“When there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do you no harm.” – African proverb
The biggest obstacle to the rise of Africa and most of the developing world is the cumulative doubts of most of the population. We doubt ourselves and our abilities to become better than we presently are, and so we are stuck in the valley of underdevelopment.
While doubt is a natural part of the human experience, focusing on it can significantly impact an individual’s drive and motivation in various ways, which goes a long way to either hinder progress or growth. That has been the real cause of our headache, rather than the many other factors we are so used to discussing.
The premise that our self-doubt is our biggest enemy stems from how it affects our thinking. For example, many of us analyse the gap between the developed and the developing worlds and confidently conclude that it is so huge, it can ever be reduced, much more getting them at par. The standard chorus is, “by the time you get to where they are, they would have moved further.” This paralytic thinking is what trademarks most people in developing, including highly educated ones. Too many of us doubt our ability to grow that we are always overthinking and overanalysing the situation, so much so that we are stuck at the comparative stage. This is one of the bigger challenges our self-doubts bring upon us. It feeds us with paralytic thoughts rather than possibilities whenever we have to analyse situations.
We may not realise how this paralytic thinking phenomenon is hampering our ability to take bold decisions and its related actions, because we are almost always stunned by the fear that we are incapable of ever rising from the ashes.
We are persistently doubting ourselves and so we want to be doubly sure and probably extra certain before we move. For some of us, this is preventing us from even discussing ideas. We do not make room for dreams because we do not have any enthusiasm, nor passion for chasing “the intangibles.” This doubtful attitude is making us delay the formulation and implementation of brilliant policies. In short, we are not taking risks.
One of the downsides of our self-doubting attitude is that we have become brilliant critics of innovative ideas. Instead of embracing possibilities, we have a way of focusing our lens on the potential flaws and risks the suggestions and ideas presented to us, and coming up with disparaging comments that discourage the pursuit of novel concepts. Many of us have become adept at identifying reasons why an idea might fail rather than exploring how it might succeed. Every little experimentation is frowned upon. There are some amongst us who even glare over the innovative plating of food. How then do we ever expect the formulation and development of groundbreaking solutions that will lift us out of the dump we are stuck in? The depth of our skepticism is bottomless, to the point where it is becoming scary.
As a people we need to appreciate that self-doubt has its pluses, but the ways it has fostered excessive cynicism within us is sickening. We have become a doubtful people and our own enemies. It is not surprising we are swallowing any morsels thrown to us by foreigners and stifling the brilliance and innovation coming from our own. It is time to break away from this negative behaviour.
Let us, as individuals cultivate a willingness to take risks and explore uncharted territories before we start making those demands on our leaders. This suggestion stems from the fact that we are always accusing our leaders of not taking initiatives. Learning to act before criticising others will minimise our individual self-doubts.
The doubts we have cultivated about ourselves means we have to waste more time and resources on excessive analysis of issues, thus reducing overall productivity in our society. This is made worse by the desire to micromanage to ensure all the minor details are adhered to. It is about we shake ourselves up and do away with our self-doubts. We need to start doing things differently from the norm.
We need to accept that we will make mistakes, but it is better to do that and learn from them than trying to be perfect and sinking in quicksand. Taking initiatives will empower us to turn our self-doubt into a constructive force.
The wonderful culture we will cultivate from taking personal initiatives is that we will become brilliant at striking a balance between healthy skepticism and open-mindedness. And as we take initiatives, we will start to embrace uncertainty and our risk-taking attitude will grow, leading us to value deliberations of ideas and its experimentation. Instead of dismissing other people’s suggestions, outright we might learn and be willing to use our words and voice to refine and enhance their ideas for the good of all of us…
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Kodwo Brumpon is an executive coach at Polygon Oval, a forward-thinking Pan African management consultancy and social impact firm driven by data analytics, with a focus on understanding the extraordinary potential and needs of organisations and businesses to help them cultivate synergies, that catapults into their strategic growth, and certifies their sustainability.
Comments, suggestions, and requests for talks and training should be sent to him at [email protected]
