Thank you Your Majesty! Cancelling two public holidays in Jordan

I’ve been contemplating writing about the amount of public holidays in Jordan for sometime after the last “Eid Adha” which coincided with the New Year and Christmas occasions resulting in a over a week of public holidays. But that was not the only occasion. Jordan is “blessed” with a good number of public holidays. In brief, economists in Jordan estimate near to 4.5 months of holidays, or 139 days! These include public holidays, weekends, paid leaves, and sickness leaves. They also estimate around $30M of lost productivity per day. For a country like Jordan with ambitious targets for economical development, each day really counts.

So, His Majesty King Abdullah the II declared the cancelation of two public holidays in this news piece by Petra:

“King Abdullah on Wednesday directed the government to scrap two public holidays to help “boost productivity and dedication” starting this year. “I hope that Jordanians can celebrate the two occasions [the Monarch’s birthday on January 30 and King Hussein’s birthday on November 14] by enhancing national economy,” the King told Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit in a letter. The King asked the government to set a clear calendar, pointing out public holidays and daylight saving time for the coming five years to “help public and private institutions set well-defined and long-term plans” — Petra

I know some people, mostly employees, may not like this, but think about the large number of daily workers, merchants, and small (and large) business owners and how too many days-off impact their living and their financial performance, which in turn reflect on the overall economy.

I am really glad that a country like Jordan has looked into that and make an action about it. I highly value that His Majesty has chosen the most personal days to him to let go of, which are the birthdays of His late Father King Hussein, and His.

Related Links

King Abdullah II Official Website

Late King Hussein Official Website
Arabic - الملك يوجه الحكومة لالغاء عطلة عيد ميلاده

The Fast Lane on YouTube!

I posted this video a couple of days ago and I wouldn't think that it would get that amount of exposure! I was cruising to my favourite cafe when I spotted this Lamborghini Gallardo and thought it would be cool to take a quick capture of it using my Nokia 9500. Then thought of posting it to my YouTube account.

I got over 20,000 views in these two days and still growing strong. The video was the most viewed in the "Autos" section and #45 across all videos for that day, with good amount of comments and responses.

It is amazing the amount of exposure that one would get form the new wave of "user-generated" content in the many Websites out there.

So, keep you mobilephone cams on!

Meta Planning – An Effective Group Brainstorming Tool

You are a consultant or a manager faced with a pressing issue that you want your team/client’s input as a group, to explore root causes of the current situation, or ideas for resolving the current situation. What do you do?

You can always throw in the issue as it is and solicit feedback. Well, it may work, however , chances are: the starting point can be sluggish as people struggle to gather their thoughts, there can be some people with strong opinions and others shy to share, input may not be captured
in an organized way, or simply it is too dry of an approach and not fun!

Alternatives?

There are a variety of structured brainstorming tools and techniques out there to take advantage of that will encourage group participation in an organized fashion and fun way.
One of these tools that we have used in various occasions and was extremely effective is ” Meta Planning”. If you take my word for it, you would be curious how it would work.

How it Works
Gather the group in a comfortable setting, a meeting room with chairs and tables arranged in a semi-circle will be ideal. The circular arrangement will allow people to be facing each other while focusing on the main board or the presentation screen.

Carefully prepare your questions to solicit the right response. “What do you think of the current situation?” will be obviously vague. Whereas, “What are the main causes that are contributing to decreasing customer satisfaction?” will likely focus the response of the participants.
Distribute several (A5 – 5.83’’X8.27’’) cards along with markers. Instruct participants to write a thought or response per card and to fill as many as they need.

Give sufficient time for participants to think and write down their thoughts. Then, collect the information. You can do this in one of several ways. You can either take the cards and start “arranging” them on the board (we will come to the arranging part in a bit). Or, start by one person in whatever order you like and read the thought, ask if others have similar ones. Go on a round until you have collected all thoughts.

Arranging and Posting Cards
Now, this is the most beautiful part! Take each card reading it loud, then “post” it on the board. You can use either pins on a soft-cloth board, or simply use scotch tape. There are some commercial systems out there, but expect them to be a bit expensive. Your call!
Post another card either in another “area or column” if it was a new thought, or in the same area/column as similar ones. Keep doing that until you exhaust all cards and take a look at the board now!

