Information + EMOTION => desired action!

Now that’s an awkward title for an article, and I believe most would agree with me, but symbols could be quite powerful and I’d like to “think outside the box” (or is without a box now!?) and do differently. So that’s my title!

STORY 1: There are over 5 million unemployed youths and graduates in Nigeria today, and we believe government, individuals and organizations have a compelling moral obligation to tackle this escalating economic predicament that threatens the persistence of the Nigerian state. We have many graduates that do not have jobs, and are wasting away by the millions. At the last count, over 5 million graduates were found to be unemployed. If nothing is done about this, then we are at risk of failing as a nation and branding ourselves as a classic reference for a failed state where nothing worked, most were downtrodden and remained perpetually at the rear of the social ladder with no hope of redemption.
END of STORY 1

You would agree with me that this is quite an interesting story (partly true and maybe worrying too), that warrants light-speed attention and planning and ought to jump-start all parties into instant action! If you would rightly observe, this story is quite familiar and does not seem to have the edge required to challenge the intended audience, by force-shifting their transmission from the deplorable “Parking” state to “Drive”, or better still “Turbo Drive +” (for those of us that drive Mercedes, and I’m not talking about v-boot here).
Many would probably sigh, think for a few minutes, discuss with a few friends, unanimously condemn the situation together and then utter the expected statement – God is working, things will get better by God’s grace – AMEN, and that’s it! We move on to the ‘real’ issues of life.

……but we’ve been using this same christianese phrase for donkey years, though I think it’s hypocritical and has yielded little or practically no result – infact, things have gotten worse, but we still keep saying the same thing. Maybe God should be held responsible, or what do you think? Or could it be that the responsibility is really ours, and that we’ve just found a convenient way to shift it to someone up there who we all know hardly speaks audibly, at least in physical terms). Now I’m starting to get emotional, and I’m digressing too.

Let’s get back to the main point! STORY 1 doesn’t linger, doesn’t stick in the memory of the intended audience, and definitely produces little action.

STORY 2: Chukwuemeka is a bright young student who read Mechanical Engineering as an undergraduate at Ahmadu Bello University. He graduated with honors, completed his mandatory NYSC Youth Service program in Abuja, and subsequently returned to University of Jos because he was not retained where he served, and could not secure a job after several unsuccessful attempts at tests and interviews. He could not afford the fees for a Master’s degree and since he had no one to look to for help (His father is late and his mother sells vegetables in the village), he resorted to selling telephone recharge cards. The odds of him getting a good job are fast declining, given the fact that most employers have age limits and would always prefer to employ “fresh” minds.

Ladies and gentlemen, there were 2 million examples of Chuwuemeka in Nigeria in 2000, but today, we have at least 5 million. Chukwuemeka is your cousin, your neighbor, your recharge card vendor, and maybe your brother. Tunde had a similar experience as Chukwuemeka, but has since resorted to Fraud and armed robbery. I do not pray for this, but at this rate, there’s a good chance your son could grow up to become just like Chukwuemeka, or worse still Tunde. What we do right now will determine what happens next.
END of STORY 2

Wow! So this is what is really happening, and there’s a good chance my son can become like this??? The answer to that is………..well……………, YES!!!!

Those are the kinds of questions that would race through the minds of those in your audience, and I could almost guarantee that you’ve just successfully launched your “Network Marketing business”. People will talk even more, and many will certainly ACT. Remember what we really want is for people to

JUST DO IT!

Stories are real, personal and they stir up emotions, hence everyone can relate to them. Statistics and theories are real too, but they are impersonal and unemotional. At best, they make us exclaim WOW…...but that’s where it ends.
How we love to quote the stats and present data, but they seem to never work when they stand just by themselves.

Next time you want to communicate and get results, tell good stories and support them with the stats.

.

SIMPLE INTERVENTIONS

When I was younger, I often dreamed that God would “just bless me” with immense wealth, such as would enable me ‘make a huge positive difference’ in my society. It didn’t require detailed investigation and intelligence to recognize that there were enormous human needs all around me, but I often felt helpless and constrained thinking that I didn’t have enough to make an impact.

