If the sales guy at the Baskin Robbins shop says the new soft ice cream on the cone is just like the ones at Micky D’s then you know who the big papa is on that frontier. I told the young salesman your not supposed to say that, especially your speciality is ice cream, and theirs is burgers! he said they started it first…end of story.

No its not!

The truth be said, mcdonalds has conquered the world with its two golden arches, when in doubt of a countries food, jump into any of their shops and have a decent burger that almost tastes the same in every shop. The kids from the age of 3 know the place, the 70 year olds know it by heart, talk about a very wide segment, especially with the approach they took recently towards better healthier choices.

The thing with branding and expanding into new side businesses is that your overall brand portfolio has to make sense to the consumer of your product of service. So if baskin say’s there’s a big opportunity in the ice cream cake industry and they jump in, cool as long as your people working there get where they fit in the big picture.

The young man selling me the ice cream came from pakistan, he was semi well trained and a nicely groomed young man that seemed to be in command of his job, seemed. Once we started to throw several silly customer questions he concaved in and gave us a hint of attitude, you know the one that happens when you don’t know and insist on showing you know… I don’t like to attack service people, being one myself, rather educate when I buy, maybe it works some day.

Back home the number one fast food place had to be mcdonalds, so in his upbringing this was the only apparent American icon. Everything else was a wannabe. The one thing that this young man did not know was the place he works in today is an Icon in its own industry, so you either get it, or you don’t, if you don’t you compare it to a burger place.

Now mind you, this is an international franchise operating on Saudi soil so the standards are quite high to keep the franchise. I wonder what other branding is being raped while we focus on the good fellas? what about the other brands that are made here, or the ones with different segments, or the famous luxury brands, are they really giving us our moneys worth?

To me when you brand something, that something touches every spot that has to do with a customer, inside and outside the brand. When a brand has blossomed, it takes care for itself with minimal maintenance, but the journey is long and consistent, and only the strong survive.

I once had an argument with a burger king store manager who insisted that the pack of six mini burgers was ONE burger. I told him count them, so he goes “ 1,2,3,4,5,6” “ That’s one burger!”… I took my meal, called him over to my table, told him I was a senior consultant at burger king for the launch of the mini burger package. He went into rainbow colors, said sorry till I felt guilty, and the end result.. They killed the idea 6 month’s into it!

So you see, branding, marketing, advertising is such a tough world, that being said, its tough on the people that work in the brand let alone us clueless, idiotic, demanding customers….

They say if all else fails, lower your standards and expectations, I say higher everything and let the bad rotten brands leave the market and make way for a better tomorrow with brands that we feel proud associating with, all made here in Saudi Arabia.

mamdooh.alradadi in Jeddah after craving for ice cream, on the 28th of August 2010

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

We all seem to focus on the good in things today, and that’s a good sign. The issue is sometimes taken for granted by many folk. If you say you will do something and you don’t, and see something else you like to practice and you don’t, then you become worst that your original state.

So I will attempt today to show you what not to do, at least a few that will get you ahead of the many crowds surrounding you in 10 easy Do Not’s, remember Do Not!

1. Do not look around a person when talking to them, do not look or take a sneaky glimpse at your watch, unless you want the meeting to end, or signal their time is up!
2. Do not yawn, and if you do excuse yourself for doing so, and state why.
3. Do not pretend to listen to what they are saying, if you already know the information being said, say so, and move on in the conversation.
4. Do not keep repeating “ Yes, but!” “ I know, but” “ Listen to me” “ You don’t understand” take a moment and imagine someone is using those words with you in a conversation you are so excited about.
5. Do not belittle people based upon misconceptions, rumors and stereo typing. I still fall into that trap, and I have been working on it for years. Here is the good news, the more I let my analysis guards down in conversations with new people, the more fascinated I become in the wonderful people that come in all sizes, ages, shapes & color.
6. Do not wait for your time to talk. If you want to talk about yourself talk to yourself and save us the boredom and agony.
7. Do not assume you are better than the talker, instead become interested in them, ask more, talk to them more about them! as they say “ be interested, not interesting”.
8. Do not ignore cultures within cultures. Ask more and observe more, learn from your mistakes. There is a big difference between how Arabs communicate and Japanese. Even within your own country there lies many cultural ways and what’s normal in your part, could be a pure insult a few hundred kilometers south!
9. Do not focus on the other persons defaults or scar, or balding spot, or black spot on his white shirt, or her smudged mascara…  look them in the eye and focus on what’s being said, bodily and wordily.
10. Do not interrupt people when they talk, and do not accept interruptions, respect is a requirement for free flow of ideas and great communication.

