[Finding solutions collectively]

Throw that stone at that police van, burn tyres and barricade the streets, loot the shops, vandalize all else that belongs to the state; that’s how they will listen to us people on the ground!! Is that really the solution? Don’t know about you, but it ain’t it.

Every day we witness protests on different issues at various levels. What we do not ask ourselves is whether what we do is the right way of making the leadership listen to us or not, and if not, how to do it. I guess, given the status quo, we ought to see things in a different light.

But then, who is to blame? I point a finger at both sides of the fence. Thing is, our local councillors are not doing enough in terms of touching base with the communities they are serving on a regular basis if not at all. Most of us see them before elections and after winning elections see them during celebrations driving shiny heavy artilleries and us left out in the cold thereafter. Thus, the root cause of mass disgruntled behaviour.

On the other hand, those who are at the forefront of the protesters are too to blame in that they at most are not organized. Throwing our eyes here in our own backyard, we experienced  same just recently. The leaders of the concerned communities or concerned groups need to be more informed of the aspects of collective solution finding.

If only our concerned community leaders can learn to form structures that are for the sole purpose of addressing burning issues of the community can we then get it right. Instead of botching our rights exercising, we will be able to follow procedure sans violence.

What we need is to have active Community Advisory Committees for each community to engage local leadership through. I believe each community back then used to have one here in South Africa. In case one may be wandering as to how it will work, here is where we invite those individuals with knowledge in any sphere that affect the community and have them seat on the representative panel as their mouthpiece in addressing their greviances and coming with solutions collectively with the local council. The committee can have a business person, a church leader, a public relations expert, a police officer, etc, who are from the community. None of them should be a politician in order to avoid bias attitude by some due to political allegiance.

A structure of this nature will be helpful as it will have a group of influential people who will advice the community leaders and also assist in facilitating speedy solutions to thorny issues relating to community servicing.

With a Community Advisory Committee or should I say (CAC) to shorten it, the community will benefit immensely. Remember, “mpshiri o tee, ga o lle”, (one bangel doesn’t sound) [1] and that better summing it up. Guess what!! This saying is quoted from the former Lebowa government code of arms, even though then they used it vice versa to divide us.

In conclusion: people, let us think and act in a new way that our offsprings will respect us eternally. Let’s set a good example for other countries as well. Let’s resolve our issues in a manner that is dignified, informed and commendable. In numbers, let’s act with direction to undo the regrettable aftermath of the violent protest mentality. Truth is, 'if short cuts don’t deliver good results, concentrate on finding smart cuts' [2]...dp

[1] by Unknown

[2] by KgeleLeso

[The power of thank you and sorry]

No matter how seasoned or primed you are, it’s always a powerful and an evergreen bold statement to dress another’s ear cap with, and that’s ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’.

If you genuinely are being sincere and humble as a person who’s addressing people in a manner that will be of respect to them, there’s no way you can start or finish your address sans thank you and if are in the wrong to utter your apology that clearly state your sorry. People believe in genuiety and if are saying things from your heart they’ll respond with their hearts.

The same can be said about the message that an organization should send out to its publics. When there’s a mistake committed, wait never for competitors to score base with it and undercut them by simply acknowledging your fault with a big sorry and offer a retake that’s directed by your consumer base. This done by asking them what they want to see happen as redressal to what was done wrong. It may sound offish but a key stroke to display your sorry that to later open a lee way for your thank you to them in helping you solve your mistake.

We all come from a family before we be the figures we become out there. Saying sorry and thank you to your siblings, parents and offsprings makes us bolder people that we are. Working on family bonds takes a lot though not a toll, but elements that needs be thrown in as ingredients are respect for one another, common love and trust, accommodating each’s being with fair critique, heritage and a culture that unifies you, openness and happiness.

