My Thoughts

Innovator's or Challenge 'Responders'?

2014-06-17T04:52:00.001-07:00

I have been involved for the past couple of years in the “innovation” space playing different roles including but not limited to; mentoring, judging, problem definition and training. The primary focus of my involvement has been in the ICT domain. One question that I am struggling with is whether we are getting more innovator's or challenge "responders.' Whereas there has been a significant increase in the number of calls for innovations I am not sure whether I am seeing a corresponding number of innovations.

So what is innovation? I found this article interesting What is Innovation?

In the last three years I must say the quality of submissions has gone down from my perspective or it could that the good ones are not excited to submit their innovations to these competitions. A couple of submission are quite shallow right from conceptual level and one is tempted to think that the submission is responding to a challenge and hoping that luck will be on their side and win the prize.

Here are my three observations;

1. No or Limited Research; a number of submissions are hardly informed by research and you almost see “gut” feeling submissions. Innovators desire to respond to challenge and are not merely excited by developing solutions or ideas for the sake. Lack of research denies one the opportunity to contextualize the innovation and as such we see many trying to develop the “Facebook” for Africa. Really?

2. No or Limited Domain Knowledge; it is a tall order to develop a solution for agriculture or health if you are not equipped with domain knowledge. The result of this an imaginary solution attempting to address a challenge that hardly exists or is pertinent. Innovators will tend to work with multiple disciplines but that is not the case from majority of the submissions. Great innovators will tend to be “One-Inch wide and several feet deep”. The reverse tends to be true for the most of the submissions.

3. Hang on Apps; innovations have become synonymous with mobile apps. It is common to hear or read “we will develop a mobile app and this will be free to download”. There is an incentive for apps development, they are easy to develop and deploy as opposed to systems development. I am getting worried that developers are being swayed by mobile apps and hardly investing time to think about systems. I have no problem with mobile apps per-se, I get a feeling these apps are not deep rooted on need or demand but rather it’s a cool thing to develop.

These notwithstanding I have encountered amazing submissions where the above three have been taken care of. You get the “woow” effect!

Concluding thoughts

1. Establish appropriate structures to support the process end to end as opposed to focusing on challenges only. Check out the #Ideo Deep Dive Innovation process

2. We need to find a way of attracting venture capital to our local challenges. This will spur the innovators to pay attention not only the awards but also the potential of attracting funding for your idea.

3. To the innovators think beyond the challenge, question is; would you have done this if there was no call for submissions?

Innovating for Resilience; is it possible?

2014-05-12T00:02:00.004-07:00

Date 11^th May 2014 Big Stories in the news (NTV-Uganda): Hunger in Napak, the elderly are dying or on the verge of death reason NO food to eat. Story two; story River Nyamwamba had burst its banks and sent thousands homeless. The two stories are not NEWS in Uganda we see them coming, we predict and guess what we do nothing. When the expected happens these become #BigStories. As the stories run on my screen there I was thinking what can be done to make the #Napak & #Kilembe communities RESILIENT? Ordinarily these stories appeal to my emotions and get me on the empathetic side of life. Not this time round, because I was thinking about resilience and clearly appreciated what resilience is all about! I have spent the last week attending a workshop/forum talking about strengthening the resilience of communities in Africa under the auspices of Resilience Africa Network project funded by USAID hosted by MakerereUniversity School of Public Health, Tulane University and Stanford University are the other partners. Tulane University is championing the resilience component while Stanford University is championing the innovations component. The big issue for this particular workshop/forum was how do we translate resilience issues into innovation issues?

Innovation is a buzz word that one is bound to hear or come across so often in different spaces from different perspectives. I must confess that it’s only a few months ago that I came across innovation for #resilience. I have gone through iterations of engagement with the team at Resilience Africa Network (RAN) to come to terms with what this is all about. Every time I hear innovation the $$$ signal goes off. Resilience issues to me seemed more humanitarian or social and thus was not able to see $$$.

My struggle is how we innovate for resilience in an environment that is driven by knee-jerk reactions of provide food to the hungry and temporary shelter to the displaced. Clearly all these big stories are a result of a process that has been forming over a period of time. These incidences have happened before and will continue to happen. The only new thing is the extent of impact!

Big Question: What innovations are we going to develop that will make these communities and many others on the African continent resilient?

The team at RAN with their partners Stanford University and Tulane University are deep in the tunnels trying find the magic bullet that will deliver innovations that will make communities resilient. They have gone through a phase of community engagement to map the issues that are responsible for their vulnerability. The issues are not terribly new; has there been an attempt to resolve these issues? YES! Are these communities resilient? NO! So what innovation are we going to cook that will make these communities resilient? Clearly not another NGO approach will work. Why? Because every NGO undertakes a Needs Assessment and crafts a proposal to mitigate/solve the community challenges, however we seem not see the resilience attribute feature prominently.

I must say since Friday 9^th May 2014, I have been reflecting on innovation and trying to come to terms with the possibility of innovating for resilience. Is there a possibility of having an Ideo organization for resilience, or Apple, and the list can go on? How do we make the communities in Napak and Kilembe with stand the shocks of drought and floods? What makes Ideo the leading innovation company in the world? A well designed process that positions innovation as a deliberate outcome. They are pre-occupied with thinking and trying to fail as many times as possible to develop amazing products. Spend more time diagnosing than prescribing which seems to be the norm in most circumstances.

To innovate for resilience is going to require new #mindsets, #skills and #tools. Typical approaches to project development may not work, we need to raise the bar for co-creation all through. Can the communities play a significant role? Yes! However we might need to re-examine that role; like Steve Jobs said (Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs) sometimes the consumer may not know what will excite them. Our communities are constrained by a number of factors but they are definitely powerful allies in this process? For them to play a significant role we ought to ask questions that we have never asked, we must push them to spaces they have never been to. Reason, we want to come up with innovations that will work for a life time not a season. Thankfully Change Labs at Stanford University that prides itself as a design process thought leader is leading the innovation challenge. Their strength is in developing a process-driven innovation approach and that is critical if we are going to come up with a new story.

