Charlie the Unicorn
A must see!
Goodbye Dubai
In less than 30 days I will leave Dubai for good. I came for a life-changing experience and I got one. I'm very grateful for that. The experience turned out to be very different from what I expected, but that's a good thing. Living and working abroad experience has had a huge impact on me. Sometimes it's hard to tell how much of the development is because of this experience and how much is a "natural" development that would have occurred in other circumstances as well.
I met people that I want to be friends with for a long, long time. I have started to see a much bigger picture of the world, I think it's impossible to have a global world view without the living abroad experience. I am more confident than ever. I understand different cultures way better. I now know the true meaning of cultural differences. I am keen on diversity.
It is impossible to sum the meaning, the significance of this experience in just a few lines. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, having a living and working abroad experience would be it.
I feel that it's ironic that in a place like the Middle East - where love is repressed (and even more than that) - I found love.
While this experience has been awesome and I wouldn't change it for anything, there are quite a few things I will not miss. At all.
1. The weather and humidity in summer. I have experienced hell. Twice.
2. Dubai traffic jams. Although this is an increasing problem everywhere in the world, so I might not be able to escape that.
3. Censorship. Internet, movies (cinema), magazines, newspapers - it's all censored. I will celebrate the freedom again. I can't tolerate a paranoid government making decisions for me. And yay for Skype! (which is blocked here).
4. The sponsorship system. Here people are the property of the companies you work for. They own you. They decide whether you can apply for a visa to go traveling, or whether you can get internet access at home or get a PO Box number so people can send you mail. I hope I will never have to hear the phrase "no objection letter" again.
The sponsorship system in business is another monster that I wish never to meet again. The law states that any foreigner wishing to do business in Dubai (or anywhere in the Gulf States, with the exception of couple of free zones) must go into partnership with a local citizen and pay him a percentage (usually around 5%, some ask for up to 20%) or all revenues collected. In return, if you are lucky, he will assist you in registering your business, obtaining licenses, visas, etc. Most of these "local partners" are useless lazy bastard that don't want to do much at all but collecting the cash. And boast they are "businessmen".
5. Alcohol restrictions. By all means I do not support alcoholism, but I do want to be able to buy wine or beer when I want to.
6. Ramadan. If anyone wants to pick a fight with me that I disrespect Islam by saying this, then you are utterly stupid and just want to pick a fight. Ramadan is a pain in the ass for people that don't follow Islam. You can get arrested for drinking water or eating in public. How ridiculous is that? And by the way, its 50 degrees outside.
It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the authorities there that non-Muslims should not be forced into following Islamic rituals which are detrimental to their health. During the Ramadan you see poor Indians working outside in the heat of the day without drinking water thanks to the religious beliefs. Everyone - whether Muslims or not - should be expected by law to follow its doctrines.
If you want to fast, congratulations, but why force the whole population follow this rule.
7. Standing ovations of skyscrapers and other show-off stuff. I am sick of the Dubai show off culture. I literally get nauseous when I hear someone complementing yet another ridiculous real estate development. Artificial islands, luxury hotels, world’s tallest tower. There is no real substance to this place so they have to come up with some fakeass stuff. Dubai is a soulless city. I will most certainly not miss it.
8. No real nature. Nothing grows here without water pumping on the plants 24/7. Flowers and all other plants for that matter are watered with recycled water (which is a good idea) and that make them smell like shit. Literally. When walking on the street and you smell something disgusting, beware - some flowers might be nearby! Those 10 days that I spent last summer in Estonia remembered me how wonderful nature is and how important it is to me.
9. Racism. It's everywhere you go. It affects everybody. You hear "Stupid Indians!" almost as often as "How are you?". Mistreatment of manual labor: awful beyond words. Slavery is legal in the Middle East and it is illegal to complain about it.
10. Expressing love is illegal. I almost got arrested for giving a goodnight kiss to my beloved. A Russian couple got sentenced to jail for 3 months for kissing (acquitted later). If you walk on the street and hold hands, you have to constantly make sure there is no police around. How fu..ed up is this? Makes me so pissed.
I guess I could go on and on, but I will stop here. Goodbye Dubai. You will not be missed. I might come back in 10 years or so to check what's become of this place.
The Secret
Everyone is talking about it. I think you better watch it too. I found it quite intriguing. I see many parallels in my life where I think the Law of Attraction was at work. Whether you believe it or not is up to you. I decided to test "The Secret" out for myself. Seeing is believing, right? I will keep you posted. Here's the trailer:
What's your standard?
Do you love your job? Is okay good enough? Are you satisfied with the way things are? If not, then what exactly are you going to do about it?
I believe people have natural talents and considerable amount of innate potential. I believe we spend about 1/3 of our adult life at work. I believe we all are capable of being passionate.
So if you have a job where you don't feel as happy as you potentially could be, I think you deserve better. If it's Tuesday and you're waiting for the weekend to begin, you deserve better. If you haven't grown much in your job (in some x period), why keep on going? If you don't get enough praise for the work you do, why tolerate it?
Why waste time? Why waste life? We CAN live an extraordinary life, if we choose to. No one can stop us from choosing to live an amazing life. I believe the fault is that many of us think "okay" is good enough. The voice of society often tries to convince us that its okay if we don't live our dream. "It pays the bills" is NOT good enough. Why choose something tolerable if we can choose something better? Screw the people who tell you to get a safe job and be happy with it. If you only take small risks, you are only entitled to a small life. Do you want to live a mediocre life? Didn't think so.
Set the standard higher. I know I do.
Fight for survival
How many of you feel that taking care of basic survival is stopping you from living the life you want to live? I mean do you feel that doing your 9-5 (or whatever) job to earn money to buy food (and other necessities) is not enough to live the life you want?
Let's say you want to visit Vanuatu. Then a month later you wanna go to France. Then you wanna do some cool stuff elsewhere. Go to the forest and pick berries. But you can't 'cause A) you might not have enough money, and B) you have used up all your vacation days!
Is it okay that we accept this without questioning? Is it fine that we spend this one, precious life like this - not living the life we truly want! And deserve!
I'm not saying we are suffering because of that - there is plenty of joy. What I'm saying is that life could be much more than that. There has to be much more to life than that. Raise the bar! Set higher standards! We deserve more! I demand more!
