How Sustained Economic Progress Underscores Energy Innovation

We currently live in a world where prosperity/sophistication/affluence and poverty/destitution/inadequacy surprisingly co-exist. This isn’t an unusual state that our world is in, but what’s unusual is the staggering number of people that are in the former state, i.e. impoverished!

Dipal Barua, Managing Director of Grameen Shakti (and Deputy MD of Grameen Bank, i.e. right hand man to Muhammed Yunus, The Nobel Prize laureate) was awarded the Zayed Future Energy Prize ($1.5 million) for his pioneering work in facilitating the provision of solar powered lanterns to millions of homes that do not have access to electricity in Bangladesh, and empowering indigenous entrepreneurs to help service these same devices in these communities. This helped to radically cut-back the hazardous and hardly effective use of low intensity naked flames as light sources. Kids can now do their home-works at night; entrepreneurs can now work better after sunset and many other possibilities have become a reality.

World leaders have since realized the potential catastrophe that could result if the current state we are all in persists. Many of us would be surprised to learn that much more than a billion people have never experienced the joy of electricity, or the use of electrically powered devices; let’s not even begin to consider these colleagues of ours having access to the internet, or even making telephone calls.

On this premise, many nations (at least those that care to look, perceive, understand and act) have embarked on a host of empowerment/enlightenment/development programs aimed at mitigating, perhaps overturning these unacceptable conditions existing amongst humans with supposedly equal rights (at least that’s what we have inscribed on documents such as our Sovereign Constitutions, or the UNs “Universal Human Rights Declaration”)

A host of economic development and rural empowerment programs have been enacted by Development Strategists in National and Multilateral Development agencies and not-for-profits all around the globe and these are being implemented and monitored by experienced executionists. One of the core challenges we however face in our time, has been the unprecedented surge in human population. This essentially translates into much less accessibility to and availability of fixed resources per head. (Examples of relatively fixed resources are Water, Land, Air, and Subsurface Resources including metals and fossil fuels and some more). Hence, we are left with no option but to find ‘better’, i.e. ‘more efficient’ and ‘conservative’ ways of utilizing these limited resources fairly.

We humans are great learners, and have an extraordinary ability to adapt to changes that we recognize (or more accurately, changes that we choose to recognize). Take a peek at a city like London. The average apartment is so small (relatively), that a middle-class first time visitor (or immigrant) from Nigeria would begin to wonder whether the houses were built for high school students. But the reality is London has had to adapt to the surge in population, and by implication, such huge demand (and fixed supply) for real estate because of her esteemed status of “Leading Global Commercial Nerve Center”.

My focus here is on energy, and I want to point out that significant and sustained economic advancement would remain an elusive dream if we do not ensure that energy is reliably available, and not at a high cost to help power entrepreneurial and development activity. (‘High cost’ refers to whatever we have to pay for it, be it in strict economic terms, or in less definite terms such as the destruction of our ecological and environmental systems).

I’ll be swift to point out that renewable/alternative energy technologies are not designed to replace fossil fuels and other traditional sources we’ve been familiar with. Rather, the purpose of exploring and developing these technologies is to complement and expand /diversify our energy base. The pace of anticipated economic development that is required to bring out millions (perhaps billions) out of extreme poverty would create enormous increase in energy demand that legacy sources would certainly not be able to cope with.

Furthermore, even if additional reserves of legacy energy sources (such as coal, gas, crude-oil, bitumen and some more) are discovered in large enough quantities, and are exploited to keep up with rising demand, then we may end up sacrificing the critical life support systems of our planet altogether in the name of ‘economic growth’. Already, scientific data has provided more than enough evidence to support the proposition that human activities have exacerbated CO2 (and other GHG) concentrations in our atmosphere, resulting in a climate imbalance that threatens both aquatic and terrestrial life.

CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage) technology, Geo-Thermal energy, CO2 reinjection into petroleum reserves for EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery), The CDM’s (Clean Development Mechanism) Emissions Trading (of Carbon credits using “Cap & Trade” to help orchestrate flow of funds from the culprits, i.e. industrialized economies, to developing economies and in the process cutting back net-global emissions), and the new-improved Nuclear Technology, have all proven to hold significant promise for clean energy. Japan for instance, derives about 30% of its energy needs from nuclear technology. Though Nuclear technology has been quite controversial (particularly with respect to dilemma of dealing with nuclear waste), we have to understand that just about only 10% of global nuclear waste is a product of the civilian applications of nuclear technology, and the technology has been greatly improved. (Please do not ask where the other 90% of nuclear-wastes came from). Also, Iceland has exploited geo-thermal energy to take care of more than half of her energy needs.

