Story

The story behind the guide.

A 2026 concept study by Razaz Ghandourah
01The problem↓ 02The gap, in numbers↓ 03Who it's for↓ 04How it developed↓ 05The reasoning↓ 06The framework↓ 07Testing↓
Problem

Much of professional life is learned after the job begins.

People are taught the job, but left to figure out how work moves around it.

Much of professional life is learned after the job begins: how decisions move, how expectations are clarified, how people work together, and what is yours to manage. Muhaya helps make that hidden layer easier to navigate.

Muhaya is not
a career coach an HR portal a job-search platform an employee handbook
it's a way to think through the real moments.
“nobody told me
this part.”
The gap, in numbers

What the numbers can and can't show.

What has been measured, in U.S. data
54%
of U.S. employees do not strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work. Only 46% do.
Source: Gallup (opens in a new tab) · as of August 2026 · Last checked 20 October 2026
53.5%
of 237 U.S. employers surveyed rated recent graduates highly proficient in communication, though 96.1% rated it highly important.
Source: NACE (opens in a new tab) · surveyed Aug–Sep 2024
The Saudi context
361,000
Saudis entered the labour market for the first time in 2024, as Saudis working in the private sector rose to 2.4 million.
Source: Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) (opens in a new tab) · 2024 (announced 2 January 2025)
1.2 → 1.7
is how the average number of employers Saudi men had worked for rose between 2015 and 2025 (women: 1.0 → 1.5), most of all among young Saudis.
Source: World Bank, prepared at the request of MHRSD (opens in a new tab) · 2015 vs 2025 (3LMS)
Who it's for

Built for the first years of work.

Made for
Early-career professionals in Saudi Arabia
Especially in the first years of work, while you’re still learning how work runs beyond the job description. Useful at any stage when the role, team or rules are new.
You'll leave with
“I understand what's happening better, and I know what I can do next.”
How it developed

From an observation to a method.

01Observation 02Problem framing 03Research 04Decomposition 05Method 06Application 07Testing
What was built
A four-move method with three lenses, 15 situation guides, references and insights
The reasoning, not just the output

The structure changed when the problem changed.

The final framework looks simple because several weaker structures were rejected first.
Rejected approach 01

A broad capability model

I started with a larger multi-dimension model. It captured many relevant ideas, but the categories overlapped and made a workplace situation harder, not easier, to see.
Rejected approach 02

Three domains as the whole framework

Self, People and Organization were cleaner, but treating them as steps created another problem. A real situation can involve all three at once.
What survived

A process + three lenses

The process tells you how to move through the situation. The lenses help you see the situation clearly inside Step 2.
Design decision
Muhaya does not force a whole situation into one category. It decomposes the situation through three distinct lenses (the self, the people, and the system) and uses them only where they are useful.
The framework, at a glance

Four moves, three lenses.

1
Recognize
2
See Clearly
Self
People
Organization
3
Consider
4
Act
the lenses are a tool inside move 2, not a separate process Explore the method →
Testing

The Method has to survive real workplace situations, not just designed examples.

Completed: internal stress test
I applied the Method to six deliberately different situations (ambiguity, hierarchy, dependency, ownership, prioritization, and ethical judgment) to see whether the same structure could hold under different kinds of workplace pressure. The situation library later expanded beyond that first set.
Planned: user testing
Testing with working professionals from Muhaya's intended audience.
Participants will bring real workplace situations they have recently faced. The test will look at whether they can recognize their situation, understand what is really going on, identify a responsible next step, use the wording naturally, judge timing, and know when the issue should move to someone else or a formal channel.
The purpose is not to prove that Muhaya is “useful.” It is to see what the Method covers, where it breaks, and what should change because of what I learn.
01
Coverage
02
Clarity
03
Next action
04
Wording
05
Timing
06
Safety
START WITH
WHAT HAPPENED.
Find your situation →