Time to take action.
Weekend
I haven't posted much pictures recently, so I decided to do that now. Today is Friday, first day of the weekend. This is my Friday in pictures.
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
Yesterday I went for the first time to an Arab gents saloon. As Arabs are a minority in this country, I have previously always gone to Indian or Filipino places - because they are everywhere and always close by when you need one.
First of all they were surprised to see a white guy entering their saloon. When another customer entered and saw me he burst out laughing and then they were all talking in Arabic and I didn't understand anything except that it was about me. It felt a bit uncomfortable.
But the guy servicing me was a nice Syrian dude and we talked about life and universe. At one point he ask if I want to get rid of the small hair in my ears. I was a bit surprised at first and then said "sure, if there are any". The guy took out a lighter(!) and burned the hair. "This is much better, then no grow back!" he exclaimed with a big smile. It didn't burn me, so I was fine with it. I even liked it.
Next he pointed out that the skin of my face is a bit too oily and proposed an appropriate procedure. So this was the first time in my life I underwent a cosmetic face procedure (see how ignorant I am, I even don't know what to call it!). 3-4 times they put some creme on my face and then several times some machine was rubbing my face and then another one was sucking my face. As my eyes were closed I don't really know what they did! It took 45 minutes and I have to admit, my face feels really nice right now.
Oh, and they cut my hair too.
Why be an average guy any longer
This is a subject of a spam e-mail I got today. Sometimes these spams have funny as hell subjects. And somebody has to come up with those cool subjects to make a living. If there's a brainstorming team behind it, Im sure they have loads of fun every day. It would cool to be in their team for a day.
Most of the spam mails are trying to sell me viagra and penis enlargement stuff.
Some more examples from my spam folder(warning, might contain foul language):
Do you want to feel success, have fantastic, pretty ass?
She will love you more than any other guy
Separate yourself from other men
Your dream is to be wanted and desired by women?
She's asking you to prove your love to her
Your penis doesn't listen to you?
Your mind is saying let’s go but your dick is saying “no”
After taking Penis Enlarge Patch, you will have to use the condom of the biggest size
Suffer from headaches? Sex can help you like nothing else. Suffer from Erectile Dysfunction? Viagra Pro can help you like nothing else
Your sex popularity is in your hands and in the hands of Ultra Allure Pheromones
Do you want to be the king of the party?
With Penis Enlarge Patch your cock will grow like on yeast
The difference between a big and small penis is like the difference between a tiger and a cat
Get more passion from women than ever
You are not really sociable and have troubles with making out with women
Even if you don’t like the way you look, a big dick from Penis Enlarge Patch can make up for the rest
With our Soft Cialis Tabs you can even have sex with your ex
It doesn’t matter that you don’t have any feelings for her, with Super Viagra you can have it if you want her
Do you want to possess the whole world?
... etc ...
Somebody can base their bachelor's thesis on the brand messages of spam! I see a strong alignment in the messages :)
A powerful thought
Just yesterday I read a post on liveyourinspiration.com that I found very powerful.
Many of us wrestle with the question "what should I do with my life". What's the purpose? But what if we knew it from the very beginning, what if it was really obvious, a common knowledge.
Imagine you were told as a child that your purpose in life is to experience intense joy.
What choices would you have made as you were growing up?
What career would you have chosen?
What adventures would you have embarked upon?
What experiences would you have embraced?
My last AIESEC conference
I just returned from Estonia where I chaired the AIESEC Annual Conference 2007. Most likely it was my last AIESEC conference where I had an active role. When I told the same to my friend Sherif he laughed and said he has said this too many times already and probably the same applies to me.
Anyways it was a blast and also a learning experince. Thanks for that! You can see one of the outcomes of the conference here:
Are you going places?
"I want to become a top manager", "I wanna be a millionaire", "I want to change the world" are some of the aspirations or dreams I hear every now and then from people I meet (so do you, I'm sure). I don't know many people who say they want to be a boring person and have a mediocre life. Pretty much all of us want to be going places. What I don't see is most of these people doing anything about it.
When I've asked "so how do you think you're gonna make those millions?" (or whatever they dream of), I mostly hear "I don't know (yet)". Okay fine, maybe you don't yet. But sitting still and not making an effort, a plan or showing drive to achieve it is not gonna help. To be honest I get quite mad at this kind of people. People who talk and only sit on their ass. Is it just to look more important? Maybe. Probably making an effort is just so much harder than dreaming.
The harder you work, the luckier you get. Yes, everything starts with a dream, but then comes the effort.
How are you gonna advance in your career? Do you read more than the next guy or watch TV instead? Do you work harder than the next guy or you count hours until another working day is over? Are you thinking of big ideas that will change the world or do you go clubbing every night?
If you're not doing anything to achieve your dream, then what exactly are you going to do about it?
Read 10 books about a topic and you know more about it than 90% of the people on the planet. Be proactive and focused in getting things done and you will advance. Come up with new business ideas and you might make your money (turning those ideas into reality is much harder of course).
Just don't tell me you want this or that out of life and then just cruise from day to day hoping for a miracle.
Wake up and smell the coffee
I went to buy fragrance today. After smelling 4-5 different ones, I lost my ability to judge smells properly. I'm sure it happens to everyone. I bought one too and discovered 1 hour later that it smells differently than I thought it does.
I know you can ask for a cup filled with coffee beans (in most) shops that sell fragrance. What I don't understand is why every customer who walks into the shop and starts smelling different perfumes isn't given a small cup of coffee beans? It surely wouldn't cost much. And it would create a much better customer experience and satisfaction (people really buy the smells they like!).
Customer service Etisalat style
Etisalat is the UAE telecom provider. I want to get connected to the internet at home and so I filled an online application on their website. The form that I wanted to fill in asked for a landline phone number which I dont have. Since I had to write there something, I put there my office phone.
