PROJECT 50:50

Project 50:50.....shared responsibility is a national project to collectively address the economic and social challenges facing The Nigerian Nation. 

STRATEGY SESSION 

A strategy session was held to address these issues. The session was facilitated by Mr Daniel Ikuenobe of ACE Innovative Systems Services. The ACE model for creative problem solving was one of the models used. It involves:  Abstraction(Fleshing out the issues that define the problem), Conceptualization(Development of creative solution models) and Execution(Development of logical sequence of action). Other models such as Stream analysis developed by Prof. Jerry Porras and Six Thinking Hats developed by Dr Edward de Bono.

Mr Daniel Ikuenobe's approach to solving Nigeria's complex problems was to attempt to break down these problems into very simple components.

After considering all the sectors and problems facing the nation especially the problems facing the young people, he decided it was a wise idea to narrow the scope by location and by sector.

PROBLEM DEFINITION

We focused on just one problem to avoid "boiling the ocean", which was "youth empowerment"

We defined an empowered youth as one that has production capacity. A productive youth as one who creates value. The youths are productive when they create value and this value is created as their problem solving capacity is improved.

In other words, an empowered youth is one that has the capacity to solve problems.

DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT AND DEPLOYMENT

We broke Nigeria into various sectors: Education, Health, Power/Energy, Oil/Gas, Communication/Media, Entertainment, Transportation, Construction, Politics, Law/Order, Security, Sports, Manufacturing, Financial Services, tourism etc.

We said we had to perform a job role profile for each of these sectors to enable us discover the possibilities and opportunities in these sectors. Then determine the skill and knowledge gaps present in these sectors with a view to adequately meeting the needs by people development and engagement.

BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION

We identified the need to behavioural modifications and we decided to use stream analysis to accomplish this. If we are able to model the sectors according to the stream analysis model, we would be able to perform a  planned change intervention.

SCOPE

We agreed to narrow the scope of work by carrying a pilot project in Benin City only for the educational sector. 

CONCLUSION

We hope we would be able to cause positive change in the city and in the sector then replicate our success in other cities and other sectors of the nation.

BUSINESS ACCORDING TO FELA DUROTOYE

Mr Fela Durotoye is one of the most innovative business consultants I know. His insight, understanding and wisdom is remarkable. Defined by raw talent, carefully honed skill and incredible human connection. I learned a lot from him and will definitely always cherish my days at Visible Impact. I will like to share some of the things I learned while with him.

1.   8/30/4 Rule: This is a principle FD encourages when writing any form of business proposal. You know most executives are extremely busy people and so do not have the time to go through bulky materials. This principle will guide you proposal development. Your proposal must not exceed 8 pages, most catch the readers attention in less than 30 seconds and the reader must be done with it in less than 4 minutes. Amazing principle. Some other support proposal writing principles like our use of pictures since "a picture speaks a million words", papering style and others make the proposals generated by visible impact trained consultants stand out.

2.   3x3 Project Matrix: Our Projects are determined by a three by three matrix system that helps us to capture the degree of importance of any of our project in terms of its income potential, Brand Visibility and Social Impact. We tend to pursue projects with the highest and most measurable or visible impact that is most rewarding to stakeholders especially those we serve.

3.  Vault Raiding:  This is a principle we teach clients especially bankers why they should treat third party cheque holders with highest regard and try to woo them to open an active account with bank being presented with the cheque. The reason is, the third party cheque holder is the "raiding your bank's vault".On the other hand if the presenter of the cheque has an account with you bank, then the bank retains its fund and the vault is not raided. The idea is the optimal retention of depositors funds.

4.  The Seven Star Performer:  This is a performer enhancement model that captures the seven dimensions that define the individuals that make up high performance organizations. That is. preferred service provider to the customer, most inspiring leader to the subordinate, dream subordinate to the boss, most sought after team member, industry role model, most valuable asset to management, and master of self.

There is much more to share but I guess that's all for now. You will do well to experience a training session facilitated by Visible Impact or any of its affiliates. Its an experience you really cannot pay enough for. Have a great day.

DI

PEOPLE POWER

Management experts often say that people are the greatest asset of any organization. Well, that is only true if the people are good people. It is a fact that organizations are only as great as the people who drive them. Greatness for any organization is the summation of the individual greatness of its people. Imagine the creative potential within every truly creative organization. In essence, the individual is at the heart of any truly progressive organization.

