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Rated number one company in all aspects and categories on the WORLD STOCK EXCHANGE 2030

Please note: All numerics are in African dollars (A$)

• Assets of over 300 trillion A$
• Annual Profit after tax and community upliftment: A$500 billion
• GDP Growth of 12% year on year
• 92% employment
• 0% poverty

Can this really happen?

For those who think every African comment is based on tribalism, racism, pessimism, colonialism, communism …there is only one ism that counts and that’s OPTIMISM.

So, those who see Africa as a place of optimism, this is for you.

Optimism only exists if one can see the light at the end of some chasm, without the light we just get the negativity of dark thoughts and the gut wrench of frustration.

Those who have lived for a long time on this continent, have ALL possibly experienced exasperating thoughts about a variety of popular subject matters ranging from potholes, viruses, political incompetency, corrupt officials, Ebola, HIV, wars, desperate plights, emigration, immigration, hungry eyes, greed, policeonomics, flowing street sewers, failed schemes/cities/countries, plastic bag flowers and senseless deaths. It makes me feel despondent every time I read a paper, look on facebook or watch the news, so guess what we do, watch it even more and now we soon become back room facebookers and eternal pessimists…eish, I hate others’ who perpetually whinge and hate myself every time I go there. Sharing points of view does not necessarily make you a proponent of the message but it does taint you with the message and I have been a culprit of this. We share negativity as if it will somehow change everyone’s actions, but sadly it doesn’t, it just enhances the justification of another “ism”.

Is there a solution, a light that we can actually all see, or don’t we all see light the same?

Bubble bath thinking allows us to switch from the realities of real life to the sanctity of warmth, cleanliness and open free thought. As I came up for a breath, I swished the bubbles and froth from my forehead and a thought of immense optimism hit me.

As a business sort of guy, I have 4 companies that somehow miraculously work and give 40 odd people a meaningful job, allows me to ride my bike in weekends and drink a few ales with mates, provides the Tax Man, the Vat Man and the ANC celebs with a few bucks to fix our roads, educate our children and enhance a country for the benefit of all. I pay several commercial suppliers including Telkom and Eskom and whatever other “koms or cons” are out there, to provide the juice to keep us going. I was even given some BEE brownie points by my Government for educating my black son…wow life is full of amazement.

 But how did all this happen?

Was it a fluke, my heritage, inheritance, skin colour, education, personality, beastly good looks, diet, my tribe, my skills, my mates, my mother, my luck?

This got me thinking and like most businessmen, we tend to look back and start to preach to our staff and especially children about how we made it in those harsh post war days. We all know how this ends up!

The reality of personal or business success comes from the simple ability to have good idea and make sure you implement it properly. Of course, other people (customers) must also believe in and see some value in your grandiose ideas, otherwise it’s just another orbital pie in the sky.

Another learning we mostly have from business is that, the only way to create a bigger success than the one you originally thought of, was to grow an idea or a business exponentially by partnering with other smart people and allowing them to do what they do, better than you. This is the art of skillful delegation/cooperation/collaboration and allows the synergetic momentum to get people to help create a common dream by applying their contributions to the business model.

At this point, as I emerged from the bubbles and thought of Africa and how to turn it into the most successful business in the world. What a challenge, what optimism, what a dream, where is the light?

Let’s look at this quite simply, as any form of complexity tends to irritate me. Let’s break this down and see if this thought hasn’t got some meat attached (sorry vegans, a bit insensitive)

What’s the light that we all want to see?

This would seem easy as we see it in every NGOs vision statement and even in most political parties “promise statements”. Let’s try a few of the ones we observe while driving down memory lane….

• A country where everyone has a valued and meaningful job. Some, however (not all) would get rid of the valued and meaningful jargon and just settle for a good paying job.
• A country where we have freedom.
• A country where everyone has education
• A country where everyone is healthy
• A country where….yawn, yawn

This is the never-ending list that most African political aspirants subscribe to and sadly most of it is based around western values, especially $$$$$

What is the real light for Africa, the vision that would grab 600 million people to want to be part of anything?