A few days later Etisalat technician calls me and said he will come over. Good stuff, I say. When the guy is about to reach the place he gives me a call to make sure Im at home. He tells me the address and turns out he wants to come to my office. I said well I actually used my office phone in the application, but I live somewhere else, 4 min walking distance from the office, so I can show him where the place is. He said "no no, wrong application! Somebody will call you". We didn't wait until someone is gonna call and called Etisalat ourselves - it turned out that as we dont have a land line at home we need to go to their office to show different papers that I live in the flat where I live and so on. As the flat rent contract is in my company's name, one of the papers I needed to get was a "no objection letter" from my employer. In Dubai all the people are the property of the company (yes, the country has made slave driving legal). No object letter says that my employer (owner) has no problem with me setting up intrenet connection at home. My employer, by the way, said that when he applied for internet connection at his home, he needed to create and sign a document also that stated that he himself has no problem with him getting internet at home. Welcome to Dubai.
Anyways. Once in the Etisalat office, I had to visit 3 different counters (and wait in line every time) in order to get what I need. In front of the counter there were 2 chairs. I went with my flatmate, but since it was I submitting the papers, the lady behind the counter told him to wait elsewhere. As my "no objection letter" didn't have company's letterhead, she refused it ("We in Etisalat don't do business with anyone, you need to have a letterhead!"). Letterhead shows something about the company? Yeah right. Luckily my colleague faxed a new document over. When I went to tell the lady that a fax was sent with the "proper" document, she said she will check it. At the same time another couple went to the lady and were about to sit down when she told the man "only one of you can sit here, I have another customer also". "Are you gonna service both of us at the same time?", the women asked. "Its my job and I know how to do it!", the lady behind the counter snapped.
After I got my things sorted out, she handed me a paper and said "If you liked my service, please put this paper in the green box on your way out". Imagine that! She thought she is doing a great job. Etisalat even hasn't told their customer service people what great customer service looks like.
Today when we called to check when will the technician come over to finalize everything, we got the answer that some time late next week and if we keep calling and put pressure on them, they will push the date even further back! I couldn't believe it.
Dear Etisalat, if you ever want to create good customer experiences, follow this simple rule: make making business with you easy and treat your customers with respect. It shouldn't be that hard.
Dreaminder. Remind yourself of your dreams
What's your dream? What do you want to do with your life? What would you do if you could not fail? What are the things you want to see or achieve in this life?
You may never reach your dreams; for that you will be forgiven. But if you donʼt make at least one serious attempt to achieve it, can say to yourself, “Naah, I never really wanted it anyway”? I didn't think so.
Perhaps you have thought of the questions mentioned above, perhaps not. Quite often we run through life not even knowing where do we want to go. More often than not people won't take time to think about their dreams, about the ideals they want to pursue.
Now there's a place where you can go and write down your dream - and send it to yourself in the future. To remind you of your dreams, to keep you going and give you a nudge in the right direction. This place is called Dreaminder.
Dreaminder offers a place for reflection and inspiration, helps you in setting your direction. Take a few moments to write down your dreams for yourself. Think about the life you want and the person you want to be.
Dreaminder can be found here: www.dreaminder.com
Experience the adventure of knowing yourself.
Other dimension
I have been in Estonia now for over 2 weeks. Going back to Dubai in 2 days. Right now Dubai seems so far away.. its like another dimension, a parallel universe. Dubai everyday reality is a dream and now I have woken up. Life here is completely different. Its like Dubai doesn't exist. I guess I've lived here for so long it doesn't take much time to feel again like everything is normal. Or maybe its that in my subconcsious mind I want to leave the Middle East so bad that my mind wants to forget everything related to it. Who knows. Anyways it will be my everyday reality very soon again. Sorry, my unconcious mind. I'll make it up to you.
Anyways global warming is ruling in Estonia too. December 2006 was the warmest December in 200 years. What's supposed to be a really cold winter with a lot of snow is actually something between autumn and spring. The picture was taken yesterday in my home garden. Some flowers and trees are in blossoms. The nature doesn't know how to handle this unexpected warmth.
Soon the song "I'm dreaming of the white christmas" will get a new meaning as it will remain a dream forever. Hopefully not.
Burj Al Arab
Some countries have signature places to visit. When you go to France, you have to go to Eiffel Tower and Louvre. When in India, you should visit Taj Mahal. For Dubai this place is Burj Al Arab.
Burj Al Arab, one of the symbols of Dubai, has (very) successfully create a mystique around it. It claims to be acknowledged as the best hotel in the world. It is a symbol of luxury, reachable only for the selected few. Not everybody can go there - just to look around costs 75$. Even most of the residents in Dubai have never been there. One night in the hotel starts from around 1300$ with the sky being the limit for the royal rooms.
The hotel as 8 restaurants and bars, I had dinner in one of them. For extra cost (about 110$) you can have a white Rolls Royce pick you up from your home to take you there. Restaurants are not cheap at all, but the food and service very of the highest quality. The dinner I had (buffet) was for 100$ per person (excluding drinks, even water) and it was easily one of the best dinners I have ever had. The buffet contained food that is quite often not included in the buffet menus like lobsters, oysters, sushi. 
When we entered the restaurant I received a nice surprise - a table close to us was full of Estonians. There aren't so many of us and what are the chances of meeting some in Burj? One of the persons at the table was the rally ace Markko Märtin.
The hotel had a very nice ambiance, live classical music being played in the lobby (and they played very well). The hotel area size is not very large, but it's high and hollow inside. It was luxurious and nice, only the couches in the lobby looked rather cheap to me. In the entrance there was a cool fountain (see right). Escalators were next to aquariums with corals.
Dubai has a huge amount of 5 star hotels (total 54 by the end of this year), when you live here you happen to go to those places often (for drinks, dinner, appointments). 
This means you get somewhat desensitized to luxury and thats why Burj Al Arab didn't seem like that super special. But it was cool and different for sure, we had a lot of fun .
This means you get somewhat desensitized to luxury and thats why Burj Al Arab didn't seem like that super special. But it was cool and different for sure, we had a lot of fun .
Books of the year
Every time when a year comes to an end all sorts of top lists are made. Best of song of the year, best footballer of the year and best book of the year. This post is about books in the non-fiction category.
You can find editors' list from Amazon for the best business books of 2006 here. Their no.1 book was The Long Tail which I have also written about in my blog. 800 CEO Read chose these books in their 2006 select.
