Kojo Tamakloe
AS a trainer in a commercial setting I used to remind the participants of a saying “ You cannot teach an old dog new tricks” . The writer said this was an insult to the old dogs. He presupposes that so long as the dog was alive it would learn something new . If we remove the dog and replace it with humans , it means all humans should be capable of learning new things. This is in theory leads to adaptation as the new things we learn lead to changes in our behavior . I am not one of those who subscribe to the notion in the creation of world of a“ Big bang theory” ,that is the world came into being with one swoop but in evolution . This theory was proposed by Darwin, which he summed up as “the survival of the fittest” . I always combine this with the French theorist, Lamarck whose theory is that “evolution is the result of cataclysms” . So in any disastrous situation the people who will survive and procreate will be ones that for one reason or the other are the fittest and go on to procreate . Fitness may not only be physical but may be intellectual or financial
Survival and evolution are linked to adaptation , the ability to change to suit the current or new imposed conditions. In layman’s language , it is said “necessity is the mother of inventions” .Inventions are act of creating: the creation of something new. For one to create something new one needs to apply current knowledge or pool together ideas and apply them . The question is as Ghanaians or Africans , how well have we done this, and if not why have we failed
The answer I believe lies in the following quote I got from Ghana web a few days ago
“I, an African American or Black American, cannot reach the closed-minds of Ghanaian-Americans across the US, if I am not DIRECTLY a member of their church or social group. It is impossible, too many inward mind sets”. Too many inward mindsets as opposed to out ward mindsets .? The inward mindset can be likened to a closed system , which we will define , as one where there is no exchange of matter between the system and its environment . In a social setting we do not exchange ideas with other members of other social groupings from which to learn . The Churches and social organizations are a replica of our traditional systems that we which to lived in and left behind to reside in the Diaspora . We wish to remain in our comfort zones . Unfortunately not only do we wish to remain in these cultural cocoons and set about replicating them , our management and administrative systems are also modeled on these closed systems approaches. We are therefore afraid and so resist external influences and wish to trod the proven path only . Everything must conform to a pattern and so we find fault with anything that does not conform with our way of thinking . The result is stagnation , which, in relative terms, means we move backward .Thus those of us from the more traditional cultures and so are conservative refuse to accept new ways as they represent threats . Tribalism , xenophobia, gay rights, female rights, diverse churches and new ways of doing things. Have you ever heard of people saying “ this is the way we have done it for years and years and years”?They call it experience and so people who have left their closed cultural or traditional systems feel , now they know it all, though in reality, they would have exported their traditional norms to the new abode which is why they cling to the church and their social groups . Just read this , it talks about closed systems and change . “One possible explanation for the existence of organizations that continuously remain in a steady state condition ,is that they reside in a relatively static environment.. When the environment is relatively static, stable, and predictable, interactions and relationships between the organization and its environment are trivial and, thus, can be ignored or otherwise managed” Thus an isolated village perhaps in a farming area will have a stable environment and its contact with the outside world , minimal . That person when he meets people from other cultures will recoil and feel threatened. The story goes about an Eskimo ruler who had done all he could for his people and so wanting to do more sent two people to New York. They were dazzled by what they saw . what of sky scrapers and Oti Lifts and airports with lights . They returned and were asked to give a report. When the spokesperson was done they asked questions. They answered truthfully but the powers that be were angered . They prevailed on the other one to retract what the spokesperson had said . In the long run that one who killed for being a liar. The first person who said the world was round was burnt as a heretic. That is how societies keep their members in check. Do we notice this familiar feature? Dare not deviate , else you lose membership and you become an outcast. Dare you associate with “those people”?So we remain in a mental prison . How then can we innovate? A child with an enquiry mind is punished and the mentality destroyed .Some time ago people like that were labeled communists
Our civil service model is on the old British empire concept, is also another example and we see the results. I wrote in 2008 of the need to revamp it as Michael Hasseltine did in the Thatcher era .” The closed system model was universally adopted in management theory development during the early 20th century” Ours is 19th century.. However, the environment has changed dramatically over the past century and the direction of change is toward an increase in both complexity and dynamism . A model that was valid in the past might not be effective in describing, explaining, and predicting organizational phenomena in a changing context. In other words we still work on the old static and stable and predictable environmental theory. “For example, the Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory system increases the alignment between the production system and its environment, giving a substantial increase in operational efficiency and a reduction in inventory cost” . The realization should be, we now live in a global village with constant interactions taking place on a daily basis, accompanied by dynamism. We have ATMs everywhere, whereas we used to go to the bank to collect or bank money and in my grandpa days stuff the money in the mattress or even earlier dig a hole to hide the money. Competition is not the next tribe but the next nation that could be 5000miles away .
Tax collection in many fronts leaves much to be desired because we fail to align imports with tax units . Ships come in with their goods and they carry a manifest. This is because the goods need to be identifiable and insured and their values are stated . Why do we not use the manifest to capture the imports so when they are being cleared, tax is based on the insurance value cost . Coding is done and all one has to do is capture the code and the good appears with the tax and then receipt is added with the number . At the end of the day all that is needed is reconciliation Perhaps this is simplified but with ICT this can be done . We lose huge sums on judgment debts either because we signed a poor contract or followed the wrong procedure and no records are found in a computer age . There are tools available and we wallow in the dark ages.
Leadership and democracy. Is democracy the same as a 4 year exercise of voting in people as “leaders” . What about the people ? Do they have the basics of food security, clothes on their backs, roofs over their heads and education and health needs? Today we need leaders that are pragmatic and innovative. Leaders whose mindset is that of an open system , not a closed system so the organizations they lead will be open systems capable of welcoming new ideas and trying new things without the fear of closed minds jumping up and making noise. Leadership that needs to realize the interrelation with neighbors and combine these for a synergistic effect. What can we do best and what can they do best and so how can we both benefit. It should be a win- win relationship instead of the old relationship of subjugation . Every one has something to contribute . That is nature . I am sure we remember the story of a lion who captured a mouse. The mouse is said to have pleaded with the lion to spare his life. The lion did out of contempt. Not long after the lion was caught in a net trap, set by hunters. Who heard his cries and came to his rescue ?. The mouse. I am sure you read this in your class 1 story books. Remember if the human or work organization is assumed to be a closed system, the direction of change should go toward an equilibrium state in which entropy will maximized, according to the second law of thermodynamics. In this case, the organization as a system should deteriorate rather than prosper over time. The increase in entropy suggests that the organization and order of the system will be degraded and the system will run down. The choice is ours , where we want to go , order or chaos
Whatever the results of the SC , no matter which side you are on remember this Poem called
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
© Max Ehrmann 1927
The writer Kojo Tamakloe is an Nkrumaist who believes African Unity is the solution to Africa’s underdevelopment
