Vision would turn disruption into a successful story in evolving world

Recently, in a Naivasha hotel, we had lunch seated around a large round dining table with a central swivelling tray —a lazy Suasan— whose purpose was to provide a place where the dishes can be placed and the tray rotates around the table so that no one has to stretch out their arms to reach the food.

However, in our case, the table was big and the tray was so far that no one could reach it without standing up. This was a classic case of what I call structure without function.

This happens all the time whenever people are excited about the immediate picture without attempting to connect it to a bigger picture.

The small picture syndrome shows up everywhere when people make permanent decisions on moving objects and is the force behind a lot of leadership and business decisions gone wrong.

The 2010 World Cup was Africa’s World Cup. It was one of the most colourful ever and it gave us the song that has garnered over 2 billion views on YouTube – Shakira’s Waka Waka (This time for Africa).

It was a spectacular World Cup and also the loudest world cup in history courtesy of the vuvuzela—that plastic horn that attempts to drown every other sound around it.

To many, that was the most memorable thing about the 2010 tournament. The appearance of the vuvuzela was so spectacular that the little known instrument outside South Africa instantly became known globally.

I know of someone who wanted to take advantage of this snapshot moment and decided to buy thousands of vuvuzelas. Well the rest is history.

Fifa banned them at other tournaments and that was the end of that. Someone had a whole warehouse full of stock that was useless.

In Nigeria, book launches are big events, where many people are invited and to buy the books at many times its price.

Every author and publisher looks forward to the launch because it presents them with big opportunity of making their money back many times over.

Before the advent of digital music, the same was true of musicians having album launches. It was a big day and whatever they spent on the production of the album, they were sure to make it all back with extra.

With this background, you are ready for the next story. Many years ago when Nelson Mandela was in prison, a lot of people called for his release.

Artists were not left out. Many songs calling for the release of Mandela were written and they became hits.

A Nigerian artist I knew decided to do the same thing. He took a loan and went to the studio to record his own Free Mandela album. It was a very capital intensive project but the big day was coming—the day of the album launch.

It was the culture. People would come and support him and buy the album at many times the normal price. And besides, this is a great cause. He was adding his voice to the thousands of voices around the world calling for the release of Mandela.

So, this fellow had already finished the production in the studio and had done thousands of records and cassettes and was now waiting for the big day of his album launch and then the unthinkable happened. Mandela was released from prison! This was really crunch time.

This was when it would be clear if he really wanted Mandela released or if this was just an opportunity to make a quick buck. Anyway, that was the end of that artiste. I never heard of him after this incident.

How do we get over small picture thinking where we make decisions based only on the obvious facts? One thing that Africa has lacked has been generational thinkers. The ability to think beyond your immediate state.

In 1863, the London Underground began operations heralding the beginning of a vast network that would run deep below the earth’s surface providing a solution for a problem that did not yet exist.

In 1811, a master plan for Manhattan was developed that showed roads at a time when people were riding horses.

A vision for today that does not encompass the possibilities of tomorrow is doomed from the start.

Disruption comes in many ways but the inability to foresee the future is the singular reason why many become victims of disruption. Only those who keep their eyes on the big picture and their hands on the small pictures stand a chance in this ever evolving world of ours.

Wale Akinyemi is the chief transformation officer at Power Talks.