So besides food-aid, valley dams, new crop varieties, relocating the communities what can be done that is different that will make these communities resilient? Let’s Discuss! Lets take a deep dive and move from the shallow end of the pool, I am sure we can deliver amazing results.

How often do you sharpen your saw?

2012-10-08T03:40:00.003-07:00

A story is told of man who was cutting trees in a forest, on the first day he was able to cut down 4 trees which was the average number of trees cut by the other sawyer's. On day two the number of trees went down to two and on the third day he struggled to get one down. When approached by someone in the forest asking him about the progress, he did not want any one to distract him because he was frustrated, he was not progressing his Key Performance Indicators were not measuring to the expected on four trees per day. The sawyer was asked whether he had sharpened the saw, because not matter what force you apply, a saw not sharpened is like they say taking one step forward and three steps backwards. This sawyer was using a blunt saw and that is why he was not making the desired progress and achieving the minimum KPI's.

Human beings are like saws, they require continuous sharpening unfortunately we get ourselves in the rat race and in the process never get to realize we have hit a blunt spot. We neglect ourselves so much because we think we only need check up when you are 'feeling sick'. We are working very hard putting in many hours but when we look at effort Vs results the two do not talk to each other. Under normal circumstances effort should be reflected in the results. We rarely sit back and reflect what could be the cause of effort being reflected in the efforts. Our bodies can only be pushed thus far, when we leave them to 'whom it may concern' they oblige and give us results that are equal in measure 'to whom it may concern'.

The Great author Stephen R Covey in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People presents what in my opinion is a master piece on human productivity. A thorough and well researched book. Choice 7 calls on us to 'Sharpen the Saw' if we are going to be highly effective. The greatest asset any human being has is the 'self' or YOU and therefore it is important to continuously preserve and enhance YOU. To preserve and enhance yourself calls for actions in four areas;

1. Physical; how often do you exercise, what foods are you eating, how many hours sleep does your body get, how often do you take time to detox your body, these and more have an impact on the physical capability which affects ability to deliver. A physically able human being has the potential to deliver outstanding results. Physical nourishment of the body returns substantial energy to the body which is required to enable us perform our tasks. Our current routines make it very difficult so we claim to take care of our physical outlook. We have all excuses loaded up our sleeves as to why we never or minimally consider our physical as important as the work that we do. Taking 30min off to take a walk could be regarded as wasting time.

2. Mental; what do you do to keep your brain in function mode, what books do you read that awakens the spirit in you, what content do you have access to that inspires and rejuvenates your mental faculties, which meetings do you attend or subscribe that give the "aha moment"...You brain is like a car or any other machine it has tare and ware, that unless you pay attention to it, it slowly degenerates and ceases to function at full capacity.

3. Spiritual; what is it that you believe in, What connects with your spirit and emotions, which people inspire the spirit in you, We all are spiritual beings and this spirit requires continuous re-fueling, it could listening to good music, going to church/mosque, taking a walk, it does not matter what you do to spice up your spirit. Your spirit is like an car engine, no one gets to see it, we only admire the body (exterior) if you do take care of the engine, soon it will start emitting chocking fumes no matter whether its the latest car with latest "number plate". When your spirit is not nourished it will start chocking and send out fumes detrimental to the environment.

4. Social/Emotions; which friends do you have, what is the value of your social network, what value does your social network give you and what do you return, what investments do we make into our social networks...we all need friends and family but there must be a deliberate effort to ensure that you keep them interested and attracted to you. Friends and family are an integral part of our being and do influence us in one way or the other. These persons unlock bits and bits of greatness from within us.

Sharpening the saw calls us to action..to take time off to invest in our own greatness. We work so hard at getting or making others (Managers, Companies, Organizations e.t.c.) great and less on our own greatness. The unfortunate thing is that work comes to you..but what concerns your own greatness will never come to you, you will have to take that step and invest your time and resources to make it happen. I recently visited a Dr. for check up my ear was not at its best...he took my BP (Blood Pressure) reading and he was in shock looked up at me and asked do you exercise a lot? Looked at him and replied not a lot but I try to jog and swim three times a week. With a beaming face he told me my BP is like that of a 16year old, I just could not hide my excitement it felt GREAT!

Our greatness should never be compromised, you are the most important being read saw, it is entirely up to you to sharpen your saw on a regular basis. It is within your means to take that first step, work at it and make it happen. Most importantly know what works for you!

If you are interested in taking the 7Habits for Highly Effective People visit www.cemmgroup.com or www.franklincoveyug.com

5 Choices to Extra Ordinary Productivity

2012-07-10T14:22:00.000-07:00

When I was invited to attend the 5 Choices to Extra Ordinary Productivity by a great friend and partner I did not know what impact it would have on me. Two days of extra ordinary exposure it has been, yet to attend such a fulfilling and refreshing training in many years if any. The Great author and teacher Steven Covey was at his best when he delivered this great product. The 5 Choices to extra ordinary productivity is a master piece and the training is extra ordinary. The insights the training exposed to colleagues and myself was phenomenal. I have been attending a facilitator training program here in South Africa. Running over two days Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th July 2012 it was total re-energizing to go through the training.

The 5 Choices to Extra Ordinary Productivity focus on the choices that we make in order to have extra ordinary productivity. Its amazing how much time and resources we spend on things that contribute insignificantly to our productivity. The content in the "The 5 Choices to Extra Ordinary Productivity" is based on substantial research in the area of productivity. The Parento Principle which is in line with the 5 Choices states that "20% of what we do gives you 80% of your revenue or productivity and 80% of what we do gives you 20%" clearly indicating that we spend more time on issues or activities that only give us 20% and pay less attention to the 20% that gives 80%.

The 5 Choices are real and speak to each one us and if applied it is definitely possible to realize extra ordinary productivity. The deliberate use of choices enables focused attention, which results in high value decisions giving you opportunity to have sufficient high energy. The premise of this content is that we have potential to achieve extra ordinary Let me share with you a snap shot of my inference from each of the choices,

1. Focus on the Important and Do not React to the Urgent; focusing on the important calls on one to seriously have priorities in life, discerning the important from the less important, use of insight and understanding in making choices and not reacting to the urgent. In a typical life situation or circumstance you can not run away from the realities of the urgent but they should not be your full time engagement and that is crucial. So the key question is what is your 20% that brings you 80%? That is what you need to pay attention to so that even when urgent come in you can still deal with them and revert to the important.

