Thought Picnic: The career skill of knowing chances, choices and risks

From before

I will like to continue on the blog I started yesterday on the response of Atul Gawande to the question about why he left the politics of being a policy wonk in the White House to return to medical school and take up surgery.

Blog – Thought Picnic: Becoming less dependent on the fortunes of others

“I wanted to be less dependent on the fortunes of others in making my own career; I wanted to be able to develop and voice my own ideas. And then there was this desire to have some skill besides just being at the abstract level of policy and work at that level. So I returned to medical school instead of taking up the offer to work on welfare reform.”

He went on to say about surgery, “I loved the sense of skill. And it reminded me of politics in some way – that the really good surgeons had to be like really good politicians in being willing to take chances, deal with risk, know that your knowledge and your skills are uncertain.”

Of skill to do

“There was this desire to have some skill besides just being at the abstract level of policy and work at that level…” Here, it is apparent that Atul Gawande had to make some serious life-changing and career-defining decisions. Whilst he did not knock the idea of being involved in policy making, he realised he needed to have other skills such that when the need for policy derived from his being dependent on the fortunes of others dried up, he will still be fully able to chart his own course.

It is also quite revealing for him to suggest that policy work was quite abstract rather than practical, even though policy has a way of affecting people’s lives. Yet, it was clear that if he had stayed, he still had ample opportunity within that political setting to be involved in welfare reform.

“I loved the sense of skill…” Yet, in leaving policy work for medical school and specialising in surgery, he had found a new vocation and calling, a sense of skill that went well beyond the abstract.

The excitement in the sense of skill is captured in his applying his acquired policy knowledge to his growing medical skill that he found ways to conflate politics and surgery in the following response.

Of chance and risk

“It reminded me of politics in some way – that the really good surgeons had to be like really good politicians in being willing to take chances, deal with risk, know that your knowledge and your skills are uncertain…” In essence, no knowledge in all his fields of endeavour was lost, rather the whole body of knowledge had become uniquely his own experience.

This experience is what now allowed him to understand the similarities between good politicians and good surgeons, and one might even say any profession where ability, skill, expertise and experience matters.

For we all have to be willing to take chances where there choices are not as obvious or the course is uncertain. In that, there is risk, some calculable and in other cases quite unquantifiable that is becomes somewhat adventurous, because from another viewpoint, noting ventured is nothing gained.

Knowing the uncertainty of skill

Many of us may be risk-averse, but without understanding risk and exploring the possibilities beyond what we know for certain, we risk living unproductive, mundane and boring lives with sadly unpromising careers to boot.

In all this is the ultimate lesson of knowledge and wisdom, that is to know what you know and what your skills can achieve whilst being very cognisant of the limitations of your knowledge and beyond attempting to bluff your way past issues where you have no ideas, you are geared to learn, to research, to reach and to extend yourself to acquire new knowledge and chart new courses.

The awareness of the fact that our skills even when well-honed might be uncertain to dealing with particular situations that we might have to adapt or withdraw to reflect and relearn is one of the greatest gifts of self-development.

My experience

Having worked in the Information Technology industry for about 28 years, I am well aware of the limitations of my skills, however, more importantly is the fact that I do not always have the answers or solutions to problems or challenges to hand.

In many cases, the knowledge to tackle an issue has only come from being presented with a particular situation that requires a resolution and since not all situations are the same, the solutions will differ.

Yet, all this knowledge becomes part of the body of knowledge uniquely mine that is a subset of my wider experience beyond just my profession and when presented with a similar set of circumstances again, I will probably be better equipped to provide a resolution much quicker than when I first encountered that setting.

I have never feared not knowing, nor have I been held back by not knowing what to do, rather, I have seen such challenges as new opportunities to broaden my knowledge and then return to resolve that conundrum, and doing the next thing. There is excitement is not remaining stagnant, but in pressing on and moving on.

These responses laid the ground for the beginning of the lecture on the subject – Why Do Doctors Fail? [PDF Transcript]

I hope to cover that lecture in some detail in another blog.

Thought Picnic: Becoming less dependent on the fortunes of others

An introduction

This is a blog of many blogs I should have written many months ago when I was first inspired, but I have left it until recently as I dithered over the last week on how to start writing.