The readily and abundantly available energy of the Sun and Wind provide massive opportunities for even larger scale implementation than earlier mentioned sources. CSP (Concentrated Solar Panel) technology is being utilized for the MASDAR project (www.masdaruae.com) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. CSP is about seven times more efficient than traditional solar panels, and holds great promise for harnessing solar energy.

The path we face now is that of entire cities being powered by solar, wind and other forms of abundant, long-lasting renewable energy sources. Admittedly, many of these projects require enormous financial and human start-up capital (tell me which project doesn’t require that!), but once they are up, marginal costs of keeping them operational decline steeply. Worthy of note is that many rural areas, especially in the developing world currently do not even have the luxury of a nearby grid. Grid expansion projects require enormous capital, and are usually the exclusive domain of national governments. However, renewable energy technologies (such as solar and wind) do not have to be fed into a grid.

Independent projects could (and ought to) be implemented and replicated in several remote communities, implying partial elimination of grid expansion/distribution costs over large areas.

Efficiency is an absolutely important aspect of energy production, transmission and usage. A research conducted in a region of the United States showed that the average grid was about thirty years of age. This sounds more like a case of powering today’s economy with yesterday’s energy solutions. A lot of energy is actually wasted during transmission on in-efficient grids. (I wonder how much energy we lose on our poorly maintained grids in Nigeria, and Africa). Investing in grid-efficiency, and efficient usage of other energy sources have been proven to hold the potential for achieving 25% of the emission reduction targets that have been set for 2050 (i.e. returning global emissions to 1990 levels). We now have to think deeply when making choices about which cars to purchase (but this has little to do with my desire to purchase a BMW when the money comes – BMW has a technology that converts the heat energy generated when you apply your brakes to electricity, which is then harnessed for other uses in your car plus a low-resistance rolling technology that allows your wheels to roll with so much ease, reducing the energy needed to overcome gravity and friction. BMW ought to pay me for this!)

We need to be innovative. We need our economies to continue developing rapidly. We need energy, and more energy. We also need to take care of our planet (except someone has found another one). We need as many as possible to have fair access to 21^st century technologies and resources, powered by reliable and renewable energy sources. Who knows whether the next Nigerian Nobel laureate is playing around in some remote village, waiting to be a given a well deserved opportunity for self-expression?

“Outliers” – A book written by Malcolm Gladwell brilliantly ties success (what many call genius) to opportunities (Time and Chance). Take nothing away from successful people; they worked hard and were rewarded, but they were presented with opportunities at dead accurate times that many did not have. Indeed, to whom much has been given, much is expected. If we want ‘much’ to come out of our societies, then we must present ‘much’ to our citizens. I’m excited NNPC has partnered with Masdar (The Future Energy Company, whose parent is the famous Mubadala) in aligning Nigeria with the Clean Energy movement. Great things lie ahead.

Renewable energy provides great opportunities that must be embraced now, and I dare say is the FUTURE of ENERGY. Well done MASDAR!

.

Missions: How contemporary interpretation has distorted its true meaning

The sole reason for Christ's incarnation, and subsequent crucifixion and RESSURECTION has been to establish His Father's kingdom upon the face of the earth by being a witness unto The Truth and redeeming All of mankind from Sin and Death.

In essence, He came to pursue and accomplish a pre-earthly and pre-determined mission, that had already been finalized by the Father before time began => 1Pet 1:20
From His birth to His ascention, christ pursued the Father's original intent absolutely devoid of any form of variation. He had a mission, and pursued it with ALL that He was given.

As disciples of Christ (xtians) we have been handed a specific mission - Go on and be effective witnesses in this lost, earthly and ephemeral world.
In essence, our faith isn't just designed to be a part of our lives, or what we do on particular days, or what we come together to do. Simply put, our faith ought to encompass the totality of our lives.

I came across a question recently that got me thinking: which of these has ownership of the other - The church or the mission?
Better still - Which is Christ's principal objective - To establish a church, or to save the world's lost?

We live in times where churches globally, place adverts and commercials in media in a manner that makes it difficult to differentiate her from commercial organizations and businesses. Some go a step further to advertise available "products" and "services" that should be difficult to ignore by any rational citizen. However, subtly, the true message of redemption and complete brokeness required for a transformed life is gently obscurred.
Before veering off-course, let's return to "The church and Missions" and see which ought to drive the activities of the other.