In conclusion: blessings goes to those who clench respect and humbleness, for their strength lies deeply rooted in their bold undertakings. The power that comes with just asking for forgiveness and being thankful for the pardon carries power that shames pride and dwarfs arrogance. Thank you and sorry morphs the recipient and but dignifies the utterer, for with words we build and break, with deeds we grow and destroy, so be careful with the power that comes after your thank you and sorry...dp

[The price of sacrifice]

A grey area to start with, but worth peeling. Eating your dinner in a fancy restaurant I see; who paid the price for that establishment to be that joint you frequent so often that you just feel sick if you don’t get their fix to give you that boost? It’s been hard for the founder I tell you and this is how.

Most of those in business start off with only a dream. To conceptualize and develop it demands funds to make it be and that’s the start of a long and testing journey. Believe you me, it’s not easy for a business person.

Starting with information on how to research your idea if it’s new or if not new, how to carve yourself a niche into the market requires finance for simple things like data for internet connection, taxi fare to libraries or phone call to secure an appointment with the funding institutions, etc. The truth is you have to be the omnifit for the business world and in order for that to be you have to sacrifice a lot. The prices we pay differ per our phases in life, industry of entry and geographic setting.

What’s laughable is that some of the sacrifices are profound yet a must for anyone serious about their quest to redefine their destiny. Back to the main topic, after a trip to the financiers you come back with reality knocked into your senses that you need to be having something in order to qualify for funding like collateral and security, of which the minute you go to them showing that you ain't got any and many a times formal education questioned (this dependent of cause on who you are). What route others take is bootstrapping to start off and along the way borrow from friends and family whilst others go the investor route. Issue with financiers is they tell you about drafting a business plan, something that will waste your valuable limited resources like money, time and built network. What’s relevant today is a Pitch that entails key information such as idea + production plan, growth plan, equity structure + directors’ resumes, risk + compliance sheet, floorplan, timeline graph + referrals and capital breakdown. Truth is that investors bank on you first before your pitch.

What many don’t overthink is that the people you go to ask funds from never ran even a spaza shop to start with and your challenges to them meaning nothing. If a self-starter at the age of 27 tells a consultant that she’s never worked after matriculating and a question posed to her being that what have you been doing all along while your peers went to school or looked for work so you could’ve saved some for security and maybe having had taken out a life cover to pledge or a house as collateral assignment instead of coming here empty handed? Who can be your surety if you’re just a dreamer? That’s a question I once heard thrown to someone I was following in the queue at one of the youth funding institutions, and that was the last time I went to any for assistance as they lacked sensitivity, empathy and knowledge of those in need of financing.

I waited for her outside and armed with passion I listened to her and took her on a crash course to school her a bit about suretyship, collateral and security, things which were never cared to be explained to her. And what hurt was that I too had none of those, hence my choice to leave the space.

After a journey of such disventure will you blame her for not being nice to some people? So, next time before we judge attitudes of successful people we need to check facts first as to why and but not that I condone it, just saying.

What I meant by profound sacrifices is by things like cutting off of friends that don’t add value to your life and quest, fighting off some family members who don’t believe in you, building networks instead of friendships, reading anything you come across, listening to informative media programmes and watching programmes that grows your knowledgebase as current affairs are important to your successful conversation striking and identifying key figures that matters in every space that you find yourself planted in. Also changing habits like ceasing to be defensive at all times, listening more and asking probing and vital questions, and thinking before answering sans saying much, attending events that are necessary to your quest, setting your voice projection, laughter and type of tones you use to different people in addressing them, observing your stance, posture and poses for pics and what you post on social media, the dress code relevance, mastering your body language and facial expressions and that of theirs, schooling self about timing, situational analyses and protocols in as many set-ups as possible. Above all else is the evergreen grey denominator (your attitude), work on it when modelling yourself ‘cause opportunity bringers and consumers take notice of it earlier than you may realize it and decide on that.

When spotting opportunities you need to be tolerant of balance, you ought to create a vacuum for how you will compromise in matters that include among others; family backgrounds, ethnic dominances and divisions, religion in business, solutions and opportunity creation, ethical conducts, colour of money earned, political allegiances, sexual orientations and humour, in all your interactions.

