All in one week—Awarding Innovators and News of Laying off Senior Bank Employees: What lessons to draw from this package of contrasting emotions

This week the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, the country’s national broadcaster, awarded people it considered have demonstrated beyond the average on the innovation front in the country. I think ten of them were awarded, nine of them carrying home something over $1,250, and tenth one, described as innovator of innovators, took home over $2,500. The other news was that NBS Bank, one of the country’s renowned banking institutions would be laying off 300 employees, mostly of senior positions, by March 2017. For me these are stories of contrasting emotions—the one bringing in me such great happiness as I can never describe, the other suppressing if not crushing especially at the time the country’s economy is down on its haunches.

I have three observations to make on the innovation thing. First, I should extend my heart-felt congratulations to all those so publicly recognised. The country has over 17 million people, and to be among the best ten is no mean achievement; I share in your pride, whoever you are. Second, although it is not in me to extend my appreciation to someone doing his job, this time the President, Arthur Peter Mutharika should receive my honour for giving the whole thing an aura of value. This is what I want to see my President do. Such settings show him a man educated and a man with a heart to share with his people.

That is the first move in a chapter to encourage innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship in the country. First, such a gesture as a reward has the power to bring a sense of accomplishment in the awardee. Second, as an incentive, it has the potential to encourage them and others dillydallying on their skills and talents to innovate, create and find better entrepreneurial options.

What I’m saying will make more sense if I distinguish the two terms—reward and incentive. A reward is something one gets after one has demonstrated some exceptional or unique or touching approach to issues. An incentive, on the other hand, is something a nation, employer, parents, et cetera gives one to encourage that one to do more and better in future. Thus, reward has to do with ‘after’ you have innovated, and incentive ‘before’ you have innovated so that you and others will be encouraged to innovate even more.

At this point, let me seize the opportunity to suggest something to the national broadcaster so this event becomes sweeter by the day like some old wine. This is coming from my understanding of innovation and what the same intends to achieve for the people.

Strictly speaking, innovation, considered from Intellectual Property perspective, has to do with technology, i.e. bringing new idea or ideas on some technology to make it address an immediate need in your environment. That the criterion for awarding innovation should be on the magnitude of relief it has brought to the majority of the people in a particular area of suffering. However, the term is sometimes used to refer to creativity as well, i.e. bringing a new idea in a work of art, e.g. writing a brilliant novel (though this is subjective), short stories, book, or having the exceptional skill in art beyond many.

In public administration and public policy innovation encompasses a lot and includes what is described as “hidden innovation: in services, the public sector and the creative industries, or new trends in open and user-led innovation” (NESTA Making Innovation Flourish July 2008, paragraph 1 ‘Measuring Innovation’). Griffin Sayenda, the awardee under the ‘Innovator of Innovators’ banner was awarded under this section—hidden innovation. Put simply, Sayenda as a women’s netball national team coach has brought in a new perspective or approach to make a team from one of the smallest and poorest countries on earth rise to the status of true queens. By rising above all difficulties or hurdles and coming out great on the other side, Sayenda deserved innovation award of some kind.

Once upon a time when people on this land valued nature and quality Inspector General of Police and Army Commander would pay a visit to surroundings in police camp, barracks, respectively, to award occupants whose surroundings exuded beauty and clean. I know the argument would be whether that would make sense today with the dilapidation state of most houses in these two institutions. A good argument, but I would equally ask whether it is justification that someone must stop taking a bath or washing his clothes simply because they are faded or tattered.

Malawi is undergoing most ambitions civil service reforms ever. Civil servants who implement satisfactorily or who bring in beautiful ideas which, when implemented, produce wonders in the civil service should be remembered in some way too. The same applies to those bringing the nation some brilliant business ideas.

The beauty with such ceremonies is that they make people stop talking party politics for a while. The President should have more of such unifying settings; they make him truly a national figure. One can never compare that to what happened a few weeks ago when he presided over a ceremony where he was welcoming into his party members who had defected from other opposition parties. Such men and women with a defection DNA in them ought to be scolded seriously for polluting our hard-won democracy.

Now on the news of the impending lay-off of 300 NBS Bank employees. In Malawi, with the blessing of extended families, this certainly is a blow to families ten or even twenty times this number. As senior employees, these people are bread-winners, do have a chain of dependants, and other families too, e.g. for their gardeners, maids, etc. It is a sad tale. Sometimes one has to imagine this was happening to you and then you would understand the magnitude of panic and hopelessness.

It is not that these people won’t get something for their time and contributions there; they will, but the arithmetic will be different this time—mostly it will be subtraction. They were working for the bank, yes, but this does not necessarily mean they can handle business issues efficiently. I have seen kids coming from homes of best maths teachers scoring the worst.