That feeling of being drowned and overwhelmed with the myriad of visible challenges of friends and neighbors often meant I did significantly less than I was actually capable of doing at that time (regrets!).
In terms of the sheer quantity of help needed by people in my sphere of influence today, there hasn’t been much of an improvement (in fact, it has increased exponentially!).

Many more people need clothes, food, portable water, shoes, school fees, laptops, internet access, admission, parental care, health facilities, cars, employment, rehabilitation, encouragement, financial support, accommodation, recommendations……and that list is virtually endless.

I do believe that the most pressing need of men is spiritual reform, but how can we communicate genuine concern for the souls of men, if we ignore their most pressing needs? (looking at it from their own perspective). Maslow’s Pyramid of Needs indicates the desire to live and persist as the most fundamental, and that is in fact, practically authentic.

MLK said above all, I see ministry as a dual process. On the one hand, I must attempt to change the soul of the individual so that their societies may be changed. On the other, I must attempt to change the society so that the individual soul would have a change. Therefore, I must be concerned about unemployment, slums and economic security. (from The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jnr)

“Make a difference’ or ‘make an impact’ are buzz words today that readily challenge us to act and do something positive for another (or the society), but I wonder how much of an impact these words have had on us. I would rather recommend a return to the traditional “help that person beside you” phrase. It’s simple and straightforward. There’s no grandiose grammatical construct to hide behind, in such simple but yet powerful phrase.

Today, I’m glad I’ve learned from past mistakes, and readily recognize that I’m ALWAYS in a position to help someone, and pull another one up. There are enormous needs around us, and they present themselves on a daily (perhaps hourly) basis, but many of us still frequently pass on these opportunities. It’s quite easy for us to forget that the privileges we have is by no means a product of our abilities, but by the supreme placement and GRACE of GOD, who expects us to extend the same without reservation to all starting with those around us.

I no longer waste precious moments thinking of hitting a jackpot of a billion dollars In order to help someone. The little I’ve got is sufficient to help that person right beside me. If 1% of Nigerian families could adopt just one child from the orphanage, I doubt we would have any need for orphanages (they would have become museums in a matter of seconds!)


A few tips on how to help someone:

Make a habit of giving pedestrians a free ride in your car (it’s not always dangerous to do that!).

Pay schools fees of kids around you, that you know ought to be in school, but can’t afford it.

Send your house-maids to school.

Give way to traffic on the left.

Stop at Zebra Crossings

Don’t throw garbage out of your window.

Never use abusive or curse words on anybody, but encourage and bless instead.

Buy a couple of shirts for someone.

Buy good books and text books for people (Very important!)

Make a habit of giving your good but old clothes to people you know have just a few clothes.

Make a habit of keeping only stuff you really need, and give away everything else!!!

Visit the orphanage and homes of the physically challenged at least twice a year.

Sponsor Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education for one or more persons.

Buy laptops and computers for students and other people around you.

Earmark a fixed percentage of your income as donations to charities and other foundations.

Support ministries that you believe are genuine.

Pay your tithe.

and many more ways of making a difference (Sorry! i meant "helping someone"!)

You see – it doesn’t take meticulous planning or the brain of a rocket scientist to make simple interventions!

THE ASSIGNMENT (Part I)

…because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. – John 18:37

...the food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work He started. – John 4:34 (References from THE MESSAGE BIBLE)

We were hewn out of God by God Himself, and therefore, possess His creative power to execute His specific and personalized assignments for us. In contemporary terms, we all have a purpose. PURPOSE is a buzzword today, and there are numerous Christian and Business publications addressing this critical issue from multiple perspectives. The use of this word has increasingly become pervasive, such that we now reference it as some sort of automated mechanism that once acquired and deployed, makes success inevitable. Make no mistake about the fact that not understanding the purpose of a thing eventually results in undermining it, but I would like us to explore deeper beyond the realm of ‘purpose’.

Ammunition and sophisticated combat equipment (such as warheads and F-18s) could be kept in some military base, and their purpose and applications could be well understood (such as for protecting civilians, combating crime, training military personnel, or even entertainment in the form of air shows). Because their purpose is well understood, there may be no case of misuse. A radically different scenario is one in which these items are strategically deployed to combat and defeat enemy forces in an actual war-front, in order to secure or recover lost territory, and subject same to their own sovereign laws. Now that’s a classic instance of what I would refer to as Ammo deployed on Assignment! Let us refer to the duration within which this ‘war’ was planned and waged as a CYCLE. Think of this CYCLE as your LIFE-TIME. Without intending to play with words, I’m convinced that there’s a difference between YOUR PURPOSE & YOUR ASSIGNMENT.