Alan Hirsch gives us critical spiritual insight into defining "MISSIONAL"

- DEFINING MISSONAL

It has become increasingly difficult to open a ministry book or attend a church conference and not be accosted by the word missional. A quick search on Google uncovers the presence of "missional communities," "missional leaders," "missional worship," even "missional seating," and "missional coffee." Today, everyone wants to be missional. Can you think of a single pastor who is proudly anti-missional?
But as church leaders continue to pile onto the missional bandwagon, the true meaning of the word may be getting buried under a pile of assumptions. Is it simply updated nomenclature for being purpose-driven or seeker-sensitive? Is missional a new, more mature strain of the emerging church movement?

It's time to pause and consider the origin and meaning of the word that is reframing our understanding of ministry and the church. This tree diagrams the roots of the word missional and how its reach has expanded into different areas of ministry. Alan Hirsch, a self-described "missional activist," also provides a concise definition of the ubiquitous term.
There are consequences when the meanings of words become confused. This is particularly true within a biblical worldview. The Hebrews were suspicious of images as conveyors of truth, so they guarded words and their meanings carefully. Part of theology, therefore, includes guarding the meaning of words to maintain truth within the community of faith.

This is why I am concerned about the confusion surrounding the meaning of the word missional. Maintaining the integrity of this word is critical, because recovering a missional understanding of God and the Church is essential not only for the advancement of our mission but, I believe, also for the survival of Christianity in the West.

First, let me say what missional does not mean. Missional is not synonymous with emerging. The emerging church is primarily a renewal movement attempting to contextualize Christianity for a postmodern generation. Missional is also not the same as evangelistic or seeker-sensitive. These terms generally apply to the attractional model of church that has dominated our understanding for many years. Missional is not a new way to talk about church growth. Although God clearly desires the church to grow numerically, it is only one part of the larger missional agenda. Finally, missional is more than social justice. Engaging the poor and correcting inequalities is part of being God's agent in the world, but we should not confuse this with the whole.

A proper understanding of missional begins with recovering a missionary understanding of God. By his very nature God is a "sent one" who takes the initiative to redeem his creation. This doctrine, known as missio Dei—the sending of God—is causing many to redefine their understanding of the church. Because we are the "sent" people of God, the church is the instrument of God's mission in the world. As things stand, many people see it the other way around. They believe mission is an instrument of the church; a means by which the church is grown. Although we frequently say "the church has a mission," according to missional theology a more correct statement would be "the mission has a church."

Many churches have mission statements or talk about the importance of mission, but where truly missional churches differ is in their posture toward the world. A missional community sees the mission as both its originating impulse and its organizing principle. A missional community is patterned after what God has done in Jesus Christ. In the incarnation God sent his Son. Similarly, to be missional means to be sent into the world; we do not expect people to come to us. This posture differentiates a missional church from an attractional church.

The attractional model, which has dominated the church in the West, seeks to reach out to the culture and draw people into the church—what I call outreach and in-grab. But this model only works where no significant cultural shift is required when moving from outside to inside the church. And as Western culture has become increasingly post-Christian, the attractional model has lost its effectiveness. The West looks more like a cross-cultural missionary context in which attractional church models are self-defeating. The process of extracting people from the culture and assimilating them into the church diminishes their ability to speak to those outside. People cease to be missional and instead leave that work to the clergy.

A missional theology is not content with mission being a church-based work. Rather, it applies to the whole life of every believer. Every disciple is to be an agent of the kingdom of God, and every disciple is to carry the mission of God into every sphere of life. We are all missionaries sent into a non-Christian culture.
Missional represents a significant shift in the way we think about the church. As the people of a missionary God, we ought to engage the world the same way he does—by going out rather than just reaching out. To obstruct this movement is to block God's purposes in and through his people. When the church is in mission, it is the true church.


(Alan Hirsch is a missional activist and the author of The Forgotten Ways.)

CREATING VALUE; STRATEGIC FORESIGHT – LESSONS FROM BLACK-GOLD

BLACK GOLD

This expression is such an oxymoron, and putting in perspective the all time record-breaking price of Brent crude in preceding months and the windfall of petro-dollars for black-gold producing nations, there seems to be nothing black about it after all. (except that you may likely find black minds in places where you find this resource that spins cash, like there's no tomorrow – in the words of my former MD. And let's not start to think and muse over the statistic that says that 80% of the national oil wealth directly benefits just 1%, as in one percent!!! of the population)

Back to the main point! It was christened "black" because when it was first identified (before subsequently being mined all over the globe i.e. on land, in sea, maybe in the air very soon, and perhaps on the moon, and maybe later on mars), it didn’t pass across as a valuable find, and did not constitute some beauty to behold.

