The International Federation of Training & Development Organisations conference was held in Dubai earlier this month. The highlight was an extraordinary presentation by the head of the Dubai police, says Bob Selden. He reports from a kingdom which he says is becoming known as a 'knowledge society'.</

In 1970, 98% of the Dubai police force were illiterate. Now, 28 years later, there is 100% literacy, with 83 people with PhDs and 180 with masters degrees. Quite an opener from Lt. general Tamin, head of the Dubai police.

He went on to explain that they now have their own police degree qualification, taking four years to complete. Lt. general Tamin also encourages his people to get degrees across all disciplines and is now looking for someone to do a PhD in atomic energy!

But aside from the statistics, what's amazing about the Dubai police, which sponsored this years conference, is their strategic plan and the way it has been implemented. It has nine key strategies:

• Strategies one, two and three are about the acquisition of knowledge through training, development and further education.


• Strategy four focuses on dimensional knowledge – the answer to 'how'?


• Strategy five is implementation – the answer to 'How to do?'


• Strategy six focuses on regional knowledge – local implementation of policing and, in particular, communication with and about the local community.


• Strategy seven focuses on the experience of what has happened (with crime, the police actions in particular circumstances, etc). It looks at these events from two perspectives – social and scientific and asks What could we do differently next time?


• Strategy eight looks at the quality of ongoing police decision making


• Strategy nine looks at setting, maintaining and revising basic entry level qualifications for the police.

Each of these strategies is implemented through a combination of formal learning, blended learning, consultation and community involvement. Amongst other things, it's the best and most comprehensive application of Argyris' Double Loop Learning that I have ever seen.

This progress hasn't happened by chance. Lt. general Tamin is a visionary leader – his key imperative is education. Not only does he encourage his officers to study, but he also does not hold them back should they wish to leave. His philosophy is that if he has treated his people well and they should eventually go elsewhere, he will have a very good comrade and friend in another organisation (I used to work for a boss like that and it was the most exciting and best learning environment I have experienced).

Lt. General Tamin also has a visionary role model, the Crown Prince of Dubai, H.H. Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed. The Crown Prince has not only set a challenging strategic plan for the country, but has ensured that it is being implemented. In the many countries that I have visited, Dubai is the only one where every government organisation is actively implementing the strategic plan.

It's often easy to get carried away by the polished speech of the head of a department such as Lt. general Tamin or even by the head of state. Does the vision translate into action? From some of the people lower down the chain that I spoke with, every one of them could tell me what the key strategies were for the next five to 15 years and the part they were playing in their implementation. The number one priority in Dubai's strategic plan? Education.

I'm told by a good friend (who is a local of Dubai) that the Crown Prince also 'walks the talk'. Regularly he can be seen queuing with the normal people to experience first hand some particular government service. He also has a number of his top advisors make unannounced visits to organisations to talk with the people. They start with the lowest paid workers through to the top, asking questions such as – "How much time does your manager spend communicating with you?" "How often do you have a performance appraisal interview?" "Is there a culture of empowerment in the organisation?" And of course, they are looking for consistency of answers through all organisational levels.

Prior to coming to Dubai I'd thought of it as the world's largest construction site. Others have described it as bigger and glitzier than Las Vegas. It may be both of those, but it is also well on the way to becoming a knowledge society rather than an oil producer.

Bob Selden is the author of 'What To Do When You Become The Boss', a self help book for new managers. He also coaches at the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland and the Australian Graduate School of Management, Sydney. You can contact him via http://www.whenyoubecometheboss.com

The IFTDO was established in 1972, and represents over half a million training and development organisations, both public and private, around the world. Now in its 37th year, its conference this year welcomed around 1,000 international delegates on the theme of knowledge and management. Next year's conference will be in Toronto, Canada.