Dr Atul Gawande gave four lectures for the Reith Lectures in 2014 on The Future of Medicine, the enlightening and interesting things he touched upon about medical practice and personal experiences with medicine and patients made for repeated times of listening in again.

The first lecture was titled, Why Do Doctors Fail? [PDF Transcript], there is much to discuss in this lecture, but I will first concentrate on some answers he gave when he was introduced to the audience.

I will eventually cover the topical issues in further blogs, every doctor and in fact, patients or prospective patients should take the time to read or listen to these lectures.

Some background

Atul Gawande is a typical third-culture-kid, born to Indian medical practitioners in the United States, studied at Stanford University, and was a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford before taking medical degrees at Harvard.

However, before going to Harvard, he was a policy wonk on healthcare for Bill Clinton and was in the White House to help Hillary Clinton on her ill-fated Clinton Health Care Task Force. Being in the deep corridors of power, he could have chosen to stay there among the movers and shakers of America, but he did not.

Sue Lawley, the moderator of the first lecture at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, having surmised that he had worked for Clinton and gone to Washington, asked why surgery eventually won over politics.

Career independence

Atul Gawande answering many questions in the discussion before the lecture began showed a great sense of self-awareness and purpose.

“I wanted to be less dependent on the fortunes of others in making my own career; I wanted to be able to develop and voice my own ideas. And then there was this desire to have some skill besides just being at the abstract level of policy and work at that level. So I returned to medical school instead of taking up the offer to work on welfare reform.”

About surgery, he said, “I loved the sense of skill. And it reminded me of politics in some way – that the really good surgeons had to be like really good politicians in being willing to take chances, deal with risk, know that your knowledge and your skills are uncertain.”

Daring to chart an uncertain course

“I wanted to be less dependent on the fortunes of others in making my own career …” This profound sense of independence is incumbent on people at the beginning of their careers to comprehend. You need to understand and appreciate where your career is going, how it develops and who it might depend on.

Many for their skills and ability find themselves in positions of privilege and opportunity that they somewhat forget that situations and circumstances might be ephemeral or transient, they get comfortable.

I remember a younger friend who at 29 was about to be made a partner in a global consulting firm, probably the ambition of a majority, it represents the pinnacle of achievement for some, a fulfilment reckoning of accomplishment and achievement. My friend thought at that age, that becoming a partner with its opportunities would create a limiting perspective on his broader career, so he left the firm and embarked on an exciting middle-management career at other global firms.

With politics, nothing is certain either

With politics, there is even less certainty, your position is at the pleasure of the chief or patron, and you can be dismissed on a whim. When your principal ends their tenure you will likely be out of work too. Recognising this tenuous relationship can be the saviour towards a more fulfilling career.

In my own career, I have rarely been an organisation man, in all the years I have had any kind of employment, I have only been a full-time employee for 7 years spread over 4 different jobs in Nigeria, the UK and the Netherlands since 1988.

I began my foray into self-employment and consultancy in Nigeria after a year of being fully employed and wading into the uncertainty of the market but assured by the certainty of my skills and knowledge that I could not only dictate my terms but also reap huge rewards for choosing to be different.

This has served me well since July 1995 when I first went contracting in the UK, but for a 2-year stint of full employment in the Netherlands and when I had cancer through treatment and recuperation.

My fortunes have mainly been borne of my knowledge and instinct, skills I have acquired through self-motivation and ambition that have taken me into blue-chip companies around Europe proffering ideas and solutions to their challenges, both little and large.

To voice my own ideas

“I wanted to be able to develop and voice my own ideas.” There is every pleasure in having a mentor, in life and in your career, I have had quite a few and I cherish them. Most especially, I had John Coll who passed away last year. I was never his employee as I did not have the skills he needed in his organisation, he was always there to provide guidance, encouragement, advice and the steeling up I needed whenever my confidence was lacking.

More particularly, even when he first helped me redraft my resume in mid-1994 he was quite particular that it was written in my voice and my kind of thinking since I will be the one to defend it when at interview. I was offered a new job on that new marketing literature within weeks of publishing it.

