Reflections Archives

Insight Category: Reflections

We work with dedication… because we belong to this nation

In 1980, at the age of five, I arrived in the United Arab Emirates with my family. Sharjah became the setting of my childhood and education, from Balqees School to Fatima Al Zahra School, where I completed my secondary studies. My professional path began here as well, when I joined a private school as a teaching assistant. From those early years onward, the UAE became the place where my life took shape.

I built my life in the UAE. I got married here, and my children were born at Al Wasl Hospital. They were raised in this country and speak of it with the ease and certainty of home. Over the years, that sense of home deepened into something larger: a lasting bond with a country that opened its doors, nurtured our aspirations, and gave our family the ground on which to grow.

La tshilon ham

Across the past two decades, the world has moved through one major disruption after another, from the financial crisis of 2008 to the pandemic in 2020 and the pressures that followed. Through each period, the UAE remained a place of safety, order, and public confidence for all who live on its soil. I still remember the comfort carried in the words of President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed during the pandemic, “La tshilon ham” For me, those words captured the spirit of leadership in this country. They gave people steadiness, strengthened trust, and made it possible to move through uncertainty with calm and discipline.

What I write today comes from conviction shaped by a lifetime in this country. It reflects my respect for the UAE’s system, its vision, and the political and economic approach that has guided its rise. It also reflects my sense of belonging to a land that gave me a place, a future, and a community in which people from many backgrounds find a shared sense of belonging shaped by dignity, mutual respect, and common purpose.

Land of wisdom, tranquility, and peace

Recently, the country faced an act of aggression that placed everyone living in this peaceful nation under intense pressure. In that moment, the leadership moved with clarity and resolve. Essential needs were secured across society, and public confidence was strengthened through visible presence among the people. Leaders appeared in public spaces, took part in community and international events, and visited the injured, whose wounds came to embody honour. At the same time, the armed forces stood firm in defence of the nation, carrying out their duty with bravery and discipline. The martyrs they gave will remain part of the story of how the UAE safeguarded its land, its skies, its waters, and the dignity of its flag.

At the beginning of the crisis, we were all filled with anticipation, waiting to hear the words of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, as he addressed his people. His message carried reassurance, pride, and strength. He affirmed that the UAE is strong, that it stands as a model and an example, expressing pride in the nation’s institutions and armed forces, and promising that the country would emerge from these challenges even stronger. His words,“The UAE is a model, but I tell you, do not be misled by what you see; the UAE is strong in its core, and resilient in its fabric”, became a window of hope and comfort for me. They appeared across homes and buildings, reminding everyone that leadership stands with us, and that we live under its protection, and that our role is to continue working with dedication and sincerity.

We work. We serve our nation

From childhood, one phrase took root in me and stayed: we work and we commit. We repeated it every morning at school, and over time it became part of how I understand duty, effort, and belonging. Today, those words live in the way I move through life. They shape the care I bring to my work at Rouya, the regard I hold for the schools and universities that guide my children, and the respect I carry for the places where my husband builds his future. In the UAE, work became one of the clearest expressions of love for the country.

For me, work and commitment mean raising the level of what we give and placing the UAE at the centre of that effort. I saw that meaning most clearly in the smallest moments. Alerts would reach our phones, and we would move to the lower floor of our house with our laptops in hand, continuing our meetings with clients who trusted us. My children saw the same spirit in their universities, where professors carried the responsibility of teaching forward with focus and care. In those days, continuity itself became a form of national service. It expressed our shared determination to protect the rhythm of life and to uphold the peace of this country through action.

Today, the phrase carries even greater depth for me. It calls for sincerity, for care, and for love expressed through effort. Our work remains one way of giving back to a land that has given us dignity, freedom, and a life rich with opportunity.

That is the bond I feel with the UAE. It is a bond renewed through gratitude, strengthened through service, and carried forward through all that we do.

Tamara Al Dabbagh

Tamara’s background in education, combined with her passion for literature, culture, and the arts, has sharpened her translation and storytelling expertise. She leads the content development department, where she crafts compelling content for a diverse range of Rouya clients such as COP28, the UAE Pavilion at Expo, Zayed National Museum, MiZa, and various cultural institutions in the region.

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Ramadan Reset

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Reflections

Insight Category: Reflections

A reflection on emptiness, burnout, and Ramadan as a sacred reset.

Emptiness, confusion, and a loss of drive. These are very foreign emotions for someone like me, someone usually driven and excited.