                                              Lessons from BLACKGOLD

 - To actualize inherent value, significant and calculated work has to be done.

Inquisitive minds believed there was more latent potential at that time, hidden in this newly discovered resource (and they have since been proved right!). Black Gold was later appropriately harnessed, using advanced methods to extract larger quantities and the subsequent application of chemical separation methods such as fractional distillation opened doors into a new world of hydrocarbons with multiple applications.

There is often a demand placed on us to develop more advanced and creative processes and methods before we can appropriately harness latent energy for increased productivity and economic value.

In essence, a refining process is critical to creating value. Refining is all about removing shields and inhibitors that frustrate and attempt to conceal inherent glory.

 - Value-sensing is an exclusive preserve of those with strategic foresight

John D. Rockefeller built a colossus called STANDARD OIL, the origin of today's biggest oil companies (Exxon, shell, CONOCO-PHILIPS.....e.t.c.). He saw the opportunity ahead and achieved a near absolute monopoly soon enough. It took national intervention in form of legislation and anti-trust laws to break up his megalithic organization. They reasoned thus:”One man should not control the energy industry of a whole nation.” There's a level of success that forcefully drives a whole nation into envy. Bill gates had a similar experience.

Believe me; it takes vision to see a paradise in a desert. Strategic foresight is a function of the mind, and has little to do with physical vision. Some people look at our nation today, and see difficulties everywhere while others see opportunities. What do you see?

It’s important for some of us to relocate, because we require varying experiences and perspectives to develop as a nation, but let it not be mentioned that hardship forced us into asylum. Studies have revealed that a higher proportion of immigrants that relocated as adults do not really enjoy the prosperity of their target destination. It’s generations after them that begin to have access to similar opportunities as legitimate citizens. Be warned!

I've learnt to come to terms with the fact there's more breadth for value creation in an unplowed field. There are more opportunities for creating land-mark and wide-spread value in budding economies. But these can't be seen with ordinary hearts. It takes a brave-heart to see beyond the horizon.

 - Gold comes after Black: 

the major beneficiaries knew it was gold way before others. Soon enough, the world knew and called it the right name.

Everything of value today, has once been trampled and debased by men. The voice of the people is often not the voice of God. If you've noticed, God seems not to be in the habit of using too many people to accomplish His objectives. A visionary is often considered irrational, extravagant and unrealistic. The level of technological development in the world today is largely owed to 'irrational' people like Steve Jobs. The mark of distinction is visible, even in a man that is poor monetarily but not in his mind.

Even in prison, Joseph became the head. He blazed the trail all the way till he reached the physical palace. Apparently, he had been in the palace all along, but men did not see it till he was appointed by Pharaoh in the finite realm.

 - No one can see it exactly the way you see it. 

If you've done your homework well, and you preview a unique opportunity (i.e. a privileged view), then you would be relatively alone. Even if you've managed to recruit co-visionaries, they won't see it as clearly as you do.  As Christians, we often do not have such crystal clear view as that which Christ had, in the establishment and propagation of God's kingdom upon the face of the earth. That’s why we are charged to constantly study and observe His ways so that we may continually be changed into the same Image. God only, has a perfect view of what is ahead. The same goes for a visionary.

 - If you ain't ready to die for something, then u would probably fall for anything. (Well, for me - the only thing I’m willing to defend with my life is my faith). 

Point is you've got to be willing to risk ALL in pursuit of that novel idea, and it's your prerogative to keep it alive. Yours may not involve literal death, but you've got to be decisive and display such tenacity that people would recognize as a fanatical commitment to a specific course. Indeed, the world always ends up standing aside for a man who knows where he's going.

 

 - Finally, the principal reward for creating value and actualizing your dream is not in the respect earned or magnitude of assets under management, but in the indescribable sense of fulfillment that stems from the accomplishment of a dream and execution of an original intent. It's a state of knowing that you have lived out a purposeful life.

CAVEAT: All accomplishments independent of God do not eventually count.  Selah.

