Well it seems I was wrong about Ms Baleka Mbete, and that the likely new President will be the current Deputy President of the ANC, Kgalema Motlanthe. Which just goes to show that I should not pretend to be a political analyst. Steven Friedman does that job very well, and I was impressed by his opinion piece in yesterday’s Business Day.
Currently I am involved in an interesting collaboration with 2 Dutch people – Sibrenne Wagenaar and Joitske Hulsebosh. We are together doing some research with IKM into different approaches to the evaluation of knowledge management strategies. This has involved a desktop literature study, and we are also interviewing people. We will be publishing a paper, and our findings will be presented in Holland in November and in Namibia early next year.
This collaboration has been interesting as we have done a lot of work together online, using tools such as Skype, Google Docs and blogging. This has been a new way of working for me and has led me to see the potential for using the internet as an interactive collaborative tool as well as a search engine and a networking forum.
I did have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with Sibrenne and Joitske when in Holland recently, and this certainly makes online collaboration easier, but increasingly I can see the potential for online collaboration and working over distance when one does not have the opportunity to meet one’s colleagues in person. This raises challenges in terms of how one builds trusting and cooperative relationships, minimising the opportunities for misunderstanding and conflict, without ever having met the other people.
I am also involved in developing another project together with my new Kessels and Smit colleague Julian Sturgeon. Julian is involved with an organisation called Resource Africa.
Our proposal is to investigate alternative forms of capacity building in the development sector with the intention of developing new and sustainable learning methodologies.
The ‘Empowering Emerging Farmers’ (EEF) project seeks to develop supply chains for agricultural products that can be marketed through the fair-trade mechanisms. Resource Africa’s role in the project is to assist emerging farmers to set up production systems and to develop management capacity in the community-based organisations.
With Julian, we are developing a systemic learning approach in which the project will aim to achieve the following:
Firstly, we will introduce a systemic organisational learning approach using different projects that are willing to particpate. Secondly, we will focus on measurable changes in the performance, creativity, sustainablility and impact of key organisations within the system - an example here would be a Common Property Association engaged in supplying fruit to the fair-trade system. Third, we hope this will result in a sustainable learning approach that can be applied in the arena of land reform and small-scale agriculture.
This is an exciting initiative and provides the opportunity for us to expand our work in a developmental context with a social learning approach.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Choose your title for this first blog on the post-Mbeki era: Packing for Perth; In for the Long Haul; Politicians Come and Go; Seize the Moment...
I write this as the breaking news comes through that President Thabo Mbeki is being 'recalled' by the ANC. Well, Presidents and Prime Ministers come and go - and like good soldiers some get knifed in the back (Thatcher), some fall on their swords (Blair), some try to re-invent themselves (Clinton).
But South Africa is a young democracy (less than 5,500 days old) and we have not had much experience of this kind of thing. Mandela retired after one term - that was it. Now Mbeki, who refused to do the decent thing and go quietly, and kicked out in what is effectively a mutiny at the gates of the Union Buildings. It may well be that other Cabinet members follow him - certainly Deputy President Ngcuka will not stay around.
So what next? We will live in interesting days for the next while as the dust settles. The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Baleka Mbete, is likely to be appointed as Acting President for an interim period. But we will need some certainty soon.
My hope is that the new President will lead a more collective and accountable approach to governance and policy-making. Of course, there is the potential now for a more pro-active approach to addressing issues of poverty, crime and HIV in the country, and a foreign policy that builds on the achievements of the Mbeki-era in peace-making in Central Africa to support a genuine and sustainable way forward for the people of Zimbabwe.
We also need to move beyond the 'big man' perspective on leadership. There are people of calibre within the ANC who can move into new positions in government - they come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. A good indication of how South Africa will move forward will be whether we can move beyond patrimonial politics and bring people into government because of their skills and abilities and not as reward for loyalty in past battles.
But South Africa is a young democracy (less than 5,500 days old) and we have not had much experience of this kind of thing. Mandela retired after one term - that was it. Now Mbeki, who refused to do the decent thing and go quietly, and kicked out in what is effectively a mutiny at the gates of the Union Buildings. It may well be that other Cabinet members follow him - certainly Deputy President Ngcuka will not stay around.
So what next? We will live in interesting days for the next while as the dust settles. The Speaker of Parliament, Ms Baleka Mbete, is likely to be appointed as Acting President for an interim period. But we will need some certainty soon.
My hope is that the new President will lead a more collective and accountable approach to governance and policy-making. Of course, there is the potential now for a more pro-active approach to addressing issues of poverty, crime and HIV in the country, and a foreign policy that builds on the achievements of the Mbeki-era in peace-making in Central Africa to support a genuine and sustainable way forward for the people of Zimbabwe.
