Three failed approaches to change the mindset of people

Changing the mindset of people about something they already have an opinion about is not easy; it takes lots of money and time. Even for some businesses their well studied advertisements do not help when they try to promote something new. In many cases, change might be almost impossible. Here are three different approaches to change the mindset of people. Unfortunately, none of these ways achieved its purpose.

I Promotion:

When Coca Cola reentered the Middle East back in the early 90s*, a story circulated among Jordanians. Coca Cola Jordan office wanted to promote their red product so they went to crowded neighborhoods and held very big events that included bands singing, giving prizes and what not. The Coca Cola press reporter was on the scene in one of these events interviewing people. He stopped a young man and asked him what he thinks about the event. The man answered “It is a lovely event. Some people came to our neighborhood, gave us red T-shirts, red bags, and even some people won red cars and we drank lots of Pepsi for free.”

II Time

I heard this story from my father. Back in the days in Jordan, there was no running water in villages. Mothers and daughters used to fetch water from a nearby well, lake or spring. Some boys used to go there as well to flirt with girls. One day, a teenage boy accidently farted in front of all the women. Everyone has heard the fart and started laughing at the young man. Since then the well was nicknamed Abu Thrat’s Well. The well took the new nickname of the boy which is ‘Farty.’ The young man felt ashamed of his new nickname and decided to travel away. Twenty years later he came back to his home town. He was so excited and happy to see his old village until he overheard a kid shouting to his peers “let’s go play near that old Abu thrat’s well.”

III Money

The Arabian Gulf countries especially Saudi Arabia and UAE spent billions of dollars to make their countries known not as just rich desert oil countries but as world leaders in tallest towers and luxurious hotels. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are competing against each others to become the Singapore of the business district and the Monaco of tourism (without the gambling) in the Middle East.

One very important reason the Arab Gulf countries are so adamant to prove themselves in any way is because they want to change the mindset of non-Arabs. Only the Arab countries refer to the gulf between the Arab Gulf countries and Iran as the Arabian Gulf. The rest of the worlds call it the Persian Gulf.

If you read the caption on the picture below you will see what I mean.

No matter how much is being spent the world still calls it the Persian Gulf. [Click on picture to enlarge]

So, the question is why it is almost impossible to change the perception of people about an issue they already have an opinion about?

Do you know other stories in which people wouldn’t change their mindset or perception about something?

---

*”The Arab League boycotted Coca-Cola from August 1968 to May 1991, as part of the economic boycott of Israel.” [Source]

It is really not that hard to praise your employees

Yesterday, I had a potluck dinner at my boss’ house. Our team is about 10 people. Since we work on campus we do a small party to celebrate end of the semester. I work as a Web Developer for the Career Center of the University. Our website is very extensive. You can find all types of resume samples, how to dress for an interview, mocking interviews, and hundreds of other related links.

The other students and staffs I work with are very nice. I am enjoying working there a lot. But having nice coworkers is not enough to enjoy your work. The boss can really either make your job a bless or a curse.

Yesterday, my boss gave each one of the employees a frame with very touching kind words about the person. It was really a nice gesture from her. Mine is below.

Working hard pays off when there is someone who appreciates good work ethics.

 

 

See what others think of you from Google’s search

When you search for something on Google you notice some suggestions. Google builds these suggestions from previous people’s search. Popularity is a factor in what Google shows. Depending on where you live you may not see the same suggestions. Here are some searches I did in the USA:

I found this one interesting. I don’t know what to learn from this. How come Christian women are not popular?

Try these searches and let me know if you get different suggestions especially if you are not in the US. Also, please share an interesting search suggestions if you find one.

I tried two more things related to me; being short and bald. I think I like what Google suggested

100 Ways to Be More Creative at Work

I found this list worth sharing and a good reference to be read very often.