And one last one for the road:

1. Do not be known as:

• a conversation hog
• a long meeting individual
• an Egoistic individual talking about your glory, let it speak for itself
• a me, me, me person
• a fake smile
• a gossiper, enjoy it every once in a while, but never be known for it
• a person that talks with food in his mouth, disgusting!
• a boring person, read more, examine more, investigate, understand, ask… you have to believe that people get bored with dull people you know, its true!
• a person that starts conversations with the same line every time i.e. “ here’s what I think!”
• an envy kind of person, everything they say they bought or did or managed makes your face turn blue, I know cause it shows! people read bodies, faces and words, remember that.

mamdooh.alradadi @ his home in Ramadan thinking of a better way in Jeddah, 18th August 2010

me@mamdoohlaradadi.com

Watching an episode  of  ”The Office” drives me into laughter every time for its relativity to working in organizations. The crew on board the show almost represent the majority of the working force out there worldwide.

Giving the manager and his sucking up assistant the spotlight guides you in a magical effortless way to recognize that people know about the stupid things that go on behind company walls.

It’s one of those series that as soon as they release a season I buy it all and watch it back to back, then come back to it over the year, enjoyable every time. The reason why I think I really like it and my son might not, is the relativity factors. I have been there, live there, he has heard but never worked it yet, so he might laugh at other things in the show, while I feel it in my bones.

While rising up corporate ladders I had my share of learning things the hard way, sometimes when its too late, but in the end its all good, as long as I can laugh at what I used to think was right.

I have watched all the original English series, all the American version, waiting for the Arab version to literarily crack up! that is if they ever do it right and do a thorough investigation across the whole region and not just one country to give the international a real deal feel kind of show. If anyone reading this ever makes up her or his mind to make the show, count me in!

Actually that just gave me an idea for another book! wish me luck..

It’s all a market this business world, that was the original idea originally wasn’t it? then we complicated it and made it into the corporate world and a lot of other bi-products, industries, sectors, segments,tiers,layers, boundaries..etc.

The people managing companies(managers) try and sell interested people(customer & workers) that they are the very best out there in this specific time and age, comparing only their strong points, camouflaging their weak points as work in progress.

The worker wants the money, the knowledge, the experience. The Owner want the productivity, the best deal he can get, and the results to achieve his goals. What they both know is there is something missing from the negotiation table, the real story.

Well.. lets jut say that the real story is yet to be told and then discovered. So much fun and action goes on in corporate boundaries I am surprised that no one has jumped to the occasion and said “ now that’s funny!”. Take for instance the following examples:

• The smoking room: Since smoking is being more and more frowned upon and smokers face the sad and ugly truth of the smoking chambers placed strategically in the worst locations and as small as possible for a quick puff of death.

If we take a sample of the daily visitors over a 30 day period, we will find them mostly staff and not managers. Is it because the smoking managers know better and quit smoking? or is it they can actually smoke in their offices because the can? you figure.

• The team work efforts: Managers on their way up scream and talk about team work, team discussions, team efforts, team whatever, and guess who makes up the final decision, uha! the manager you smart person you!

When questioned about the brutal, selfish, one man show decision, you are bombarded with side tracking talk and a sudden look at the watch signaling your time is up!

• Time management: everyone knows what I am talking about. In a nutshell, it’s getting the important things that make a difference done in time. I have witnessed managers that simply are time managements best kept secrets, great examples( of the worst kind).

They seem to know how to screw a whole departments workflow with a few requests and complain about why no real results are seen over the last 6 months? management soon finds out the root of all evil and sends in a permanent solution.