What gets your staff, your friends, your brothers to pitch up every day and give it “horns”…yes $$$$ will be there, but what do they need the $$$$ for?

• A comfortable place to live, better known as a home
• A couple of good meals a day
• A facility where my offspring learn cool things
• A job where I can express my competencies and be appreciated by earning some $$$
• Mates that enjoy my company and support me
• A sports team that wins more than it loses
• A reliable way of getting around to cool places, visiting mates, getting to work and to watch my team
• Our country winning some Gold medals at the Olympics and worldly events.

There may be a few more but that’s being greedy and I am a firm believer that if all 600 million could see this as the “light”, there would be a unified approach and effort to get the African Team (600 mill) to respond. As long as a man has a dream, keeps the dream and believes in the dream, he will chase that dream. As an employer, I believe that if your staff has that dream and if you can provide opportunity and facilities to allow that to happen, then most will fight the good fight.

MY LIGHT MOMENT

I am a firm believer that if you can’t do the job or haven’t got time to do the job or believe someone else could do it better…it’s simple; delegate it to those persons who can do it best.

This simple business philosophy fails if you delegate to idiots, but I’m thinking that within the 600 million participants, there has got to be at least 500 million smarter than me, so it shouldn’t be difficult to delegate appropriately on this massive continent.

I am however, not stupid enough to fall into the supremacist approach of going into the drama of African failures and disappointments, but let’s look at what causes failure in most businesses and relate this to our African Motherland.

• Non-existent or poor vision. Without something that excites us we don’t get out of bed and participate. When you cannot see the reason or purpose in something, it becomes a chore, a purgatorial act that irritates sensible and active persons. The current Africa Unincorporated has many “visions” that are probably wish lists or more likened to glorified shopping lists, if the inhabitants lived in a world of “wished for freebies”. You ask most successful CEOs the principle reason why their EXCO Boards are committed and it’s not always about the money, but about what they can achieve or aspire to achieve, that matters most. Companies without a meaningful vision or purpose don’t last, they take the short-term profits and run, no one remembers them for the right reasons and they are like some hyena-like acquaintances you meet in life, they take but never give back.

• Poor leadership. If the navigation and running of the ship is left to a bunch of “know-all’s”, you’ll hear a lot of theories and excuses, but nothing that actually makes sense. Great leaders know how to communicate their meaning to others and influence the right behaviour. They don’t chop and change, they are humble, clear, committed, sensible and never give up on what’s right.

• Poor management. The company rots from the head! The best ideas badly managed results in chaotic and spasmodic busts of effort and success. Nothing becomes sustainable, and the company/country has sporadic bursts of wins but mostly embarrassing mishaps. How do we get best management? I suggest get onto Linkedin or whatever and get professionals who know how to attain results from willing resources (mostly people), respected for their integrity and able to know the difference from right and wrong and act on this.

• Poor systems and processes. Even the most competent management and enthusiastic staff will fail if 1 + 1 always ends up less than 2. Give the population a benchmarked standard operating process to follow, something that easy to understand and work with. Part of the processes is to supply a proper induction and ongoing job-related training. It will be critical to setup practical academies and apprenticeships to supply the population with clarity about the jobs and skills required to participate.

• Short-term thinking and CYA behavior. When an organization rewards short term gains and not long-term efforts, it creates a culture of “look what I did boss…what do I get for this?” The sad reality is that most MGT are under the whip to give instant results and a good Board should allow a MGT team appropriate time to develop a proper long-term strategy and allow for short term budgeted downside occurrences. This will allow a management team to do what’s right and not what’s popular.

• A communication process that conveniently shuts out and ignores the majority of the 600 million stakeholders. Ever worked in a company where no matter what you say, no one acts or they just say…”yea, that’s so right” and then drift off? Apathy is one of the most disengaging behaviors that we humans have. Think about your relationship and how important it is to listen properly and actively to your spouse and children and trusted friends…say no more.

