Hamada, work hard anyway

So I’ve been living and working in Egypt again for 3 years now, after having studied and worked in the US & UK for 7 years before that. I think the decision to move back was one of the best I’ve ever made. I love being here.

That said, the contrast I’ve witnessed in productivity between here and there is -unfortunately- massive, and it spans many industries. Particularly when it comes to productivity of individuals.

There’s a bunch of reasons to account for this, we all know them: education, rule of law, financial landscape, etc. These aren’t trivial reasons, and plenty of people are talking about them. But I don’t think any of them is the primary one.

The biggest difference is psychological.

Embedded deep into the psyche of the average Western citizen (let’s call him ‘Joe’) is a conviction that there’s a strong correlation between working hard and becoming successful. On the other hand, the average Egyptian (let’s call him ‘Hamada’) fundamentally does not believe so.

Joe believes that by being resourceful, staying focused, and summoning his tenacity, he can reach his goals. At the same time, he understands that while some or all of his hard work might go to waste because of bad luck or bad timing, he works hard anyway. Despite knowing full well that success is not guaranteed. While luck might propel him to rare levels of success, he figures that strong commitment will still push him to some level of success, even if it’s not record-breaking. In that way, Joe has an asset that I think is abundant in the West but rare in Egypt: discipline.

Hamada is just not like that. From idle discussions in café’s to friendly gatherings, you can quickly sense that people in Egypt think of success differently – namely that it’s primarily driven by chance. There’s always that one story of the “guy who was just like us but by total coincidence got into the right business at the right time, and now he’s ‘mashaAllah!’”. When you offer the view that maybe that guy put a lot of work into being ready for when the right opportunities come along, you’re dismissed with an all-knowing smile and told “di arza2 yabny”. It was apparently inevitable. Written in the stars that some people, without doing much work, will just find pots of gold waiting for them.

This mentality goes way beyond the occasional oversimplification of someone’s success. It’s an entire psyche. A coping mentality that justifies everything. Hamada believes that there’s essentially no point in working hard all the time. It won’t amount to anything in the end. And even if it does, “they’ll take it all away from you”, so why even try. There’s always the undertone that while he could take a chance, he has wisely chosen not to. He’ll say that it’s all about having the right connections, or that he wants to do it well or not at all, that or the government will definitely go after him. He’ll blame anyone but himself.

To compliment this, Hamada will resort to procrastination and black comedy memes about how we’re all powerless and there’s no money. He’ll celebrate the idea that we have no control over what happens to us. In all honesty, the economic situation is terrible, and some of these memes are hilarious - but they also betray a deeper sense of resignation and despair.

Hamada sometimes has good days though, where he can clearly see where the rewards will lead. And on these days, he’s excited, engaged, and works his ass off. He’s optimistic and giddy, and feels like the world is his for the taking. But then he has a bad day, and falls back to his default mode: resigned, bitter, and self-defeating. Failing to develop a true appreciation of the effort it takes to get somewhere.

It’s not like Hamada doesn’t have good reasons to have a bad outlook. The country is struggling, rule of law is weak, and every day he hears stories of people who lost everything just because they dared to dream. Some of these stories paint a really dark picture: that this part of the world is just very unfair.

To this, I’d like to offer some perspective: everywhere is unfair.

During my time abroad, I’ve witnessed firsthand some pretty surprising injustices. Hard to imagine, huh? Trust me, victories for the little guy are not easy. In describing this, my purpose isn’t to promote a state of existential depression, but rather to impress this universal reality: the world is unfair.

What Joe does with this information is choose to work hard anyway. Maybe he’ll fly under the radar, or fight back, or find common ground. Maybe, somehow, it won’t have all been for nothing.

What Hamada does with this information is: cope, and live to eat another day. While he occasionally has bursts of superhuman productivity, he isn’t consistent. He doesn’t fight for a better life on the good days and on the bad. He lacks discipline. For him to stay productive, he needs to constantly be pumped up, stimulated, reasoned with, validated when he’s complaining, and very very carefully accommodated. He doesn’t take kindly to being told to stop it and grow up. To him, feedback like this is tone-deaf and inauthentic.

I was like that. I was entitled, thin-skinned, shortsighted, and generally difficult to manage when I was more junior. And the most valuable feedback I received was to basically grow up. Grind it out and live through the circumstances till the job is done. Because getting anywhere is not easy. Expect failure, plan for it, don’t be surprised when you encounter it, and work around it. Approach any sign of success with caution and skepticism while simultaneously nurturing it and lowering your expectations. Make giving it your very best the default, not the exception.

And while doing all of this, continue summoning the belief -even if not the certainty- that it’s worth the struggle. Because who knows, if you give it everything, you just might succeed.

So my advice to Hamada, and to myself every day, is: just work hard anyway man. Especially on the days where you don’t see the point. Because those are the days that count.

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“The secrets to success are numerous, but most important among them is…mastery.” - Mahmoud El Araby