deny the significance of good teaching. What I am trying to say here is the following: It is always wonderful to have good teachers. It helps a lot. However, the fact remains that very few teachers actually qualify as the great ones (unfortunately though). Therefore, the ability to learn difficult concepts without a teacher's support can be a valuable asset for the student.

The other significant difference in the education systems is in fact more of a cultural difference. In Sweden, one always addresses a teacher by the teacher's first name. Regardless of whether the teacher is a doctoral candidate, an assistant/associate professor or a professor; there are no titles and no formalities. Students pretty much consider the professors as peers and vice versa. Initially, this was too strange for me to understand. I was coming from a culture where the teachers are always addressed using their titles, and (in general) the teacher is always right :-). But only after a short while, I could see how productive the Swedish system was. Once you eliminate the extreme formalism, the interaction with the teachers becomes highly productive. Arguments and (constructive) criticism are highly appreciated, and for students who are genuinely interested in learning, there are endless opportunities. It is just wonderful!

For the next couple of years or so, I was a studying Artificial Intelligence. During this time, I received extensive support and encouragement from the faculty to pursue my passion for Robotics and Machine Learning. I had never enjoyed the process of learning to this extent. This was a wonderful two years.

Professional life and Mentoring

Prior to arriving in Sweden, I had been working as a Software Developer for a couple of years. It is not uncommon to find very strict implementations of hierarchy in the industry there. This hierarchy is generally based on experience. E.g. employees further up in the hierarchy are the most experienced. There is a clear distinction in the way one interacts with the senior colleagues, as compared to the interaction between colleagues at the same level of hierarchy. In certain cases, this can result in counterproductive group dynamics. This is particularly true when the senior employees have more of a bossy attitude towards the junior colleagues. This is certainly not the optimal configuration. Nevertheless, there is an upside.

So let’s take a look at the positive aspect of the hierarchical system. I'll get straight to the point i.e. experienced colleagues implicitly take the role of mentors. There is a pervasive culture of mentoring, where people take pride in sharing information with the less experienced peers. This creates an environment where the less experienced employees are expected to learn from the more experienced colleagues. I find this particularly beneficial for fresh graduates when they join the industry straight out of the school. In fact, at the company I used to work for, we even used to design learning programs for the newly hired colleagues.

Alright, so let’s get back to life in Sweden :-). In October 2008, I started as a professional software developer in Karlskrona. This was right after finishing my Masters studies. I was now working at a large multinational organization, where there is no concept of considering the difference in hierarchy while interacting with senior or junior colleagues. Employees interact with each other without regards to the difference in hierarchy. Everyone is considered equal, and no opinions are suppressed. I was working with much more experienced colleagues. And yet, we were all working as part of the same team, and working at the same level. This felt great!

The overall experience has been fantastic. I learnt a lot, and met some wonderful people. Everyone was nice and helpful. It was just so much easier to enjoy the work. I think the "all are equal" principle makes things simpler, resulting in increased productivity. Yet, there is something missing. What's missing is the concept of mentoring.

In my opinion, there is just no alternative to experience. There is a certain wisdom that one only accumulates over a period of time. This particular significance of experience is put to use by appointing senior employees to the key positions. This is very much so in Sweden as well. Therefore, one can safely state that the significance of experience is in fact realized in the Swedish industry.

So what of mentoring? When everyone is at the same level, it becomes very difficult for one of the colleagues to take the role of a mentor. Every interaction becomes a discussion between peers. Junior colleagues do not yearn to learn from the experiences of the senior colleagues. I think this is where the concept of "all are equal" becomes a little bit counterproductive. I am not suggesting that senior colleagues should be bossier :-) … not at all, that is certainly not what I would appreciate. However, there should perhaps be a way for senior colleagues to impart wisdom, to share the knowledge they have acquired through all the experience they have. I believe this would further increase productivity.

And soon it was time to leave

Sweden is an absolutely wonderful place. As much as I wanted to stay, I had to move on. And as much as I miss living in Sweden, life goes on. The sojourn in Sweden has been a very special one in many ways, some of which are perhaps quite apparent from what I have said so far. Yet, there is so much more to say; and perhaps I will some other day :-).