• Interviewing skills: The majority of people in the process seem to rank it low on their priority list, therefore a lot of good candidates get turned off for attitude issues from companies looking to hire them. This is a two way street, always remember that, you are looking and so is the interviewee!

If you cannot interview people, hand it over to the capable, its that simple! enough is enough with this subject.

• Communication: what communication? everyone seems to have hot buttons waiting to be pressed and explode! with al the many courses available and the ones that people took, communication although in my opinion the most important sign of leadership seems to be the least practiced!

Single line emails become essays and lessons in life. One minute phone call requests becomes half hour kissing ass conversations, then end in fights on email. Management styles seem to be in favor of old school bullying techniques, not knowing there are lectures on how bad it is and how harmful it can be to the “Team work”. And much more…So much to laugh about, and so much to learn…

Some people learn by reading and investigating just before they jump, other jump and figure it out. Which one are you?

mamdooh.alradadi thinking about the funny things that happen in companies in jeddah 30th June 2010

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

The news is out and they say that IP addresses are running out and that there will not be enough to go around, time frame: 1 year! scam or Trillions in opportunity?

The experts( that’s what they call them) say that due to the high rise in technology and the smartphone explosion, and almost anything worth having are using different and unique IP addresses, now were running out of them.

(The internet protocol used by the majority of web users, IPv4, provides for about four billion IP addresses — the unique 32-digit number used to identify each computer, website or internet-connected device. There are currently only 232 million IP addresses left — enough for about 340 days — thanks to the explosion in smartphones and other web-enabled devices.)-FOX news.IP address shortage

30 years ago when they came up with the capabilities and numbers,the idea that phones, refrigerators and A/C’s having IP addresses was just hilarious talk and imagination! Give me a break, so was taking 300 people flying on a thing called a plane 100 years ago!

I thought the very same experts are the visionaries of the future who predict and calculate things with growth patterns including wealth & population growth explosions? technology makes things move faster and delivers results faster, so you do not have to use old thinking hats for the coming years.

Today you can just about almost see where the future is going with the right minds sitting in an open discussion. The breakthroughs we know of and the ones we can’t digest are all here, as they say the future is now.

When I read about the insufficient IP’s I don’t know why but my tracking device suddenly was looking at several ideas that took the world by surprise, things that people knew little or nothing about.

Take for instance the Y2K bug, they didn’t use a bug spray for that one, they used cash spray to solve the problem, mountains of cans. The funny numbers when I was doing my quick research estimated it in 1999 to be between, check this out! between $375 Billion & $750 billion that’s like only 400 billion dollars apart, nice rounding fellas! I think it hit somewhere between 300 & 400 Billion, still a lot of money that could have been put into the many AFRICAN donation programs to save real lives!

The stories are all similar in the run up to the real event, and the prize is usually big, very big in this new case. If its not the Y2K its the mad cow disease, if its not that its the swine flu vaccine that was not enough to go around the world, costing governments and countries an arm & a leg and so on…

Some companies benefited from the bug, check this out..lol http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZoXxBgDcRg&feature=player_embedded

Now it could be just a hunch I have, but if this hunch is right I guess a black market has already started, and will continue to grow. So what do we do? sit around or dig for answers and pay the piper ahead of the crowd while its still cheap? do nothing? wait for the next big thing? one thing is for sure, its already planned, so enjoy the ride

mamdooh.alradadi wondering what’s next in Jeddah 26th July 2010

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

No its not some horror story or social scandal news, its not a Jackpot of any kind, its not even a bad service experience, on the total opposite side, its shocking wonderful service!

It’s 9.30 in the pm and its a weekend, my phone is the last thing I worry about, it rings, I get irritated, especially after a rough week. I pick up to this friendly mans voice asking if I am mamdooh? Yes? Have you lost your family ID card? No? Yes you have he replies! Shocking!

To my surprise this is a guy working at SAUDIA airlines (the airline that I so much hate for many personal experiences over the years) calling and telling me that he has found my card in some room in the airport with a bunch of guys, he actually hunted me down and got my private number, shocking!

