A story is told that at the height of the space program, both Soviet and American Astronauts faced a big challenge. How to take notes when in space which has no gravity rendering the normal pens fail to work since the ink cannot flow. You can try to test it now with any pen in your hands. Try to place a paper on the wall, at a position higher than your head. Lift a pen and try to write on that paper overhead. At first, the ink will write. However, after two minutes, it will stop writing with consistency. That…
Think away from the box. Not outside the box.
When you think ‘outside the box’ your view is limited by the box (A). Move away from the box. You will gain a better perspective. Your ‘box’ will reduce as you move away from the box. When faced with a challenge, try to think ‘away’ from the challenge not ‘outside’ the challenge. When you think away from the challenge, you gain wider perspectives. You think about bigger challenges and of course more strategic solutions. Think away from the box. Think big. Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2020. All rights reserved
Subcontractors: The consultant’s nightmare
If you want to lose your head, accept a project that you cannot competently deliver internally. Welcome to the challenging world of associate consultants or subcontractors or independent contracts. In the engineering world, it is common to partner and wins a big project with many associates. Many times, the risk of project completion is shared evenly among the partners and the client is aware of the arrangement. The story is different with associate consultants. I learned early on that you cannot win in the consulting business by only accepting projects for which you have internal capabilities to deliver. We are…
Context + perspective equals critical thinking
If you lack context(background data about the issue) and perspective (present conditions and new developments) you don’t have the authority to comment or judge. From 1975 to 1986, Uganda was at war. Lots of internal wars and civil instabilities. There are few mothers with birth certificates. Many people ‘estimated their birth dates.’ More information emerges as to grow. And so dates change. And folks who indeed wrote exams themselves and never cheated got average marks owing to the lack of reading materials in many schools and the poor quality of teachers at the time, and over the years. Access to…
Loans advanced for cars most likely to default
The Daily Monitor, of 27th August 2020, published an article titled “Loans advanced for cars most likely to default, says report” page 36 as a result of the recently released summitBI Banking Sector Report, 2020. Volumes and value of used car imports have been declining in the last three years thus eating into government revenues. Car loans present the biggest risk to bank with borrowers in this category most likely default, according to report. The report also notes that borrowers intending to purchase other goods such as furniture find it difficult to repay money secured to purchase such goods. Mr…
Free yourself from the prison of official ‘titles’.
Many leaders and executives especially politicians and folks in public service hold on their roles for fear of job title identify loss. ‘The ED of xx.’ The PS of xx’. The Minister, xx.’ This creates entitlement. Position identity. And positional power. This kills transitional leadership, as the holder may not imagine life without the job title. The only way is to hold on the position. It’s good to prepare for retirement and transition early on the first day you get the job. As much as possible, try to be identified and respected by your WORKS and not your job title…