As humans, we instinctively search for reasons, and so I found myself discussing this with my close circle. One conversation concluded that I may perhaps need to pay closer attention to my nutrition, movement, and sleep. Another conversation leaned toward burnout, given the extreme ‘usage of me’ on all fronts over the past year. A third conversation ended with a completely different solution: a new haircut and hair colour, which I actually did.

Somewhere between these discussions, questions, and layers of confusion, a reflection from Paulo Coelho’s The Manual of the Warrior of Light kept echoing in my head:

“A warrior of light often loses heart.

He believes that nothing can stir him in the emotion he so desired. He is forced to spend many evenings and nights feeling that he is one of the vanquished, and nothing seems able to restore his enthusiasm.

His friends say, ‘Perhaps his fight is over.’

The warrior feels pain and confusion when he hears such remarks because he knows that he has not yet reached the place he wanted to reach. But he is stubborn and refuses to relinquish his aims.

Then, when he least expects it, a new door opens.”

Paulo Coelho – The Manual of the Warrior of Light

What struck me most was how precisely it describes my state of losing heart. But there exists an opposite–regaining heart. How do I regain heart?

Interestingly, the conversations I mentioned earlier all arrived at the same answer, despite their different starting points: Ramadan. There was an almost unspoken consensus: Ramadan is coming. Ramadan will fix it. Ramadan will reset everything.

With Paulo’s words ringing in my head, I found myself wondering: Is Ramadan that new door? Something about that thought felt deeply right…but why Ramadan? What is it about Ramadan that feels like resolution?

Answers began to surface almost immediately. What emerged was that Ramadan is a mandatory reset button, not only through fasting, but something larger: the rhythm. Over time, we drift and get absorbed into pace, expectations, productivity pressures, technology, and endless stimulation. Gradually and almost invisibly, we shift from being human to functioning like machines. Coffee becomes our fuel for focus. Food becomes our fuel for energy, almost becoming tasteless at times. Connections become fuel for networking and our days become fuel for achievement.

Then Ramadan arrives and quietly dismantles these illusions. The routine is imposed on you, and suddenly decisions reduce, the body slows, awareness sharpens, and you reconnect with something elemental.

“I am hungry. I am thirsty. Yet I continue.” I wake at dawn for Fajr. By Maghrib, we gather to break our fast. We sit at the same table usually forgetting our roles, titles, or agendas, but merely as “hungry humans” sharing Iftar.

So why does Ramadan restore our sense of functionality as humans? Somewhere within that repeating rhythm, I see Time–its older rhythms, its modern structures, its emotional weight. Its fixed, predictable system and its psychological effect on us shows this interconnected relationship between Time, Productivity, and Rhythm, and how they shape our functionality, wellbeing, and continuity.

Within all these threads came a clear decision. Let’s begin to explore Time. Let’s research it deeply and see what it uncovers. Ramadan Mubarak, and happy resetting!

Wellbeing

Marwa Shaker Salama

Marwa is a seasoned research and marketing consultant with over 25 years of experience in market analysis, research, and human development. She leads the research department at Rouya, bringing depth and insight through her strong understanding of human psychology and certification in the field. Marwa has directed key projects such as Eid Al Etihad and the UAE Year Of, delivering culturally grounded, strategy-led research outcomes.

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Reflections

Insight Category: Reflections

Decoding "Consultancy Speak"

Dina Rashid and Skander Ben Ahmed are part of the Rouya Storytelling department and think about language and words daily. As people who had not worked in a consultancy before, they realised that there were many terms and phrases around them that they had never heard before. So, they decided to make a list and have a candid conversation about language, influence, and their personal experiences.

Dina Rashid: Okay, so just for the record, you and I have been making a list of terms or phrases that we’ve heard being used by our colleagues and peers, which we’ve called “consultancy speak”, and we’ve decided that we should sit and have a thoughtful conversation about it. So I want to start with… how do you think this “consultancy speak” phenomenon started?

Skander Ben Ahmed: Yeah, I mean, it’s normal to use words to describe regular processes, but in specialist words, for example, a surgeon or doctor may describe a bruise as “trauma as a result of an impact”. So I think maybe from that perspective, I can understand the necessity.

Dina Rashid: So I did a little bit of research. Big consultancy firms, back in the day, started using these terms in their publications, reports, etc., and those terms caught on and became part of the everyday language used by consultants and “business people”. And as you said, it’s for the sake of accuracy. But I can’t help but feel as if, quite often, it’s not very conducive to success, and people on forums usually talk about how awkward they feel or how they worry about starting to use these in everyday life. What do you think is the advantage of using this industry jargon?

