Who Moved My Cheese...?!!

Who Move My Cheese? is a story about change that takes place in a maze where 4 amusing characters look for "Cheese" , cheese being a metaphor for what we want to have in life, whether it's a job, a relationship, money, a big house ,freedom , health, recognition , spiritual peace , or even an activity like jogging or golf.

Each of us has our own idea of what cheese is , and we pursue it because we believe it makes us happy . If we get it , we often become attached to it, and if we lose it , or it's taken away, it can be traumatic.

The "Maze" in the story represents where we spend time looking for what you want. it can be the orgnization you work in, the community you live in , or the relationships you have in your life.

Kenneth Blanchard

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if u haven't read that famous story before check it & see who u r ?!....Sniff,Scurry,Hew or Hem....?!!!!
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استعن بالله و لا تعجز.....!!!!ا

أحيانا يتذكر المرء كلمات مرت عليه يوما ما.....و عندما يتذكرها تظل عالقة فى ذهنه لبعض الوقت.....و فى الأيام الحالية حيث قمة الاحباط الذى يغمرنى من رأسى حتى أخمص قدمى....تذكرت تلك الكلمات البسيطة ...استعن بالله و لا تعجز.....تلك الكلمات التى ترددت على مسامعى منذ عامين مرارا و تكرارا على لسان أ/أحمد الأعور أثناء عرضه لكتاب العادات السبع للأشخاص الأكثر فاعلية.....كان كثيرا ما يرددها...و كانت رغم بساطتها ذات وقع مختلف .....!!!!ا

و منذ أيام قليلة مرت على الكلمات مرة أخرى....تذكرتها و تذكرت كم كنت أقل احباطا قبل عامين....و شعرت أن ذلك الاحباط الذى ينتابنى بدرجات متفاوتة من حين لأخر يكاد يتملكنى و ينعكس على من حولى ...بل أنه و بدون أي مبالغة يصيبنى بالعجز و يكاد يقتلنى أحيانا.....فعدت أردد فى داخلى...... استعن بالله و لا تعجز....استعن بالله و لا تعجز....استعن بالله و لا تعجز.....!!!ا

Halo Effect...!

how many times do ppl judge others & form impressions based on their appearance....?!!!
i guess all the ppl must have gone through that @ least once...!!! some ppl always judge that way,..others know that their r biased by sth so they try to avoid judging that way....!!!

one of the expressions describing that way of thinking is "Halo Effect"....it's known by diff. approaches ,...but from the personality & human relations point of view it's defined as :
positive or negative opinion about a person based on an impression formed from performance in one area. ie: it happens when we draw a general impression about an someone based on a single characteristic, all else can be ignored because the one bright or significant personality trait.

for example :
a person can judge another as trivial just coz he wears unordinary clothes or as an extremist just coz he is with a beard
an interviewer might judge an applicant's entire potential for job performance on the basis of a single characteristic such as how well the applicant dresses or talks.

so it's all about 1st impression & how it can be so deceiving & so unfair to depend on ,...but unfortunately as i mentioned we are all biased somehow ,...no matter how old or open minded we r..., so it's gr8 for a person 2 feel the moment of judgment & overcome that halo effect,...coz it happens alot that the 1st impression turns out to be totally wrong.....!!!


BTW: i remembered that i was chatting with a friend i known since primary school,...& we were remembering when we 1st met,...so
i asked her : pousi we have known each others since 4th primary ,...right? 8-)
pousi : no ,...since 2nd but we got close in 4th....!
i asked : so do u remember ur 1st impression :D
pousi: yeah i first felt that u seem to be "tenka we shatra".... :) !!!
i said joking:" tenka" :@ ,...seems we r gonna lose each other :D

so we were joking & it was the 1st time to hear that from her :D
but after all i found out that even kids form 1st impressions,....& when they grow up they remain trapped in the halo effect judgements ......!!!!!

Cross Roads...!

Whenever i find myself in crossroads ,..i don't feel good about it,...& it always takes alot of time to think & decide...!!