2. Go for the Extra Ordinary Don't settle for ordinary; we are comfortable with the ordinary in our day to day roles and there seems to be no reason to go for the extra ordinary. As a father, husband, administrator, trainer, consultant ordinary is good enough and we can apportion blame of our inability to go for extra ordinary to the circumstances that are around us. Going through this choice I realized that settling for ordinary is not good enough, I am not just a father, I choose to be a passionate father, not just a husband I choose to be fun and loving husband, not just a trainer I choose to be an extra ordinary trainer. Clearly I am defining my extra ordinary roles because that is what makes me unique and I do have the capability to deliver extra ordinary value. The image of choice 2 speaks volumes, every ant has the potential to go for the strawberry as opposed to the crumbs.. so are you going for the crumbs or the strawberry

3. Schedule the Big Rocks, Don't Sort Gravel; we spend time sorting the gravel, and hardly have time to schedule the big rocks. The big rocks in this particular case are the important roles we have in our lives as Fathers, Mothers, Wives, Husbands, Consultants and gravel is the impromptu meetings, unwanted SMS's and so much more. You can choose to schedule the big rocks and therefore focus on the important or sort gravel pay attention to the urgent. This choice enables one to un-package and clearly define what your big rocks are and these could be the 20% that bring in the 80% rather than focus on the 80% that bring in the 20%. To me this was profound in all that I have been doing only 7 roles matter most that is my 20%, but I have been scattered doing a lot of work "being busy" and sometimes the results are not crystal clear as they ought to be. Extra ordinary productivity will only happen if we choose to unpackage our boxes and repackage them with the big rocks. Yes we can if we choose to do so. Knowing the big rocks is not good enough, having them schedules on a weekly and daily basis is the crux of the matter.

4. Rule your Technology, Do not let it Rule You; Its a frenzy techie world that we are living in, its changing faster than we can imagine, we have become slaves of this technology and to some extent it seems as if there is nothing we can do. A day with out checking your email seems incomplete, when the internet is disconnected or unavailable it seems as if there is something totally amiss. As one of the participants stated the computers have taken over our chairs and we are on the tables receiving instructions!! That was not the intention of the inventors of these gadgets. They are meant to support and enhance our capability but not to take over our lives. They ought to be in harmony with our values and choices and not them defining what our values shall be. What is happening is that we are being bombarded with an avalanche of information and to many of us we are in state of brain lock, you do not know what to take in or to leave out and that is a challenge on its own. The content accompanying this choice makes it possible to win over technology without fighting!

5. Fuel your Fire, Don't Burn out; Five attributes are essential in the ability to renew or continuously renew your fires 1. Move (Exercise, play sport), 2. Eat (what gives your energy), 3. Sleep (to rejuvenate your body), Relax (to release the body stress), and Connect (Friends and Family). These are important. Your body is like a car and constant require servicing to enable it perform extra ordinarily well. It is possible that we look after our cars more than our own bodies, only care when you are not feeling fine. You body is a system and thus can only function as well if continuous investment into your body is done to replenish, restore the energies. Do not expect to reap where your have not sowed. So how many times in a day do you move off your chair, exercise with in a week, play a sport; what type of food do you eat and of what value is it to your energy state?; How many hours do you sleep on a regular basis; how often do you take time to relax, unwind to release the stress and toxins within your body; what investments do you make in connecting with your friends and family? These are concerns that need to be addressed squarely and unfortunately not very many alternatives available..

Going through the 5 Choices to Extra Ordinary Productivity has been total rejuvenation of thyself, detection my latent potential that has not been exploited. Its also been a self assessment of the self worth, picking of the big rocks and vividly coming to terms with them. All I can say its been phenomenal!! Now that I am certified as a facilitator of 5 Choices, its time to enable others to be.

This video gives you a summary of what I have shared..

If you are in Uganda, Rwanda Burundi and are interested please contact www.cemmgroup.com or http://www.franklincoveyug.com/

This has been a phenomenal week for me!! Special thanks to Sangita Skilling who made this incredibly simple to conceptualize and appreciate. CEMM Group that offered the opportunity, it was effort well spent

Glad to read your comments

What is the Worth of Your Network?

2012-02-01T07:52:00.000-08:00

Ever thought about the different networks that you subscribe to and what value each of those networks bring to you? Many of us certainly below to one or more networks for various reasons and some of these networks we subscribe to them by default of the persons that we associate with on a regular basis. The advent of social media which has resulted into social networks has greatly influenced the way networks are being formed. Every other day one is likely to receive and invitation to subscribe to a group and sometimes the reflex is that just subscribe any way.

So what is networking? Networking is a common synonym for developing and maintaining contacts and personal connections with a variety of people who might be helpful to you and your career.

It is important to take time off and reflect upon some of these issues most especially as more social networks come on board. The more networks you subscribe to the more of your attention is required in one way or the other. What influences to subscribe to a network ideally should not be out of what I call a "Me 2" strategy but rather out of potential value to be derived and delivered. We go to school and we are blown by the winds that come by any opportunity can be your center of focus with anybody having the opportunity to influence your decision.

If you take a look around Kampala all imposing signposts (those that catch your attention) are at a junction, a point where traffic comes to a halt or slows and then the drivers and passengers can gaze around hopefully catch the site of the imposing signage.

Every brand looks for a strategic location for visibility to inform and influence perception. That is critical and we ought to ask ourselves what is our junction where everything else comes to a standstill and your are in-charge? This has nothing to do with your work experience because life alone is an experience good enough. I participated in this documentary Creative Guides and it is an inspiring piece and in here I raise the issue of what is your junction? If you were that signage how many people in your network would look up to you?

Like the saying "Your network is Your Net Worth" what is the value of your network and what worth does it give you? If your networks were your collateral how much would the banks be willing to give you. Your network is a reflection of who you are in reality unfortunately that is the bitter truth! Fortunately networks are built over time and you personally invest significantly into these networks. Your values and value system will significantly influence the network that you will build overtime.

