Intercultural experiences in Netherlands

That is not allowed” were the first words from the waiter in Scheveningen, The Hague Netherlands when I asked to exchange Potato Salad for Chips with my Schnitzel, so I conceded.  My first experience of Dutch restaurant culture.  Made all the sweeter when he returned form the kitchen saying “We don’t have potato salad, would you be OK with chips ? “

I hope you like sandwiches (and raw herring)

My impressions were not improved when the only food on offer in my first restaurant in Utrecht was a choice of three sandwiches. OK but very expensive.

In Amsterdam I  survived the ‘can you eat proper Dutch food ‘ with the Raw Herring test. It was good – followed by another lunch where only sandwiches were on offer and no red wine . You have to have good teeth for these.

Another restaurant, this time in Amsterdam South, late dinner at 7.30.  We get told :  “We have run out of chicken”, “Can I have the menu of the day?- No”.” Can I have a  burger?” No – I told you we have run out of chicken (no mention that the burger is chicken anywhere in the menu).  OK I’ll have the veggie burger “Does it come with fries/chips”  Yes – but we don’t have any  (and no alternatives offered) and so it went on !  And it was terrible.

Three pints of Guinness later…

The Indonesian Restaurant was good in Leiden but then it was after three pints of Guinness with my Irish friend. The Curry in Scheveningen was competent, and so were the Dutch Pancakes in Amsterdam.

I mention the name of the restaurant, Walter Benedict, in Den Haag as it was, exceptionally, an exceptional restaurant/café. Superb food, service and ambience. But then at 45 Euros a head for two courses and no alcohol it ought to have been.
On the final night we braved the cold and lashing rain to have Mussels in a seaside café in Scheveningen. They had their individual gas fires in the middle of each table – after all it’s August !

What have I learnt from this?

What have I learnt from this?   I went to each of these restaurants with someone local who, in theory, knows what they are doing.  Those Dutch stereotypes about timeliness and cuisine are absolutely right and everything shuts at 9.30 or 10. I was also right to go out with 5 layers of clothes.  I live in Spain where having wine or perhaps beer with lunch or dinner (at 10p.m.) is absolutely normal – everyone thought I was an alcoholic.  July/August may be the best time to visit Netherlands but I was pleased to be back in Madrid at 38 degrees. Nevertheless the Netherlands experience, spending time with old friends, recent friends and making new ones made the experience a great one!

Smart Coaching & Training works with over 30 associates, in four continents speaking 14 languages. Most raised and working in a wide range of cultures and living in a different place than where they were born . See our associates here.

Many of our associates learned how to speak via Toastmasters and Professional Speakers Association Read more

Written by David Rigby © 2025 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

‘Diverse expertise is great if the goal is innovative ‘out of the box’ ideas, but if you need timely, usable ideas, you may want a more focused, uniform team’

‘Diverse expertise is great if the goal is innovative ‘out of the box’ ideas, but if you need timely, usable ideas, you may want a more focused, uniform team’” posted in WORK journal, one of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s publications. Is this one of the reasons UK is so behind in innovation and productivity ?

Brain Scanning – to see if there is any activity?

They used brain-scanning techniques to measure how people actually responded during team collaboration and found that teams with different skills and perspectives do come up with more original ideas, but they also ‘face friction when trying to turn those ideas into practical implementable solutions’. Interesting – of course – but if you get people who all think the same way then you get all the wrong decisions made faster.. This is about diversity of thinking but equally applies to all the other ‘Diversities’.

Stupid ideas so much faster

We have seen what happens when the male pale and stale brigade( and also straight and Catholic) govern a country. Stupid ideas so much faster. The saving grace is that if everyone else continues down the Diversity route they will be out flanked at every level. And, as we already see, their international influence is all but destroyed in a matter of weeks, which has to be a good thing…

“Diverse teams generate fewer usable ideas” .say CIPD. If you continue doing what you always did then don’t be surprised if you always get the same results. HR are notoriously conservative and generally perceived as ‘only wishing to ensure that the current laws are upheld’ Diversity by tickbox .

McKinsey and Inclusion

On the other hand McKinsey et al demonstrate over and over again that Diverse teams are the best ways to increase sales and profits. This only works when diverse components are ‘Included’. Celebrating the differences and having an open mind helps . people having to code switch when they come to work – language and accent – doesn’t help and it means those who do are also having to focus on ‘behaving’ rather than contributing.

British Leaders, CIPD management , Innovation and Disruption

With British leaders , and no doubt those in the CIPD management, still being brainwashed that only those with the right accent and who went to the right school, and therefore are risk averse and unable to manage their emotions, as they are the only ones whose opinions count we will not see the progress that true disruption enables.

Professional Speakers Association (Spain) – PRODAYS – Madrid 28 June , Barcelona 29 March

The pictures below and above are from the Professional Speakers Association PRODAY in Barcelona I am pleased to be organising the next one in MADRID on Saturday June 28th. why not come and speak? Ask me

Smart Coaching & Training works with 28 associates, in four continents speaking 14 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here.

