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Doing the work is ugly. It takes time away from things your brain and heart want to do. It is repetitive. It requires you to figure out details.  But doing the work is also humbling. It is the reason you have a society around you that grinds, for better or for worse. It is how you help people and how people help you.  Work - once work is identified and committed to - must be done, and it must be done well. 

One day making money will seem more important than making time. But money made is only as good as the time it gives you, and not the time it has taken away. So make money in order to make time.

You did not comply completely with plans. You bent the universe to suit you. This is good, but only insofar as you are not aware of the universe. Once you recognise the universe, understand it, and acknowledge it - which are themselves massive steps that can already take a lifetime - once you are aware, then bending comes with a cost. Not so much in the monetary sense; more so in terms of how other people's lives are affected. Your care for others should guide your plans, and not the other way around. I'll be back. 

What's that unearthly sound? Turn off the alarm. Snoozing is dope. Shit, I have to get to work. What time is it? Let's have some water.  Let's stand outside for a minute. Send out today's assignments. How is my family? Has mum had her meds and breakfast? Where's my chai? Do I need a car today? Are there any fires burning? Who is that calling, I just got here! OK, let's start the day. 

Recently finished Peter Thiel's Zero to One . Found it very useful for examples of massive US-centric growth companies, but not very useful for business growth in Africa.  However, it did highlight for me the problem I've been facing with Lateral Labs - there is a really difficult area in between Day 1 of a Sole Proprietorship and Day X of a Limited Company with investors. That is, growing a company to a level where it can consistently sustain itself (people and everything else) as well as turn a profit.  Not all Sole Proprietorships make money, but even fewer make enough money to stop relying on the founder.

Not too long ago, I argued for Distraction . But I am now reading about about Focus. I made the mistake before of seeing all types of work as one. There are however many types of work: There is at least Knowledge work, Creative work and Implementation work. Focus applies differently depending on the type of work. I think Focus for Creative work is essential. 

 A friend posted a question on LinkedIn: "What matters more, motivation or discipline?" For her, low motivation meant lack of discipline. So she was wondering which one influences the other? Let's try to understand the semantics first. The verb for discipline is "to discipline" and means to bring in line with a set of rules, to straighten out, to make consistent, usually referred to behaviour. The verb for motivation is "to motivate" and means to inspire, to push, to make excited, usually referred to doing things. I don't think these verbs are mutually exclusive. You need motivation to stay disciplined. and you need discipline to stay motivated. If discipline is your tea, motivation is your sugar. If discipline is your mayai, motivation is your chips. If discipline is the money, motivation is your life. 

Truth is increasingly shaped by media actors, therefore the ethical responsibility over Truth cannot only be left to media actors. It is inevitable, as long as everyone else seeks integrity in Truth, that everyone else needs to do more to think about, investigate, and share or not share media according to what information is most important to be consumed at that place and time.  "Most important" is relative and everyone will have a different compass for this, yes, but that is unavoidable. It may be regional, or chronological, or set in any other anchor, but we cannot afford to have more than one version of Truth in any one of these anchored times/places. 

Communications appears to be diverting from action.  Many ads promise the world, yet the companies cannot deliver. What, then, is the point of advertising?  If companies walked the talk they advertised, the world might actually have been better. The problem lies in what we envision for ourselves versus what we actually do about it. 

Focus gets things done. Focus has integrity. Focus encourages growth in one area.  Distraction gets things done slowly. Distraction has inclusiveness. Distraction encourages meaning in many areas.  The problem with Focus is that it needs to validate its meaning in the context of other things happening, while in its definition, it cannot. 

 ... when it gets precedence over our own president's swearing in on a national paper. Not impressed with the state of our media.

 A few thoughts over the last few weeks: 1. Nationalism is one worldview. 2. There are many worldviews. 3. To what end does nationalism support our coexistence, locally and globally? 

When I left college, I thought I wanted to serve the public sector in Tanzania. After working in civil society, I decided the private sector was a better use of time in chasing impact. Now, while running my own business, I am finding that the public-private division is an illusion. Governments are increasingly capitalist, while corporations are struggling to improve quality of life.  Today, I am generally comfortable with approaching "work" in its stripped down definition - providing a product or service that can be exchanged for value. I am also trying to advocate for "work" as meaning anything that sustains our existence as a collective human race.  Of course there is competition, but this should be viewed as a positive challenge, either in identifying new areas of improving existence, or in improving previous methods. But public and private sectors persist in their silos. Tanzania votes in about 20 days time. I am doing my best to learn civics because my sentimen...

Careers are no longer defined by academic ability alone. Careers are now also defined by external influences. I see two main external influences on career seekers: One is the Employer, and the other is the World.  When you are asked to make a decision that has good implications for the Employer and bad implications for the World, it's what you choose that defines your career. There is no good or bad career. It's an objective choice you need to make. 

I find many of my clients want to do the same thing that's happening elsewhere in the world on the Internet, but add value with "local content". It makes sense - there are some part of African / East African / Tanzanian / inter-Tanzanian cultures that play into the way we do things, like business, education, behaviour change communication, retail, engineering, etc.  But to what extent? We can't be so different that even best practice is unique.  The "local" in local content only goes as far as language, law of the land and loyalty to certain norms. Outside of these areas, I'm not sure what else makes local content so special. 

 Sharp, shrewd and shaky, Beat-down, bridled by brute,  Lost, lonely and livid. Yet... Hopefully, happy, and wholesome, Focussed on family and futures, Strong, confident and resilient. -- Lucy Hone was right : 1. Everyone has grief; 2. Everyone has some good that happens to them; 3. For every thing that you're about to do - assess whether it helps you live or die. 

Big news! I found that speed.iwarp.com - probably my first website ever - is still up!  http://speed.iwarp.com/ . I'm glad because, like this blog, it is a window into the past. It tells me I have been designing websites for over 15 years, that cars were always a thing, and that creating art for the sake of art is precious.

I recently submitted an essay for the NUHA blogging prize . The question I picked was "Most people don't listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply." - Stephen R. Covey. Do you agree? My title was " We Make the Sacred Profane ". Here is the introduction: Covey writes at an interesting time for humanity. While his quote is taken from a book about personal change, it is also written in the context of effectiveness. Effectiveness can be defined differently depending on one’s context, but this essay focuses on two perspectives: One is of the Responder, and the other is of the Understander. These two perspectives can often seem to be opposites, but are in fact interdependent. Read the rest of my essay here . I also submitted an essay back in 2016, titled " The Paradox of Arts Today ".

Quick learnings from 2017 so far: Without any creative activity or observation, work is boring and, if prolonged, diminishes happiness. Creative activity or observation is a serious endeavor, requiring time and money. No serious endeavor is ever left up to chance; the best endeavors are planned.

"We explore creation as we sense it, but there is no known example of a creature in the world that has the mind of a human. For some, it is the ability to choose destiny, to forge past what is right versus what is wrong. For others, it is the ability to love, to care for another in the most unique of ways. But, we cannot fathom a uniform definition of humanity except in the face of each other. To be human is to be the same as one another."  Rajabu glanced at his phone. 3 minutes left. The old man was small, sitting on a chair with his back to the campus wall. His diction was clear, like Rajabu's great grandfather. Rajabu knew the English those men spoke was immaculate and came from a very systematic and colonial education. He had never seen this old man... Read more of my submission to the 2016 NUHA Blogging Prize here.