It is imperative that as we form and subscribe to these networks the net-worthiness to be derived is known or assumed. This requires that we are well as aware of what value we possess such we are not just followers but we can influence. To influence means your are informed and are knowledgeable which brings me to the next question; How much of what you ought to know do you know? Each one of us knows quite a lot of stuff but what is the value of the stuff that you know, would what you know give you an edge in life. You see we can all know same things in life but we present them differently, that is why same question will be approached differently with the same answers.

Networking is two way, you influence and are influenced, the one who influences you in one or the other influences your network through you. So who is influencing you. We ought to be part of networks that edify us, enable to bring the very best of us to the fore, add value to those who follow us and empower us to live life meaningfully. Not every network counts but the net-worth (-or+) counts.

Take time to build a network that will give you a Positive Net-Value (Worth)! You will certainly enjoy living life! The value you bring to your network is more important than the value you get in return.

STOP FINGER POINTING! Its all about YOU!

2011-10-30T23:52:00.000-07:00

I have read a book Not Bosses but Leaders (John Adair) and in that book it stated that "Leadership is most personal thing for it is all about you". In the same vein one can say that Climate Change is most personal thing for it is all about You. Human beings find it easy to apportion blame like I have seen many of us do. Finger pointing is the order of the day, if its not the west, then some investor, or politician or businessman but wait a minute what about you and me. What is our contribution, insignificant as it might seem BUT put together its massive.

For example why has Uganda failed to enforce the ban on polythene materials? In defense of this we have seen all sorts of arguments presented to support the continued existence of these materials in our environment and these have been presented by individuals.The other example is encroachment on wetlands and other protected areas other than selfish reason why do we tamper with these resources. Whatever arguments we present valid or not valid they do not take away the personal responsibility. See story Ugandans Use 25,000 tons of Plastic Bags Monthly

Rarely do we take time to evaluate our actions with regard to climate change. The simple actions of throwing bottles, polythene, land degradation all contribute tremendously to climate change. In many cases we are quick to justify simple action with a simplistic mind and that is the beginning of the challenge. As human being we are inherently selfish and as such what we think will benefit us is guarded jealously to the detriment of the others.

I have seen "decent" (in-terms of outlook) Ugandans driving expensive cars throwing trash out of their cars within the city. Majority of these can read and write but in my opinion they are still illiterate by their actions. This does get to my nerves if one who can read and write and has had an opportunity to know the consequences of their actions. Such individuals deserves to be shamed. As a matter of fact a fortnight ago a group of hackers developed an application called Loopa (which literally means report in Luganda) intended to enable the reporting of water pollution incidences via the crowd sourcing approach.

The individual mindset and actions are extremely important in the climate change fight. It is important that community and collective responsibility is well positioned in the climate change fight. In many instances the climate change fight has been positioned as another project where people have an opportunity to make a living and as such we wait on other project once one is done with. When we are hit with a disaster we start talking about climate change and its effect once normalcy returns we return to business as usual.

We have seen the erosion of the community value systems and their influence on the individual and yet used to be the case back in the 60's. The community was stronger than the individual, one's household in Uganda for example was answerable and accountable to the community. One of the key requirements that each household was required to have was a garbage disposal pit without it you would be sentenced to a jail term. We need to see this come back in our communities. The ideal of individual inherent rights have been misconceived and understood for in many cases they infringe on the enjoyment of the same rights by the others. Rwanda introduced a community service called Umuganda where the last Saturday is dedicated to community service, this has an impact on the individual responsibility. We can attest to the fact that Rwanda is one the pleasant countries to visit.

To support climate change we must squarely deal with the individual. We like to push and blame governments and other agencies and yet the sole challenge is with the individual. Self assess to see what actions you take and the impact of your actions on the climate. How are you contributing to the climate change and is it possible to change your actions? African governments and Uganda in particular have done a great job in coming up with appropriate legislation but with limited impact, we need to move from the legislation mentality out of mental gymnastics to action oriented legislation.

Let us stop pointing fingers like they say the four fingers are always challenging you against the one that is pointing out. Stand to be counted to the change you want to see!

Deal with yourself and those around you will see and follow suit! It is impossible to turn the situation if we put right our simple silly mistakes.

I dealt with myself and my family you too can. Lets do it.

Inspiration from the Water Hackathon-Kampala

2011-10-24T05:20:00.000-07:00

What started out as one of the most would be difficult Hackathons to be hosted in Kampala has turned out to be an interesting and very inspiring Hackathon event. Never under estimate the power of passion and a people's resolve to get something done. What has transpired here over the last 48Hours in phenomenal. I have seen these Hackers majority students at Makerere University spend the 48Hours working on projects that ordinarily would take months to come to fruition.

I have heard people castigate our students as lacking skills for the market, I think what our students lack is an opportunity to put to action their capability. We focus on educating and not learning because even our exams focus on ability to reproduce and not to apply knowledge. I know for a fact the circumstances and environment may not enable this to happen but if we have the will we surely can find a way out of it. Our approach to learning/teaching should be reviewed. Like one colleague shared with me "Never let your education interrupt your ability to learn". We have the raw talent that only requires moulding and you will be amazed by the untapped potential these students possess.

Brainstorming to define the problem

I have been inspired by the enthusiasm and passion these ladies and gentlemen have displayed in coming up with the 7Projects is amazing. Working in groups on their own formed structures around competence, Project Managers, Marketing, Design, Coding, roles quickly were taken up on voluntary basis. In all the teams it was clear they had a mission to accomplish. Within a flash all the 7projects had social media presence inviting as many of their friends to support and morale boost them. To understand and appreciate the task at hand they quickly dashed to the internet to research, the objectives mapped out, with the methods to deliver objectives clearly spelt out. Majority of the problems seemed vague but at every check point the Project Manager briefed the mentors the progress being made and clarity emerged at every point. What these people had done is 14 Week activity [Research Project] in 48hours without documentation. Every check point revealed the potential of each of the projects these people were working on and all we could do as mentor was to smile in amusement what talent we have in this country that is yet to be discovered or has been killed by our education system. I now appreciate why innovators never stay in the school system, we stifle rather than liberate ingenuity, we prescribe rather than facilitate learning, we direct rather than mentor and the end of it all we have dependants rather than independent thinkers!