Skander Ben Ahmed: Hmm, so this raises an important question. Is consultancy speak important when talking consultant to consultant, or consultant-client? If it’s consultant to consultant, maybe it helps to ensure understanding and “alignment”. Although consultant-client relationships can give the client a sense of security, I can see consultancy speak backfiring, creating a disconnect between client and consultant and possibly leading to distrust. “Is this person being genuine, or are they just playing with words?”

Dina Rashid: That’s so true! One of the things that came up when I was looking at why people use this language was that it allows consultants to frame things in a polite way. So, it’s always masking the more straightforward, “blunt” way of speaking.

Skander Ben Ahmed: Being diplomatic.

Dina Rashid: Let’s imagine you were setting up an interpretation business, and you hired a consultancy to make a comms plan, and they come to you, and they start saying stuff like, “We’re putting together a micro-inspirations deck”, etc. How would you perceive that?

Skander Ben Ahmed: I would be nervous, maybe even a bit skeptical of the process.

Dina Rashid: Would it have made you feel like they know what they’re talking about?

Skander Ben Ahmed: Maybe a part of me would think, “These guys are experts, no need to worry.” You know what I mean? If they used plain English or Arabic, I would feel more comfortable. But I think a healthy mix of both might be better. It’d be beneficial for me, too, as a layperson, to hear these industry words. What about you?

Dina Rashid: I’ll be honest. If I hired a consultancy and they used terms I didn’t understand to communicate certain concepts with me, I would doubt how effective they are. But it’s interesting because I think my primary interest in using consultancy speak is that it stops people from underestimating me or makes me feel more secure. I don’t find it particularly efficient otherwise, and it’s not how I normally speak, so there is a little “pushback” on my end to fully adopting this lingo. This brings me to my next question: Is this something you wish someone had spoken to you about when you started working?

Skander Ben Ahmed: No, not really. It’s part of the learning experience, and as someone who’s interested in language, I found it amusing.

Dina Rashid: I definitely would have wanted some more clarity before I started because there were several times at first when even using the word “deck” instead of “presentation” would confuse me initially. I would just pretend that I understood what people were talking about. I imagine the people we work with, who have been using this language as part of their jobs for a very long time, might have a different view on this.

Skander Ben Ahmed: Yeah, or maybe they feel the same but don’t feel that the workplace is the right place for them to speak about their views, right?

Dina Rashid: That’s very astute of you. Okay, I’ve put a list together of some words and phrases to test you on. They’re common, but maybe not ones you may have encountered yourself. The first one is “on the beach”.

Skander Ben Ahmed: To put a hold on something, right? Like, “We considered doing that last year, but it’s been on the beach ever since.”

Dina Rashid: Hmm, okay, so I’ll give you an example. “Skander’s been on the beach this month.”

Skander Ben Ahmed: He’s been sitting on the bench. He’s taking a back seat.

Dina Rashid: Yeah! He’s taking time off or not getting any clients at the moment. Another water-related one is “Boiling the ocean”. I quite like this one.

Skander Ben Ahmed: Being too ambitious, trying to boil the ocean?

Dina Rashid: You’re on the right track.

Skander Ben Ahmed: Like moving mountains?

Dina Rashid: That makes so much sense even though that’s wrong, which is why I feel like none of this is accurate language. In any case, an example could be, “Don’t boil the ocean for an exact number; just give me an estimate.”

Skander Ben Ahmed: Don’t overthink it, maybe? Don’t bend over backwards.

Dina Rashid: Yeah, you got it! Okay, we’ve already heard “being agnostic” about something, “parking lot”, and “spicy worries” in our jobs. But possibly my favourite, which we haven’t heard yet, and I hope I hear it out in the wild one day, is “double-click”. What do you think that means?

Skander Ben Ahmed: Haha, honestly, I’m not sure.

Dina Rashid: An example would be, “Can we pause for a moment and double-click on that point?” It’s just so unusual, but it’s great because it seemingly lacks poetry; it’s just about double-clicking on something. I love it.

Skander Ben Ahmed: It almost seems like a different genre of language altogether. It does make me question, though, whether these terms only work in English or are transferable to other languages as well.

Dina Rashid: Have you come across people using specific consultancy speak in Arabic?