Nexus between Culture and Development

I’m one of those who believe strongly that things would get better in Nigeria and Africa by extension, and certainly doing as much as I can to help in that renewal process. I also maintain my belief in the fact that our standard of living would improve, and that many more would have fair access to resources, but the journey would no doubt be a tough one).
My experience from participating in several (and I really mean several) development initiatives, forums, conferences, newsgroups, societies, seminars…e.t.c over the years has taught me that we need more than NGOs, motivational speakers, civil organizations, vibrant Pentecostal churches, Foreign Direct Investment, “Revolutionary” Ideas….(the list goes on) in order to birth and experience true sustainable development.

I haven’t decided to run for public office just yet, but I’ve started to pay a great deal of attention to the dynamics of attaining critical strategic leadership roles in this country called Nigeria. No matter how hard we try in our individual capacities to champion development initiatives and encourage each other to ‘do the impossible’, if the right people do not SEIZE POWER (pardon my dictatorial tone) and do the needful, we would discover the struggle might never end.

Culture has indeed been proven to be one of the key determinants of development in the 21st century. I should clarify here that I’m not referring to rites, traditions…e.t.c
I’m referring particularly to prevailing work ethics, reward systems, life-style and how each individual interfaces with the society.
I’ll draw on a revolutionary statement made by Daniel Patrick Moynihan in order to articulate my ideas and facilitate quick understanding of my recent deductions.

The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.
(However), The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.

Without mincing words, the predominant culture in quite a number of African countries (including ours) over the years has been that of exploitation. There has been that scarcity mentality that compels people to “maximally utilize” opportunities that are meant for serving others. This has compromised our ability to plan for the future, and all we have focused on is instant gratification. This pretty explains the decay over the years.
However, we must note that this barbaric ‘culture’ of absolute greed and lack of foresight did not come from no-where. Many do refer to decades back as the ‘good old days’. I do not have any proof that those days were as good as claimed, but the question is what happened over the years?

Simple! Politics (implying leadership) created a new ‘evil’ culture. A key aspect of our culture that deteriorated is our rewards system. Over the years, I’ve seen countless examples of dedicated, committed and hardworking people that lead poor and miserable lives, and this literally breaks my heart. People with integrity in our ministries, agencies and parastatals were either forced out, short-changed or rewarded with early retirement.
We literally grew used to narcissistic leadership to the extent that when someone with integrity takes up a strategic position, we begin to celebrate as if that has now become an exception to the rule (rather than it being the normal thing)

In essence, POLITICS has CHANGED our culture over the years into a barbaric self seeking way of life. The CHANGE we seek would also be HEAVILY dependent on a new kind of politics.
I choose to challenge us all that our real power lies not in our vote (as popularly believed. That should be easy to understand since our vote actually has not really mattered – ask Maurice Iwu!). Our power lies in our ability to get ourselves together by FORCEFULLY taking over politics and leadership from barbarians. When we do this, we would use the power entrusted into our hands to create and enforce an environment that frustrates mediocrity, and celebrates excellence, achievement, hard-work, dedication to duty and positive innovation.

Having a few good leaders here and there from time to time would not give us the sustainable change we desire. Building great businesses and running successful private enterprises here and there may not be enough.

There is no substitute for the people that uphold the law, interface with the international community, control our natural resources, determine the destinies of significant proportions of our human assets (that’s the plain truth), have direct responsibility for and determine the socio-economic temperature of a society. The role of presidents, ministers, governors and senators is so strategic that we can no longer afford to give lame excuses for not participating HYPER-ACTIVELY and seeking to attain those positions. (We must be armed with prerequisites including a right heart, knowledge, skill, tenacity and high impact networks and teams)

It’s great to have wonderful initiatives and try to influence government and society. However, there’s a higher calling and that is to be directly empowered by the LAW and CONSTITUTION of a sovereign entity to effect direct change that does not necessarily require the emotional support of all.
That only comes by attaining the earlier mentioned strategic leadership roles.

Once again,

The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.
(However), The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.

Managing Financial / Investment Risks

You don't get successful just because you take risks. You get successful because of your passion for the work, the quality of your work, your focus to be successful and your attention to detail!

Greater risk = Greater reward……..right?
Well in my brief experience and study, I believe that’s true to a certain extent but there needs to be a clarification. Risk as understood by an entrepreneur or investor should imply opportunity and must relate to something he sees that no one else (or only a few) can see. His ability to discern more than others has to be a bye-product of insight, study, research, information and experience. Very importantly, he has to have learnt from the mistakes of others and must access and harness the wisdom of past greats (such as Warren Buffet, George Soros, Rupert Murdoch, Tayo Bamiduro…..e.t.c.)