So what are my inspirations;

1. Never despise the power of passion, enthusiasm, commitment and willingness, for in many cases that is all we need to change the world

2. With the right environment people can teach themselves all they need is someone to facilitate their learning process and not prescribe what should be learnt

3. It is through activities that learning becomes real and knowledge acquired. In circumstances like this what is acquired becomes part of your blood stream. Our education system lacks activities students spend more time in class no wonder we have more crammers than thinkers!

4. We have the talent what is lacking is the investment in time to mold this talent into a product that is unique and useful. We need to invest in career guidance and mentoring in equal proportion to teaching or class time.

The Hackathon events have given me an opportunity to interact with our student in an environment where there passion is exhibited, enthusiasm and creativity displayed, energies brought to the fore and desire to excel at its best. I am convinced that more of these will create the required skills to turn Uganda into a solutions Hub!

With this behind our backs we are gearing for the Corruption Hackathon in December when we will hack to come up with solutions to support the fight against corruption....till then keep inspired to be part of the solution and not the problem.

See the 7Projects that were developed http://gtugkampala.blogspot.com/

Special thanks to
World Bank
Random Hacks of Kindness,
MTN Uganda
Ugo
Makerere University College of Computing and Information Sciences

I cannot forget the mentors; Steven Kirenga & Fred Byamugisha from MTN, Richard Zulu from DICTS, Richard Ngamita from Google, Reinier from Mountbatten, Boaz from Ugo, Sam Mutono from World Bank, Sean Blaschke from UNICEF, Tumwebaze Brian from NWSC, and the organizing team from the World Bank and RHOK.

Energy+Enthusiasm+Passion=Garage48

2011-09-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

We waited for it to happen, and it has happened. Garage48 is stuck on our lips, its like we had never seen anything like this in our city, and we are still talking. It was like meeting a beautiful lady who gives you an opportunity to talk to her, so warm hearted.....and the list can go on and on and bang she is gone...not to return for a while and that the Garage48. And we are still talking we want some more, so sweet and gratifying to be part of such initiative thumbs to you all who made it exceptionally exciting!

Kudos to MTN Uganda for standing in the gap, after the famous Makerere University strike made it impossible for the College of Computing & Information Sciences to host the event.

The change of venue and location did not deter the participants from doing what they loved doing most. The people that worked in to peep and then run away stayed for a little longer thats how captivating it was. Not common at least in this country to find Energy, Enthusiasm and Passion in one room possessed by more than 2 people! That is what was at the MTN Training Center tucked away some where in the environs of Ntinda or Nakawa.

From Idea to Product in 48hours that must be a serious joke! I did say that to myself knowing many of our people I did not expect much. I was to quickly change my perception when I saw the quality of the participant majority of whom I knew personally either as current students or alumni of Makerere University. Most of them have been at the fore front of being part of any activity that requires skill in action another rare attribute not possessed by many. There was a yearning to learn and to share the purpose for the 11teams was to have working prototypes at the end of 48hours. 48hours are more than enough to impact the world. The level of multi-tasking was exceptional never seen action in full action, coding, front-end designing, Database Design, market analysis and planning, business planning, product websites and social media accounts created all in 48Hours. Incredible!

Being part of the jury team it was difficult task, though certainly for a good cause. Its better to struggle to select quality from quality than chuff from chuff. Selecting quality from quality gives you energy to do it with a smile whereas the other option you do it with a nag. Every product (no longer an idea now) was motivated intrinsic motivation for there was nothing extrinsic to talk about.

Somesha the overall winners are an incredible group, they knew from the onset what they wanted done and to be achieved, they come, saw, presented, started working and finally they conquered. They saw a need for a cause to warrant a project of this magnitude. As it evolved we saw an amazing product that could start immediately, it was real! Its always good to know what you want! Zword the funniest app, was indeed funny and as it developed the team was having fun looked more relaxed than the majority of the teams..they loved what they were doing for it was funny! Keep it simple for no one wants a complicated products ever! I could go on and on.

Finally, the real winners were MTN Uganda, having accepted to stand in to host the event, I am not sure they expected what they saw after the 48Hours. With 3persons at the start, I could clearly see they saw this as an opportunity to promote the MTN App Challenge. At the end of the 48hours the picture was different real solutions from real products were now visible. The three Marshalled their colleagues calling to come and see what had happened in their backyard on a weekend. My good old friend Isaac Nsereko Chief Marketing Officer could not delegate this! We had discovered oil in the backyard of MTN and that is exceptional talent! In 48hrs chaps had development apps that ordinarily take months! Unbelievable the folks from MTN must have said to themselves. The CMO had to make a pronouncement, "proud to be associated with this event and I can assure you of our support for such event" Hoorrrraaaaayyyy, we clapped, smiled like we had all been given the latest galaxy to land in UG, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. But the fact that this is going to happen again was worth the celebration. Thank you MTN for being a true partner in progress we know you once in always in. Guaranteed No disappoint from our end, we are an excited community that love and enjoy to develop cool stuff!

Folks its time up for me 48+hours is good enough for now, I need to get the proposal up for the next event come 22-23rd October 2011 at Water Hackathon (Follow the link to register its going to be fun filled)

Garage48: A Garage of Incredible Creativity and Innovation!

2011-09-25T02:00:00.000-07:00

Friday September 23 2011 at 17 00hours; close to 60 young enthusiastic techies attentively listened to the organizers give instructions on how the event is going to proceed. From then on, ideas started flowing as the participants shared their thoughts, some had more than one idea and had to be re-scheduled. In 90Sec you had to pitch your idea, and they did. Some of the ideas blew up the "roof top" got people excited, talking and ofcourse lots of questions. It was exciting for me to see my students share their ideas with such passion and enthusiasm and all I could do is keep smiling!

