An American businessman and author, columnist Farah Gray, once said: “Build your own dreams, or someone else will hire you to build theirs."
A powerful statement for those who are conquerors, but a challenging one to those who are facing challenges head on. As South Africans in the eye of the Covid-19 storm, it is important for us to remember where our strength lies, especially when it comes to digging ourselves out of the pandemic.
When I was 14, my grandfather shared a folk tale which I believe has the power to re-empower not only South Africa but our continent.
“As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front legs - no chains, no cages. It was obvious the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why the animals made no attempt to get away.
Said the trainer: “When they are very young and much smaller, we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were. A folk tale seeded with everlasting truth.
The tale emphasises the fact that a seed has the power to become an unshakable trunk tree in the future. An idea planted in our youth has the power or ability to transcend a lifetime and outlive several generations.
One of the biggest casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the global economy, but, more so, our local economy.
The big question is how are we going to resuscitate the economy? The takeout from all the webinars I have attended must be the keywords “change the way we think, a new perspective, accept new normal”, etc.
The one thing that has been missing in most, if not all, the webinars is the knowledge and belief that we are born innovators. Similar to the elephant story, at a young age we were led to believe that innovation is merely technology-based and is capital intensive (for the wealthy or established).
The word innovate refers to “introducing as new, renew or restore”, and has nothing to do with technology or capital.
It is critical for us to go back to when we were young elephants, and recognise that as human beings, we are born innovators.
The metaphorical rope has led to Africans being conditioned to believe that innovation is by them for us, while the truth is that innovation is by us for them.
We could at any time break free from the psychological bonds, but because we believe we cannot, we are stuck right where our ancestors were.
The power of innovation does not lie with technology advancement nor capital but resides in our hearts and between our ears. Unless we renew our minds and start believing that innovation is within us, we will remain economic slaves to the rest of the world.
Amandla Power is within us!
* Bonnke Shipalana is group chief executive at The Allure Group SA.