So for the individual, the following will greatly enhance personal performance in the workplace:

1. TIME MANAGEMENT: how effectively you can manage your time. I was told once of a professor who in his introductory class on time management had an empty bucket, a bucket of Large rocks, a bucket of medium sized rocks, a bucket of smaller rocks and a bucket of water. He emptied the first bucket into the empty one and then asked the class if the empty bucket was now full. In response the class said "yes!". He then emptied the next bucket and then the next until he had all buckets emptied into the emptied into the empty bucket. The lesson he taught the class that day was that if you PRIORITIZE your activities by focusing on the most profitable, you will always have time for the small stuff.

Four things I suggest you do with your time: One, Invest It. Don't just spend your time doing things, invest your time in profitable activities. Two, Respect it. If you do not respect your time others wont. Three, Enjoy it. Life is too short not to enjoy the little time we have available to us. Enjoy your work, enjoy your relationships, enjoy your activities. Simply put just have fun.

2. SPACE MANAGEMENT: I believe that when your work environment is cluttered, it reduces you degree of productivity. Everything should have its own place. I believe that while cleanliness refers to hygiene, neatness refers to spatial arrangement. Efficiency will be greatly enhanced when we organize our work environment in a way that optimizes the space available to us.

3. FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Your personal effectiveness will be greatly enhanced with our ability to manage money. I believe that the value of an individual is greatly enhanced with his/her ability to do what is required with what is available. It is important to know how to attract money, how to manage money and how to invest money and how to save money. Financial management is one of the most important skills a high performance individual must have.

4. RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: I believe that life is really about people. We all need people in our lives. I mean good people. The movie "I am Legend" by will smith, illustrates this point in a very vivid way. We all have a need for connection. Those who can make those they relate with find personal genuine satisfaction in their friendship are the winners.

I believe that if every organization is made up of people who can effectively manage their time, space, money and relationships, will be an organization that will always exceed projected expectations. This is what I mean by people power

THE POWER OF IMAGINATION

The human imagination is a powerful tool. information enhances knowledge. Knowledge feeds the creative process of the human mind. The role that knowledge plays in the creative process is similar to having branches on a huge tree a man must climb. The more the branches, the more options the man can explore on his way up. If the branches are strong, the safer the man is. If the branches are at close intervals, then the man's ease of climb is also greatly enhanced. This is the role knowledge plays in the creative process. The more knowledge you have the more creative options that will be available for you to explore. The closer your facts are to one another, the easier it will be to establish connection. The stronger your facts and deeper your knowledge the safer your creation. So we can say that knowledge is a body of well knit groups of facts that feeds the creative process of man. Imagination is the result of this creative process that must be fact based for it to have practical relevance. The question on my mind is that, is the creative process and hence the human imagination more of facts or of fiction. Most of the practical inventions of today where once upon a time termed fiction and as such in the mind of those who so categorized them, lacked the merits of practical relevance. So like Albert Einstein put it "Imagination is better than knowledge because knowledge is limiting in nature..." I believe that the creative process in order for it to really be said to be creative, must go beyond the boundaries of knowledge. I believe that imagination goes beyond the boundaries of knowledge into the boundless frontiers of endless possibilities. There's increased need to design and creativity in solving the myriad of problems we face on a daily basis on our jobs and as we go about our businesses everyday. This requires the exploration of probable and impractical imaginative options. We must think like ourselves, think like others and think like gods; this is the way of the creative. The human imagination paints scenarios, weaves nets, generates grand alternatives and creates options. Imagination is way of the free and truly powerful. Think about the kinds of organizations we would create, the kinds of communities? These thoughts excites me. Engage the mind and be part of the creative process.

MAKE YOUR CASE NIGERIA

Make Your Case Nigeria is a national development project to show case visionary initiatives by every day Nigerians. It is a platform for ordinary people to present their extra-ordinary projects. we hope to develop a platform for collaboration, partnerships and sponsorships of social impact projects. We plan to take this project all over Nigeria as we look out for great minds and exemplary individuals with the aim of supporting and promoting them and their work. THE HUNT IS ON!!!

THE SEVEN STAR PERFORMER

Five Star was known as the highest standard of excellence in the hospitality industry until The Burj-Al-Arab in Dubai; the first seven star hotel in the world.

The seven star performance model describes the seven dimensions of high performance individuals within any organization.
1. The Preferred Service Provider to the customer
2. The Dream Subordinate to his boss
3. The most inspiring leader to his subordinate
4. The Most Sought After team member
5. The Most Valuable Asset to Management
6. The Industry Role Model
7. The Master of Self

The Seven Star Performer is a model used by ACE Innovative Systems Services. It was developed by an ACE Innovator; Mr Fela Durotoye. The seven star performance model has personal mastery at the core of the model and surrounded by the other six dimensions. Applying this model has produced some of the most outstanding performers in the Nigerian organized private sector. It covers compelling behaviour modifying exercises that produce outstanding results with  client organizations.