Develop yourself as you

There are uses of patronage and the peddling of influence, but one must maintain a sense of independence of thought and voice with the ability to fearlessly convey those views. I can say that in my career, either as a contractor or a full-time employee, I have always been a good communicator of my views, some will say I am quite strong-willed, maybe I am.

Rather than being obsequious to your principal, I am of the view that if your views are forthright, sensible, reasonable, honest and clear, you will be of great benefit to all that you engage with, earning the respect of those around you even if you are disliked for your autonomy.

There is no pleasure in being a clone or a parrot, a poor imitation of the real thing schooled in the required talking points and jargon, acting to a set script in robotic obeisance and necessity, all in the quest to be appreciated and to belong.

It is so false, boring and quite unedifying in the long run. You eventually lose who you are and become a non-descript personality only differentiated by appearance and nothing else.

There is much else to mine in those quoted responses, but let’s start with this.

Extricate yourself from following others so close that you can’t cut loose when you need to, that you go down with them, if and when they do.

Nigeria: Reviewing Ms. Arunma Oteh's Allegations

Speaking up and loud

This is the stuff great people are made of, fearlessness in the face of persecution and boldness to speak truth to power.

I have many a time been perturbed by the cost of our democracy and the stranglehold corruption seems to have on every facet of life in Nigeria.

Yesterday brought in a number of interesting revelations, whilst many sanctimoniously concentrated on the sensational, the bigger issue was the insight into the workings of our legislature, the committee system and the bottom-feeding frenzy of rent-seeking legislators steeped in despicable malfeasance playing to the gallery pretending to unimpeachable conduct.

Sensational allegations

The Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh was appearing before the House Committee on Capital Markets chaired by “Honourable” Herman Hembe – the title must be in quotes until it is regained by a fair assessment of the allegations made and the man is proven completely innocent of the claims.

During the day we were regaled with tales of the profligate excesses of the Ms. Oteh, that she had stayed in  5-star hotel accommodation for 8 months instead of the regulatory one month, that she has spent NGN 850,000 ($5,391) on dinner and everyone ran to town with it. There some dispute as to whether it was NGN 850,000 or NGN 85,000 ($539.10), in either case, this was piffle, almost of no consequence in the scheme of things, the way the country is bilked and milked by all those in political office.

She stoops to conquer

Nigerian politicians are given to bluster and grandiloquence arrogating to themselves privileges, emoluments and untrammelled fiat to bludgeon people who appear before their committees without due courtesies and respect to the attendees.

Ms. Oteh ran the gauntlet of being questioned about her qualifications to fill her position and her ability to perform, it was an inquisition so disgraceful and unbecoming of anyone who deigns to be recognised in polite society but that was Day One.

When Ms. Oteh appeared on Day Two, she was battle-axe ready, fuming, agitated and shooting all guns with deathly accuracy in what might become the biggest political earthquake of our democratic experiment, I should expect aftershocks of similar magnitude to follow.

Explosive political bombshells

She alleged with dates that the Committee Chairman had received moneys to attend a conference that he eventually did not attend and did not refund the expense. She also alleged that he had asked the SEC to fund the activities of the committee to the tune of NGN 39,000,000 ($247,376) and then another demand was made for NGN 5,000,000 ($31,714.80).

She questioned the integrity of the chairman and his credibility to sit in judgement with unclean hands and his maturity in commenting on issues related to the SEC without first verifying the facts possibly with the view to undermine, discredit and contemn Ms. Oteh.

More importantly, she pointedly accused the chairman of corruption and in the court of public opinion challenged the chairman to defend himself against the claims whilst making the case for fairness and better adherence to democratic principles. The raw emotion was palpable as she trembled and her voice quavered with each forceful statement, the discomfiture of the committee was quite evident.

Noisy body talk

The body language of the chairman was like an open book screaming out the words as he swivelled in his chair in pendulumic consonance squirming with embarrassment as he tried to fend off the allegations, twisting Ms. Oteh’s words and playfully making light of the situation but before the whole world, this was a most uncomfortable moment.