Garage48 is about enabling persons see their ideas into products within 48Hours with an IT or software inclination . The idea must address a need but also have business sense. Certainly to imagine that one can get idea to product in 48hours is in near madness. But not with dedicated chaps who are set to prove their worth and value with incredible dedication, they proved me wrong. I have supervised student projects over 14weeks and to be honest to some to get a prototype is like milking a stone! All armed with laptops or majority of them with each project having, developers, project managers, marketers, designers among others they all set out to beat the 48hours deadline.

Within three hours of day one, 11 Teams & Projects were zeroed on and the work started, with each member with a specific task on the project and yes each member had a clear mandate. The spirits ranged high, it's not a competition but an opportunity to see your idea come to reality and thus many sought support from colleagues, an amazing spirit. After more than 18Hours of work I was part of the team mentors that sat attentively as project managers presented progress so far made and many of them were close to completion and the level of confidence exhibited was quite revealing. They were totally in charge of steering the project to satisfactory completion. They briefed the mentors about all the aspects of the project, from design, coding to marketing and business plans. All this was done with precision because time was of essence.

All the team members exhibited willingness to learn and listen to proposals suggested, where they thought they had alternative ideas they shared with the mentors. They were like a sponge ready yo soak all the ideas for as long as it would enable them see their idea come to reality.

MY THOUGHTS

1. The human brain has incredible capability its only limited by the expectations set. Our education system does not release our capability but rather inhibits it and that is sad. No wonder all the greatest exploits in the IT sector have been made by school dropouts! We frustrate rather than facilitate because of our limited capability as teachers.

2. The Government of Uganda and other governments in Africa should invest in such ventures that enable the youth to bring their imagination to the fore. These people many of them do not require lecturing but rather mentor to listen to them and assure them it is possible just go ahead and do it and you will amazed by the results.

3. People need less prescription and more facilitation and mentoring

4. All that is required is an environment that enables people to be!

As this event comes to an I can not wait to see the final products being presented to the panel this evening. Its been an amazing experience seeing enthusiasm, passion and energy all in one place and yes incredible products coming to the fore.

I am proud to be associated with Garage48 and may be soon we will see Garage256 for UG! You better be ready to be part of the next one.

Was this a Prophecy? The VC's 2011 New Year's Message

2011-09-21T23:10:00.000-07:00

At the start of 2011 the VC's of Makerere University sent to staff a New Year's Message and reading through it again is quite revealing, I will paste the message as was shared on the staff mailing list..... Do share what you make out of this....

Dear Colleagues,
I have been in office as acting Vice-Chancellor since November 1, 2009. For the time I have been in charge of the office of the Vice-Chancellor, I have been able to realise that Makerere University as an institution has a lot of potential and talent. It has the critical resource, the human resource, to enable it become once again the Harvard of Africa. This has been demonstrated in the so many things we have achieved together as a University. For example very few people believed that as a University we would restructure our academic programmes, but we did. Not many people believed that as a University we would do away with our traditional structures and come up with colleges, but we did. In our 10 year strategic plan 2008/09 -2018/19 we set our target to be among the top 10 Universities in Africa by 2018/19 and as we end this year our hope is that we shall be among the top 10 Universities in Africa when the Webometrics rankings come out. Through the faculties/ schools/ institutes, staff associations, Council and other organs we have been able to lobby government and government has positively responded to our requests. Etc. For all we have been able to achieve as a University we give Glory and Honour to God and thanks to those who spearheaded the efforts.

Mahatma Gandhi in 1947 said:"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.... We end today a period of ill fortune, and India discovers herself again."
So in the same vein at the stroke of the midnight hour tonight we shall be in 2011, a year that shall see Makerere University step from the old academic units arrangement to the new collegiate arrangement that is aimed at repositioning Makerere University as the Harvard of Africa.
For us to be the Harvard of Africa we need leadership at all levels. Leadership comes from God. As in Jeremiah 1:5 before we were born God knew what each one of us would be. It is that complementarity in our different roles and responsibilities as office messengers, cleaners, Lecturers, Professors, Heads of Departments, Deans, Directors, Principals, senior managers, Deputy Vice-Chancellors, Vice-Chancellor etc that will make a difference in 2011. Makerere University has so many excellent people/ managers but a few have to be chosen to serve at a given time: As the saying goes ''Many are Called but few are Chosen''. As we enter a new year there is going to be a lot of promotions, elections in academic units and also some interim appointments. Not everybody shall be successful in taking up the few positions available. Our hope is that the best man/ woman shall carry the day. But remember God has a plan for each one of us; so instead of spending time lamenting about a missed appointment focus on exploiting your full potential to do something better for the University. Just believe in God's timing.
As we enter 2011, let us remember that we are the brain behind Makerere University and together we can transform Makerere University into a much better institution in 2011. We should not lose our brains and focus (Mathew 5:13-16).
As we resolve like never before to rebuild and reposition Makerere University in 2011, we need to keep our trust in God (Psalms 125). There are going to be storms along the way but only God can and shall calm them. The most important thing is for each one of us to search in our hearts and find out why we are at Makerere University. Is it because we need jobs? Is it because we are looking for opportunities Makerere University offers? Is it because we want to make Makerere University a better University for all of us and the future generations? Is it because....
This reminds of James Travis Reeves, commonly known as Jim Reeves (August 20, 1923 – July 31, 1964).
More than 15 years after the 1964 plane crash that killed him, previously unreleased material from the singer whose distinctive vocal style was popularly known as "a touch of velvet" reached the Top Ten of the country chart. Also Reeves old recordings continued to be top sellers. Reeves was posthumously elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1967, and in 1998, he was inducted into the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame in Carthage, Texas, where the Jim Reeves Memorial is located. That is his legacy.
As we enter 2011, remember that what you did for Makerere University in the past; what you will do for Makerere University in 2011 and beyond shall determine your legacy at Makerere University. So how would you like to be remembered?
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps tonight, Makerere University will awake as a Collegiate University.
Happy and prosperous new year 2011.