The board should show clear patterns and clusters of thoughts that contribute to the issue discussed. You can actually go ahead and summarize the themes of each area for further analysis.

To summarize …

Meta-Planning is a collective group effort for brainstorming a defined issues to solicit feedback from all participants.

Tools
• A good number of A5 cards. My rule of thumb is 10 per participant per question.
• Markers (you can use whiteboard markers)
• A board (a wall can do as well)
• Pins or scotch tape
• Facilitation skills
• A willing group to participate!

Advantages
• Each member participates in the session
• No dominance by a few members
• Participants commit to the outcome as they helped it in creating it
• Ideas are visually shared and can be physically moved around the board
• Helps break the ice
• It is fun!

Disadvantages
Ideas expressed are bounded by the experiences and ideas of the participants, so it may not be totally effective when deep business/technical expertise is required and it is not present within the group. For example, if you are planning on optimizing the financial structures of a business and the audience is not financially-oriented

Last Word of Caution
You have taken some valuable time of the participants, so on moving forward you need to leverage their ideas or act on at least some of them. Otherwise, they will quickly become disengaged and may not support similar efforts in the future.

Have fun Meta-Planning!

A modern bed-time story for the aspiring venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and consultants!

Long time ago in a far-away land, there was this King who had three daughters. One day, he summoned all his daughters to his royal office and asked them what they wanted out of life.

The eldest daughter said “Oh father, I want to marry a charming prince of a large kingdom, who would become king one day”. The king was pleased with her answer.

The middle daughter said “Oh father, I want to marry a charming CEO with a huge bonus package and stock options”. The king was pleased with her answer as well.
The youngest daughter said “Oh father, I want to start my own business”.

The king and the other two daughters were all shocked and dismayed by her answer. “You are a princess. You live in royal palaces surrounded by servants who would fulfill your wishes, not in an office or a board room surrounded by employees and “clients” and stuff!” the King replied.
“But, father, this is what I want to do with my life and not just get married”

The King was unhappy with her insistence, but respected her wishes. “Ok then. You are on your own. You shall receive nothing from me but your monthly allowance”.
The princess coyly left her father’s royal office under the mocking looks of her two other sisters.

As the days went by, the two daughters married the men of their dreams in great celebrations and festivities, while our young princess worked hard to earn her MBA from a good school living on her “little” allowance. To support herself, she also took a part-time job in a department store. While working there, she developed a good understanding of clients’ buying trends. She noticed that younger generation wanted more variety of casual/outing clothes that have a strong sense of style and a vibrant brand.

She thought and thought until an idea blinked! Why not launch her own “Princess Line” brand of younger fashion and accessories! She did a market study, evaluated the market size and growth rate, evaluated competition, performed her SWOT analysis, considered Porter’s five forces, identified suppliers, designed the supply chain and operations requirements, and created financial statements (balanced sheet, income statement and cash flow) for the next five years. All she needed was the capital to start her venture.

She went from one bank to another and from one VC to another, but no one would finance her thinking she is just a “spoiled” princess and would not be serious about her own business.
One day when she was leaving the offices of a VC, she got into the elevator with a young gentleman. He casually asked her if she worked there. She briefly gave him her 30-second short talk about her business idea. He was genuinely intrigued and gave her his business card; it read “Prince Charming” – **** Holding! What luck! And he was handsome too!

The next day she called him and arranged for a meeting. From that point on, things started taking a momentum. After, meetings, presentations and discussion, Prince Charming eventually provided the Princess with the seed capital.

She started her business by launching a limited line in one of the prestigious department stores (another investment of the Prince) and it was a hit! She expanded her operations by adding more line items, improving on the brand by linking it to her royal image, participating in public events, fashion shows and sponsoring events. The brand did position well with target audience. The business grew nicely to a level where it received further equity investments from private equity funds, some of those who had rejected the plan at first but now getting in at a premium!

Working together very closely, spending so much time together, and seeing how they complement each other, the Princess and Prince kindled and nurtured a loving relationship.
As in any happy ending, the Princess and the Prince got married and now they are running a portfolio of successful ventures and helping other entrepreneurs realize their dreams and potential.

“Dad/Mom what happened to the other two daughters?”

Well, the eldest daughter’s Kingdom turned into constitutional monarchy, in a democratic move by the parliament and people. Members of the royal family are living on set allowances and little political influence.