1. Ask the most creative people at work for their ideas.
2. Brainstorm with a co-worker.
3. Tape record your ideas on your commute to and from work.
4. Present your most pressing business challenge to a child.
5. Take your team off-site for a day. Or half-day. Or two hours.
6. Listen to your inner muse.
7. Play music in your office.
8. Go for a daily brainstorming walk.
9. Ask someone to collaborate with you on your favorite project.
10. Exercise during your lunch break.
11. Turn on a radio at random times and listen for a message.
12. Invite your customers to brainstorming sessions.
13. Think of new ways to reframe your challenge.
14. Remember your dreams.
15. Reward yourself for small successes.
16. Introduce odd catalysts into your daily routine.
17. Get out of the office more regularly.
18. Give yourself an unreasonable deadline.
19. Take more naps.
20. Jot down as many ideas as possible in the next five minutes
21. Work in cafes.
22. Transform your limiting assumptions into “How can I?” questions.
23. Conjure up a meaningful goal that inspires you.
24. Redesign your office.
25. Take regular daydreaming breaks.
26. Dissolve turf boundaries.
27. Initiate cross-functional brainstorming sessions.
28. Arrive earlier to the office than anyone else.
29. Turn a conference room into an upbeat think tank room.
30. Read odd books — having nothing to do with your work.
31. Block off time on your calendar for creative thinking.
32. Take a shower in the middle of the day.
33. Keep an idea notebook at your desk.
34. Decorate your office with inspiring quotes and images.
35. Create a headline of the future and write the story behind it.
36. Choose to be more creative.
37. Recall a time in your life when you were very creative.
38. Wander around a bookstore while thinking about your challenge.
39. Trust your instincts more.
40. Immerse yourself in your most exciting project.
41. Open a magazine and free associate off of a word or image.
42. Write down your ideas when you first wake up in the morning.
43. Ask yourself what the simplest solution is.
44. Get fast feedback from people you trust.
45. Conduct more experiments.
46. Ask “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I fail?”
47. Pilot your idea, even if it’s not ready.
48. Work “in the cracks” — small bursts of creative energy.
49. Incubate (sleep on it).
50. Test existing boundaries — and then test them again.
51. Schedule time with the smartest people at work.
52. Visit your customers more frequently.
53. Benchmark your competitors — then adapt their successes.
54. Enroll your boss or peers into your most fascinating project.
55. Imagine you already know the answer. What would it be?
56. Create ground rules with your team that foster new thinking.
57. Ask stupid questions. Then ask some more.
58. Challenge everything you do.
59. Give yourself a deadline — and stick to it.
60. Look for three alternatives to every solution you originate.
61. Write your ideas in a notebook and review them regularly.
62. Make connections between seemingly disconnected things.
63. Use creative thinking techniques.
64. Invoke Free the Genie
65. Use similes and metaphors when describing your ideas.
66. Have more fun. Be sillier than usual.
67. Ask “How can I accomplish my goal in half the time?”
68. Take a break when you are stuck on a problem.
69. Think how your biggest hero might approach your challenge.
70. Declare Friday afternoons a “no-email zone.”
71. Ask three people how they would improve your idea.
72. Create a wall of images that inspires you.
73. Do more of what already helps you be creative off the job.
74. Laugh more, worry less.
75. Remember your dreams — then write them down.
76. Ask impossible questions.
77. Eliminate all unnecessary bureaucracy and admin tasks.
78. Create a compelling vision of what you want to accomplish.
79. Work on hottest project every day, even if only 5 minutes.
80. Do whatever is necessary to create a sense of urgency.
81. Go for a walk anytime you’re stuck.
82. Meditate or do relaxation exercises.
83. Take more breaks.
84. Go out for lunch with your team more often.
85. Eat lunch with a different person each day.
86. Ask for forgiveness, not permission.
87. Invite an outside facilitator to lead a brainstorming session.
88. Take more risks outside of the office (i.e. surf, ski, box etc.)
89. Ask for help when you need it.
90. Know that anything is possible.
91. Find a mentor.
92. Acknowledge all your successes at the end of each day.
93. Create an “idea piggy bank” and make deposits daily.
94. Have shorter meetings.
95. Try the techniques in Awake at the Wheel.
96. Don’t listen to or watch the news for 24 hours.
97. Make drawings of your ideas.
98. Bring your project or challenge to mind before going to bed.
99. Divide your idea into component parts. Then rethink each part.
100. Post this list near your desk and read it daily.
Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mitch-ditkoff/workplace-creativity_b_3192893.html

Picture America: Freedom of Speech

In America, the president of the country is a government employee. Citizens can freely criticize him. Neither the government nor citizens who support the president can harm anyone who speaks against the president’s services or policies.

Car sticker “DEFEAT OBAMA”

When do Americans read newspapers?

An Arab friend of mine delivers one of the local daily newspapers. Here is a conversation that took a place one day around 5:30 pm after he was done with his route.