& since life is kind of cascaded cross roads so there is no way to avoid them....!!!
& surely i'm about to be in one of those cross roads for the next period as i've to determine what department to join,...which really irritates somehow...coz i've always been like that ,....most of the time i don't have sth so specific in my mind to go for as some ppl are ,..since secondary stage till now,....almost in each choice concerning my studies ,..i've the same case & more than once it happened that i chose what i thought i would never choose....& for my surprise i find out later that it wasn't insanity to take that way or sth....& it was of the best options !!!

& as i'm not that kind of ppl to join sth coz they have friends there,...or coz it's just more prestigious ,...or more profitable,....etc.,...so i look for things from other sides ,....but i prefer to choose the most flexible way which give me the most available time to re think & mayb change the choice,....i guess it's not sth good & i don't like that alot :S,...but after all i find my self making it that way & i guess i'm gonna make it that way also for this time.....!!!

hope it goes fine ...YA RAB....!

Killing The Passion...!

some ppl hate learning,...others have a passion to learn,....& al7amdolelah i like to learn new things all the time ,...& i feel the knowledge is power for the mind ... & a real wealth for the person!!!

but unfortunately day after day in such a system of education i feel that they r killing our passion to learn,....they r turning us into machines with a performance measured by the quantity not the quality,....yeah our minds r stuffed with tons of info. ,...but how much do we really understand ?!,...& most importantly how much do we ENJOY ?!,....how many times do we learn just for learning?!,...how many times does the passion appear in the work we do...?!!

unfortunately it rarely happens ,...we r always feeling that it's a heavy burden to carry ,..we r always complaining ,...although it should have been much better & we could have enjoyed each & every moment instead of cursing whatever happens....!!!

i really feel bad that learning turned into torture & i feel as i'm struggling to keep the PASSION alive inside me,...& IT WILL ISA...!!!

نهارنا ذل.......!!!ا

اعتدت فى صغرى أن أشاهد التلفاز فى الدقائق المعدودة أثناء تهيؤى للذهاب الى المدرسة ...و لأن القنوات لم تكن بهذا الكم المتاح الأن...فلم يكن أمامى الا القناة الأولى و التى كانت تقدم برامجها منذ السابعة صباحا بادئة ببرنامج صباح الخير يا مصر و الذى لم أره منذ سنوات بالرغم من استمرار تقديمه.....!!!!ا
و منذ بضعة أيام و لسبب ما فى حوار مع أمى و أختى كنا نتذكر شيئا عن هذا البرنامج فقلت دائما ما كان يبدأ بأغنية من ثلاث احداها
الشمس طالعة من بعيد...جاية و معاها يوم جديد...يجعل نهارنا نهار سعيد...........أو شئ من هذا القبيل و أغنية أخرى
يا حلو صبح يا حلو طل....يا حلو صبح صباحنا...........فأكملت أختى....ذل....نهارنا ذل ...بدلا من فل.....!!!ا
و هنا شعرت أن هذا هو التعبير الأمثل لما يراه المواطن اليوم....فنهاره ذل...بل و ليله أيضا ذل......!!!!ا
فمنذ أن يصحو من نومه يخوض حربا ضروسا فى المواصلات العامة غير الأدمية....و ان كان مالكا لسيارته الخاصة قد يتوقف لساعات على اثر الحوادث الخيالية التى لا تحدث فى دول أخرى...أو بسبب مرور المواكب و غير ذلك من الأسباب التى تجعله يرى الذل فى جميع الأحوال....!!!ا
ثم يمضى ليكمل نهاره...بعد تلك البداية المذلة....قد يكون طالبا فيبدأ يومه بقصيدة من الاهانات الموجهةممن يلقنونه العلم...أو يوليه الحظ دبره فيجد نفسه فى سلسلة من الامتحانات العقيمة......!!!ا
و قد يكون عاملا له من الرؤساء من يسومونه سوء العذاب....!!ا
و قد يكون صاحب قضية صغيرة أو كبيرة ليس له من المال أو السلطة ما يسير له الأمور فيرى المهانة كى ينال حقه....!!ا
و قد يكون مواطنا عاديا يقصد مصلحة حكومية لاستخراج أوراق أو اتمام أمر ما فيرى الذل فى الروتين الذى يغرق تلك الأماكن....!!!ا
و قد يكون عالما مصريا أراد أن يرقى بوطنه فيرى الذل فى البيروقراطية و الفساد....!!!ا
و قد يكون سياسيا صدق شعارات الديمقراطية فيجد نفسه فى الجحيم......!!!ا