In conclusion: life of success in business is hard to attain and tough to sustain. Think of those long hours put in while others are with their families as you burn away your quality time, giving up party life for an upgraded lifestyle so as to fit your reflection of your brand, signing away freedom in swap for investor stress, staff issues, partnership demands and consumer satisfactions, etc. the biggest of all sacrifices is pleasing others first before your happiness. What it translates to is that happy faces around you a good word out there and that a return of rewards your way in a long run. A businessperson strives on contentment and being the epitome of success, hope and aspiration for the next...dp

[New way to a dream]

It takes an idea to plot for itself a place in the mind of a dreamer. When you're young the definition of a dream a far off reality from the true concept the dream is to a grown up mind. It but all come from the similar source. How you dream today isn't how you dream about the very idea from then, for a dream evolves with time as you grow.

The dream can be in many ways but find the life plan for you not moving parallel with it, and that is the sad part about it. Dream starts with what you like and develop into a want that gets stimulated by the sight of another who has achieved it or by sighting an object of your desire. What we aspire for may be same and how we want to achieve it may also be same, but how we achieve it be not same.

But then, dreaming gets shaped by one's exposure and environment. I always hear people talk about dreaming the same dreams or dreaming together, yes I do get that, but I don't believe we'll dream the same dream all the time. The outcome always vindicates the real want that the exposure and environment had shaped for one. The true taileron to the core principle that holds the aileron of life and success is the line between goal and dream, as dreams we may have same but achievement of goal not be due to influences of our dissimilar backgrounds.

In conclusion: if you find yourself stuck with the same dream for over a decade, know there might be something missing in your mark of achievement. Life long dreams and childhood dreams gets bettered from time to time so they can be relevant and achievable. New realities influence the thinking and so should the desired outcome of idea of your aspiration. It doesn't say you should abandon your dream, no, that'll be selling out your wish. New way to a dream draws from maturity, growth and logic, and so should you...dp

[Dos a dos polka]

The title may ring babel taxonomy to the foreign feint of heart in creativity, but in all truest forms a must when you enter into the world of commerce. This ain't about vaguebooking, it's about business. The world of business requires you to be ever innovative and abreast with current state of affairs in all fronts. Trust me, if you're to coin something you'll have to be conversant with a host of subjects prior to cementing your invention to avoid the plug for copycatting.

Coming up with something different needs some serious commitment to the course in that there'll be critique around that and non belief sentiments. It's always difficult to break the mold with an unorthodoxly shaped knife, they'll either question its shape or size or anything else about it just because it's unfamiliar to the ones they're used to.

If you are to win the entire industry with your new, you need to give in to fresh, raw, simple, authentic, and that way you'll gain airtime in their thoughts. Should that be the case, slowly you'll garner a following. People resonate with audible consistency, accessibility and eloquent relatability, and should you find yourself satisfying that in them are sure to a good journey with them. For the market to take notice takes time and for you to latch them a tale no trickster would be transparent to you about.

Without innovation your business is dead, so they keep telling us, but I believe there's still a case to answer for thriving via safe mode entry with model copy of what's proven to work instead of anything reinvented. Businesses are run and grown through that, but then, are they dying, no. It's good to encourage that innovative spirit in business but we should be mindful not everyone is brave enough and not everyone has the budget and time or even an idea too good to take to the market. As such, we need to accept the balance the difference in characters offer to the market space.

In conclusion: why is it always horizontal polka? What about vertical polka? But that's easy on the mind of the eye too inquisitive for a curiosity miner. How not one think of dos a dos polka a good day's chat because it ain't an easy fetch, well,,,I know. Normal is way too abnormal to think of if you're to create a stir, but still again, not all in want to stand out in that fashion.