Me: I still don’t understand your business. Did you just deliver today’s newspapers or tomorrow’s?
Him: Today.
Me: Who reads newspapers after 5 pm?
Him: You still think of the Arab culture. There employees buy newspapers in the morning and read it at work.
Me: I see. I have never seen an American reads newspaper at work. And this makes sense now since you deliver newspapers after midnight during the weekends.

Of course not all American newspapers are delivered after noon but at least I know of one and I know why now.

American employees, in general, work from 8 am to 5 pm. If their productivity level is measured in hours, the majority of them have a productivity level of 8 hours a day. That is, from 8 am to 5 pm, except the lunch hour, they work very hard. Because they know they may lose their job any day if they slack. America is no place for slackers or lazy people.

In Jordan and many other Arab countries, the productivity of many employees is definitely way less than 8 hours a day. Unless, we make sure that we all work as hard as possible and do our best no Arab Spring or whatnot can help us advance and be among the industrial countries.

Early Happy International Workers’ Day!

p.s. International Workers’ Day or Labors’ Day as know in the U.S. is celebrated on May 1st. In the USA it is observed on the first Monday in September.

Modern Art Desserts

I love this. Enjoy!

The etiquette of correcting others

I overheard the following conversation at our workplace:

Woman 1: I think I need a cleaning lady in the house.
Woman 2: If I have extra money I will definitely call a cleaning service.
Woman 1: I shouldn’t have said cleaning lady, it is probably sexist. I should have said cleaning service.

You have to admit how intelligent both women are. I am fortunate to be working in such an open minded environment.

This story reminds me of Prophet Muhammad’s grandsons, Al-Hassan and Al-Hussain. While both were performing Wudu’ they noticed an old man performing Wudu’ incorrectly. Because of their young age they thought it might be insulting to the old man to be corrected in public and may be out of respect to older people. They went to the old man and said, “My brother and I disagree over who amongst us performs wudu’ the best. Would you mind watching us make wudu’ and be the judge to see which one of us indeed performs wudu’ more correctly? Could you please correct us wherever we are wrong?” The man watched carefully trying to judge who is better. In the end he understood what was going on and said “By Allah, I did not know how to perform wudu’ before this. You have both taught me how to do it correctly.”

Knowledge is power. We should use this power for good. If we find someone wrong there is always a good way to correct this person. Insulting is not one of them. We are not supposed to think alike. Can you imagine if we all do? There is a reason God created us this way. We are not robots. One can really learn more from the mistakes of others.

How to correct a ‘Serial Error-Prone’?

Last week, our Computer Science Department hosted a guest speaker. The speaker is a Chief Cyber Security at one of the biggest laboratories in the nation.  His presentation was very interesting and useful. He told us a funny story that I am going to share with you. But it is not the story itself that I find worth sharing it is what he said at the end of the story.

So, one of the employees received an email with a web address, also known as a URL link. After he clicked on the link the institute ended up being off the grid for two weeks. They had to go off line because of the sensitivity of the research this big national institute is working on.

After two weeks of hard work making sure their data and network is secure they went online again. Of course before going online all employees were told not to click on URL links because it may be linked to a malware (malicious code). For extra security they edited URL addresses received via email by replacing “tt” with “xx” in http. So, when someone clicks on “hxxp://CNN.com” it will show a broken link.

The speaker told us that new employees are trained about safety of using the internet and emails and how they should be cautious about email attachments and clicking on URL links. So, it was funny when he told us that the same person who caused the two weeks shut down of the internet in their organization did it again. The same person, received an email with a URL but since clicking on the link doesn’t work he copied the address and changed the “xx” to “tt”. Viola! Smart huh?

The audience laughed when the speaker called the person “Serial Clicker.” He said “we train our employees and send emails about not clicking on URL links but some people out there are serial clicker.”

I doubt the story is fully true but I think it might be based on an incident that happened in this organization or another institution. Regardless, I have to commend on our speaker’s ability not to make his audience bored.

Anyway, here is what he said that made me thinking. He said “I don’t think the ‘serial clicker’ is only to blame. We train people we tell them not to click on the links but they still do. There has to be something wrong with our training. Everyone knows that if you do the same thing you will get the same result.”

I find Americans, or to be more accurate,  I find some Americans to be very mature when it comes to admitting wrong doing or thinking out of the box. I might be wrong but in the short period I worked in Jordan I can’t say that I can imagine a Jordanian boss would say something similar to the quote above. The boss shares the blame even when he knows that the employee is very wrong.