I am going highlight my top 3 for the year. I chose these books based on the impact they had on me. I considered how they changed my paradigm, how they have been useful (e.g. contained information that I have used constantly successfully for my benefit over period of time) or how they expanded my horizons in a notable way.
1. Now Discover Your Strengths (M. Buckingham, D. Clifton)
This has been by far the most influential book for me. It has increased my self-awareness in so many ways and my understanding of other people. It will help you to understand what are you naturally good at, it will help you to explain why people are the way they are and why they excel at some jobs while not in others. Most certainly I will comprise my future teams based on the talents as it just make so much sense. I have personally experienced in so many ways how the talent concept introduced in the book really works. It is a must read book. I blogged about this book some months ago too.
2. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In (R. Fisher, W. Ury)
This is a book about negotiations. We negotiate almost every day, whether its about the idea you came up with at work, which movie to see in the cinema or convincing somebody to do something. For those who want deeper insights into the art of principal based negotiations, this is a gem. I have used the knowledge I gained consciously so many times. I often in the middle of negotiations find myself thinking of the principals I learned, and have used them very successfully. There is no need to waste time on positional bargaining, there is a better way.
3. Synchronicity: The Inner Path of Leadership (J. Jaworski)
Synchronicity is meaningful coincidences that cannot be explained by cause and effect. This is a very inspiring book. You should read it before embarking on a journey to achieve your dream. It is about importance of finding your true self, listening to your gut and seizing opportunities. It is not one of those teacher meets pupils kind of books where the guru tells you how to live, it is much more than that. The author tells his life story and wonders about life on the way. If you read "Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho where he wrote "if you really want something, all the universe will conspire with you", now you will understand what it means.
What are your best reads of the year?
A Compliment
A few days ago I received this e-mail:
"Hey Peep
Referring to your visit to our stall at CityScape, we were very much pleased with your approach. Should you be looking for any job in our concern, please call us at any time."
During the Cityscape real estate exhibition I was doing B2B selling and approaching many property companies, they were one of them. I take it as a compliment.
Corruption, reputation and wasta
Quite often in my business meetings I am asked "Who is the owner of the company?", sometimes also "How old is this company?" or "Where is your office?"
These questions are about reputation. It matters a lot who is the owner, if it's a local guy and if so, from which family? Or if its international, is it a part of a major corporation that has been around for like 100 years? It matters in which part of the town (or on which street) your office is. Quite shallow and ridiculous, I think. Where I am from, this kind of questions are almost never asked. It matters who you are and what you do, but here this is not enough.
I think this is characteristic to Middle East (and perhaps other parts of the world as well) and its roots come from Wasta. Wasta is who do you know, what is your background (family), how connected you are. It can be considered as a specific type of corruption (translation: a mean, mechanism, medium). Wasta is about having someone in a power position do something (legal or illegal) for you (a favor) that couldn’t be done without a wasta. What is different from other kind of corruption is that people don’t usually hide their acts when they use Wasta, they even brag about it, and offer providing the same wasta to people around us to help them out (to get a better social standing). With enough wasta, anything can be done: any lawful punishment can be escaped, any employment can be attained, any problem can be brushed aside.
People use wasta for business. Hence the question - who is the owner of the company. If you have big enough wasta, you can get your startup business launched in no time. Doors will open if the right names are involved.
From my personal experience I know people who have been teaching here for years in government schools. They told me that wasta is even used in the local schools (for emiratis). For example a student is in the school on a scholarship, but is lazy as hell and doesn't study, fails all exams and doesn't even show up sometimes. Teachers tell the administration to stop the scholarship, but get the answer "He is a nice kid, comes from a good family". Wasta.
I haven't personally had much contact with Wasta. It is much more common among the locals, which are the minority in the country (and 95% of them work in the public sector).
Fortunately the business sector (at least to my knowledge) is not very corrupt, although I have heard of bribery cases.
Dubai real estate developments
Last week there was a real estate exhibition in Dubai called Cityscape - claiming to be the largest in the world. To get a glimpse of the scale of the real estate developments here, see these pictures. Real estate is booming here like nothing else and the number of remarkable developments is huge. This is just a selection of new developments, not nearly everything.
This building is an exact copy of an.. iPod! Most technologically advanced building in the world. Everything is voice programmed. If the phone rings, your whole apartments is blinking. You can choose the colour of the walls depending on your mood. You can have have pre-programmed romance theme in your bedroom if you want.
How to Succeed in 2007
CNN Money just published something cool: How to succeed in 2007. It comprises of short pieces of advice given by some of the world's most successful people (impressive list).
Some of the advice is about build the next Google, some tell you how to stay ahead, how to be a great leader, or - how to do well by doing good - my personal favorite.
Worth checking out: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/howtosucceed/index.html
Being a Samurai warrior
Large part of what I do for living is helping my Clients to get more clients. So I am meeting a lot of people to figure out together whether they could benefit from what I do.
I am sure most people can recognize an intelligent and smart person when they talk to one. There is one thing that especially strikes out in my line of work. Some people listen with the intent to understand and think along with you, they participate in the conversation. It doesn't necessarily mean they will do business with me. That's the smart kind of people.
Some listen with the intent to respond and jump to conclusions in the first second. They judge you from the moment you open your mouth and don't even try to understand. Some say "yes, lets do it" without even understand how it work or what it means to them. Some come up with weird counter arguments that have no significance to the issue discussed. They don't make an effort to understand. That's the stupid kind.
I believe this behavior reflects their overall personality. They don't listen and jump to conclusions in internal meetings, at home, in casual conversations. I personally try to avoid that kind of people whenever I can. It is likely they have missed some really good opportunities because they didn't make an effort to understand.
I think that as we cruise through life we have to be like Samurai warriors. Always on the look for that little piece of opportunity that comes our way, ready to seize it. Next time somebody tells you of an idea, make sure you listen. Have the attitude that this could be one the brightest things you'll ever hear.
Penis extensions
There are some men in the world who are deeply disturbed. They have inferiority complex, or they are impotents or have other kind of problems that seriously affect their self-esteem. As a result they go out of their way to seem bigger, better and more important. They rely on external things when it comes to their self-worth. These things are called penis extensions.