Skander Ben Ahmed: Not really, no. There are a lot of proverbs in Arabic, and they are one of the best ways to establish understanding and deliver meaning. For example, a very commonly used proverb, which is actually a verse from the Holy Quran, is “ʿAsā an takrahū shay’an wa huwa khayrun lakum”. It means that you may initially dislike something and it might turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

Dina Rashid: That’s a great sentiment that works well in a consultancy environment. It may be that consultancy speak is an English-centric thing. But I imagine even in other European languages, people probably use these words interspersed with their regular language, like they would throw in a “circle back”.

Skander Ben Ahmed: In French, they always borrow English terms, like team building and start-up. Do you think you have to go to school, so to speak, to learn these terms?

Dina Rashid: There is a website that is a dictionary for many of these languages, but interestingly, some I didn’t understand even after reading the dictionary.

Skander Ben Ahmed: Much comes from exposure and learning to use these words.

Dina Rashid: Yeah, absolutely. As we wrap up, my last question is: Do you want to continue with our little exercise of sharing these terms as we come across them?

Skander Ben Ahmed: Yes! Because it gives us another shade of understanding regarding the field in which we work. It’s awareness; it’s been like a fun learning experience for me.

Dina Rashid: It’s helped me own a little bit of that insecurity that I sometimes felt and turn it into something that I can learn from, but also just acknowledging that this phenomenon exists has been helpful too, that I’m not the only one who finds this intriguing in my head. Hopefully, this blog will help other people feel that way, too.

Consultancy

Critical thinking

Language

Dina Rashid

With over a decade of experience, Dina blends storytelling, research, and content strategy to craft impactful narratives. She brings strategic insight to Rouya clients—including MiZa, the UAE Pavilion at Expo, and the UAE National Orchestra—helping them develop persuasive communication and narrative strategies. To know more about Dina’s work for the UAE Pavilion, read our case study.

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Insight Category: Reflections

The Intersection of Literature and the Workplace

Before entering the workforce, I learned at university that thinking was a transferable skill that could be honed. It wasn’t always readily clear how mulling over words and ideas could prove to an employer that I deserved to be hired, but 10 years later, not a day has gone by where learning to read and think has not been valuable. Whether it’s thinking through reading, or reading through thinking, the process of dissecting, deconstructing, and finding multiple meanings in text is my secret “party trick,” and its value to me grows greater with every passing year.

Every single bit of communication we encounter–from media, advertisers, politicians, or leaders–is trying to tell us a story. To be able to think critically about these stories, break them down, and understand them piece by piece, is crucial to navigating life with an informed mind. What is the author trying to say? Why do they want to say this here, now? Why did they use this word? Every question leads to another, creating a linking chain of thoughts that all form a cohesive picture of my own understanding.

Learning to be a critical thinker takes time, especially if you’ve grown up in an environment where “thinking too much” is discouraged. When I started to work on my ability to question through literature, and revel in my own interpretation, I uncovered a newfound confidence in how I saw the world, why I saw it the way I did, and in the consideration of other perspectives. I realised I could take any situation, work of art, or conversation, and start asking the questions that would lead me to the right answers. Just as I would with a line of poetry, I had unknowingly honed this skill of being able to break down complexity or simplicity into questions, however scattered, so that a simple idea could be made more complex, or a complex idea made simple.

This ties very closely to one of my favourite essays, The Death of the Author by Roland Barthes, that argues that the meaning of a text (and perhaps of everything) is not what the author intended it to be, but what the reader interprets. Applying that to one of my favourite poems as an example, we could analyse these four lines from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot:

“Do I dare

Disturb the universe?

In a minute there is time

For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.”

Analysing poetry, or any kind of communication, is an endeavour of questioning. “Do I dare” –who is the “I”? And why the use of “dare”? Is this an act of courage or recklessness? The use of the word “disturb” also opens up a wide range of interpretations. Is the disturbance a conscious act of doing a specific action, or is it coming from the narrator’s own sense of existential crisis? How does one “disturb the universe”? Does “disturb” carry moral weight? Is the narrator wrestling with whether it’s right or wrong to cause this disturbance? The questions may seem endless, but with practice, this allows you to be critical and meticulous about every situation you encounter.

At the workplace, like with poetry, dissecting complex reports or strategies, breaking them down into manageable pieces, and analysing information enables me to identify gaps and propose solutions that may not be immediately obvious. Understanding the subtle nuances in a client’s feedback helps me tailor my approach to meet their exact needs, and drawing parallels between themes helps me find the best path forward. In situations of team conflicts, it helps me listen, ask probing questions, and sift through the fog to find solutions. Perhaps most importantly, it helps me collaborate better within a team, whether that involves brainstorming, receiving/giving feedback or taking in other people’s perspectives. In crude terms, these are clear workplace-related benefits that I’ve transferred from my literary analyses.