We also need to move beyond the 'big man' perspective on leadership. There are people of calibre within the ANC who can move into new positions in government - they come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives. A good indication of how South Africa will move forward will be whether we can move beyond patrimonial politics and bring people into government because of their skills and abilities and not as reward for loyalty in past battles.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Social capital and building our society
The World Values Survey, mentioned in my previous post, paints a grim picture about levels of trust in South Africa. However, this survey probably does not give the full story. The Survey asks a simple question:
“Generally speaking would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can’t be too careful when dealing with people?”
with the following response options:
1. Most people can’t be trusted
2. You can’t be too careful when dealing with people
3. Don’t know
Tracy Jooste’s article (also mentioned in my previous post) suggests that one of the difficulties with this question is that it offers no positive response options, and she argues that trust is a situational concept that cannot easily be measured in a general sense. A more nuanced approach is called for. While people may give a negative response to a generalised question, if you ask them about particular engagements (eg. with neighbours, members of their community etc) you may find different responses.
Social capital exists in trusting relationships between people in their interactions in communities, organisations and society in general. It is increasingly recognised worldwide as a valuable form of capital, (although the value of it is harder to measure than financial or physical capital).
South African economist JP Landman has argued in Business Day that social capital is one of four factors that can lay the basis for sound economic development of the country. The four factors he identifies are: a growing economy; ‘re-creating’ social capital; strengthening institutions, and enforcing rules (I guess with underpinned by the concept of the rule of law).
I especially like one of his comments: "It's nice to live in a society where people are getting richer, but it's also nice to live in a society that's getting nicer".
Realising the full potential of stimulating social capital development requires a new focus. Currently, we as a country put huge resources into human capital development – essentially training people in specific skills to be able to meet the skills shortages in the country. In relative terms, we put practically nothing into creating social capital. Increasingly there is evidence showing that stimulating social capital can bring returns by way of increased innovation, creativity and smart thinking – all badly needed if we are to be able to solve complex problems in this country and the continent.
Affirmative action going backwards?
The latest Employment Equity Commission Report (2007/8) makes disturbing reading. The Report indicates progress being made at normalising the demographics of the South African workplace through the implementation of employment equity plans in companies employing 50 people or more.
While progress in bringing in previously disadvantaged people to senior levels is still slow, there is worse news at the middle Professionally Qualified & Middle Management levels.
At these levels the representation of black people generally showed a decrease of 8.7% from 50.0% to 41.3%. The representation of white people increased by 8% from 49.2% to 57.2% over the same period.
As these are the levels from which the next cadre of senior managers are recruited, the indications are not good for creating a more representative senior manager level in the short-medium term. It makes one wonder what is actually happening in companies if the reported numbers are going in the wrong direction?
While this is not good news, it does make one wonder about all the whinging from white people who claim that they cannot get jobs due to reverse discrimination.
“Generally speaking would you say that most people can be trusted, or that you can’t be too careful when dealing with people?”
with the following response options:
1. Most people can’t be trusted
2. You can’t be too careful when dealing with people
3. Don’t know
Tracy Jooste’s article (also mentioned in my previous post) suggests that one of the difficulties with this question is that it offers no positive response options, and she argues that trust is a situational concept that cannot easily be measured in a general sense. A more nuanced approach is called for. While people may give a negative response to a generalised question, if you ask them about particular engagements (eg. with neighbours, members of their community etc) you may find different responses.
Social capital exists in trusting relationships between people in their interactions in communities, organisations and society in general. It is increasingly recognised worldwide as a valuable form of capital, (although the value of it is harder to measure than financial or physical capital).
South African economist JP Landman has argued in Business Day that social capital is one of four factors that can lay the basis for sound economic development of the country. The four factors he identifies are: a growing economy; ‘re-creating’ social capital; strengthening institutions, and enforcing rules (I guess with underpinned by the concept of the rule of law).
I especially like one of his comments: "It's nice to live in a society where people are getting richer, but it's also nice to live in a society that's getting nicer".
Realising the full potential of stimulating social capital development requires a new focus. Currently, we as a country put huge resources into human capital development – essentially training people in specific skills to be able to meet the skills shortages in the country. In relative terms, we put practically nothing into creating social capital. Increasingly there is evidence showing that stimulating social capital can bring returns by way of increased innovation, creativity and smart thinking – all badly needed if we are to be able to solve complex problems in this country and the continent.
Affirmative action going backwards?
The latest Employment Equity Commission Report (2007/8) makes disturbing reading. The Report indicates progress being made at normalising the demographics of the South African workplace through the implementation of employment equity plans in companies employing 50 people or more.
While progress in bringing in previously disadvantaged people to senior levels is still slow, there is worse news at the middle Professionally Qualified & Middle Management levels.
At these levels the representation of black people generally showed a decrease of 8.7% from 50.0% to 41.3%. The representation of white people increased by 8% from 49.2% to 57.2% over the same period.
As these are the levels from which the next cadre of senior managers are recruited, the indications are not good for creating a more representative senior manager level in the short-medium term. It makes one wonder what is actually happening in companies if the reported numbers are going in the wrong direction?