So, how does this affect our United Africa, “the wealthiest opportunity yet to be unleashed”.  It is clear that the Africa right now has a lot of questionable leaders and managers, some trying to do a good job but mostly out of their depth, when it comes to dealing with growth strategies and creating adequate returns on assets available.  It is clear that if we don’t invest in a management team of the highest quality to lead and manage all of Africa’s abundant assets and resources, we will eventually (and in some cases, already are) be in liquidation and spend the rest of our African lives groveling around our Western and Eastern “bankers” asking for handouts to survive.

Well, my thinking is based around the simple philosophy that Africa is a company, yes a very big one; it has 600 million employees, dependents, children, learners, complainers, protesters, pensioners, dreamers, entrepreneurs, capitalists, communists, socialists, vagrants and some criminals. They all live and work for the best company every created:

Africa Incorporated:

A company where ordinary people live extraordinary lives

SHAREHOLDERS:           All Stakeholders living on the African Continent

VISION:                                To dominate the WORLD! (sorry this was taken from someone else’s vision)

OUR VISION:                     To have all 600 million Africans and our many tourist and business visitors happy, energized and proud of being part of our company and continent (work place).

STRATEGY:                        To run Africa as a successful and world leading company, with strong values and a strong desire to deliver on diverse stakeholder expectations.

MISSION:                            Run a social welfare-based system for 5-10 years and grow this into a more Market and Green/Sustainable system thereafter. 

GOALS:                    

• To have 85% employment, the balance will receive socialist benefits to live a respectable life until they can work. (We respect that not everyone can work, but we will ensure they are respected and given an opportunity to actively participate in our country)
• To have 100% of our children educated and employable
• To have 100% of our people above the poverty line, every person will have access to 2 meals a day and a place to live with a bed to sleep in and a second set of clothes to wear.
• To have 85% of our people in their own homes, the rest in subsidized community sponsored homes
• To have 100% of our people given access to the world’s best health and hospital facilities
• To have 85% of our population transported to work by efficient public transport
• To have a carbon friendly transport network that allows all our people to get to work.
• To have communities being autonomous but not exclusive
• Police stations that are community help and service centers
• Prisons that are empty

ACTION PLANS

Wow…how long have you got?

STRUCTURE

• One United States of Africa (USA…oops!) or Africa Incorporated
• No borders and free mobility of people.
• Only residential land can be owned, all other land falls into the capitalized assets of Africa Incorporated (AI ) and fairly distributed according to best use and best user.
• The assets of Africa are incorporated into AI who then leases these assets out to the respective members of the AI collective (previously known as countries).
• The leases are auctioned and given for limited periods of time as long as each AI member pays their lease and provides the agreed returns on the assets engaged.
• Failure to pay for the lease will result in a default procedure and result in a re-auction to another AI team that can best comply with its terms and returns.
• Define the AI culture by setting up an AI constitution, values, defined work ethic processes, diversity policies, performance evaluation measurements and incentives.
• Each country must give up its sovereignty and become a member/division/department/contributor of the AI
• Each member has an internal Management team (elected internally) and the MD and FD each are represented on the main AI Board/Parliament
• Each AI member is given contributory targets to achieve and contribute to AI
• Each member will have autonomy with regards to operational processes but must comply with the Constitution of AI
• Each member has 2 representatives on the Board of AI (MD and FD) and these have to change every 5 years

In conclusion, I have not really thought this through in to the deepest depth but, as I am still in the bath and it’s getting cold, I will delegate the deeper thinking and planning to those best trained in such things.

“Over, but not out” 

John Ingram

Director of the HiSide Group

john@cpt.teambuild.co.za

MY LIGHT MOMENT

I am a firm believer that if you can’t do the job or haven’t got time to do the job or believe someone else could do it better …it’s simple; delegate it to the person or persons who can do it best.

This simple business philosophy fails if you employ idiots into your business, but I think that within the 600 million there has got to be at least 500 million smarter than me, so it shouldn’t be difficult to delegate on this massive continent.

I am, however, not stupid enough to fall into the supremacist approach of going into the drama of African failures and disappointments, but let’s look at what causes failure in most businesses and relate this to our African Motherland.