Personal Reflections out the current Mak Strike

2011-09-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it is very possible to miss the opportunity out of a situation or circumstance. But when you finally realize the opportunity(s) that have eluded you from the past, you almost want to slap yourself for being naive or short-sighted.

For the 10 years I have worked for Makerere University, on average there has been a strike every year with a varied degree of intensity sometimes resulting into closure. Honestly we have been laying down our tools over the same thing salary and better working conditions. Not once have we gone back to work out of realizing our intended outcome i.e. salary increment. Many have asked "why do you waste our time since we know you will go back without any increment?" There are several factors that compel us to get back to work since we desire to build for the future!

That aside, it is only this strike that has caught me thinking and evaluating myself? May be I am more mature now than before; may be I am wiser and more exposed; or may be I realize that I have potential beyond the gates of Mak University. Unlike in the past I have found myself seeking for opportunities rather than sit back at home and take a holiday. I have been amazed at how many opportunities that have been staring at me but had never sought to take them on very seriously.

I have realized how much we attach ourselves to the institutions, I am not sure the institutions do the same. We "give it" our all in all to the extent that we demand recognition of our importance. Now to me that should be the ultimate turning point, if your employer does not give your due worth what business do you have trying to make them realize that you have so much value and potential? Honestly why should you do that for 10 years running, do you think they will take you serious?

One thing for sure teaching at any level is fulfilling and I am yet to find a job that is as fulfilling as teaching...there is no value that can be attached to the ultimate satisfaction out of this job. I love doing it and would only change jobs for as long as that job it enabled me to continue sharing knowledge! Teaching to me is a calling and less of a job....although now there are less calling for even in church its a job and not service! ONLY Rotarians serve above self glad I am one :)! May be out of that intrinsic motivation we have been exploited or taken for-granted........we go back to teach anyway.

The question is, "Are there alternatives, that can enable me to continue doing what I love to do "teach" at my pleasure and will? The answer is an astounding YES, all along I thought I could only do it at Makerere University.

This strike has been a blessing to me and each day that passes by I discover a part of me that has been inept because of employment!

Till next let me discover more about thy self...Perfect being created solo with no replica..

Is it time to Re-think our Existence?

2011-09-06T12:15:00.000-07:00

Is it possible for Makerere University to exist without depending on government funding as a core source of funding? To what extent can we push government to recognize our legitimate cause so they can know that we are dead serious about what we are saying? If Makerere University was for profit organization how differently would one run it? If we opted to shelve government and run this university as an autonomous entity would the status quo change? What potential exists at Makerere University that has not been tapped or exploited? At what point did we miss the point of changing our thinking?

When Makerere University introduced private programs that should have been the point at which we changed our thinking and approach. Value for money, efficient service delivery should have been at the core of our thinking but that was not to be presented by Prof. Mahmood Mamdani in his publication Scholars in the Marketplace. The Dilemmas of Neo-Liberal Reform at Makerere University, 1989-2005. Prof. Mamdani clearly presents what I would say is the cause of the current confusion currently at Makerere University. The University started making money when it lacked structures to ably manage these funds and is now working retrogressively to change what has been the norm. I remember a time when in one of the units staff were paid 51,000= per hour to invigilate a three hour exam implying that at the end of a given exam, one would earn 150,000 Uganda shillings. That however has since changed. The number of paid for programs that a unit had meant more money but did the thinking fundamentally change? Did the established structures provide the requisite environment to enable the mind shift?

The University generates substantial amounts of money from student tuition and other fees. A number of people ask what does this money do? 49% of the tuition fees is retained at the center and 51% is spent at the units that generate the money. The money retained at the center contributes more than 40% of the university budget which is mainly expenditure on recurrent expenses. There has been limited investment of these funds in projects that can continue to generate revenue from other sources other than tuition fees. Other than the former Faculty of Computing and IT that constructed the 12,000sqm building from 100% internally generated funds and the extension of the University Main Library where the University contributed as part funding, I am not aware of any other project. The argument in some corridors have been we are a public institution and not business, I have found these and many other similar arguments feeble in this day and age.

Many times I think we are still stuck in our past glory and true Makerere University is still the University to reckon with in Uganda and why not even globally. But reality is for how is this going to be if it has not changed. Did the cheese move and we did not notice that it had moved. If you have not read the book who moved my cheese I would recommend it Who Moved my Cheese? A summary of the book I am tempted to think the cheese moved but we are still looking for it in the same places.

I have recently completed reading a book Employees First Customers Second Employees First Customers Second (Book Review). I found it intriguing, but quite revealing on the approach used by the CEO of HCLT to transform the organization by focusing on the employees. He identified the value zones and ensured that these value zones received all the support to drive the organization to a desired state. A key question I would pose to Makerere University and many other organizations is can we identify our value zones and if yes what investments are they making to ensure that these value zones continue to deliver maximum returns to organizational growth?

Is it therefore plausible to pause the question "Is it time to Re-think our Existence?" during these times to avert what has been declared an annual event i.e. the Mak Strikes are quite regular and thus deserve to be posted on our calendars for proper planning by our stakeholders....

What are your thoughts?

Should'nt We be talking about Incentives and not harmonizing allowances?

2011-05-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

I am certainly very intrigued by the current debate that has been going on at Makerere University where staff through their umbrella bodies are calling for equalizing the top-up allowances depending on one's rank. I am seriously wondering whether we are part of the 21st Century modern management thinking. Organizations have progressed from equal pay to value pay. You are paid your worth and not necessarily your rank and qualifications. What value you bring to the organization can influence your negotiating power. We are so engrossed in seeking to justify we should be paid what we think we should be paid but I am not sure we clearly understand the current dynamics in the job pay.

To an extent one can understand where this is coming from, you are appointed based on your qualifications and not on your competences that is largely the source of the trouble. You out rightly feel you are tops but if the dimension was brought would the scenario change? I think it would change dramatically. If we were to take stock of what each one of us is bringing into the institution and that were to be used as a basis for pay how many would go beyond the basic salary? Even in Public Service the salary scales are put in place to give a range and thus based on your experience you can negotiate for the top band in that range.