Some have to drive a big ass car, some have to yell at their wife, children and employees to make themselves feel better and get ego satisfaction. Two examples that happened to me in the last weeks in my business meetings:
Case A.
I go meet this manager of some company. Secretary leads me to his room and I find it to be a quite a large room. In the middle there is a huge rectangular table. The manager sits in one end of the table, I am being seated in the other end. The distance between us is perhaps 5 meters. He smokes while talking to me.
Case B.
Another company, another manager. He sits on a throne (its golden and any emperor would feel proud sitting there). He starts telling me about himself. How many degrees from which US universities (3 undergraduate, 2 masters, 1 PhD), where he has worked for how many years and how successful he has been. He tells me whom he knows and what connections he has. He talks about his relations with local royal families (he is not a local himself) and shows me an invitation sent by one of the sheikhs. His rant lasts easily over 5 minutes.
Seriously, get a life. Figure yourself out. Penis extensions don't work. They make you look insecure and pathetic. I fear for people who have to work under a person with a need to compensate something. Strive for inner confidence and internal self-worth instead.
Anyone can slay a dragon, she told me
I read quite a few blogs on regular basis. Sometimes I click the "Next Blog" link in the upper bar in Blogspot blogs with the hope to discover something cool.
One day that just happened to me. This blog belongs to a girl named Lindsay whom I've never met, but find very interesting. She is the most poetic person I know (even though I don't know her), her writings just keep on amazing me. I especially love the way she titles her blog posts.
Check it out. Its worth reading several entries, then you will see what I mean. The address is this: http://someeloquentgraffiti.blogspot.com/
Getting cold
Its the end of November, winter is approaching. Right now its 27 C outside. In the morning and evening its a bit lower and - and I can't believe it - I actually feel a bit cold then. Dubai weather has spoiled me (even though I hate the summers here).
I'm going home for Christmas and New Year. I bought the ticket today, so its official. Between 19.12 and 06.01 Estonians have a fantastic opportunity to meet up with me. I keep wondering whether the weather will kill me. Haven't seen snow or experienced sub-zero degrees for 1.5 years.
Social capitalism
"Companies are beginning to realize that these questions of 'How can I accomplish more good in the world?' and 'Where is the market opportunity?' are essentially the same question," says Jeff Hamaoui, founder of Origo Inc., a consulting firm that helps both nonprofits and for-profits navigate this blended arena of social enterprise. "Simply put, good business design maximizes opportunity and resources, now and for the future."
43 Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing The World
This just came in. There are a lot of organizations out there who are doing their bit in making the world a better place. Fast Company analyzed some of them, the ones who are using disciplines of the corporate world to change the world for better. Outcome is the list of 43 organizations who are the best at it.
Go here: http://www.fastcompany.com/social/ and see the list for 2007. We should applaud all of them and go work for them. Devoting your skills, passion and time for a cause worth fighting for is a life well lived.
The way things are supposed to be
I saw this movie recently in the cinema - "Accepted". It's this typical college-life simple fun movie that is easy to watch. Plot outline: when a high school burnout discovers he's been rejected from every college he's applied to, he creates a fake university in order to fool his overzealous parents.
Now in the university they create the students are the teachers and every student chooses what they want to learn. In the end of the movie they try to get the college accredited and the lead character gives an inspiring speech how the purpose of education is to develop the creativity of young minds and they don't have to be like any other university.
And that is quite an amazing point.
People are used to the way things usually are. They expect certain types of organizations to act a certain way or to have a certain way of operating.
It's expected that universities provide you with a specific curriculum and they have a faculty of professors. It's not expected that you give classes while being a student and choose every single subject you want not following a specific discipline.
It's expected that the waitress serves the tables in a coffee shop. It's not expected that a coffee shop serves as your temporary home where you can host your friends.
It's expected that the company's main goal is to maximize the profit. It's not expected that you are driven solely by a mission to make the world a better place.
It's expected that every person in the company has a specific job role and there's a hierarchy. It's not expected that the staff divides the necessary tasks among themselves every week and there is no boss at all.
It's expected that a conference takes place in a fancy location with high-tech facilities and they serve good food. It's not expected that a big conference takes place outdoors or in an warehouse and people have to cook themselves food over a bonfire.
What if you'd change the way people are used to see things? Sure, it will create some resistance to the idea, but more likely the innovation will make you remarkable. It will help you to stand out from the competition and create something cool. It's a great competitive advantage. It will make people talk about you. It will make people want to work for you or buy your products.
Challenge the way thing usually are and you can drive innovation.
The Long Tail
Anyone interested in e-commerce and how endless choice is going to change the marketplace, should definitely read The Long Tail by Chris Anderson. Its a very insightful book.
Seth Godin, the marketing guru, said "The ideas in this book are going to be talked about for the next ten years. Might as well get a copy now."
The main idea is that the times when the world was driven by hits (best-selling products) is about to be over. What is going on (already!) is that if you give the consumer endless choice, then the products that even sell once per quarter combined sell as much as hits or even outsell them. In the virtual room you don't have to worry about shelf space, you can list as many products as you like (millions!).
Its more and more a niche world, people's taste is more and more specialized. Our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.
When I finished the book, I instantly got ideas how to use the Long Tail theory to my advantage in business. Now its just a matter of time when Google buys my websites.
Not my country
Traffic is a serious problem in Dubai and the local Roads and Transportation Authority tries to figure out how tackle it. Now they've come up with a solution - introducing road tax. That means that you have to pay some money (4 dirhams, a bit over 1$) when you use certain roads at a certain time.
I was listening to a radio show the other day where people could call in and voice their opinions. You could see the remarkable difference between the locals (UAE nationals) and expatriates. The latter were mostly saying it is not right for various reasons (like no alternative routes or means of transportation) and the locals were saying 'What a good idea! I am happy to give money for my country'.
That captures it. Most of the population (~80%) are expatriates, have no emotional ties with the country and don't consider it as their own. Now UAE is starting to introduce different kinds of taxes slowly and expats don't like it one single bit. Of course they don't have any rights as well, no say in how things are being run in the country, emirates or city.
UAE nationals feel invaded. They have been taken over. And when they heard on the radio that expats don't want to pay any taxes what so ever to their motherland, its is understandable they get pissed. Quite many of them said "if you don't like it, leave!".