The year is 2010, everything is going too fast to control, services are falling deeper in the ground, people are thinking ME! ME! ME! and then some more ME!, a lost ID card is the last thing on anyones mind, he can go and get another one, it will only take him a few month’s of pain and agony…but no! this man actually worked his way to hunt me down, shocking!

I delay the guy, and actually think of going to my car to search still doubting this man, but why? I think back to myself? problem is which why? the one where I question if I actually lost it? or the one about me not believing there is such a person going miles out of his way to save me some precious time and effort? why? the answer is shocking!

I drive up to the airport, and everytime I call his phone, he answers, on my way I was thinking could this be a new service requirement to enhance the service of this airline? is it new management? is it some kind of new training program they stumbled upon? or could it be this person is just a Go-Getter! a Just Do It kind of guy? a wonder in his own time? a religious person seeking more good on earth? to me, whatever it was it was Shocking!

I meet him at the international area, busy day at the airport, everyones flying! he still delivers, he greets me with a smile, answers some passerby’s questions, hands me the ID and we break a casual conversation, I asked him does he always do this? he shows me another lost ID belonging to some guy who lives in another city, shocking!

I just stand there admiring this young man in all respect, “where is your manager?”” what’s his name, address?” we walk over and this time I shock the managers at the airport, cause all they hear is complaints, especially on a busy season, I meet them to congratulate them on a fine example for the rest of us, the guy was shining! He deserved much more than a thank you, he inspired me, shocking!

His name was Mohammed Al-Silimy, a junior customer service guy with an outrageously great career ahead of him, wherever he goes, and yes he was religious, amazing!

mamdooh.alradadi respecting a young man who went out of his way all day, to make my days!

I’m getting sick of the blood suckers and parasites I have managed to trickle out of my system over the years and continue to do so, How can I escape when everyone around me reminds me of them with horror stories!

The many faces of these creatures seem to catch us by surprise, as they slowly, enter and lay their nest to infect us with slime upon slime and much more sucking than we ever witnessed. I am totally disgusted by these soulless lifeforms that thrive on our account and health. They suck you dry, emotionally, physically and financially.

As I type this I am attacked by one of them, a mosquito, at least the pest admits to its love for my blood, and yours. Mosquitos are the least of my worries, one slap on the table or clap of the hand, or spray of that “ kill all bugs” and the bug realizes that when you suck someones blood for life, your life ends soon after( even if the darn thing managed to get away, its lifespan is only 7 days or less).

As the darn mosquito continues sucking me to its maximum loading capabilities, I remember my humanly mosquitos and other similar social bugs. If only there was a strong enough repellent that can actually keep them off your back, if only. The good news is you can learn a whole lot from your encounters and friends who are living it, when you identify your target, your only chance to get out in one piece is either eliminate or contain.

If you choose to contain them I know of a nice big lake we have in jeddah which is made up of sewage that we can send them all for a fully paid vacation forever never to return, actually do not worry about them coming back, over there they will feel at home .

For the following slimy creatures I have two words: You Suck!

• I know someone who uses his friends place, money, cars and travels with him, calls the toys his, splashes at his beach house and does it day in day out, to that bug I say “ You suck!”.

• What about that school friend that had parents that were suckers by nature and played to the egos of young teenagers and sucked up to them, today he continues to thrive on their behalf, he sucks, they pay, nice way for suckers, You suck!

• Over to the friend that has a job, gets paid, knows another friend who is so giving and loving, money comes naturally but he does not work you see.” Let’s go to another coffee shop he complains!” his friend pays the bill and they leave, the friend paid at all the next 4 places, the sucker played stupid, and did he stop? not a chance! This friend tells me even when its pennies he refuses to pay unless he puts on a show that he is paying! By the way sucker…YOU SUCK! in case you didn’t read that, You SUCK!

• Wait a minute, with all the hypocrites hovering on our levels these days, I cannot forget the bearded ones that pretend in public to be something of wisdom and faith, and are nothing more than cheap liars and worse than the non believers, for they are your everyday hypocrites, the ones that say something and totally mean and do something else.

