Great ideas are about customer value creation at the lowest cost possible. It is not easy to be innovative without contextual understanding. And that is where many motivational advisors on Twitter, etc get it wrong. To earn big, you need skills, discipline, and consistency. The Internet is full of ideas. Amazon is full of books with great success stories. Facebook, Google, Apple, etc are great stories in the motivators toolkit. Without context, however, it is sleep dreaming. A winning idea in the US, or Europe, for example, is sure to scale or attract outstanding investors because of the supporting infrastructure…

Are you fighting for space or do you focus on empty spaces? What is your competitive focus? I used to play No. 9 during my Primary school times. One day, the new school football coach came to our class, which was Primary Five. He said; “if you know  football, raise your hand.” All the boys in the classroom raised their hands. He added, “If you know football and how to play it, stand up.” Half of the boys in the class stood up, including me. Unknown to us, the new coach had already talked to pupils in Primary Four and…

He is arguably one of the oldest serving governors. A day off at the office is noticed by all and sundry. That is how Bank of Uganda governor, Prof. Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile (“ETM” or “Mutebile”) has established himself at the central bank. However, recent happenings point to his possible exit. The issue at hand now is the timing? Will he be let go before the elections or after? The governor’s contract will be expiring in January 2016. There are two options: it is renewed before the end of 2015 or the process of finding a replacement is commenced as soon as…

Blah blah blah… that is how the Chairperson opens most meetings where they talk and talk and talk, without significant impact on solving the most pressing issues that caused the meeting in the first place. Meetings take a long time because everyone wants to say something and in the process, lots of noise and less value.  Some leaders want to call people for a meeting to just give them instructions. In these kinds of meetings, people are likely to sleep off. For real, I have attended meetings where the brain evaluated the options available – sleep or continue listening and…

Before a culture audit, you need to understand the current culture at any organization. The right culture provides a foundation for high performance.  Do not start speeding before you define the destination. A culture to put in place a strategy is critical. If you just wake up from the bed and begin running in any direction, the chances that you will end nowhere are very high. Speed without direction is useless. First, define the direction and begin running towards that direction.  The strategy provides the right direction. And culture gives the discipline to drive safely on the road. Why do…

Strategy asks leaders to make choices of how they will win in the medium and long term. The focus is on how to play to win fairly in a sustainable manner. If you are a football team, you want to win upcoming and future games as well as stay competitive in the next 3 to 5 years. That is called the short, medium and long term game. The same applies to your business or career. You want to be able to create and sustain value in the short, medium, and long term. You do not want to be a leader of…