I get the chance and honour to work on different projects with a lot of business owners. Some of them I get to work with, others are in my Lora classes, and still others I get to guide. What I've learnt from the entrepreneurs I've worked with over the past decade or so is vary,…
Your boss and your sanity
It's true that the person you interact with most frequently at work, your manager, has a significant impact on your overall well-being, including your mental health. Research has shown that poor management practices and a toxic work environment can lead to stress, anxiety, and even depression. On the other hand, a supportive and empathetic manager…
Conscience speaking
“The voice of conscience is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it, but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it.”- Madam de Stael When you know what is right or wrong, you can't deny it. It is like a voice that guides us to do the right thing.…
Book Review: Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum
Once in a while I like to read a book that has nothing to do with my field of expertise. For example, I might read something in the field of archaeology, the sciences, or something completely unrelated to business and entrepreneurship. This time around, I decided to check out Gulag: A History by Anne Applebaum.…
What a person commits to says little about them
Making a firm commitment is simple. You only need a few works and an occasional signature. However, commitments rarely accomplish much on their own. To recap, recommitment is the cornerstone upon which we construct all the wonderful things we are capable of creating, including but not limited to meaningful relationships, effective businesses, and trustworthy interactions.…
Write a sermon on the baptism of Jesus Christ
Earlier on in the day, while I was just goofing around in ChatGPT, and chatting with a friend about Artificial Intelligence, as we were chatting, I typed the following on ChatGPT on my laptop: "Write a sermon on the baptism of Jesus Christ." The following reply was typed by ChatGPT within a minute of the…
The cost of crime on small businesses
Some of the entrepreneurs I mentor have had their shops broken into, and I've seen the damage firsthand in the form of broken locks, stolen goods, and shattered windows. Starting and operating a business in South Africa is made more difficult by the country's high crime rate. One of the main obstacles to the growth…
Carbon Dating and Clock of the Long Now
Marie Curie [third from left front row] is the first scientist to have won two Nobel Prizes, and only one of two to have won them in two different disciplines. This picture was taken at The Solvay Conference, probably the most intelligent picture ever taken in 1927. In this picture are some of my favourite…
Lead with a story first: people connect with stories
During a strategy session with a client a few days ago, the company's chairman told a story about why the organization was started. He talked about how he used to fight poverty and try to help poor people get out of it, until he thought, "Maybe, just maybe, if I start a company and it…
Taking time to reflect
Taking the time to reflect on our actions or words we said is a tradeoff that can help us feel less bad [or even better] in the long run. Although I believe it to be crucial, in my opinion, we rarely pause to consider the consequences of our actions and words. This is the largest…
Paying attention
In his book, The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner had two lovely paragraphs on attention. Attention’ is an underrated word. It doesn’t get the… well, the attention it deserves. We pay homage to love, and happiness, and, God knows, productivity, but rarely do we have anything good to say about attention. We’re too busy, I…
Incremental execution vs. incremental thinking
A friend shared a guiding principle on innovation recently: "It is okay for execution to be incremental. Just avoid incremental thinking." This note made me think of a graphic about "minimum viable products." This struck a chord.