و قد يكون...و قد يكون.....!!!ا
نعم يختلفون عن بعضهم البعض....و لكنهم يشتركون فى تذوق الذل بشكل أو بأخر....ليعيشون نهارا مليئا بالذل......!!!!ا

و نهارنا ذل.......!!!ا

Signal Processing Wisdom...!!

"You have to pay for any advantage you get, this is a general rule for the whole life not only for communication or engineering"


Signal Processing

Chapter (3)
BW

WHY?...WHY NOT?!!!!

since i'm going through these freaking mid-term exams that needs memorizing tons of laws, proofs + a lot of concentration which is awful in such time ,....i remembered a real story about an exam of another kind...!!!

it was an exam in the AUC in a subject related to critical thinking & so & the exams contained only ONE Q....!!!!
the Q was "WHY?" ,...just why....,..students began to think about creative answers &for that extraordinary Q ,...some of them wrote pages explaining WHY,...but guess what?!...the only one who passed the exam was a student who answered that one-word Q with a two-word answer which was "WHY NOT?".............!!!!!!!!

i was really amazed by that examiner ,..& more astonished by how that student thought,....!!!!
it may seem silly or a kind of nonsense but mayb from another POV it may be a deep Q & a deeper answer ....!!!!

it was really interesting to c such a crazy Q with such a crazier answer in a world where evthing is systematic....!!!

so after all whenever there's a "WHY?" ,..there's a "WHY NOT?"....!!!!!!!!!!

من الأمراض الفرعونية.....!!!ا

النقش و الحفر و الكتابة على الجدران ...عادة فرعونية قديمة...بس ساعات بحسها من الموروثات اللى موجودة عند كتير من المصريين.....أينما نظرت لازم تلاقى مظهر من مظاهر الحفر و الكتابة على أى حاجة و كل حاجة....!!!ا
فى الكلية مثلا ...لازم تلاقى حفر فى ألى مكان تقعد فيه أو تمر منه....كتابة على الحوائط...اللى بيخلد ذكراه العظيمة...و اللى بيندب حظه و بيلعن اليوم اللى دخل فيه الكلية ...و اللى عايش مراهقة متأخرة و بيحب على نفسه....و اللى بيدعى أنه يخرج من الكلية على خير...و اللى بيسجل تواريخ و أحداث مهمة ...و اللى كاتب قوانين..... و اللى بيكتب أى حاجة و خلاص....الخ
و طبعافى أى مكان أثرى أو غير أثرى تلاقى الناس كاتبين أساميهم و حافرين على الصخور تاريخ و جودهم...أو راسمين أى حاجة و خلاص....!!!!ا
هو غير أن الناس مش بتحس بالمسئولية..أو بتحس أن الموضوع عادى خاصة أن الحاجات دى مش ممتلكاتهم الخاصة..أقدر أقول أن أهم من التفسيرات للموضوع ده زى ما ذكرت...أن ده موروث فرعونى فى دم بعض الناس و مش بيفارقهم لدرجة أن ايديهم بتاكلهم لما يمسكوا أى أداة للكتابة و يكون قدامهم مساحة فاضية ف مش بيقدروا يمسكوا نفسهم عن الكتابة و الحفر .....يعنى غالبا مرض من الأمراض الفرعونية.....!!!ا

loaded...!!!

