Innovation, burnout, and bravery
You’ll remember that a few months ago I told you that South African artist and sculptor Atang Tshikare was rocking the world of Dior. Now he’s in New York’s Metropolitan Museum with this amazing piece that he describes as paying “homage to African mothers and daughters. The Litema pattern, beadwork and weaving on the chairs are all adornments of Bantu cultural symbols that were used in ancient times by our foremothers to record information, express feelings and exchange messages.” Atang’s work is testimony to power of using our histories to inspire the present. In connecting to the past, we connect to the power of the ages.
Then, a confession. I was frustrated with the quality of last week’s letter. It was a big topic and I tried to achieve too much, too quickly. In retrospect, I should have written a draft and let in hang around for a few weeks while I refined it. Apologies for dragging you deep into the detail without providing adequate context. For instance, I should have told you that Charles Van Onselen’s The Night Trains is a profound and painful telling of the experiences of migrant workers from Mozambique, that Wahbie Long is a professor of psychology at UCT, and that his book, Nation on the Couch: Inside South Africa’s Mind, explores the roots of the pain that bedevils South African life. No doubt, you figured all of that out as you read, but better writing would have made that clearer. Lesson learned! Thank you, as always, for all the comments that you sent me. Ironically, they were all very positive, but I know it could’ve been better.
Let’s get to today’s topics – black business, innovation, burnout, and bravery.
On Wednesday evening, I attended the launch of Phakamisa Ndzamela’s Native Merchants: The Building of The Black Business Class in South Africa. The conversation between Ndzamela and talented broadcaster Lester Kiewit took us on an epic journey through the story of South African black business over centuries. They started with the gold miners of what is now Limpopo, who established trade routes reaching all the way to China during the 800s, then moved on to the histories of Anna de Koningh (the first female owner of Groot Constantia) and Zwarte Maria Evert (who owned and farmed what is now Camps Bay) and then to the business leaders of the early 20th century like JT Jabavu, who at 25 founded and edited the newspaper Imvo Zabantsundu. Like Tshikare, Ndzamela connects us to our past, and in so doing gives us the possibility of power and transformation.
Strategy
These strategy anecdotes come from globally-acclaimed strategist Jim Collins and Bill Lazier’s Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0. If you want a pragmatic, research-based, example-rich guide to building a business, you’ll struggle to find anything better.
Innovation, the creation of new products, new business lines is the subject of – well, a lot. If I were to list all the different consultancies touting different methodologies, I would still be writing by this time next week. Collins and Lazier show us that it can be simpler.
They remind us that you don’t always need to generate the idea. Johnson and Johnson didn’t create Tylenol (a breakthrough pain reliever). It came from McNeil Laboratories which was acquired by J&J. Similarly, Wetordry (waterproof sandpaper), the 3M Company’s first landmark product, was invented by Francis Oakie who sold the rights to 3M. Ray Kroc, founder of the McDonald’s chain, recognised the potential in the original McDonald’s restaurant and extended it. The list goes on and on.
You don’t need to create the idea; you can find it. If you’re acquiring new businesses, examine them carefully, listen to their people, explore what is in development that you might amplify. You might have purchased the seeds of innovation.
If you’re contemplating starting a business, but can’t get to an idea look for businesses, or products, that appeal to you. What unique strengths can you bring to them? Whilst Howard Schulz and Starbucks are now inseparable, he wasn’t the founder. It was a small 6 store operation when he bought it.
And, as much as innovation is about listening, it is also about persistence.
We’re all familiar with the anecdotes about Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and her multiple rejections before eventually achieving success. The Beatles had the same experience. But this doesn’t happen only in the creative world, there are many similar stories from the world of business.
A Yale University professor wrote, “The concept is interesting and well formed, but in order to be better than a ‘C,’, the idea must be feasible” when grading Fred Smith’s paper that proposed a business idea that he eventually turned into Fedex.
Chester Carlson’s copying technology was rejected by 20 companies, so he founded Xerox.
You get the idea. Simply put, if you believe in an idea then persist – market-research (and professors) can only tell you so much.
Self
People burnout in particular environments. Burnout is contextual not personal. Burnout doesn’t just happen to the person; it also affects your organisations customers. The more burned out you are, the less satisfied your customers will be, and therefore the weaker your business’s performance.
Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall in Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leaders Guide to The Real World share a study on physician burnout, conducted by the globally acclaimed Mayo Clinic. It found that “that a 1 percent increase in measured burnout led to a 20 to 30 percent decrease in patient satisfaction.”
The Mayo Clinic then “asked physicians how much of their time at work they spent doing those activities that they love the most. Those who reported that they spent at least 20 percent of their time doing things they loved had dramatically lower risk of burnout. Each percentage point reduction below this 20 percent level resulted in a commensurate and almost linear increase in burnout risk.”
They comment that ““What we all wrestle with every day in the real world is not so much work and life as it is love and loathe.”
Find what you love. Bring it intentionally into your life. As I write to you, I love it. Is it work? I guess so, but often I can’t tell.
Soul
Anne Biccard has spent 30 years at the coalface of medical emergencies. Her book Saving A Stranger’s Life: The Diary of an Emergency Room Doctor recounts her experience in a Johannesburg hospital’s emergency room during the first few months of the Covid pandemic. It’s both heartbreaking, surprisingly hilarious, and inspiring.
I loved this moment from the heart of Covid’s first wave.
The emergency teams and ICU were nearing collapse. They were exhausted. Then, five specialists were added to the WhatsApp group. The group included a plastic surgeon, a gastroenterologist, two orthopods and a rheumatologist – not your average collection of ER crisis managers. She reflects that she was sure that none of them had listened to a to a patient’s chest in more than 20 years, nor was there a requirement that they volunteer. She was baffled. When she sees them in the ER she approaches them:
“‘What are you guys doing here?’ I ask.
‘We have come to help,’ the gastroenterologist answers simply.
Unexpectedly, my eyes fill with tears. So much respect, in that moment, knowing that these doctors don’t have to do this. They could have stayed at home, out of the firing line, but they have courageously stepped forward to help us.”
That is quite something. They could have stayed at home. They didn’t. They came to make a difference. They risked their lives. I feel happier knowing about them.
I hope that you have a beautiful morning and a fantastic week.
Karl
PS: If this is the first time you’re reading strategy, soul, & self you can subscribe here and you can find me on LinkedIn and Instagram.
PPS: I am fully booked until the end of the year. Aside from the occasional ad hoc appointment I won’t be taking on any new clients now. I have availability again from mid-January, so if you do want to work with me let us have a conversation in the next few weeks and explore what that will might work best for you. You can learn more about my coaching practice here.
(This letter was first published on 14 November 2021)