• Non-existent or poor vision. Without something that excites us, we don’t get out of bed and participate. When you cannot see the reason or purpose in something, it becomes a chore, a purgatorial act that irritates sensible persons. The current Africa Unincorporated has many “visions” that are probably wish lists or more likened to shopping lists if the inhabitants lived in a world of wished for freebies. You ask most successful CEOs the principle reason why their EXCO Boards are committed and its not about the money but about what they can achieve or aspire to achieve, that matters most. Companies without a meaningful vision or purpose don’t last, they take the short-term profits and run, no one remembers them and they are like some hyena-like acquaintances you meet in life, they take but never give back.
• Poor leadership. If the navigation and running of the ship are left to a bunch of “know-all’s”, you’ll hear a lot of theories and excuses, but nothing that actually makes sense. Great leaders know how to communicate their meaning to others and influence the right behaviour. They don’t chop and change; they are humble, clear, and sensible and never give up on what’s right.
• Poor management. The company rots from the head! The best ideas badly managed results in chaotic and spasmodic bursts of effort and success. Nothing becomes sustainable, and the company/country has sporadic bursts of wins but mostly mishaps deluxe. How do we get the best management? I suggest get onto Linkedin or whatever and get professionals who know how to attain results from willing resources (mostly people), respected for their integrity and able to know the difference from right and wrong and act on this.
• Poor systems and processes. Even the most competent management and enthusiastic staff will fail if 1 + 1 always ends up lost. Give the population a process to follow, something that is easy to understand.
• Short-term thinking and CYA behaviour. When an organization rewards short term gains and not long term efforts, it creates a culture of “look what I did boss…what do I get for this?” The sad reality is that most MGT are under the whip to give instant results and a good Board should allow a MGT team appropriate time to develop a proper long term strategy and allow for short term budgeted downside occurrences. This will allow a management team to do what’s right and not what’s popular.
• A communication process that conveniently shuts out and ignores the majority of the 600 million stakeholders. Ever worked in a company where no matter what you say, no one acts or they just say…” yea that’s so right” and then drift off? It’s one of the most disengaging behaviours that we humans have in not listening. Think about your relationship and how important it is to listen to your spouse and children and trusted friends…say no more.

So, how does this affect our United Africa, “the wealthiest opportunity yet to be unleashed”.  It is clear that Africa right now has a lot of questionable leaders and managers, some trying to do a good job but mostly out of their depth when it comes to dealing with growth strategies and creating adequate returns on assets available.  It is clear that if we don’t invest in a management team of the highest quality to lead and manage all of Africa’s abundant assets and resources, we will eventually (and in most cases we already are) in liquidation and spend the rest of our African lives grovelling around our Western and Eastern “bankers” asking for handouts to survive.

Well, my thinking is based around the simple philosophy that Africa is a company, yes a very big one; it has 600 million employees, dependents, children, learners, complainers, protesters, pensioners, dreamers, entrepreneurs, capitalists, communists, vagrants and some criminals. They all live and work for the best company ever created:

Africa Incorporated: A company where ordinary people live extraordinary lives

SHAREHOLDERS:           All Stakeholders living on the African Continent

VISION:                                To dominate the WORLD! (sorry this was taken from someone else’s vision)

OUR VISION:                     To have all 600 million Africans and our many tourist and business visitors happy, energized and proud of being part of our company and continent (workplace).

STRATEGY:                        To run Africa as a successful and world-leading company, with strong values and a strong desire to deliver on diverse stakeholder expectations.

GOALS:                    

• To have 85% employment, the balance will receive benefits to live a respectable life until they can work. (We respect that not everyone can work, but we will ensure they are respected and given an opportunity to actively participate in our country)
• To have 100% of our children educated and employable
• To have 100% of our people above the poverty line, every person will have access to 2 meals a day and a bed to sleep in and a place to live and a second set of clothes to wear.
• To have 85% of our people in their own homes, the rest in subsidized community-sponsored homes
• To have 100% of our people given access to the worlds best health and hospital facilities
• To have 85% of our population transported to work by efficient public transport
• To have a carbon-friendly transport network that allows all our people to get to work.
• To have communities being autonomous but not exclusive
• Police stations that are community help centres
• Prisons that are empty

ACTION PLANS

Wow…how long have you got?