As for the middle daughter’s husband (the CEO), a year after their marriage he was caught in a financial scandal amidst allegations of insider trading and over the board “creative accounting” practices. He is going through legal investigations and persecutions.Through that process that is both long and tedious the princess and her infamous CEO are living on stipends that have to be approved on a month by month basis.

“Sweet dreams and goodnight”

Moral of the story? I leave that to your comments : )

Up in Smoke! Or, the new venues of doing busines in the Middle East!

From Up in Smoke!

*Caution* This posting is no way an invitation to get into the harmful habit of smoking, so be warned!

Tables and chairs are all well organized and spread over the elegant place. Waiters take orders of favorite flavors (apple, strawberry, lemon, or what have you). Active “servants” move between tables skillfully placing hot burning coal atop the “head”. Mouths slowly inhale drags through elegant pipes and gently release it. Clouds of smoke start filling the place, with a mix of fruity aromas. The mood starts getting mellow and discussions are now more facilitated. “Let’s talk business”. You are in a typical café in the Middle East.

Welcome to the new arena of doing business and exchanging market information in the Middle East. No more are elegant hotel lobbies the exclusive place for conducting business deals. ““Argileh” (called "Shisha" in Egypt and the Gulf) places (simple called cafes) are offering an increasingly popular place to meet business partners and clients who share the same affection for smoking the shihsa, to relax and discuss business deals.

Go to any elegant café in Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Dubai, Jeddah or any other vibrant city at day time and chances are you will find it occupied by business people with their notebooks getting together blowing away smoke while they work out details of a business transaction, perfect a presentation or simply exchange business intelligence.

In our company, we have a saying, “If you haven’t had coffee (outside the office) with a business partner, you are not close enough!”. I personally take it further and add Argileh to that cup of coffee! Some of us are guilty of the sin of introducing countless business men from all over the world to this atmosphere! If there is any consolation in that, it is that they have enjoyed it, some to the extreme of carrying the whole works (Argileh, tobacco, coal, etc.) with them back home!

I must emphasize that l never attempt to persuade anyone who does not already smoke Argileh to try it, or even go to an Argileh café with someone who is anti-smoking. I simply make the offer, and the rest is their call.

If you are new to this and If you have already made up your mind to joining the scene, then perhaps the following pointers can be of use.

Argileh Etiquette and Tips

1. Use the provided tip (plastic piece that fits over the metal tip of the pipe). If they don’t provide one, politely ask for it. If they do not have one, then you in the wrong place!
2. When smoking, place the tip at the corner of the mouth not the center. Oh! And not the whole tip.
3. Blow the smoke away from your adjacent person.
4. First coals are usually larger to start burning the fresh tobacco, then renewed ones are smaller to sustain the hot tobacco. Unless you are an expert Argileh smoker, do not tamper with the strategically located pieces of coal.
5. If you notice the smoke to be decreasing in volume and intensity, take note of the coal, it may need to be refreshed with a fresh supply. Simply ask for servant with a simple word “Coal” with a hand gesture towards the shisha. Respectful place will not require you to do that as they are “proactive”.
6. Do not share the Argileh of someone else! (Newcomers and tourists sometimes get excluded from that)
7. Every now and then blow0-IN the pipe to release congested smoke inside the glass bottle to refresh the intake.
8. Do no light a cigarette from the coal on the “head”. (In my experience, very few people do both).
9. If you need to excuse yourself but want to get back to the Argileh, simply keep the pipe placed on the table. (See the following point).
10. When you finish your Argileh consumption wrap the pipe around the shisha.

The final most important recommendation in my mind is to “qualify” a place and frequent it as much as you need. This will allow the people of the place to know your habits, your preferred flavors and drinks, and greet you by the name - Important to show a status when you come in with someone for the first time. It will also make you used to the place so you are more comfortable and more focused on your work or your guest.

Enjoy sensibly!
Visit my Argileh gallery

Special thanks to Adel Awad who contributed nicely to this post while we were smoking Argileh together! :)

Pick of the Web

There has been an active emergence of Websites and Web 2.0 tools that are very promising to enrich our online experience and how the Web can positively impact our lives socially and business-wise.
I'm usually dedicated to using a limited number of Website and online services. But, lately this new wave was simply too tempting to pass on them. Here, I would like to share some of the most common ones I use.