One of my favourite parts about analysing text is finding connections. If you read a line of poetry or prose and start to deconstruct the text, you can eventually start comparing and find threads of meaning that correlate to other pieces of text or works of art. The possibilities are as vast as your imagination, and have nothing to do with what the intended meaning by the author was. The more you do it, the more comparisons you can make, regardless of their absurdity. You could be as specific as comparing the use of the word “and” between two poems, or as general as comparing how love is being described by two authors. This exercise of finding threads of meaning, and breathing life into these narratives, is an exercise in freedom. Once you allow your mind to think freely and throw away “correct” interpretations, you free yourself from the mental constraints of “right” interpretations and “right” ways of thinking, opening your mind up to a much wider world of possibilities. This process is especially helpful for problem-solving, brainstorming, or more critical-thinking endeavours like risk assessments, when “out of the box” ideas are welcome and required.

Giving space to my own interpretations is an endeavour of self-realisation. When I give my ideas the space to breathe, and I do them the courtesy of questioning and dissecting, I know that I’m allowing my mind to exercise its ability to widen its scope of thought. It’s not sufficient for me to learn how to think; I want to really enjoy these flights of fancies and validate their existence.

Now, when I sit in meetings, or I’m given a text to edit, or asked for feedback on a concept–all of these “thinking” skills come into action. The practice of questioning and letting ideas grow into solid concepts allows me not only to become a valuable contributor to conversations, but also to identify gaps that others may not see. I can be more decisive about my ideas and advocate for them because I put them through a rigorous process of questioning before I voice them. And most importantly, I can listen, empathise and absorb other perspectives, allowing for even more creativity and imagination to measure against an idea I have and form more thoughtful opinions.

At Rouya, our vision is centred around ihsan, an idea of excellence that encapsulates all aspects of our time, whether that be in how we work with people, the work that we deliver, or indeed how we care for ourselves. Ultimately, I find that the way I can bring ihsan (or excellence) into the work that we do at Rouya lies in fulfilling the potential of my ‘Self’ through the thinking process I learned and honed over the years. For me, literature holds the key to it all.

Critical thinking

Language

Literature

Storytelling

Dina Rashid

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Rouya In a Few Words

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Reflections

Insight Category: Reflections

Our Inception

The Foundations

It was no easy feat to bring together the efforts of individuals who are members of the same family, who happen to live in different geographic locations and with different professional backgrounds, to form the nucleus of a company or institution that would combine all its employees’ professional competencies under one roof.

It was rather challenging to imagine entering a fiercely competitive market and going through the necessary administrative requirements towards the establishment of a company, and more particularly, the provision of the necessary capital and the right location and place within the professional and institutional landscape.

In the beginning, everything seemed like a challenge to the confident and capable members of this family, who were armed with valuable expertise and relentless determination in the face of adversity

The Beginning

With the help of Allah, we completed all legal requirements to set up the company and market it under the name of “Rouya” which means “vision” as it was the founders’ vision and ambitions that materialised in this initiative.

So, we rented and renovated a small office, which we furnished with basic equipment, then we started our journey with a very limited number of clients, accepting small projects and covering a few events on specific occasions.

Instead of focusing on making a quick profit, our major objective was finding a place in the market and showcasing the skills and talents of our team members, especially the highly motivated Zainab Azzam and Dareen Al Sarraj, the first two team members to join the company and nurture it in its first steps.

What We Are Now

Like any other experience, we encountered some challenges, which we overcame with patience and wisdom. Such challenges were a springboard towards more success and achievements in the future.

We successfully carried out our activities, especially thanks to the new members: accomplished academic researchers who tremendously enriched the team and enabled it to expand its sphere of activities, thereby gaining greater customer satisfaction and ushering in a new phase of competition at the local and international levels.

Rouya started its journey with four members from the same family, which became today a bigger family made up of 28 members of highly qualified experts and researchers from 13 different nationalities.*

Conclusion

Every success is the result of a clear vision, innovative expertise, strong determination, and a firm belief in success. As we continue to grow, we join forces with all those who seek a generous source of excellence and outstanding services.

Business

Policy

Thought-leadership

Wissam Al Dabbagh

Wissam is a seasoned strategist with a background in administration and strategy. He had assumed ministerial and administrative roles in Baghdad, Iraq before taking on various positions in the UAE since 1979. Renowned for his strategic writing and storytelling skills, his belief in the power of language has shaped many national transformative projects.