• The evil ex-husband that ended a rough marriage of hypocrisy, dictatorship, male brutality, mental and physical abuse and then comes back to haunt her with his side gig mistress who has come back to make sure he is not cheating like he did to his first wife, you see what goes around comes back around and all the way up your chimney! so hard you will feel it and scream no more. What kind of man ask his ex-wife what she did to the woman he was cheating on her with? you see suckers are not warm blooded like the rest of us, cold blooded creatures that live on other peoples lives and blood. Good always wins over evil, and as to our coward goat in this shameful example, If I could only pluck your beard one hair at a time and write “ beware of hypocrite” on your forehead with your victims blood, and still look you in the eye and say” You Suck!”

• How about those people that suddenly fill your walls and days when you have that extra cash or that prestigious job title and power? where did they go when you fell to the perils of their doings? what happened to them when you needed an extra shoulder to cry on? what happened when you needed an answer when you called, only to hear busy tones and no replies? Why do they chase you off and down when you were weak, and attach themselves to you when you fly? How do they have the guts to show up at your door when you rise again asking for favors?

Here is the master plan/ sucker evaporate spray:

When they come to you once you start to fly again, when you are healed and stronger, when you are back to normal, when you are busy helping the needy and making a better you, when they arrive be nice, greet them in a perfect socially acceptable manner.

Invite them over for a private dinner, have some friends over, make them feel at home, offer them coffee and dates, candy and cakes, feed them, pamper them, and when they are comfortable and feel there is no harm done, ask them “ what was it you needed buddy?” and as soon as they start to open that garbage mouth of theirs, place your finger on their mouth and stop them, look them in the eyes and say after me:

You suck!

Oh! and one more thing, if you have been offended by my words, say thank you and move on out of here! Otherwise let me know your input on the delicate subject, and for the rest of us, You Rock!

mamdooh.alradadi listening to some smooth Jazz on July 6th 2010 in  jeddah, KSA

me@mamdoohalradadi.com

I’ve been meaning to write about this subject for some time now, that time is now. Recently I have personally been a victim of “ no respect”, you know what I’m talking about, some other person, human, thing got away with not respecting you, treating you with a superior or inferiority complex of some kind.

Rest in peace my fellow people, respect is something we give freely and unconditionally to whoever we meet or interact with on our quest for happiness. When you respect someone naturally, you have reached the pinnacle of human relations. The problem here is that some people understand it the other way around, or have conditions, or in many cases to higher up individuals or people they look up to, other than that they disrespect.

What do you when you face service and product inconveniences? like the stewardess on my flight today who did not have my newspaper, had only one choice of breakfast, non of the bread I like, insisted on giving me reasons that we can’t satisfy every passenger you know! management doesn’t listen, blah, blah, blah..I just laughed at this one, cause I gave up on our local airlines 30 years ago.. many new airlines jumped to the occasion ages ago, my dollars go to much better airlines, that is not my case today..

They say when you focus on something you get to see or feel it more, like the new car you want suddenly its everywhere, or the family vacation that is all over the news, as if its the only thing people are talking about, or the nagging boss that seems to haunt your dreams, just a few examples to refresh your memory of the strange things we take for granted and don’t know what to make of them.

A fine use of the word “INSTEAD”;

• Instead of wondering why you hit that car and ruined your new toy, think how lucky you are to be alive, and while steel remains steel, blood is thicker than water, water is life and you my friend are alive to breath and walk another day.

Imagine if I told you the man was crossing the highway and got hit head on! you would know he’s a goner, unless what hit him was his conscious and suddenly woke up to reality and ran back to the curb.

What if someone whispered to you that the CEO was told to leave, you always imagine him being booted out of his position for bad performance, but then again what if he was told to move out of his position to chairman? makes you think!

When that neighbor had his possessions repossessed and his car withdrawn in front of his family, you knew he was out. Then you look at the newspaper and see the very man being honored for his new company that solved the cities sewage problem in 3 months,(its been a problem for 25 years now) he had to risk it all, to win it all, makes you wonder what you really know.