You can hear/read everywhere that a large group of the expat population (especially westerners) considers leaving UAE when they introduce taxes as this was one of the reasons to move here in the first place (tax-free country). The cost of living is very high as it is.
Since UAE is an expat country by nature (built by them, can't function without them), it should consider how to create more dialogue with the expats, giving them some form of participation.
This would mean of course first steps towards democracy and involve a bigger shake-up in the current way of running things.
Customer service excellence
As our company uses Google AdWords service, I have had to deal with Google's customer support people. For some reason their system rejected our credit card (now the problem has been fixed). Although the communication was via e-mail, it has been impressive. They have been trained to address client's frustrations and make them feel better. When a customer complains, then most of all he/she wants to be understood first. Here are some examples of how their e-mails begin:
"Thank you for your email. I understand your credit card was recently declined and you would like us to investigate this matter."
"Thank you for your reply.
I understand that you have re-tried your credit card and it is still not being accepted by our system."
"Hi Peep,
I understand that you are concerned about the current issue relating to your credit card and you wish to know if I have received any updates from our technical team."
...and so on. Although I understand that they follow their protocol and training, it still works! I feel like I'm being understood! And as a result I am happy and have positive feelings towards them.
What else can a customer support unit wish for!
"Thank you for your reply.
I understand that you have re-tried your credit card and it is still not being accepted by our system."
"Hi Peep,
I understand that you are concerned about the current issue relating to your credit card and you wish to know if I have received any updates from our technical team."
...and so on. Although I understand that they follow their protocol and training, it still works! I feel like I'm being understood! And as a result I am happy and have positive feelings towards them.
What else can a customer support unit wish for!
Of Books and Men
I like to read, a lot. I mostly read non-fiction because I feel it helps me to learn and expand my world. I feel I get more out of a book that broadens my horizons, that gives me tools I can use in my life. I probably read more than your average reader does, about 4 books a month - I guess I can thank my Input and Learner talents (more about talents in upcoming posts).
Quite often after I've finished a book, I find myself thinking that what was said could have been said using less pages. It's like the authors feel (0r the publishers demand?) that the book has to have a minimum number of pages. It seems to me that this minimum is around 200 pages. Even though the whole point with explanations and examples and what not could be presented on about 100 pages or a bit more. Almost every book has these parts/chapters/blocks that are not necessary. Its like out of a 250 page book 120 give 90% of the value. The rest are not necessary.
Why is that? Is is because thicker books sell better? That the buyer feels the money was invested better if the book has more pages? Maybe then there should be a "price per page" indicator next to every book in the bookshop so customers could see the value? If anyone truly thinks this way, it is ridiculous. Or is it that if the book has less pages it might seem that the author doesn't have much to say? Some books are based on an extensive research and if I would like to know all the hard data I might as well go after the thousands of research documents. But I don't, I want to know the outcomes and conclusions of the research. And in most of the cases what truly matters can be said using less pages.
We live in a fast paced world and cutting down on pages might attract more people to read, cause then they don't have to feel 'Oh my good when am I going to find all this time to read this book!?'. Publishers might even start making more money because people will have more time on their hands to read more books.
(You can follow the books I'm reading at any point of time on the right. Feel free to ask for recommendations)
Numbers from the book industry
Ever considered making money by writing books? Here are some "encouraging" numbers for you to consider.
In 2004, 950,000 books out of 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen BookScan sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. Only 1200 books sold more than 50,000 copies. True, 10 books sold over a million copies (17 million in total).
The average book in America sells about 500 copies. Whats the number is other parts of the world I don't know, but probably the difference with Europe is not huge (even if it would be 3x more, its still a pathetic number).
This means that 98% of the books are noncommercial, whether they were intented that way or not.
// Source: The Long Tail, Chris Anderson
Every problem is a business opportunity
As I mentioned in the last post, people are spending a lot of money on diet programs and stuff because they want to lose weight. They have a problem. If you look around you, every problem is a business opportunity.
In Dubai traffic is a serious problem. Before there used to be 2 rush hours, in the morning and when people leave work. Now its traffic jam almost all day long. People spend a lot of time in the car. So what is happening? Spending on outdoor advertising and radio advertising is increasing a lot. People have nothing else to do in the car but listen to different messages. Come up with a creative idea to make them see/listen to you and its a sellable asset.
I am very sure not all problems have been turned into a business yet. What are the problems you and your friends have faced during the last week? Is there a way to solve the problem in a way that people would pay for it?
The sad thing is that people are paying money on both occasions, when they create the problem and when they solve it. They pay to create the problems (buy junk food) and then they pay to get their health back. If you wouldn't pay the first half, you wouldn't have to pay the second half as well. This doesn't apply to all the cases of course, but still something to think about.
Being fat is bad for business
We all know that being overweight is not good for your health. Obese people are far more at risk to all kinds of heart and what not diseases. Being overweight is comparable to having diabetes or having high blood pressure
Now what you maybe didn't think about is that for companies that provide medical insurance having overweight employees is costing money because the insurance is more expensive. Companies all over the (developed.. or should I say fat?) world are starting to address this problem. Not for the sake of having fitter, happier and more productive employees, but because its costing them money.
According to workplace surveys in the US, the vast majority of organizations with 200 or more employees say they offer programs designed to help improve the health of employees, while about a third of smaller companies offer programs as well. All because obesity and overweight conditions contribute as much as $93 billion to the nation's yearly medical bill.
Why what I am saying concerns mostly US, is clear: among developed countries, the United States has the most obese and overweight people. Other countries are catching up fast - so maybe its time companies and governments (ministries of health) all over the world should start taking steps to avoid dealing with this issue on a much grander scale.
Then again for some being fat can be good for business. For instance Americans spend over 4o$ million annually on books, products and programs to help them lose weight.
Hong Kong of Eastern Europe..
..is Estonia, according to an article in today's 7Days, a local newspaper. In today's real estate section you can find an article about Estonia and its property market.
Among other things it mentions that the real estate prices are low over there. During the last year I've been hearing my friends telling me how expensive it has become and how the market is booming. Well, I guess its what you compare it to.
