DROUGHT, POLITICS & STRIKING WORKERS

The current predicament prevailing in Kenya is one that does warrant some scrutiny in detail. The trend of conditions indicate that though several players are pushing their interests and trying to create the advantage for themselves, the outcomes are really beyond all of them. The current global mood of intolerance does not favor strong international relations. In this environment every country is to fend for itself as everyone concentrates on their own business. In these circumstances I strongly recommend that we re-examine our national values and the spirit of our personal commitments to the land God has entrusted to us.

We know that drought is an (unfortunate) environmental phenomenon that man may bring about, but is certainly not in control of. Only God can right that wrong. Man is not in control of the elements and therefore his destiny is in the hands of God. Indeed, there are areas with no water; no crops and animals are dying in the fields. The people affected in these areas cannot vote in a government that will produce rain, nor will the award of higher rewards for striking workers produce crops in the fields.

There is a misplaced belief that politicians have the answer to the nation’s problems, but any set of politicians that will inherit leadership will be saddled with a government and a country to lead. I would be very careful in these circumstances and consider the fact that leadership at this time in the nation’s destiny would require divine intervention.  

The case of striking workers is one which entrepreneurs look on in pure wonder and amazement! No entrepreneur can go on strike. His or her livelihood depends solely on his or her own initiative. Save for the grace of God the entrepreneur has no recourse to his future. Employees, for some strange reason, entertain the privilege of unconditionally determining their pay. This is a most unfortunate circumstance in which no one benefits, people die, industry suffers and workers compromise their personal integrity.  Whether it is drought, politics, strikes or corruption the victims are the people. To my mind, these set of circumstances cannot be solved by any one man or even group of women. I beg you my people that it is time to seek the face of God.

Allan Bukusi is a leadership consultant and author of several eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

Transforming Africa

The Master Trainer

The Strategic Business Forum

I have just worked through the essentials of the Strategic Business Forum with Harris. A Strategic Business Forum (SBF) is not a board, a stakeholders meeting or a think tank. Though it may appear to have similarities to all those institutions, the SBF has a core focus and specific purpose – to chart out a strategic path for businesses within a market. Those businesses may a) be facing a specific challenge within a market, b) wish to benefit from perspectives of other businesses under the same market conditions. c) SBFs can also be used to create industry direction and focus for the greater good (i.e. corporate success and survival rather than individual success). The motivation for participating in an SBF is in engineering the greater good rather than financial success.

FORM

The SBF is made up of entrepreneurs in the same market, but not the same industry who gather together to analyze and interpret global and macro environmental trends that affect and impact the  operations of their individual business(sectors) and try to determine a strategic framework that will ensure the survival and success of the (represented businesses) into the future.

KEY QUESTIONS

SBFs ask themselves several key questions that result in a strategic development framework for a business to craft a plan for its future survival and success;

1.  How have we survived so far? What have we done right in our businesses, what have we learned to do, what systems structures have we put in place that have enabled us to survive. (Do we have good products; do we have competitive systems, people, or just opportunities? Or are we just favored by fate?...)

2.  What are the global trends that could lead to the butterfly effect and impact us directly as a market?

3.  What are the current macro Social, Economic and Environmental (SEE) conditions that have immediate short or medium term impact on our operations as a business in this market?   

4.  Given the global trends and macro market conditions, what are the best and worst case scenarios that could emerge the medium term given these conditions.

5.    Given all the above; how can we position our businesses for survival and success in the prevailing environment and future environment. How can we proactively influence that future environment by creating models, designs and concepts that will mitigate the adverse effects of that future and advance positive survival in that environment.

6.   Finally, what strategic operational framework will enable businesses represented in the SBF to succeed and excel in future, by implementing those principles today?

From the outcomes of the six discussion guidelines above it should be clear that this forum cannot go on forever, unless it turns into a think tank with an unlimited range. It should also be clear that this discussion can be held without individual businesses fearing loss of their trade secrets to competitors and simply draws on the master mind that drives business in the market. Neither does the SBF guarantee specific outcomes. All the SBF does is to benefit from the multiple perspectives of common challenges faced by entrepreneurs within a market, industry, sub-sector, street or building. Nevertheless, it does give instrumental direction to (business) communities within a market, industry or social interest groups.  

DISRUPTION

The objectives of an SBF can be achieved in one meeting or in three or four meetings spread out over a few months. SBF members need to maintain the flexibility to engage and pursue their own business interest in order to generate value at the forum. However, since SBFs are not boards they can be “banded” and “disbanded” without any feelings of disloyalty. Indeed. If SBFs stay together for too long or meet too frequently they will begin to develop “constructive” rather than “disruptive” thinking and become convergent thinkers that will no longer benefit from divergence of their experience.

The SBFs harness concrete business sense and because the wisdom generated at the forum is from real players (entrepreneurs) and not market observers. Nonetheless, SBFs can benefit from perceptive consultants who can trigger insight on wider and “bigger” picture issues and complex considerations - You cannot see the full picture when you are in the frame.  

The SBF does not develop micro-operational plans for businesses, but it does provide food for individual business boards and senior managers to create specific action plans and policy framework to ensure the future survival of the business in the short to medium term. This means boards and senior management teams must ask themselves the transformational 7^th question – How does all of this apply to us and what are we going to do about it?