Recent investigations by staff association bodies indicated that the University had over 65 allowance types, this is certainly very high a number of allowances and thus the need for harmonization is imminent for purposes of restructuring the types and not necessarily the allowances to have a uniform figure paid out. This kind of approach is not likely going to take us any where in our desires to be a leading University in real terms. Now that we are progressing into a colleagiate University it implies that Colleges will to an extent the capacity to manage their resources including budgets. What this means therefore is that the most innovative colleges will attract more resources, most talented Human Resource, and also retain them. That is a given look at MIT, Harvard Business School and London School of Economics.

My take in this whole impasse is that we are ill informed about what is taking place in modern organizations. We can not aspire to be a modern university with 19th Century thinking and practices. We need to benchmark our practices in management with the current thinking and that is why Universities are struggling to get international certification like ISO because that is the standard thinking and practices.

Let us gather our pride and refocus our thinking and more so on issues that will make us better as a university by creating incentive that enable those that are performing!

Its Good to Know Your Value!!

2011-05-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

I have interacted with colleagues and friends, one thing that intrigues me is the way majority of the people do not seem to know their value but rather opt to complain. Most complaints tend to stem from money related issues. In a liberalized market its about willing buyer and seller and for as long as the two consent then the contract is good as done. In most of these contracts you have exit clauses that enable the either party to terminate the contract with notice. You agree to offer service at an agreed set of terms of service.

Take an example of Makerere University, for the 10years I have been in this university as an employees almost every year we go on strike because of pay we demand increase in salaries and unfortunately there has been little done. Clearly the employer is paying what he thinks he can afford and you are willing to offer the service at the same terms. What I have seen here is that we think Makerere University owes us our perceived value and go on to compare what other lecturers are paid in other universities. Granted compared to other universities the pay is at Makerere University is way lower than the expected but that is what Makerere University can afford now. Holding an employee at ransom clearly means that you are forcing the institution to realize that you have a better value than it is offering and in normal circumstances if they realize that it is true then they will most probably increase your offer. But they remain silent for one reason or the other better think twice.

I would therefore ask one question, Do you Know Your Value....Real Value and not perceived value!!! Why do people go to work its because the assumption you think you derive value from what you are doing. I understand in these circumstances that its not easy to find a job that meets your value that is if you know your value. Value in this case is not measured by only the salary but rather by a number of other dynamics and thus the offer should be evaluated holistically. If you opted to resign and the institution says you can go what does that tell you? Alternatively if they requested you to stay and negotiate your terms what does that tell you?

I one time told colleagues that if you think you are not getting what you are worth quite and I was almost skinned alive. I was speaking the bare truth....Plainly put what is your value? How does it communicate with your expected return.It is therefore important for one to know what they are worth in total terms and also equally important to let the institution know what your worth is. It is good for continuous evaluation of the self so that you are in tandem with reality. I strongly believe it is important to discover personal happiness and genuine at that.

Like human beings are organic and have a biological structure and thus they are different in form and structure you can never have two similar organization even in the same industry. Do not force an organization to be YOU!!

When Bottle Shapes become an Issue for Competition

2011-02-15T06:12:00.000-08:00

Last week East African Breweries introduced on the market a new bottle shape for its beer brand BELL. Ordinarily would have thought that this is another change of the bottle by EABL. But that is not the case. The competitors Nile Breweries have come out strongly with adverts demonstrating that they set the standards and all others are following. I enjoyed looking at the advert in yesterdays NewVision Page 29 "Modernity comes to us all eventually"!!! This is a big statement, they have set the pace and it has take EABL this long to understand that this is the way to go. Bell on the other hand is running which is captioned "The Height of Quality" very loaded as well.

What is emerging is that competition is not on the content in the bottle but rather the bottle itself and that is interesting. Clearly this means that the consumers are driven by the shape of bottles and not the content in the bottle, why do I think that this is not the case? How many drink a given beer type because of the shape of the bottle and NOT the content?

Critical from this is that your PACKAGE can define your MARKET!! Think about it

The World Owes You Nothing...

2011-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:00

I get shocked when you meet people especially young people and they want make it a point that the world owes them their desires and more still their country: Its no ones responsibilty to get you a job you have to live to the expectations and there are no short cuts lets face it. Today I was listening to Amos Wekesa of Great lakes Safaris my God what a revealing story!

Why Can't they be like US

2011-01-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Talking to many adults born in the 1970's and before issues about the current generation bother them. Many times we compare ourselves with the current generation and forget that we are made of different configurations. Our environments are different, what was scarce then is in great abdundance and therefore the level of appreciation is totally different. We need to appreciate our environments shape our outlook: I guess we need to find a common ground to understand each other so that we support each other.

Top 12 Tech Embarrassments 2010

2011-01-06T00:20:00.001-08:00

Interesting Reading

Follow the Link http://newsletters.networkworld.com/t/5258426/419255793/140981/0/

Who is going to laugh last in the Current Telcom Competition?

2010-10-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Just wondering who is going to laugh last in the current telcom competition in Uganda. With all the telcom competing on price I am not sure what will happen when we hit the 0 [zero] rate? I want to think that there are other avenues the competition can head to although I am not sure anyone is paying attention to the other side of the coin. I have feeling that a number of these companies have lost their focus in terms of market [i.e. if they had one] and are now following and are competing on under cutting each other. There has been debate that the Ugandan market is too small and does not have the potential to support the players in the market. True but is it also not true that there is limited innovation to spur market growth? For now it is certainly interesting to watch and certainly to study in terms of strategies. My bet is that we are going to see customers ask for more value besides the price, the best product/service provider might laugh last.....what do you think?

Michael's Thoughts

2009-05-19T00:26:00.000-07:00

Life is interesting and many times we never seem to pick the lessons that life provides us. Ever looked back at the opportunities that are presented by every challenge? Hmmm strange it must be to think like that? I guess so! Looking at Uganda and the way we run our business I get mixed feelings and keep on wondering whether our leaders are up to the task. Ooooops I rarely vote so why should I complain............ would my vote count anyway? I guess a dictator of sorts is desired in some instances do they call benovolent dictators........yes those ones do you know where we can find one? URGENTLY NEEDED!!!!!!!!!