Direct link: http://www.7days.ae/2006/10/31/the-est-is-the-best.html
Developments in the property market
Prices in the propety market of Dubai never stop rising, being more than 30% a year. Almost every day you can read in the papers new forecasts, summaries of pasts quarters and so on telling the same story - property prices soar.
It is not unusual to read how government is demolishing older building and how its current inhabitants have nowhere to go as they can't afford anything in the market. People live on rooftops, abandoned buildings and where not. Even if they have a job!
For property owners Dubai is a great business. More money pouring in than ever before. Even though the law prohibits to raise the rent prices more than 15% a year, landlords just evict the current tenants for whatever reason ("I wanna lived there myself" etc) and then raise the rent however much they want. Since the market has far more demand than supply, they can do that.
A couple of days ago there was an article saying how landlords have new tricks - they are offering cheap rooms in return for sexual favours. Different websites that have adverts for flat shares - including several for one bedroom and studio apartments - are attempting to lure young, single European women with the promise of discount rents in exchange for sex.
I'm not sure whether they really do get "lucky" as Europeans are (usually) in quite well-paid positions and can afford housing. If the same offer would be made to girls with Asian origin who don't get paid much at all, some desparate women might even consider this. But I hope not. Its like become a sex slave on your free will. And your home security will be forever in the hands (or some other body part) of your landlord. Quite sick huh?
CV wisdom
I am currently hiring a new salesperson. We advertised in 2 different places and I got literally hundreds of CVs. Going through each of them and paying attention to each of them is a tough job. You get tired. You feel tempted to pay attention only to some of the most important criteria. I understood why some companies don't reply to received applications (I did, to each one of them) - there's just so many of them and it could seem to be a hassle. I also understood what "your CV has to stand out" really means. They all look the same, they have more or less the same structure, the same business jargon sentences. There was 1 CV that did stand out and I really stopped to read it through in detail. It was different in appearance. The content was the same as in any other CV, but it made me curious, made me pay more attention. I think anyone would have more chance of being invited for a job interview when they could make their CV stand out more.
Now there's some advice I want to give. Often there is a question: whether to put the picture on the CV or not? Several standards recommend "yes", its more personal etc. Here's what I think: when it comes to a job where you have to interact with (potential) clients, looks are important. People do business with people they like. Every time I saw a photo I was thinking what kind of an impression might this person leave to our potential clients? What kind of prejudices might they invoke in others? Can it lessen the chances of business deals?
I am sure there are so many (recruitment) people out there who make their first impression of you based on your picture. My advice is this: if you are after a sales job (or any other client focused job) then add the picture to your CV only if you have above average looks. Be self-critical. Yes, you might have a charming personality and charisma, but you won't get to show it if people are put off by your looks. It takes 3 seconds to form first impression. If you don't look that good, don't add the picture - just hope you'll get invited for an interview and then use your charm, wit and other nice qualities that you have to convince them you're the one. If you are a data analyst, biologist or server maintainance guy, looks are not important. But in some jobs it matters.
Aah, one more thing. Most of the CVs I got had a picture. A large number of the pictures were horrible. Just horrible. Even if some of you look good otherwise, make sure the photo is of high quality.
Government PR
One thing about this country is that the media is not free. How much is censored and controlled, I don't exactly know. I have heard different rumours. From time to time you can see quite brave stories, but you can't write anything against the government policies usually.
The funny thing is the government PR. Some (very) highly paid people who have to show that they are doing something. And government is building its image as caring, loving and always there for the citizens. Like good 'ole Soviet times.
So more often than not (almost every day) you will find pictures of the leaders of the country on the *front* page of main newspapers and some important headline. "Khalifa receives Islamic scholars", "Mohammed meets journalists", "Mohammed meets the citizens", "Sheikh meets more citizens". Very, very important news that everyone should know.
Yesterday there was a big article titled "Government employees will receive salary tomorrow". Who cares! Maybe internal memo could have been enough?
Sometimes I wonder whether anyone truly follows this and feels it is all so important? I personally mostly just chuckle to myself.
We're just a couple animals
A song I've been listening to a lot recently - "Animals" by Nickelback. Very energetic and catchy. And the lyrics make me smile every time.
Smells like dead pigeon
No I'm not trying to paraphrase Nirvana. I really have a dead pigeon smelling somewhere in my house. For months I heard pigeons making sounds in the ventilation shaft, so I knew I have birds as my neighbours. Now one of them decided to die and smell really bad.
The only positive thing is that the smell is localized in my bathroom. So if I'll close the door I can pretend everything is fine.
But don't use bathroom at my place unless you really have to.
Yunus wins Nobel Peace Prize
Bangladeshi microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize Friday for their work. A person who truely deserves it.
Being the father of microcredit (very small loans for poor people), his work has contributed to lifting millions out of poverty. Through Yunus's efforts and those of the bank he founded, poor people around the world, especially women, have been able to buy livestock, chickens, tools or other equipment they desperately needed to get ahead. They are able to break free from the poverty trap, educate their children and provide additional value to the community they live in.
I'm not gonna go into what is microcredit and so on, internet is full of information.
I was appalled to read comments on one portal regarding Yunus getting the award. Some said it was a "politically correct decision", some thought "overpopulation must be stopped instead of poverty". I am sad that there is so much ignorance. Somebody said "the last thing that the poor need is a loan!" whereas it might be the first thing they need.
"Lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty," the Nobel Committee said. "Microcredit is one such means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy and human rights."
How right they are.
Overpopulation, infant mortality, health, life expectancy, education, terrorism are largely derived from poverty. In many cases top-down approach has failed and Yunus has demonstrated how microcredit can work. Since Yunus gave out his first loans in 1974, microcredit schemes have spread throughout the developing world and are now considered a key to alleviating poverty and spurring development.
Yunus is an outstanding social entrepreneur who has my utmost respect.
Ramadan
It's Ramadan, my second one.
My previous one was a cultural experience. I was eager to learn the ways of the muslim people and trying to understand the greater meaning of it. You can read what I wrote about it last year here (in estonian).