My simple advice to them is: straight away take the humble life and spend with prudence. Humility could even mean working for a private secondary school as you are waiting for something ‘better’. By doing something no matter how small, you will be learning an extra skill, earning something in the course, to meet some need. At attempt to cling to the life one was leading when one was receiving big will ruin rather than sustain. Sit down with the family and let each work to make the home tick more than ever before. As long as GOD gives you life and good health, fight with everything in you, and victory is certain.

When I worked for Ministry of Education as a school teacher and I wanted to leave for a private secondary school, some people reminded me, “Boma limalera.” The construction literally means there is no better security anywhere outside the civil service. My response to them was that such a statement was an insult to GOD, for there are people not employed at all yet they live decent lives. It is GOD that gives one security in every facet of life, but of course, this also entails that as HE gives you the strength and wisdom, you must be willing to sacrifice to make things work.

My mother died when I was 18 (I was in form 1 then). My situation was so desperate because my father passed on when I was 12, and my mother had no ‘proper’ home in Malawi where we could go to (my mother being from South Africa). When I finished form four, the houses (both were grass-thatched) my mother had left us were in ruins. An uncle offered to take me into his family (I am the only Jika from my mother). However, before I left I made a decision to build a better house for my relations. I had never built one before, but I was dead determined my knowledge of technical drawing on angles and the line, would guide me in that area. I was funny at that point because I wanted to convince a girl nearby I would marry her if she could be of help. I wanted her to help with drawing water for me to mould the bricks. She refused to be ‘a promise to marry’. (A year or so later, she was to come back to me to tell me she was now willing, and this was after she had learnt I was now a university student. I never attended to her ‘advances’.)

After she had refused, I decided to do the job alone. I used two buckets, one on either hand, to draw water at Bwaila (a stream some 300 metres from home). It was never easy. Back with the two buckets, I had to dig up to make a mound, create a volcano mouth on it onto which I poured the water. After a few trips the soil would get wet enough. At that point I would do the mix, dancing all over it. I had planned to mould between 1,000 and 1,500 big bricks. A few days later, my hands almost gave way, and if I was to continue, then I had to use my head, I mean carrying a bigger bucket on my head, supporting it with both my hands. When I did that, girls in the village, including that one who had repudiated me, were on me. They invited one another to see a boy carrying a bucket on his head. (You had to be there in 1991 to understand it all.)

I decided to seek help. I told Mr Salima now late (but father to current Director of Geological Survey, Jalf Salima). Late Mr Salima said, “If you’re ashamed of doing something that will serve you because the girls are on you, you will have yourself to blame when your work is not done. After all, none of them will come to lend a hand.”

Mr Salima’s advice helped. When I did it a number of times, the laughters subsided.

I finished with the moulding. When I started the building, the house was shaping into a basket until someone, Mr Jemusi, told me one can never build a house without a ‘levulo’. He demonstrated to me how to use it and lent it me. I had to destroy my poor workmanship and start all over again. I built a beautiful house. In fact, before I had finished it, someone (Honest Mgundo) who was working for Parliament (before it had shifted from Zomba to Lilongwe) asked me to build him a similar one. I did it for him and he paid me K15.

This is just part of what I went through in life, something that hardened me, and ever since I have never believed there is a problem too big for a human being; GOD always gives one the grace and strength to accomplish.

I diverted so much, but sometimes people who think we are what we are by a simple formula have to be told situations are there for us to deal with them and come out triumphant. (I wanted to release my autobiography—Growing Through a Thicket of Poverty—at somewhere mid-50, but I think I should start serialising it soon. I’m sure I will give a lot of people laughter.)

Well, I decided to treat the two stories (innovation story and the impending lay off story) together because the latter can benefit from the former. In other words, innovation can provide an answer to these 300 men and women about to be laid off. They can use their brains to think and bring forth brilliant business ideas, brilliant coping mechanisms and even alternatives to fall upon. Sometimes things happen, and that is no time to cry or blame oneself or others; it is time to accept the situation and think of the best way to lift oneself up and out of the mess and prove to all as long as the heart ticks, there is still time to cause an upset.

Finally, the opportunity to live in Malawi, the opportunity to serve your country and your people is the greatest gift GOD can give you because it is through that that one can demonstrate one can achieve wonders. Our aim or motive should not to win awards; it must be to serve our people with the highest level of discipline and humility. I think that is beyond every honour one can receive. However, for every recognition, let us celebrate with those recognised, for such always mean so much in their lives as well as ours.