:S

بين الرضا و الخضوع....!!ا

أتذكر ذلك الموقف جيدا رغم مرور ما يقرب من 5 سنوات على حدوثه...أتذكره لأنه يحوى بطياته بناء العقلية المستسلمة و تربية النفس الخانعة.....قد يبدو موقفا عاديا و لكنه لم يكن بالنسبة الى هكذا....!!!ا




نتيجة الصف الأول الثانوى...درجة اللغة العربية منخفضة بشكل يدعو الى الذهول....أسير مكفهرة الوجه...أسمع عبارات الاندهاش من البعض..و عبارات الدعوة الى الرضا من أخرين....أقابل احدى المدرسات فتقول عبارة من قبيل "خدت الشر و راحت".... استشيط غضبا بشكل أكبر....أقرر فى قرارة نفسى أن أمضى باحثة عن حل خاصة و أن أستطيع الجزم أن الأمر به خطأ أكيد...أبدأ رحلات التردد على المديرة و الوكيل سائلة أن يتخذ اجراء بصدد هذا الأمر....تبوء أولى محاوالاتى بالفشل...يحاول البعض اثنائى عن المضى قدما واقناعى بقبول الأمر الواقع...يظل داخلى الشعور أن الأمر لم ينته بعد و أن الأبواب لم توصد بعد....أذهب مرة أخرى لأجد الوكيل....و هنا أتى الى بيت القصيد من تلك الرواية.....فقد أراد أن يسدى الى نصيحة ...فقال ما معناه
يا بنتى عايز أقولك نصيحة...ربنا قال الصبر و الرضا ليه...عشان فى ابتلاءات فى الحياة ...حتى لو الواحد اتظلم يصبر
لم أسستطع تمالك نفسى من فرط الاستفزاز فى هذا الموقف فقلت ما معناه
بس لو الواحد يقدر يرجع حقه و ميعملش كدة يبقى مستسلم...و لا أتذكر أقلت أم دار بذهنى فقط ...ان احنا لو مشينا على المنطق ده يبقى ضياع القدس مثلا ابتلاء الأولى أن احنا نصبر عليه و بس ...!!!!ا



الى هنا تنتهى القصة أو بمعنى أصح تنتهى بعدها ببضعة أيام بعودة حقى.....بعد مراجعة الأمر و اعلان أنه راجع الى السهو فى عمليات حسابية.....!!!!ا :)


نعم تنتهى القصة هنا...و لكن يظل المعنى يحضرنى من حين لأخر بعد مرور تلك السنوات....يشغلنى ذلك الخلط بين الرضا و الخضوع...و بين التسامح و التفريط.....أعلم أن الرضا و التسامح و الصبر من أعظم الشيم و لكننى أعلم أيضا أن على الأنسان السعى قبل اعلان الرضا بالواقع....عليه طرق الأبواب قبل اللواذ بالصبر ....!!ا
أشعر و كأن ذلك الخلط قائم فى نفوس الكثيرين....ينشأون عليه...يتغلغل فى نفوسهم....ينمو بداخلهم...و يبثونه فيمن حولهم ...لينشأ مجتمع كامل ...بل أمة بأسرها راضية خاضعة خانعة...تألف الظلم...و تخشى الاعتراض..و ترى المطالبة بالحق خروجا عن الحدود و تمردا على القدر...لنصل الى تلك الحالة المزرية و نرى منهاج الحياة لدى البعض يتلخص فى
امشى جنب الحيط....الصبر مفتاح الفرج....و من رضى بقليله عاش.... !!!!ا

Caution...!

Mid-terms r coming :s ,...it's getting darker :( ,..seems that nth is gonna work,...it may b too early to worry,...too early to panic....but i'm feeling that i've to sayi TAKE CARE ,....coz in this phase i may have unexpected reactions & expressions :S,......the more the time passes the more i become as a bomb waiting for any trigger to explode...!!
hope i won't explode soon...:S!!

Wondering...!

Why 100?!

few days ago i turned 20,...it's common to hear every year "3o2bal 100 sana" or sometimes more...!!
I WONDER y ppl feel it's sth good to reach 100 years,....y do they feel that wishing for a person to stay on earth for that long period is sth great....?!!
mayb it's just a kind of compliment or a tradition so ppl just say it expressing their appreciation for each other....!!!!
but as 4 me i don't & i won't like to reach that age ....!!!!!!