STRUCTURE

• One United States of Africa (USA…oops!) or Africa Incorporated
• No borders and free mobility of people.
• Only residential land can be owned, all other land falls into the capitalized assets of Africa Incorporated (AI ) and is distributed according to best use and best user.
• The assets of Africa are incorporated into AI who then leases these assets out to the respective members of the AI collective (previously known as countries).
• The leases are auctioned and given for limited periods of time as long as each AI member pays their lease and provides the agreed returns on the assets engaged.
• Failure to pay for the lease will result in a default procedure and result in a re-auction to another AI team that can best comply with its terms and returns.
• Define the AI culture by setting up an AI constitution, values, defined work ethic processes, diversity policies, performance evaluation measurements and incentives.
• Each country must give up its sovereignty and become a member/division/department/contributor of the AI
• Each member has an internal Management team (elected internally), and the MD and FD each are represented on the main AI Board
• Each AI member is given contributory targets to achieve and contribute to the AI
• Each member will have autonomy with regards to operational processes but must comply with the Constitution of AI
• Each member has two representatives on the Board of AI (MD and FD), and these have to change every five years

In conclusion, I have not really thought this through into the deepest depth but, as I am still in the bath and it’s getting cold, I will delegate the deeper thinking and planning to those best trained in such things.

“Over but not out.” 

John Ingram

Director of the HiSide Group

john@cpt.teambuild.co.za

We often live in fear of what could be around the corner, or what’s hiding in the unknown. This is mainly based on us wanting to maintain the status quo, especially when its’ not causing problems or it’s the reason why we have our current success. All businesses strive to create some order to have a level of consistency and reliability in what they do. This is mostly based on the Law of Pareto, where we know we can’t excel at everything, so let’s focus on the 20% of things that give us 80% of our success. Many managers are scared to tamper with this for the obvious reasons.

Today with the many disruptions we face in our events markets, we cannot afford to wait for the disruption, we go out and find it before it hits. This brings us to one of our principle values in the HISIDE Group…CURIOSITY.

Curiosity

Noun

1.A strong desire to know or learn something

“filled with curiosity, the HISIDE team stalked the web for international trends.”

2.An unusual or interesting object or fact

“Through its curiosity, the HISIDE Group realised the impact of AI in the RSVP domain.”

 In the past, this fear of the unknown has kept most from being curious. Often it’s a case of not really wanting to know what’s on the other side. It might be expensive, and it might be dangerous; it may mean having to act or do something! This curiosity has to be permitted and encouraged as it’s not for everyone to voluntarily try or do.

For this reason, we have learned to force the issue of curiosity in two ways:

1. After every event, we complete a compulsory debrief where the good, the bad and the ugly are exposed and discussed. We look at what was planned, communicated, understood and executed. From this, we extract not only what we need to fix but more importantly, what opportunities exist if we do something differently.
2. The company brainstorm is something everyone looks forward to, as follows unless of course you are not being invited! The process is simple, we take any regular processes or system, and we hypothetically ban its use, which means we have to find another way. This opens the field from the banal to the bizarre. There is no wrong answer; there are only answers which provide us with opportunities.

Most companies or teams will agree, this is a “no brainer”, but why does it not happen as a standard in most companies?

Sadly, the culture of the company is often driven by careful Management who only understand that “Curiosity killed the cat”  whereas we can easily change this age-old quote to be “Curiosity allowed the cat to become a Lion.”

Quick Tips

1. Allow your team to challenge the status quo by setting up formal times and meetings to do such.
2. Introduce dysfunction into your business thinking
3. Acknowledge new ideas
4. Get rid of the “Yes…But” work vocabulary

John Ingram

Director of the HISIDE Group