1. Netvibes
This is a wonderful Web2.0 site that allows you to fully customize your own page and include various feeds and modules. The beauty about it is your ability to add as many tabs as possible to aggregate content and services within related groups. So, you may want to have a tab about "science content" and another about "financial information". Users of the service can exchange tabs that they have created themselves for others to use. For instance, I borrowed a "YouTube" tab. You easily can added: modules, feeds, podcasts, events, and tabe
This project was created by a French entrepreneur of Arab-origin, Tariq Krim.

2. DayLife
With so much news and information available on the web, it's time for a new way to discover the stories that matter to you. We gather stories of all shapes and sizes from countless perspectives around the world, and then present them in a rich browseable landscape, helping you make connections you never knew existed. Our goal is is to aid your journey through the events that shape your world.

3. My50
My50 allows you to create a list of things to achieve in their lifetime. You can add your own goals, add goals from other people's lists, or add goals from the hundreds of site suggestions. Countries and cities can also be added as places to visit which are displayed using Google Maps. Your list can be made public or private, and you can link your list to lists belonging to your family or friends.

4. Pandora
This is a music service of the highest intillegence that allows you to create your own radio station according to your preferences. All you need to do to start a station is to enter a name of a song that you like or a singer. Pandora will do the rest from there by analyzing the pattern of the song/singer and "feeding" further pieces based on that pattern and other users' preferences. They call this Music Genome Project

Bitter Sweet Symphony. Truth in the name and the bitter world of IP

The first time I have ever this song, it immediately captured something inside of me. I sensed there is an emotional charge in it. Whenever I hear it, I could easily picture the flow of the music as soft waves hitting the shore, while lyrics seem to be lightly detached from it like a breeze above these waves. Words and tunes could easily separate yet seem to interwined in a strangely lovely way.

However, my objective of sharing thoughts about the song is not purely artistic. Performing some research revealed to me furhter information about this song in specific and the music industry in general. Here is what I found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittersweet_Symphony)
“Although the song’s lyrics were written entirely by Verve vocalist, Richard Ashcroft, it has been credited to Keith Richards and Mick Jagger because the song uses the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording of The Rolling Stones‘ 1965 song “The Last Time” as its foundation. “
Here is the “original” one. I leave it for the readers, or listeners for that matter to decide for themselves how closely they are. In all cases, it does not matter as it was legally settled :)

Back to wikipedia, here is what happened:
“Originally, The Verve had negotiated a license to use a sample from the Oldham recording; but it was successfully argued that the Verve had used ‘too much’ of the sample.“
I would like to imaging court hearings and special expertise that are brought-in to determine the “closeness” of that sample. If you ask me, I simply think that it was all about the strength about the legal representation more than anything else.
“Though only some of “Bitter Sweet Symphony”’s music and not a single line or phrase of the lyrics were contained in the original, it led to a lawsuit with ABKCO Records, Allen Klein’s company, which owns the rights to the Rolling Stones material of the 60s. The matter was eventually settled out of court, with copyright of the song reverting to ABKCO and songwriting credits to Jagger and Richards.”
So, now everytime, Mr. Ashcroft sings or sells this song, Mick Jagger gets a cut! As Ashcroft himself expressed in reaction to some of his fans, “Don’t boo, man. As long as I can play this song I’m happy to pay a few of those guys’ bills.”
The world of music and intellectual property is a very complex and matters are not in black and white. Authors, artists, software engineers and entrepreneurs need to be very careful about their creations and how “similar” they could be to original works. Extensive research is highly recommended, as well as the use of specialized expertise. The earlier that is performed in the beginning, the better.
Now, do you think the name of the song is purely coincidental?

At Last! My photos are online!

I was still trying to make-up my mind about the best way to share photos online. After some brief research, I decided to remain within the Google playground and use Picasa2. The application by itself is pretty capable and use to use. One of the coolest feature is the "timeline" where it provides a futuristic 3D spherical navigation of your albums.
There are some good tools for editing and touching photos. But, still the more important feature I am using it for is the ability to manage the online albums. This is critical when you have 100's of pictures in 10's of folders or more.
I will be giving it a test over the next period and see how it goes.

Here is my first album! This is a follow-up to an earlier post of my trip to Warsaw.

Warsaw June 2006