Planning, patience will get you there

It is not unusual to hear Kenyan youth cryptically respond to an ordinary salutation with “Ni kunoma”, the street parlance decrying today’s economic challenges.

To most Kenyans, the ultimate yardstick of a dull economic stretch is lack of cash in the pocket. But no amount is enough to pacify a restless spirit trained to seek more and more.

One of the commonest preoccupations is on how to make money and how business start-ups can be funded. Even superpowers pick leaders based on the potential to revitalise sagging economies. In, essence, the masses will always cry, and as the Good Book brusquely puts it, the poor will always be there.

A cursory review of Africa will identify countries set for economic take-off. Conversely, there are those that offer us solace because they have set the bar too low. But are some African nations — Kenya included — stuck in puny competitiveness while ignoring our real potential?

Indeed, development is relative. Whereas it is easy to imagine that those who reside in leafy suburbs are comfortable and happy, the reality could shock you. True, as the doctrine of transcendence holds, the higher you go, the more rungs you desire to scale in the economic ladder.

The risk, however, is to expend more energy meditating about the target without giving as much thought as to the journey and resources involved in achieving the dream. That’s how many of us find ourselves talking about funding before looking at the viability and reality of what we want to do.

We are lost in flights of fancy or, better yet, stuck in dreamland.

For example, a villager’s dream is to go to the city, notwithstanding the neighbourhood they would end up in.

Meanwhile, the urban middle class is ever relentlessly pursuing the more affluent suburbans. This as those in upmarket estates imagine themselves in exotic hideaways, away from the overcrowded and polluted megalopolis.

The vain pursuit of ‘happiness’ essentially turns everyone into what sociologists call “social climbers”. As a society, we would achieve a lot more in a shorter period if we invested more in ideas and innovation rather than engaging in that.

The construction of the tallest building in the world — the Burj Khalifa in Dubai — began with just one brick, literally. But what kept the skyscraper dream alive is that the investor, and contractor, had clear timelines and projections.

The money may not have been in the bank ahead of the commencement of the fabled project but the source of the income was clearly known. Above all, there was the aspect of faith that all would be done no matter the time and resources required.

That is why construction gurus would insist on project planning, failing which you plan to fail, they say.

It is true, planning is vital at all costs; but it does not, in any way, imply that all the money has to be in the account to kick-start a project.

The most important aspect is that leap of faith but with some projections of how the project would be actualised. Taking that calculative plunge into the unknown, if you will.

The biggest mistake most of us make is hankering to attain ambitious targets in a flash. Every passing day could be our milestone towards where we would want to go if only we are a little more patient.

There is no magic wand to wave to eradicate poverty in one fell swoop from the face of the earth. It all starts with the individual’s mentality, with funding only as an enabler. Successful investors would emphasise projections, patience, focus and commitment.

Allowing sideshows to blur the end view of a project is a mistake most people make. Ideas may be the same, the building blocks identical but what separates the wheat from the chaff is execution.

Back to the analogy of the tall building. If we can assemble the small components of such magnificent structure, our focus then shifts to how to get the end product without undue attention to the tiny components and processes.

Ambitions are good but they are better if progressively realised. Marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge knew he could not break a world record on his first appearance, however good he was, but he never lost sight of the goal. The calculation that goes into an athlete’s strategy is enormous and calls for patience and focus.

It is not about support or lack of it. Ironically, just after college, young people often see themselves in employment, going up the corporate ladder fast without breaking a sweat. The more visionary of their lot running small businesses aspire to own huge enterprises in the shortest time possible — without investing in it.

Let us cultivate a deeper sense of focus, perseverance, ethos and pride in accomplishing tasks among the youth to build a solid society of honest achievers.

Mr Mwasi, a publishing expert, is CEO of Kenya Yearbook Editorial Board.