I have made flawed investment decisions and demonstrated poor financial judgment in the recent past, despite all the information at my fingertips. This is where the concept of execution comes in. Knowledge is of little value except it’s applied and acted upon. We have reached a point in human evolution where there is such proliferation of knowledge and information that you could access almost any data or information you need in a split second. What is however lacking is the conviction and will to act on what we have learnt.

The next keywords are Greed and Impatience. Why should a person desire to exploit an opportunity (should we call it opportunity or THIEFotunity) that promises 10000000% ROI (return on investment) on initial capital in just 7 days? The simple answer is greed!
True enduring wealth is built brick by brick, and is based on genuine ideas (though many times stolen, but better to steal ideas than to steal real money/assets!).
More importantly, enduring wealth is a function of how much wealth (in terms of a unique value proposition and problem solving) has been exchanged for the resultant liquid assets and monetary rewards.

John Bogle (Founder of the Vanguard Group and named one of the investment industry’s four "Giants of the 20th Century" by Fortune magazine in 1999) remarked that hyper-creativity in inventing financial instruments (such as Consolidated Debt Obligations) constituted building blocks for the recent near-recession and global liquidity crisis. In-short, people get so greedy they invent ‘new-ways’ of draining everything out of little, and adding little value back. The consequences are always inevitable!

The motive of true investors should be to finance/support the offering of a unique experience and value-proposition to clients/customers in order to deservedly profit from such activity. Real and quality investors always pursue win-win scenarios where the sum of the whole is always greater than the individual units. They pursue what economists call Pareto-Efficiency (i.e. a condition where a party cannot further extract value out of a system without negatively impacting the other parties). Prof Colin Gilligan remarked at a recent British Council Seminar titled The New Rules of Strategic Marketting that you've just got to delight and excite customers. People want to spend, but they seek value-for-money.

Here’s an excerpt I recently came across. It’s a Book review (Why We Want You to Be Rich – Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump) by Matthew Paulson.
It is informing and there are points to take out. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki's New Book is Not Looking Out for You!
Why would anyone read a book about how to handle money by two people who have both filed bankruptcy? Only people who do so poorly with money have to throw their hands up in the air and admit defeat that they cannot pay all of their bills file bankruptcy. Now, there are some perfectly legitimate reasons to file bankruptcy, such as a huge medical debt which could never possibly be repaid, but when people file bankruptcy because their business fails or they spent too much money, chances are you should not be soliciting financial advice from them.

Financial author, Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump, CEO of the Trump Organization, have recently written a new book about how you should handle your money. The book, entitled "Why We Want You To Be Rich" is Kiyosaki and Trump's attempt to get together to write a book about their "financial secrets." In the book, they offer specific advice on how to invest money and become very wealthy. It sounds great to begin with, but there's a problem.
Both Kiyosaki and Trump's corporations have filed bankruptcy. Why anyone would accept financial advice from them defies all logic and reason.

Taking financial advice from them would be like taking dieting advice from the 400 pound guy who lives down the street. It's just not smart! If you're looking for financial advice on how to become very wealthy, do what millionaires do! There's a very well written book by Thomas Stanley called The Millionaire Next Door, which will tell you what millionaires do and how their behavior makes them wealthy. The book tells us that millionaires save large percentages of their money, invest it wisely, and spend very little.

Trump and Kiyosaki have another message. They tell us that they have a new way of thinking, which involves defying traditional investment logic. They tell us not to invest in mutual funds and work hard "because that does not make you rich." They say that investing in mutual funds is playing it safe, and it won't make you rich.
They tell us that "safe is the enemy of rich." There is some truth to this, the greater the risk, often the greater potential gain, but they get it wrong because they ignore risk all together-that's why they filed bankruptcy!

When you let too much risk into your life you are asking for trouble. You could put all of your money on black in Vegas, but not many financial counselors will tell you to do that, because there's too much risk!
You don't get successful just because you take risk. You get successful because of your passion for the work, the quality of your work, your focus to be successful and your attention to detail. Kiyosaki seems to believe that the only thing you need to be rich is the desire to be rich, and this simply is not true!

This book really does not offer anything new. It's simply a rehash of Kiyosaki's previous books and Trump's view on personal finance, which no one should take seriously. There are plenty of much better books from people who actually have money and have held onto it for a long period of time that will enable to you become very wealthy, but it requires hard work, dedication, and much more. The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey would be a good place to start for those who really want to do what it takes to be rich.