There’s an epidemic of purposeful people who seem not to have a clue as to what their specific Assignment entails. The subject of Purpose has a tendency to be occasionally vague, but make no mistake, assignments are always highly specific. The responsibility lies with every man to take the initiative, and actively seek to discover and subsequently execute his assignment.

(…a bit of Digression)
The purpose of attending a formal arrangement called a graduate or business school is to learn, but more importantly, learn how to learn. (We ought to go to school to learn the skill and discipline of how to keep ourselves relevant and informed throughout life! The process is more important than the outcome. I studied computing in school, but that isn’t sufficient indication that I would run a software firm. The process of learning computing in school has helped me acquire the critical skills and discipline of applying myself to actionable knowledge. I have since leveraged these skills in developing additional competencies (informally) that are necessary for executing my assignment (in national planning and reformation, strategy and execution). This process would certainly result in my attaining a higher level of effectiveness than many persons that actually studied to acquire these competencies in formal arrangements! This does not undermine the importance of formal arrangements, as they are very critical for aggregating/harvesting knowledge for human development.)

This publication doesn’t particularly address purpose, passion or preferences. However, all of these are prime pointers to what this article addresses, which is your assignment! I’ve decided to look beyond “Purpose” in this publication, for the purpose of charting new frontiers and developing a radically different perspective of approaching life. This message is intended to be life-transforming and at the same time, life-constraining. When one man refuses to execute his assignment, the often result is that it is merged with another man’s assignment, and this second man automatically receives the reward of executing that assignment, in addition to the reward of executing his own original assignment.

This truth is Life-transforming because it ought to change our lives completely, and help us effect a fundamental shift. It should pierce into the very depths of our souls and completely change our views and perspectives about life, assignments and death (in that order because our assignments start at birth, and end with our transition into the reward-zone). We build our lives upon foundational/fundamental perspectives that we form, and occasionally reconstruct over our life-times. These constructions, deconstructions and re-constructions are influenced by a myriad of factors, chief of which is the environment, culture and family values. (Huntington and Harrison addressed this extensively in “Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress”). On this background, I still firmly believe that the concept of right and wrong foundations is not subject to the theory of relativism.

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set ye free!

This doesn’t sound like a negotiation! It’s cast in diamond-stone. There is the right foundation. There is the truth. There is the right way to do things. There is the right way to train a child. There is the right way to lead a country. And then what you have left is everything else - Counterfeits!

Though we were brought up in different societies, with varying income-groups, different cultures with different histories, different methods of getting things done and even still, different standards of measuring success, there remains nevertheless, the right foundation, irrespective of our circumstances. Therefore, we must accept this fundamental truth that life is all about assignments, and these assignments can only be successfully executed on the right foundation, knowing that everything else about our lives revolves around our Assignments.

This truth is "Life-constraining" because everything is subject to the theory of constraints. Everything (except one) has its own boundaries. Even though boundaries have the ability to be extended and pushed out, they would always remain. Therefore, life ought to be lived in such a way that limits it to certain boundaries, which when violated will spontaneously ignite the law of diminishing returns. Let us recognize that our limited cognitive and intuitive abilities are the reasons we invented what we call infinitesimal quantities. The fact that we cannot measure some quantities accurately, or estimate the dimensions of certain elements of nature does not make these elements infinite from the point of view of the Original Intelligent Designer.

We humans are the ones who by reason of boundaries and limitations, lack the ability to measure these seemingly immeasurable quantities. We must therefore recognize that our Assignments are always applicable within specified contexts. When we stray beyond our allocated layouts, that basic law of economics (diminishing returns) sets in. In a few words, our assignments demand that we limit ourselves to the relevant and most critical things. Allocating our limited resources to none value-adding or conflicting activities would significantly compromise our ability to execute our assignments.

END OF Part 1

……AREN'T WE ALL BUSY!?