This year things have changed. Dubai has corrupted me. I am not so culturally sensitive anymore. At times I can be a careless westerner complaining about the fact that I can't eat and drink in public before sunset. But hey - Ramadan is a holy season for muslims and they should be fasting because of the meaning they believe in and seeing other people eat and drink should not disturb them. If the faith is strong enough. A week ago there was an article on the front page of a newspaper, criticizing women who wear skirts and show shoulders during Ramadan. The next day you could read letters from the readers (muslims) where some said that if you are a true muslim, your faith is strong and you will look away, that Ramadan is about you, not other people. I couldn't agree more.
Dubai has sold out too. Last year the cinemas were closed and there was no music in bars. This year there is no difference between Ramadan and other months. Only food outlets are closed in most of the places (but not all, if you paid enough, you could get a special license allowing you to keep the restaurant open). Home delivery still works everywhere which is how our staff has lunch. I overheard one of my egyptian friends saying how in Dubai its hard to notice that it is Ramadan compared to Egypt.
The fast is an exacting act of deep personal worship in which Muslims seek a raised level of closeness to God. The act of fasting is said to redirect the heart away from worldly activities, its purpose being to cleanse the inner soul and free it from harm. Another meaning is compassion for the poor people - you feel the hardship of the poor who don't have anything to eat.
This last thing is a bit funny for me. Sure, during Ramadan people don't eat when the sun is up, but when its eating time they mean business. Eating almost never stops and they eat HUGE quantities. Most of you probably know that you feel like could eat an elephant when you haven't eaten for a long time. So usually people dig in as much as they can. And feel bloated afterwards. I've done the same - yes, it can be great to eat that much. I also tried to fast one day, but I have to be honest - it was damn difficult. I cheated and had 3 cups of tea during the day. So definitely it is a test of willpower and requires inner strength to accomplish it. The thing that makes me scratch my head is that poor people can't start feasting after the sunset. So this part seems a bit hypocrite to me.
When asked if I like Ramadan, then I have to be honest. Since there is no spiritual meaning for me personally, I only endure the hardship of being restricted from doing certain things I would like to do. So I have to say "no", I would prefer that it wouldn't be Ramadan. The main good thing for me is that we have Ramadan working hours and I can leave at 3pm. And there is less traffic.
This weekend I will have the chance to have iftar (breaking the fast) with 2 local (emirati) families, which I am looking forward to. This kind of chances to get to see the local culture are hard to come by. More about that later.
Friedman on Islam and Pope
I came upon this article in Surya's blog by Thomas Friedman about islam and the pope and related. I find it brilliant. I thought it will be worth "re-printing" it here too.
"We need to stop insulting Islam. It's enough already.
No, that doesn't mean the pope should apologize. The pope was actually treating Islam with dignity. He was treating the faith and its community as adults who could be challenged and engaged. That is a sign of respect.
What is insulting is the politically correct, kid-gloves view of how to deal with Muslims that is taking root in the West today. It goes like this: ''Hushhh! Don't say anything about Islam! Don't you understand? If you say anything critical or questioning about Muslims, they'll burn down your house. Hushhh! Just let them be. Don't rile them. They are not capable of a civil, rational dialogue about problems in their faith community.''
Now that is insulting. It's an attitude full of contempt and self-censorship, but that is the attitude of Western elites today, and it's helping to foster the slow-motion clash of civilizations that Sam Huntington predicted. Because Western masses don't buy it. They see violence exploding from Muslim communities and they find it frightening, and they don't think their leaders are talking honestly about it. So many now just want to build a wall against Islam. It will be terrible if Turkey is blocked from entering the European Union, but that's where we're heading, and the only thing that will halt it is honest dialogue.
But it is not the dialogue the pope mentioned -- one between Islam and Christianity. That's necessary, but it's not sufficient. What is needed first is an honest dialogue between Muslims and Muslims.
As someone who has lived in the Muslim world, enjoyed the friendship of many Muslims there and seen the compassionate side of Islam in action, I have to admit I am confused as to what Islam stands for today.
Why? On the first day of Ramadan last year a Sunni Muslim suicide bomber blew up a Shiite mosque in Hilla, Iraq, in the middle of a memorial service, killing 25 worshipers. This year on the first day of Ramadan, a Sunni suicide bomber in Baghdad killed 35 people who were lining up in a Shiite neighborhood to buy fuel. The same day, the severed heads of nine murdered Iraqi police officers and soldiers were found north of Baghdad.
I don't get it. How can Muslims blow up other Muslims on their most holy day of the year -- in mosques! -- and there is barely a peep of protest in the Muslim world, let alone a million Muslim march? Yet Danish cartoons or a papal speech lead to violent protests. If Muslims butchering Muslims -- in Sudan, Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan and Jordan -- produces little communal reaction, while cartoons and papal remarks produce mass protests, what does Islam stand for today? It is not an insult to ask that question.
Muslims might say: ''Well, what about Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo or Palestine? Let's talk about all your violent behavior.'' To which I would say: ''Let's talk about it! But you'll have to get in line behind us, because we're constantly talking about where we've gone wrong.'' We can't have a meaningful dialogue if we, too, are not self-critical, but neither can Muslims.
Part of the problem in getting answers is that Islam has no hierarchy. There is no Muslim pope defining the faith. There are centers of Muslim learning, in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, but their credibility with the masses is uneven because they're often seen as tools of regimes. So those Muslim preachers with authenticity tend to be the street preachers -- firebrands, who gain legitimacy by spewing hatred at both their own regimes and the Western powers that support them.
As a result, there is a huge body of disenfranchised Sunni Muslims, who are neither violent fundamentalists nor wannabe secularists. They are people who'd like to see a marriage between Islam and modernity. But right now there is little free space in the Sunni Muslim world -- between the firebrand preachers and the ''official'' ones -- for that synthesis to be discussed and defined.
I had hoped Iraq would be that space. Whenever people asked me how I'd know if we'd won in Iraq, I said: when Salman Rushdie could give a lecture in Baghdad. I'm all for a respectful dialogue between Islam and the West, but first there needs to be a respectful, free dialogue between Muslims and Muslims. What matters is not what Muslims tell us they stand for. What matters is what they tell themselves, in their own languages, and how they treat their own.
Without a real war of ideas within Islam to sort that out -- a war that progressives win -- I fear we are drifting at best toward a wall between civilizations and at worst toward a real clash."
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