In a display of braggadocio he mandated the anti-corruption agencies to investigate the claims, but we Nigerians have very little confidence in the ability of these institutions to follow through to conclusion any allegations, charges or indictments made on senior politicians in Nigeria – it was both a dare and a moot point, if anything comes of it, we will be in for an unusual surprise.

He was obviously rattled that he forgot his manners when he told and not asked Ms. Oteh to turn off her microphone. In a society where character, reputation and integrity matters, where a senior official is besmirched with allegations of corruption, one would expect him to recuse himself and not bring the activities of the committee and the House of Representatives into disrepute, but impunity without consequence is the name of the game in Nigeria, he reasserted his questionable authority and banged the gavel – the seal of authoritative corruption and obvious indifference.

Ms. Oteh – the big spender?

So many things stand out from the events of that day which I will attempt to address one at a time.

Could Ms. Oteh have spent $539 on dinner? Very likely, it would probably have covered a meal with friends and considering the cost of living in Nigeria especially in luxury settings, the prices are unbelievably steep for what we would get at a reasonable cost in Europe. It is quite doubtful that she spent $5,391 at one sitting, it reads like a very tall tale exposed to ridicule and embarrass her – The SEC has asserted the lower figure but why let the truth get in the way of a sensational exposé?

That Ms. Oteh stayed in 5-star accommodation for a whole 8 months is quite beyond the pale but then one can understand that enjoying luxury at the expense of others can be a difficult and herculean task to wean yourself of off, in some ways she was being both a chancer and human – people have done worse, she has been in her position for over two years now, which means alternative lodgings have been arranged for at least 16 months.

Report or proclaim?

Certain people have wondered why Ms. Oteh did not take her allegations of corruption to the anti-corruption agencies. For reasons I have stated before, they have not excelled in their briefs, literally everyone of political clout in Nigerian has gummed up the system and deftly used the judiciary to extricate themselves from the clutches of due process of investigation and administration of justice.

In my view, that public forum was the best place to make those allegations and with it in the open, force many more voices to demand action be taken. If the chairman feels he has been besmirched and libelled he can easily seek redress in the courts but I doubt he has the courage to be exposed to the scrutiny of his cupboard of rampaging skeletons. Compromised legislators grandstanding in public will from now on have to thread carefully.

Estacode abuse

One area of patronage and source of corruption that needs to be reviewed reformed and better regulated is the use and abuse of estacode - funds intended to cover traveling costs by public servants and politicians. Politicians, especially in Nigeria are quite handsomely remunerated; they should not be receiving hand-outs before they have completed whatever missions they embark on.

In the private sector, a modicum of control is exercised on spending because the money first comes out of the pocket and the person is later reimbursed on the presentation of receipts and audited review of the expenses.

Though that process can also be abused, with the presentation of false documents or through collusion, it will not result in profligacy and excessive pre-compensation and the person will be more accountable for their spend. That the chairman received moneys and did not use it for the intended purpose is at best dishonest, if not fraudulent.

Conflicts of interest

The operation of committees needs to be reviewed, the independence of a committee will always be compromised and the perception of its ability to function transparently and fairly will be suspect if the committee and its members receive favours from the institutions they have oversight of. It is befuddling that the concept of conflict of interest has not become part of the framework of the fabric of our democracy.

The legislature has its budget and it must operate within its means without seeking emoluments and sponsorship of external organisations that can exact influence on the probity, transparency and integrity of the committees in some quid pro quo arrangement – this must be deemed illegal, corrupt and outlawed. Perceptions matter, always.

A new breed of public servant

One other interesting point is that Ms. Oteh appeared to be quite combative and it is interesting that on Day One the proceedings were not given a public hearing and then the damaging allegations of living large seemed to set the stage for the committee to embarrass the lady for not playing ball with a live and televised hearing which now seems to have back-fired on the legislators.

If you are called to public service in Nigeria - Do not be assimilated and do not be intimidated. Arunma Oteh is a class act.

There is no doubt that our legislature would prefer Nigerians were not privy to the machinations of corruption, pay-for-play, bribery and other despicable practices that have been rumoured about but never verified. With Ms. Oteh’s very public assailing of these rent-seekers there is very little damage limitation that can be done to restore the public’s confidence in our democracy.