Speaking

Many of our associates learned how to speak via Toastmasters and Professional Speakers Association Read more

Written by David Rigby © 2025 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Imagine you are sitting the audience of the events hosted by Smart Coaching & Training Ltd Associates’ Jessica Breitenfeld and Alba Lucia Hincapié on February 15.  What can you expect to see and learn ?

Speakers Luisa Montalvo, Darren Lacroix and Mark Brown are all Toastmasters’ World Champions of Public Speaking.

What is Toastmasters ?

Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that builds confidence and teaches public speaking skills through a worldwide network of clubs that meet online and in person. Founded in 1924, the organization has approximately 270,000 members in more than 14,000 clubs in 150 countries.
Why are Jessica and Alba hosting these events? Jessica Breitenfeld , Alba Lucia Hincapié and SCT’s Clair Aghassipour and Caroline Dream are Europe’s Top female speaker, División champion of evaluation of speeches, European Champion, District Champion. They know how difficult it is to become a world champion, competing and winning through club, district, country, area and finally world competitions. And before that going through all the stages of the Toastmasters learning methodology before they are even allowed to compete. And all three presenters are prepared to show how they did it.

So you are going to learn some of the tricks or skills they learnt to get to the top.

All this sounds very academic, and in a way it is. But also remember these are public speaking champions and so they are also experts at entertaining and motivating the audience.
You can join Toastmasters just with a desire to learn to speak in public and the members will support you all the way to the top. You can do all the exams or just go along to polish your skills or just to support others. Many clubs are bi-lingual, so you can join a club which speaks in the language you are learning and become confident enough to present on stage in another language. Smart Coaching & Training’s founder David Rigby  has done that with his Spanish.

Professional Speakers Association

The Professional Speakers Association is another way of developing yourself as speaker. In this organisation there is opportunity to develop your speaking business. There are many different national organisations, some of which belong to the worldwide organisation. Being a member of the PSA is a chance to mingle with and befriend people who make a good living public speaking.

Smart Coaching & Training associates Ian Gibbs and Caroline Dream created the Professional Speakers Association in Spain which now operates in both English and Spanish.

The Toastmasters methodology and membership of Professional Speakers Association does not guarantee you will earn a fortune as a professional speaker As PSA Spain says “Not Everyone wants to be a professional speaker but everyone needs to speak professionally “.

Smart Coaching & Training offers coaching from our champion associates and also has delivered training in public speaking in several countries. Some, like Ricardo Cabete  are full time professional speakers. Of course our associates have delivered speeches at conferences and events throughout the world . See https://www.smartcoachingtraining.com/speak .
Do you want to learn some of the tricks to get to the top of the speaking business ? Get your tickets for the events Tickets: For Luisa https://www.eventbrite.com/o/american-society-of-barcelona-1706033218  and for Darren   https://forms.gle/kFRrVfkGFQM5M2Ua6

Smart Coaching & Training works with 27 associates, in four continents speaking 14 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here.

Written by David Rigby © 2025 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd

Celebrating the success of just some of Smart Coaching & Training’s remarkable Associates in recent months in 2024

There are now 27 associates within Smart Coaching & Training Ltd. And we are asked all the time “Can I be an Associate please ?” We also have several people on the reserve list – particularly specialists who are vetted and so can be called on when opportunities arise.

The main requirements to be an associate are that you are qualified and a team player as you have to take the time to get to know other associates. So that when opportunities arise you are able to work as a team to satisfy the needs. Another requirement is that you are interesting – you have something to say and you do interesting things outside work. See our associates here

Who is in the photo ?

From top left

Peggy Li – here on Dubai TV talking about Chinese Hospitality in Dubai

Sheona Della Fort – At Change Days in Barcelona running workshops on Spirituality

Caroline Dream – At Change Days presenting on Failure and currently in South America running a series of classes on Clowning

Jessica Breitenfeld – Organiser of Change Days, TEDx Speaker and winner of countless Toastmaster awards on her world wide trip

Maxine Barnett – Giving the ‘Maxine Barnett award for HR Excellence in Trinidad while being extremely busy in Washington

Carol Glynn – Winner of “Most Impactful Financial Literacy Project” in Dubai

Clair Aghassipour – Winner of First Prize in the Toastmasters International Speak Contest and her work on Interculturality with Sietar

Helen Morris – personally invited to celebrate UK King Charles’ Birthday at the UK Embassy in Dubai

Ricardo Cabete – setting fire to his Wallet at the Professional Speaker’s Association in Barcelona

Ian Gibbs – getting continuing success with Learning Clubs, and his work with Professional Speakers Association

Marc Mekki – special mention for his amazing presentation on Artificial Intelligence in Seville. Watch here. And to Mahmoud Assy and Pari Namazie for their podcasts and interviews

David Rigby – particularly proud of being guest professor at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona talking about Cognitive Diversity to Interculturality Students and getting confident to speak rubbish Spanish from a big stage.

It’s difficult to choose from al those successes . So much talent from everywhere and who have been everywhere . Posted before the Christmas rush

Smart Coaching & Training works with 27 associates, in four continents speaking 14 languages and raised and working in a wide range of cultures. See our associates here.

Written by David Rigby © 2024 Smart Coaching & Training Ltd