“I care about saying the right thing”

With Syriac roots, born and raised in Belgium, Simon joined Accenture in 2017 where he is a Business & Integration Architecture Senior Analyst

I can’t stop giving my opinion on everything, so Political Sciences was the obvious study choice for me! Having started to play piano from the age of seven, my childhood dream was to be a professional concert pianist. I didn’t give the piano up; it simply became a hobby on the side.

I didn’t give up on politics either. In 2014, I became a Deputy Member (and now Commission Chairman) of the Parlement Jeunesse Wallonie-Bruxelles. This association organizes a parliamentary simulation each year in the Parliament of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. For one week, young people aged between 17 and 26 take on the roles of parliamentarians, ministers, journalists and work together on four draft laws, debating them, amending and finally voting on them. The simulation is non-partisan, and each person speaks from his or her own conscience.

If something goes well, I’ll say it but if something goes wrong, I’ll also say it even if that makes someone else unhappy.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, I like being involved in lots of things. The possibility to continuously learn was one of the main attractions of Accenture for me, and it’s turned out fine. In fact, I never expected to learn so many new things and so quickly, and in disciplines I had previously not even considered.

99% is never enough. If I can’t achieve 100%, I’m not satisfied, as my teammates will testify! Luckily, my colleagues trust the quality of my work. My motto is, “make things once, and make them right!” I get the most pleasure from making complicated things look easy. When this is recognized, I’m doubly happy!

Today I’m a confident professional who’s not afraid to change and start all over to learn new things. Change is a means, not an end. It should never be our sole goal, but in my experience, having to adapt myself to new tasks and situations turned out to be a powerful enabler for growth and learning.

Change also has many faces. It’s not by forcing people to change that they see the added value. When people understand the opportunities, the hunger for change will follow naturally. Since 2015, I’ve been a council member of the Brussels Model European Union, a large-scale simulation of the European Institutions. The goal is to educate citizens of Europe and abroad about the European Union, and in that way contribute to a more democratic and informed society.

The future is on everyone’s minds. I’d love to share some traditional Syriac food with my grandparents while discussing how they see the future based on the current situation. I guess they might say that everything has a solution; it’s just not necessarily the solution you first think of.