We assembled a group of MBA students from the University of Hong Kong in Helsinki, which became our starting point for a study trip in the Finland and Estonia. Again this was a great group: curious, disciplined and open minded. There was strong corporate aspect to the trip, but also some cultural time and a small trip to Porvoo’s old village and also cruising the canals. We experienced great hosts at Nokia, learned about it’s changes, explored Espoo and it’s startup and investment landscape, as well as the Finland-Hong Kong trade relations. We took the ship to Tallinn on a sunny day, where we learned more about e-Estonia, the e-residency, Wise, the port of Tallinn, CARIAD Estonia and made a day trip to Tartu experiencing it as 2024 European Culture Capital. Estonia always shows what is possible when digital tools are put to service, and the whole little country feels like an incubator for ideas. But what I admire even more is, that they “just do it” and are very successful. No “agility bullshit”, but plain smart management principles, technical knowledge and hard work.

It’s great such trips are possible again, since Covid is history (for now). But really at the core of such a journey stand our hosts, which go far beyond “the corporate presentation”, with passion to share their insights and experiences. After this trip, it was time for me to return to Canada, where early summer has arrived.