It’s now common place to hear people complain daily that “I’m very busy”. I theefore decided to take an in-depth look at this phenomenon, and ascertain whether it’s true that some folks are really busy and occupied, while others just merely observe time as it fleets never to return.I decided to look at my life (not in a narcissistic sense) over the years, and I basically discovered I haven’t actually gotten busier over the years. It’s just that some sort of displacement reaction has taken place.

My point is I’ve been pretty occupied over the years (high school, university, youth service and now work/volunteering/development consulting) and it’s just my priorities that have changed in sync with the demands of each stage of my life. I would hypothetically state that this is probably true for many people (perhaps everybody). If you ask me, I’d gladly tell you that the home-maker (21st century term for house-wife) who stays at home watching AfricaMagic has also got her hands full, and has the right to say she’s busy. In case you’re asking why?? I’d love to inform you that it takes work, i.e. a great degree of concentration to follow storylines for hours upon hours. Whether this sort of work adds value is another discussion entirely. (I’m not in any way endorsing compulsive habits that lead us nowhere!)

You see, there are demands placed upon us at every stage of our lives. There are activities that ought to be more strategic per season. We must not misplace activity for productivity, and we must be careful about equating the quantity of effort with the enormity of results. Our focus today is on the word busy and let’s not forget this has little to do with that heavy word called relevance. As some say, busyness doesn’t imply business!

I believe the most important thing for every one of us is to locate ourselves constantly (using some mental GPS positioning device) and recognize the activities that deserve allocation from our limited reserve of 24 hrs daily. In simple words, we ought to allocate time to the more noble, and more rewarding competing ends (whatever that means to you!). One man is very passionate about his career and therefore works very late on a daily basis, while another one places high priority on his family by refusing to take his laptop home. Yet another considers his ministry top priority, and gallivants around the globe ministering to the needs of others while neglecting some of the basic needs of his family. The amusing fact is that each man possibly has sufficient proof to justify his formula for allocating his time.

However, I would suggest that the keyword is balance. There’s something I learnt in high-school economics, called scale-of-preference. We must continually strive to maintain a balance between the numerous competing ends in our lives. This balancing act must be based on an ideology, or an established system of values. If you ask me, I’d gladly tell you that the WORD-of-GOD ought to be our compass at all times. (I’m a Christian, and would gladly tell you that only the Spirit of God can help a man attain the designation of a certified time resource-allocator, but that man must be willing to follow His lead).

I would recommend that we allocate more time to tasks that add more value, and less time to those tasks that are less important. Value is another subject that I would not delve into in this exposition, but judging the value-potential, or value-content of an activity in my opinion is a function of its persistence-attribute. In simple terms, are the rewards of such activity temporal, long-term, or eternal? (another quick one – I’d rather allocate more time to my primary area of calling, than to those things I’m just not gifted for!......even though I’m convinced I’ll be better than Roger Federer someday!)

Next time you say to yourself, I’m very busy, that could well be the perfect time to reassess, revalidate, reconfigure and re-scrutinize the tasks you’ve been dwelling on (just to be sure they are the right tasks, whatever right means to you!)

Here’s another one for us to watch out for – it’s called Temporal Intelligence (TI – measures our ability to master time and extract maximum value from time by applying ourselves optimally in the time dimension). TIME MASTERY by John Clemens & Scott Dalrymple highly recommended!

It’s an addition to the intelligence family (IQ – Intelligence Quotient, EQ – Emotional Intelligence, SI – Social Intelligence, EI – Ecological Intelligence)

Cheers to all busy folks out there!

...In Dire Need of Dimensionalist Leaders for National Reformation.

A Dimensionalist leader is one who dives into possibilities in time (temporal intelligence) and changes the current atmosphere before time catches up, so that the fullness of time merely provides a physical evidence of the visualized realities of his futuristic dwelling (Paraphrased from Tudor Bismark). True visionaries live constantly in the future. They often have to be alerted to present realities so that they can ‘descend’ from the heights, and help propel the ‘many’ that are locked in the realities of the present, into the limitless possibilities of the future.