One might say they should fire this stupid employee. If this story is true as it is told I am sure they did. But this speaker is thinking ahead. He knows they will always be people who will make the same mistake again and again even after one shows them the correct way to do it many times.

As a teacher I can relate to this. Many times, I find few students in my class repeat the same mistake again and again no matter how many times I say not to. People think and analyze differently so we have to be more creative in the way we teach or approach a dead end in a discussion.

So, the next time you find someone repeats the same mistake again and again and you do care about him maybe it is time for you to think of another approach or way to correct his behavior. According to the author of “buy.ology” warning labels on cigarette packs have no effect on suppressing the number of smokers.

“Warning labels on the sides, fronts, and backs of cigarette packs had no effect on suppressing the smokers’ cravings at all. Zero. In other words, all those gruesome photographs, government regulations, billions of dollars some 123 countries had invested in nonsmoking campaigns, all amounted, at the end of a day, to, well, a big waste of money.”  [NPR]

There are so many examples of the ineffective warning labels on cigarette packs. A very critical one is the way we try to solve the Arab World problems. We forgot the principle rule “if you do what you have always done you will get what you have always gotten.”  It is time to change but it should be done wisely.

مراجعة رواية قبل السفر

الأسبوع الماضي قرأت رواية “قبل السفر” للمدونة الأردنية علا عليوات. عندما سمعت عن الرواية لأول مرة لم أعر الأمر إنتباها لأني لست من محبي قراءة الروايات. ولكن مؤخراً حصلت على ايباد ووجدت انه من السهل شراء الكتب العربية وقراءتها على الجهاز، فكان ان اشتريت نسخة الكترونية من كتاب “قبل السفر” وذلك بعد ان سمعت الكثير عنه.

لم أكن أتوقع أن استمتع بقراءة الرواية بهذا الشكل. كان أسلوب الكاتبة سهلا سلسا ومشوقا. أكثر ما أعجبني في أسلوب الكتابة هو تقسيم الكتاب الى ستة عشر فصلا، كل فصل يصلح أن يكون قصة قصيرة. كل فصل أفرد لموضوع منفصل عن بقية الفصول ولكن جميعها تشتبك لسرد قصة أمل، الفتاة الأردنية التي ترغب بالسفر.

معظم المراجعات التي قرأتها عن الرواية أنها وصف للحياة في عمان. ولكن الكتاب يتعدى كونه قصة فتاة من عمان تريد البحث عن هويتها خارج بلدها. رواية “قبل السفر” هو قصة الأردن الدولة. من يقرأ الكتاب يلاحظ سردا لتفاصيل كثيرة هي في الحقيقة تاريخ الأردن وواقعه الحالي. من قصة أصول الأردنيين قديما الى لجوء أخوانه من دول الجوار حديثا. كذلك يجد القارئ سردا لكثير من الأحداث السياسية التي مرت وتمر بها الأردن.

ما من قارئ أردني خاصة وعربي عامة يقرأ قصة أمل الا ويلحظ أن هناك تشابها كبيرا في حياته إما مع أمل أو مع أحد من أفراد العائلة. فالأردن تكاد تخلو من عائلة ليس بها فرد مهاجر لأي سبب كان.

أمل او آمال كما يدعوها البعض تروي لنا قصتها قبل سفرها. تشاركتا في كل صغيرة وكبيرة تدور في خلدها وعن الأشخاص الذين قابلتهم قبل السفر. لكلٍ حكاية، تختصرها لنا آمال في بضع سطور او في بضع صفحات.  لبعضهم أحداث مؤلمه ولكن حديث آمال لا يخلو من الطرافات في العديد من المناسبات. واحده من هذه الطرافات هي حديث عمتها معها قبل سفرها:

“لا تقوليلي زي ولادي، فش حدا زي ولادك. أي نعم بحبكم زي ولادي، بس في الآخر كل واحد الحياة بتاخده ويلتهي بحاله وبعياله. مرات ببقى قاعدة لحالي بالدار ما بلاقي حالي غير صرت أبكي، بتصير المسكينة تسونامي -الخادمه السيريلانكيه-  تعبطني وتقولي “خلص ماما، خلص”، وبتصير تبكي معي المسخمة، حنونة هالتسونامي… ما هي الثانية راحوا ولادها في هذاك الاعصار أبصر شو اسمه… يا ويلي عليها وعليهم!”

سعدت جدا بقراءة الرواية وفخور بأن هذا العمل لكاتبة أردنية نأمل أن نقرأ لها المزيد.