Jaw droppers jump in cheer for normal and sit in question the thought behind the idea to new, they know with that follows the fascinating flip of script for a new shift. Be the reason they prep selves for a retake on something new that evoke their anticipable nature. Give your target audience goosebumps equally as your competitor. Introduce something that'll dominate their vocab in a long time. And when time comes, do the dos a dos polka with them for a close of era in usher of another shift to another space. The world of innovation is an open floor if you plan to spin for long...dp

[Pain of knowing]

They say an ignorant person lives longer and a knowledgeable person lives larger. I don’t know what to paint of such a statement bold as this but seeming to be true at times given how people behave. But what remains striking is the question whether or not it pays to be ignorant.

We come across people who don’t care what happens in their surrounding on a daily basis and wonder how they make it in these tough economic times but find that they are successfully getting by anyway. Then you ask yourself when you find someone very knowledgeable yet not thriving despite the wealth of knowledge in their space.

The sad part about knowing is that you tend to be too cautious when making decisions and your approach to life is carefully calculated, hence the pain of knowing. Being too much in the know is a fortunate misfortune as it’s easy to let go of an opportunity because of information about the downside to such an opportunity and end up with a future regret should it not be how bad you anticipated it to be, thus a lost opportunity. On the other side of the fence find that an ignorant person went in blindly regardless of what those in the know had to say and end up with a big win.

Fanciful as it may, too much information is a risk on its own due to factors like missed opportunities brought by over calculation of risks, fear created by not wanting to lose, doubts resulting from research, and so forth. The other downside to being too knowledgeable is that there’s enormous pressure on you to never mistaken in your executions and reasons for any error at such to be scrutinized unlike any random one had committed it.

There’s also danger in knowing more in that in some occasions you might raffle feathers of those in connection with the high seat occupiers who may decide to silence you for uttering useful and empowering vowels and consonants to the misinformed and the less empowered, that to the high and mighty found to be undesirable. Count names of individuals who were muted for their hyped up knowledge of certain subject matters. Look at how media is used and information channeling is controlled to feed the masses what they want in their pattern. So painful trying to decode the truth out of that same propaganda that you’ll end up being told how crazy you are for seeing things that ordinary civilians find no underlying faults of.

In conclusion: information is key and knowledge is power, bear that in mind always. When you know about something, best you carefully analyse the platform first before stepping onto the stage. Knowledge is a blunt weapon that may be sharp and dangerous depending on how you use it and to whom you use on, so handle it with care...dp

[Assurance of another's short cut]

For some, aspiration for life is happiness, for others a sense of security. It must not mean that one promotes vanity over sanity or otherwise, but just that it's a good thing to be in a space of certainty so you can experience contentment in your life.

As we live we thrive on hope of achieving albeit not all but most of our goals and living our dreams. For some, we derive our contentment in the ability to making others live their dreams. Though there are some disappointing instalments of miscalculations but still happy that you tried for someone to have a smile and wake up with hope alive, a factor enough to morph our souls. Keeping another's hope alive is a fulfilment of its own pedigree that only ones like me get to throw to some for their experience. For me, it’s a case of; ‘My dream your reality, cause I live it and you dream it’[1] if you look at it with a magnifying lens, as a lot wish only to be in the space we are yet never be in it for it takes guts to be there for the other and inspire hope of another next to you. Truth is, someone has to live the life of creating experiences while others live the creations created and tell about such to others.

A 'feel good' as it may, one thing that pains the hearts of opportunity bringers is the rate at which created opportunities are wasted willfully sans haste and care. It takes a lot to avail an opportunity for someone and then witnessing them squander that very chance at their success a scrape to one's heart.

Maybe when assuring another's hope, we ought to educate them on the sacrifices made by opportunity bringer for the security of their presented chance. That may reduce the rate of solid yet wasted opportunities.

In conclusion: opportunity comes once and once squandered not easy to be presented again. To sum it up, "A heart that receives openly with a smile makes the giver a content being, for both feel better same."[2]...dp

[1] by Unknown

[2] by KgeleLeso