A habitual critic is the anti-thesis of a dimensionalist. The critic has a penchant and skill for pinpointing inadequacies. The critic often relies on unproven ‘facts’ and even when the facts have been substantiated, he blows them out of proportion and beclouds his target with doom. He’s quick to pass judgment, and often delivers his verdict before the defendant is given an opportunity to express his opinion, or stage an appeal.

The critic finds it virtually impossible to see the positives in a sequence of events. He’s quick to pick out and stress the inconsistencies in a system, and uses such as an excuse to discredit a process in its entirety. Critics abound, and are not difficult to find. You come across them every day. They are often self righteous and disillusioned folks who believe their prescription and point of view outlines the right course of action. In essence, the critic finds it a lot easier, to see the evil rather than the good, the risks rather than the opportunities, and a corrupt Nigeria, rather than a nation on the path to greatness. ARE YOU A CRITIC?

The demands of this age impose a condition that states that it is impossible to be effective and to deliver groundbreaking results without learning the rudiments of dimensionalist thinking and living. Many are held bound with the chains of the past. Jerry Savelle says that if your memories are bigger than your dreams, then you are in deep trouble! The average mind always thinks of the present, and focuses on meeting the immediate demands. He consistently fails to recognize that no matter how efficiently he reactively (rather than proactively) solves his problems, he’ll always remain a step behind. It’s about time to break free from the ideology of comfort and the tyranny of custom.

The dimensionalist leader is pre-occupied with what could be, rather than what has been, or what currently is. Dimensionalist leaders go beyond rhetoric and oratory. They understand the “theory of flow” (every single activity, including formal, informal, planned and unplanned; constitutes a part of a coordinated system that can deliver massive results), and discard the concept of ‘discontinuities’. They are not just motivators or charismatic warheads and human engineers. They are what we would accurately label as STRATEGIC AGENTS AND DISCIPLINED EXECUTIONISTS THAT EMPLOY INNOVATIVE AND SYSTEMATIC MODELS FOR NATIONAL REFORMATION. In the word’s of Martin Luther king, They have been to the mountaintop and have seen the promised land. They are transformed non-conformists.

An example of a dimensionalist leader is our very own Fela Durotoye. He "has been to 2025", and has decided to live in the Nigeria that exists in 2025. It’s very different from today’s Nigeria. That’s why an average mind finds it hard to comprehend his message that says that Nigeria would be one of the most desirable nations to live in, in the world by 2025. He’s not bordered by the events and systems that currently prevail. There’s no place for criticisms and expression of doubts. The only thing that’s left to do is to get busy with implementation.

In the WORD, it’s called FAITH. Abraham (Father of FAITH) raised an army of 318 soldiers and defeated 5 kings. Dimensionalist leaders are preoccupied with raising vibrant armies, and building the critical mass of strategic change agents and value enforcers. You see, we don’t need very large numbers. The question is ARE YOU WILLING TO BE A PART OF THAT FEW? Thereafter, he met with Melchizedek, paid tithes to him and received bread (representing the doctrine of the kingdom) and wine (infilling of the Spirit) from Melchizedek. These were the ‘resources’ he needed to overcome the Sodomic systems in place. He received the blessings of elevation, dominion and possession. Kingdom resources are accessed by FAITH. The resources of the LAND OF PROMISE are accessed by FAITH.

For every corrupt world system founded on philosophical thinking and luciferian ideology, there’s a kingdom (apostolic) model and a prophetic process that counters and replaces it. Dimensionalist leaders have the ability to understand mysteries, access hidden architecture and receive revelation knowledge that sets them up for supernatural accomplishments. Corrupt systems were propagated into society by strategic agents. In the same vein, these evil and repressive systems must be replaced by kingdom models and kingdom thinking mechanisms for strategic infiltration into society. However, accessing kingdom keys isn’t achieved on a platter of Gold. It’s done through hard work and travailing. Gone are the days of pontificating, pretensive postulations and traditional ideologies.

The choice is yours. You could choose to be expert at identifying and complaining about the inadequacies of our current system, or you might just decide to become a solution to some of the problems we are currently facing. Money is the reward for solving problems. Those who walk by FAITH have understood that solutions can be ‘downloaded’ from above. There is A realm of problem solving that eclipses natural human reasoning ability. That’s the realm that dimensionalists walk in. They have understanding of the times, know what ought to be done, and get right down to executing it.