Thoughts

Whether you’re building a new app, launching a marketing campaign, or rolling out a digital grading platform, the success of your project begins with  clear goals  and  measurable outcomes . But how do you define what success actually looks like? That’s where SMART goals and OKRs come in. Let’s break down these tools using some practical questions and examples to help you sharpen your project management skills. ✅ What Makes a Goal  Specific ? To make a goal specific, you need clarity. Ask yourself: What do I want to accomplish? Who is involved? Where should it be delivered? For example, “Improve customer service” is vague. But “Improve customer service response time by 20% through email support” is specific and actionable. 📏 What Makes a Goal  Measurable ? Measurable goals help you track progress and determine when success has been achieved. Look for goals with numbers and clear criteria like: “Achieve a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction ratings” “Increa...

  Making Sense of Data: What Every Beginner Should Know We live in a world full of data. From the messages we send to the videos we watch, we’re creating data all the time. But just having data isn’t enough—we need to know how to use it. That’s where data analysts come in. This blog breaks down some of the basic ideas about data, how it’s organized, and why it matters—especially if you’re starting out in data analytics. 🧱  What Is Structured vs Unstructured Data? Imagine a neat, well-organized spreadsheet. That’s  structured data —things like sales numbers, customer lists, or dates, stored in rows and columns. Now think of a voice recording, a photo, or a social media post. That’s  unstructured data —it's messy and doesn't fit into a nice table. While harder to analyze, it often holds valuable information. Most of the data in the world today is unstructured, but you’ll usually work with structured data as an analyst. 📊  Types of Data You’ll Work With There are...

Decoding Data: The Journey from Raw Information to Strategic Insight Inspired by my recent Coursera course experience - for my own reference 🧠 Why Data Analysts Matter More Than Ever In today’s digital world, data is being generated every second—from the steps we take to the content we engage with online. Yet, raw data by itself is meaningless. It must be cleaned, interpreted, and shaped into insights that drive action. That’s the job of a  data analyst —professionals who turn complexity into clarity, using data to support decisions, solve problems, and create value. Two fundamental concepts a data analyst must truly master are: 🔄 The  Data Life Cycle 🔍 The  Data Analysis Process While they may overlap, these two concepts are not interchangeable. One governs  how data is managed . The other explains  how data is used . 🔄 The Data Life Cycle: Managing Data Responsibly The  Data Life Cycle  defines the stages data moves through from its creation to e...

Addu City Council and the Promise of Decentralization: Power to the People, or Just Paperwork? I’ve always believed that  Addu City should be run by its people, for its people . We know our challenges. We know our dreams. And we deserve the power to shape our own future. That’s the heart of decentralization— bringing decision-making closer to the community  and giving local councils like ours the authority to lead change. But let’s be honest. Despite the decentralization laws in place,  Addu City Council still faces serious obstacles . Bureaucracy, limited capacity, outdated systems, and political interference all hold us back from delivering the kind of services our community deserves. To truly make decentralization work for Addu,  we must transform how the Council and the Secretariat operate . That means building a culture focused on  collaboration, innovation, and smart use of technology . It means reimagining public service—not as red tape, but as a tool to ...

I made my choice. I decided to stand with MP Aslam for a record 4th consecutive term in the Parliament. Here is why. I have seen more than 100 years of combined experience conveniently move to the Executive after PE2018. The most senior parliamentarians in the Maldives history, including the current President who served the people of Lhaviyani (and later, Hinnavaru Constituency for 5 consecutive terms). The current Foreign Minister who served as a parliamentarian for 25 years also left the parliament and is a huge loss to legislature. The most senior lady in the chamber also moved to the Administration as the Defense Minister. These are all huge losses to the Parliament. Let's face it. The Parliament has to be the most important institution in the country. This is where legislation are made, where the Gov is made accountable on behalf of the People, where complex political and social conversations are carried out, where solutions are drawn to complex political issues, where t...

Change is inevitable. For me, the million dollar question is, what are we going to do to make this change beneficial to us. Yes, we demand a truly decentralized government and we want to be able to fully dictate on how we want to shape our city, how we build the economic vitality we all aspire, have full autonomy to decide what kind of humanity we want our children and the future generations of our people to inherit. The President-Elect has often assured the people that one of his first official act as the President of Maldives will be to empower the elected councils. I am hoping he will deliver on that promise shortly after taking the presidential oath. The promises are big and bold , but the current civil service legislation and structure is not conducive to delivering such mega-promises in such a short a time frame. One of the ideas floating around among the thought leaders in the community is to form "Addu Development Corporation", something similar to Hu...