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The same...!

a couple of days ago i was in a sort of a lectyre & the lecturer was a woman ,...a vailed woman,...& after a while during the break she started smoking :s
i can say that i saw the astonishment on some faces & i also can say that i felt bad about that image...!!
but i thought about sth for a moment,..I WONDERED why do ppl feel worse when they find a woman smoking ,..while they feel it's ok when it's a man,....as if the size of the fault if diff.
i know that it was the default that men r the smokers ,.... but after all it's just the same cigarette ,..the same act ,..i guess...!!!!


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How to say it...?!

sometimes it's hard 4 the person to say sth; opinion, criticism, apology ,..a message,..or even words of appreciation in the right way coz he's not a good speaker ,..so he can spent sometime WONDERING how to say it in the best way ...!!!!!

How Nice...!

HOW NICE TO WORK IN A TEAM...!

i had to say that after trying it various times lately,...mayb each one of us listened or read about teamwork ,..how effective it is,...how to manage it,...etc.

one may have worked in sth which seemed to be a team but after all a person can't feel it deeply without going through real experience....!!

i'm not that kind of social & friendly ppl,..but once it comes to tasks to b accomplished through a team,..a real team with one goal & the teamwork spirit ,..evth changes & i find myself working with new ppl as if i've known them 4 ages.....!!
it's really wonderful when ppl share their thoughts & ideas,..the generation of ideas is amazing,..evth changes,..an idea+ an idea isn't 2 anymore ,..it's much much more ....!!!

mayb it's not always smooth,..sometimes there r problems about circumstances or ppl who can't cope with the teamwork philosophy & stick to individualism,..or others who dnt have the spirit to work in the 1st place,..or any other obstacles that may make some frustrated,...but after all the team feels the joy on reaching their goal even if it's simple...!

in the few last months i worked with different teams either in extracurricular activity or in projects related to some subjects...!!

i remember how sometimes i was frustrated with a teammate ,.. how i found the motive from another,...how i was disappointed sometimes,...how i found the confident teammate,...how i worked without blaming others who don't , ...how i felt the power of ideas generated from a teamwork,...& most importantly HOW i forgot any bad situations when i felt the joy of accomplishing sth....!!!

it's really really nice ,..different,..beneficial to work in a team,..a real team....!!!

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special thx for the diff teams i worked with lately:
(job market research team/ marketing plan team/ financial team/cross functional team) & finally (Control project team)

Kaizen...!!

a topic about a Japaneses philosophy,.. prepared by me months ago, i remembered it & wanted to share with others
23 Jul 2006


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What is Kaizen?


A system of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety and leadership.
Kaizen was created in Japan following World War II. The word Kaizen means "continuous improvement"


Kaizen is a system that involves every employee - from upper management to the cleaning crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis. This is not a once a year, or monthly activity. It is continuous. At Japanese companies, such as Toyota and Canon, 60 to 70 suggestions per employee, per year are written down, shared and implemented.

In most cases these are not ideas for major changes. Kaizen is based on making little changes on a regular basis--always improving productivity, safety and effectiveness, and reducing waste.

Suggestions are not limited to a specific area such as production or marketing. Kaizen is based on making changes anywhere that improvements can be made. The Kaizen philosophy is to


"do it better, make it better, improve it even if it ain't broke, because if we don't, we can't compete with those who do."




Western philosophy can be summarized as, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."


The Kaizen philosophy is that everything, even it it ain't broke, can be improved.





Kaizen includes both home life as well as business improvements. Kaizen even includes social activities. It is a concept that is applied in every aspect of a person's life.

In business Kaizen encompasses many of the components of Japanese businesses that have been seen as a part of their success. Quality circles, automation, suggestion system s& just-in-time delivery and 5S ***are all included within the Kaizen system of running a business.




Kaizen involves setting standards and then continually improving those standards. To support the higher standards Kaizen also involves providing the training, materials and supervision that is needed for employees to achieve the higher standards and maintain their ability to meet those standards on an on-going basis.

***5S:(sort,....systematize,....sweep,....standardize,...self-discipline)

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Briefly:
They encourage evb, whatever his position is, to think & create solutions & ideas. Regardless of how tiny these ideas r,....they r evaluated & applied to achieve continuious improvement.

WELCOME TO JAPAN....!!

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turning 10100....!!

since 10100 years on earth.....!!!