We need to put the feet of these people to the fire and apply more pressure on the system to change, to reform and to root out the atrocious wolves in sheep’s clothing who are selfish, self-conceited and greedily feeding on the system with ravenously gluttonous appetites.

If we are to learn anything from Ms. Oteh, our democracy is in need of an urgent reset.

References

Oteh’s bribery allegation: Reps battle to save face | Vanguard Nigeria

Nigeria: Capital Market Probe - Oteh Accuses Committee Chair of Demanding N39 Million for Members

Nigeria: Ministries banned from funding National Assembly – Written in 2008 about conflicts of interested between the legislature and executive.

Nigeria: Prince Ade Adesanya is expecting your call

Courtesy of @seunfakze & @olaoluwakite

Just what Twitter ordered

The picture above came up on my Twitter timeline; a Tweet by @seunfakze one of the highly commended minds on Nigerian socio-political commentary spearheading a number of future-looking initiatives for good governance in Nigeria.

It looks like it was originally posted by @olaoluwakite and shared at http://yfrog.com/ki3cfdzj

When I reTweeted it, I added the postscript, “Almajiri of the South”

RT @seunfakze: FRIEND OF THE GOVERNOR indeed. http://yfrog.com/ki3cfdzj *sad times* "Almajiri of the South".

Mustering disgust

Now, Almajiri means emigrant in Hausa, mostly spoken in the North of Nigeria and in the belt towards the West all the way to Ghana and possibly beyond.

In reality, the Almajiri today who are supposed to be young Islamic scholars are more or less hungry street urchins, beggars, easy prey for peddlers of influence in mobs or for abuse as depicted in this Times article [1] and a child rights emergency as I highlighted in this blog [2].

Nigeria is a country where titles matter, the moniker of Chief has become too commonplace, people now use the particular chieftaincy title they have received even if it is from a hamlet of 3 huts. Beyond that, religious titles abound from the Alhaji meaning someone who has in a majority of cases had a subsidised journey for pilgrimage to Mecca to Christian ones like Elder so-and-so who is a minister of the federal cabinet and not to forget the Dame, the wife of our President.

Heirs of royalty no matter how remote from the throne are styled Prince or Princess and this is where our Prince comes in, son of some royal father and no doubt an influence peddler who has printed a calling card that suggests he has the ear of the governor.

Pulling the governor’s ears

In our federation, states have a latitude of autonomy under the management of an Executive Governor [3] who is the patron-in-chief for a patronage system that supports an endemic corrupt enterprise much of which has been exposed in poor development and infrastructure for health [4, Graphic], education [5, Graphic] and economic growth [6, Graphic] despite the fact that the states share in the largesse of oil money that floods their coffers every month.

Prince Ade Adesanya exemplifies a societal malaise for sycophancy, nepotism, hedonism, prebendalism and neo-patrimoniallism all of which are tributaries for corruption in the most odious form.

It is interesting, that the Governor of Ogun State has not seen it fit to appoint his friend to some ministry, committee or advisory position, but the friend has probably in delusions of grandeur with the very possibility of being a confidence trickster printed a calling card with gilded edges, golden lettering and the coat of arms of the state – surely, there should be a few charges to decorate a rap sheet on sighting this card beyond censure.

Scam Alert!

Sadly, some gullible and naïve person will be presented with this card and assured of the ability to short-circuit due process for a fee just because Prince Ade Adesanya is a Friend of the Governor with the address of Government House – now, it is not clear if he is a friend of all governors, the past governor or the current governor  - the fact the card exists is enough cause for excoriation.

Anyone with two brain cells will know that a yahoo email address on such real estate of identity name-dropping is as good as standing under a peel of ringing church bells, be alarmed and touch him not with a 10-foot barge pole and that is longer than a spoon to dine with the devil.

It is just so rotten and disgusting; we need to put an end to this kind of atrocious influence peddling and patronage that relies on circumventing every transparent and meritorious act necessary to make our democracy work.