CONCLUSION

The SBF is a powerful market intelligence instrument and can serve to raise the success levels of businesses present by enabling entrepreneurs and senior managers to take strategic decisions with respect to market trends. Indeed effective SBFs in a given market can also influence the short and medium term direction of that market. The other benefits of SBFs include the development of strategic and problem solving industry skills and market mechanisms.    

Finally, the selection of persons making up an SBF is of great import in terms of the nature, quality and outcomes of the forum. The selection should be careful to harness diversity of thought experience, exposure, education and expertise. Nonetheless, this forum will benefit more from entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial mindset than seasoned leaders, managers or administrators. The process skill sets of an SBF are more or less the same as those of an effective brainstorming exercise documenting specific outcomes under each key question. An SBF can create a sound foundation for transformative action, a movement, community action or social commitment program.

Allan Bukusi is a leadership consultant and the author of the following eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

Transforming Africa

The Master Trainer

Never say never!

I never thought I would ever want to be on a golf course for any reason. I thought that the concept of swinging a “bat” and searching tall grass for a “lost ball” was something that only people with nothing to do could spend time doing. But lo and behold – I am in! When I took my first swing at the club, I felt that I should have started this a long time ago. It was enjoyable and challenging at the same time. And of course, just like any other sport requires skill and a good sense of discipline.  Was I surprised? – Yes! Should I have been surprised?– Well no! Standing in the way for my opportunities was an attitude block. My misplaced assumptions about golf have kept me away from a chance to swing the club for 50 years! Save for the gentle nudging of David, It would never have happened. Sometimes you need friends like that. They don’t force you. They just let you try what you can do and what is good for you.

 Allan Bukusi is the author of the following eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

Transforming Africa

The Master Trainer

The spirit of Entitlement

Of the all the spirits that affect the human condition the spirit of entitlement is the most dissident. Its disabling, dishonoring and demeaning of the capacity of humanity for greatness knows no bounds. This spirits’ ability to draw attention away from the substantive and attend to the ignoble is incorrigible. The spirit, once accepted is intransigent, demanding and inconsolable and will choke the carrier of life to misery and death. Not that it must be, but the spirit of entitlement makes you feel it is best.

Allan Bukusi is the author is the following eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

Transforming Africa

The Master Trainer

You just might be illiterate

In my father’s generation literacy consisted of the “Three Rs” . There was Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. I have capitalized the ‘R’s so that you would not have to struggle like I did to make a proper acronym of the words. However the pun on words has turned out to be somewhat prophetic and is no longer a practical joke. Somehow in my generation literacy was reduced to “reading and writing” . Though this reduced the burden of becoming a literate person by conveniently removing that troublesome last R, arithmetic is essential for the creation, interpretation and operation in a digital world. The lack of capacity to handle the last R has left many countries in Africa groping in darkness and gasping for air after nations that are leading the technology revolution. By discarding arithmetic we are subject to advanced loan calculations we do not know how to compute!

One would be forgiven for thinking that by teaching people to read, they will automatically know how to write. When people actually used to write letters and compositions that may have been the case, nevertheless a cursory glance at the bulk of text messages exchanged across the globe, it would not be wrong to assume that people have NOT forgotten, rather they have NEVER learned to write! This may sound alarmist, but no new literature books of have emerged in Africa since the 1960’s. Africans don’t read African literature, to the extent that writers no longer write.  There are not only No developers of technology emerging in Africa, but there is a catastrophic drought of African writers. However, while the trend that writers do not write is disturbing, the indication that people do not read at all is disheartening!

This may seem a small matter to you, but though there is “plethora” of information on the internet, the uptake of reading of books, eBooks or anything that demands reading has been replaced by audio-visuals is changing the literacy agenda.  The next generation really does not need to read. The three Rs have been replaced by watching, hearing and talking (Three "As"). The three Rs engaged the brain and facilitated understanding. This latter form of literacy lets people know a lot of things, but does not enable them to understand much of it. We have lost a great deal of ground in throwing out the three Rs. A very sad moment for me was when the last real book shop that stocked all kinds of books (not just school texts) in the capital closed down last year. On the main street in the capital there is no bookshop. However, every building has a restaurant and several eating places. The shift of emphasis from the head, past the heart to the stomach is a sure sign of the loss of brain-fed literacy.

Allan Bukusi is a the author of the following eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

TransformingAfrica

The Master Trainer

Leadership is the ability to...

Leadership is the ability to initiate, activate, implement and accomplish a vision.

Allan Bukusi is the author of the following eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

TransformingAfrica

The Master Trainer

The difference between leading Leaders and Sheep!

There is a difference between leading sheep and leading leaders. If you take a break from leading sheep you will find them exactly where you left them. When you take a break from leading leaders you will find that they have moved on ahead. In order to turn followers into leaders, give them responsibility, train them to take initiative and solve problems. Challenge them to do the right thing as a good example for others to follow. And let them know that it is okay to stand out, to be different – to make the world a better place for everyone.

Allan Bukusi is the author of the following eBooks

Thinking Leadership in Africa

How to Prosper in employment

Transforming Africa

The Master Trainer