I'm done with small stuff

BOITSHEPO BOLELE | Friday September 17, 2010 00:00

Why then are you and me fussing on small items, stall projects, small assignments, small ideas are too difficult and you are always alone in their manifestation!

I read in the local papers that some companies have started buying jets, mind you, as much as these are status symbols, they have a commercial use and soon and very soon one of the local airlines will lease them for charter flights, surveys etc .....their bank manager will phone them to give them ideas on how best to get a return on them, they will even involve their in-house economists - to interpret the externalities for them; the civil aviation may invite them to discuss other commercial opportunities . . .  when you go into big projects you attract BIG stakeholders who will go out of their way to make the venture succeed!

The local papers are at it again discussing the situation with a hospital. This is a private venture, the media is interested, the government is interested, the politicians are interested, the patients are interested; people are coming forward with all sorts of ideas, some good and some just bizarre.

Like the person, who suggested that maybe their parking should be wired with solar lights; or get the employee unions and associations, business associations, trade associations, children's associations you name it, the churches and impress upon them to rally their members to support the hospital - I even heard a youth leader in a religious organisation remarking that, 'ha bae ba re boleletse, we could pressure the referring hospitals to refer strictly to this organisation' . . . . Somebody suggested that maybe it's time they sold trading shares to the general public - if the public owns the hospital they would insist on it above all others and yes, that way they could release cash to pay off their capital debts.

Another fellow remarked that maybe they should cut a deal with the hospitals outside Botswana, that if maybe the hospital belonged to a larger family of 'referral hospitals' maybe there won't be any need for referrals. I met a private doctor who proposed linkages with small local outfits - rather than engage experts on full salary, let them come in on subcontract and yes bring their market base with them. . . . The situation concerning this particular hospital got everybody talking, scratching their heads to come with a solution; WHY, this hospital is BIG.

Big things attract attention and their problems and responsibility can never be yours alone!

'I hear you Boi, but one must start somewhere', indeed one must start somewhere; you can start small, but start small with a BIG vision.

Growth is not automatic, you don't just grow because you have been around long enough, therefore, you MUST grow...No NO NO, and you grow because you decide to grow.

The major growth that you need is not necessarily external, it's about growing a BIG mind, a BIG vision, BIG capacity to transact, ability to see beyond yourself and your area of benefit. BIG projects can start small, with a small step but to a BIG defined goal.

On the contrary, small projects, unless linked to a BIG future, have the potential to destroy your thinking and your life. They keep you going in circles.  Everybody who comes in contact with you is a competitor - there are no entry barriers when it comes to small projects.

They make you petty and anxious; because of their smallness, they don't have room for other people, let alone enough benefit for other people, therefore there could be no motivation for standards, reporting (mind you BIG companies have BIG stakeholders and boars, whether they like it or not they must report), require no planning and organization on your part.

They could throw you into a survival crises and chaos that come with it.  GOD is a BIG God, he said I will bless you and make you a Blessing, the agenda of God is to have an overflowing blessing, to have an agenda bigger than ourselves, only through that can we attract other people and when we do; it ceases to be our challenges alone. I urge you to GO BIG, in all that we do. You can reach me on boi.bolele@gmail.com to discuss further.