While this is not good news, it does make one wonder about all the whinging from white people who claim that they cannot get jobs due to reverse discrimination.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Social capital alive and well in South Africa!
There was a nasty accident on Glenhove Road this morning involving 2 cars colliding at a junction. What was interesting was that a number of people - pedestrians and other motorists - immediately stopped to help. One was on the phone within seconds to call the emergency services, some others were immediately attending to the two drivers involved, another person started directing the traffic safely round the scene. Without any apparent coordination, people immediately took on roles that seemed to them to be useful at the time. I chose not to stop as I was a distance away, and my take on the situation was that everything was quickly under control and there was no useful additional role that I could play at the time.
This is in a country that apparently, according to the World Values Survey, has low levels of trust and in which people are supposed not to trust strangers (trust is generally understood to be a key aspect of social capital in a community). Tracy Jooste has conducted research in the Western Cape (www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002147/index.php) that suggests we need a more nuanced understanding of 'trust' and that despite the generalised distrust of strangers in the above Survey, people are quite willing to trust neighbours and workplace colleagues.
The incident above confirms for me that we have an abundance of trust and willing engagement in South Africa, and that it shows itself everyday in smaller and larger ways, if only we are willing to recognise and appreciate it, and see that it is the people who make up our land.
This is in a country that apparently, according to the World Values Survey, has low levels of trust and in which people are supposed not to trust strangers (trust is generally understood to be a key aspect of social capital in a community). Tracy Jooste has conducted research in the Western Cape (www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0002147/index.php) that suggests we need a more nuanced understanding of 'trust' and that despite the generalised distrust of strangers in the above Survey, people are quite willing to trust neighbours and workplace colleagues.
The incident above confirms for me that we have an abundance of trust and willing engagement in South Africa, and that it shows itself everyday in smaller and larger ways, if only we are willing to recognise and appreciate it, and see that it is the people who make up our land.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
What goes around...
Well someone said to me the other day about living in South Africa that we live in interesting times, and it is certainly true reading the newspapers this morning! One of the things that strikes me is that we need to move beyond our conception of a centralised state. This idea did not serve SA well under apartheid, and it does not serve us well now. Unfortunately, our current (but for how long?) President, Thabo Mbeki, has adopted a 'democratic centralist' approach to how he has run the government and the country, and has appropriated significant power to himself and a few people around him. It appears, from yesterday's judgement in the Zuma case, that this included effectively giving instructions to supposedly independent state institutions such as the National Prosecuting Authority.
We now live in the 21st century, and centralisation of state power, and indeed the centralisation of power in organisations, is no longer, I believe, a sustainable way to manage our affairs. It will not work in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Iraq or the United States.
So, while Jacob Zuma may not be an ideal person to have as incoming President of the country, the ANC conference in Polokwane was important in that it re-established the control of the party over an increasingly remote and disconnected government. And now Mbeki's pigeons are coming home to roost.
What can we learn from all this? I would suggest that sharing power is important if we want to create sustainable organisations and societies. The idea of 'the big man' is past. Further, we have to move beyond the idea that support and loyalty (based partly on fear!) can be bought through systems of patronage, and build societies and organisations in which people are genuinely committed to each other through bonds of trust and shared responsibility for our future.
We now live in the 21st century, and centralisation of state power, and indeed the centralisation of power in organisations, is no longer, I believe, a sustainable way to manage our affairs. It will not work in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Iraq or the United States.
So, while Jacob Zuma may not be an ideal person to have as incoming President of the country, the ANC conference in Polokwane was important in that it re-established the control of the party over an increasingly remote and disconnected government. And now Mbeki's pigeons are coming home to roost.
What can we learn from all this? I would suggest that sharing power is important if we want to create sustainable organisations and societies. The idea of 'the big man' is past. Further, we have to move beyond the idea that support and loyalty (based partly on fear!) can be bought through systems of patronage, and build societies and organisations in which people are genuinely committed to each other through bonds of trust and shared responsibility for our future.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Welcome to my new blog spot!
This is a space where I will share lessons from my personal learning journey. I am fortunate to be connected with a special firm - Kessels & Smit - The Learning Company, and have the privilege of helping to establish the company in South Africa from my base in Johannesburg. Since starting this process at the beginning of 2007 I have been joined by Andrea van der Merwe and Philippa Kabali-Kagwa, and we are currently also being joined by some other consultants. We have also found some great clients to work with over the past year and a half.
Much of our work is about learning - for ourselves and for and with our clients. I will share more about this, but I guess our starting point is that we take the view that powerful learning opportunities can arise when people connect with others about things they are passionate about.
We also work in an appreciative way, and try to bring appreciative approaches into our work and personal lives as well.
Much of our work is about learning - for ourselves and for and with our clients. I will share more about this, but I guess our starting point is that we take the view that powerful learning opportunities can arise when people connect with others about things they are passionate about.
We also work in an appreciative way, and try to bring appreciative approaches into our work and personal lives as well.
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