Call him

The task is simple, Prince Ade Adesanya needs to hear from us all; call him and email him; let him know that this is reprehensible at best and nothing will be too extreme in making a public show of this nonsense just in case some other idiot is planning to print a Friend of Dog card to have a gnaw at the bone.

Prince Ade Adesanya can be contacted on princeadeniyiadesanya@yahoo.com and if you need a deal to make your eyes water before you cuss down the phone, call +234(0)8086683619 or +234(0)8098312640

Call him now.


Addendum: A news story in October 2011 here appears to suggest that the prince is the Special Assistant on Political Matters and is indeed a friend of the governor but it does not take away from the odious peddling of influence that informed the printing of that calling card. Such acts should be held in utter contempt at this time and any other time.

Sources

[1] Nigeria's Abandoned Youth: Are They Potential Recruits for Militants?

[2] Nigeria: Letting Our Children Live Like Dogs

[3] Nigeria: The need to manage the Emperors of State

[4] Healthcare accessibility and distribution by State in Nigeria – Courtesy of BBC

[5] Female literacy by State in Nigeria – Courtesy of BBC

[6] Wealth distribution by State in Nigeria – Courtesy of BBC

Nigeria: Our politically immature systems

The real issue

It can be easy to read the headline PDP disqualifies aspirants with less than N500m [1] and miss the real import of this development altogether.

I would contend that it clearly shows the unsustainable cost of our fledgling democracy, poor political nomination action procedures and immature political party organisation especially from the ruling party, it is a poor example.

Obviously, any quest for political office does cost money but an aspirant that really carries the approval of a constituency for which representation is sought should by nature attract the necessary resources and support to ensure that the aspiration gains recognition and possible nomination.

Money for office

Having money in bank might well mean one has been successful in other walks of life but in a society where sources of wealth are rarely properly audited to ascertain untainted provenance it would be unfortunate if criminals can gain access to political privilege and office just because they have the cash.

Ploughing ones personal finances into the quest for political office without inexhaustible resources can create the situation where the aspirant who then gains political office can do everything to recoup all the “investments” that have gone into achieving the objective.

A few months ago, an aspirant resorted to drug smuggling [2] to recover the costs of his having once run for office and failed and with the aim of running for office again but he got caught.

Closing doors to betters

It is saddening the more qualified representation might not have opportunities by reason of outrageous party rules to put themselves forward for political office.

The situation where personal finances are not separated from financing for political office makes the idea of political fundraising can be prone to embezzlement and such accounts might not be transparent.

Besides, this opens the avenue of patronage and undue influence peddled by those who consider themselves godfathers and would like loan sharks require that their fillips towards attaining office are fully paid up with outlandish interest distracting the elected from the representation of the electorate that cast their votes for the person to represent their constituent interests.

Idle political parties

As for the maturity of political parties, where the stipulation of a threshold of financial resources is stated before eligibility, it is the basest level of assessment without objective consideration, the party organisation in some ways fails to encourage the best representation if it is not ready to work for the best selection and then support the nominees from a central perspective.

In this situation, making people ineligible because they have not come up from the political rank and file as political jobbers rather than people who have garnered additional experience from outside politics makes clones of representation who have no ideas and vision apart from just politicking.

The wrong assessment criteria

One hopes this is not the condition for political office eligibility across the board and it is rather unfortunate that the leaders offering these conditions were once respected advocates of democratic representation borne from real ability rather than having bags of money stashed away to buy influence, access and opportunity.

These grassroots initiatives do nothing to help our democracy where the emoluments are unbelievably generous [3] and well beyond prosperous middle-class aspirations that it creates aggressive competitive games that involve the elimination of rivals by every means possible.

We then end up with mean, nasty, indifferent, isolated and haughty representatives satisfying their own personal ends rather than that of their constituency.

I would hope that this stipulation is roundly contemned and condemned; Nigeria really cannot afford to have these rules if our democracy should mature into one that is truly representative, responsive and understanding of the purpose of its being.

Sources

[1] PDP disqualifies aspirants with less than N500m

[2] Nigeria: Why politician became a drug mule [akin.blog-city.com]

[3] Nigeria: Percentage Allowance Legislators [akin.blog-city.com]