adminBen Chiganze A Bassfisherman’s Approach
Last week we were dismissed unceremoniously from Susigi International Dam and as we made our way back to Harare we had near fatal encounter with a donkey 70km from Banket.
We had just negotiated a curve when we saw the donkey as it strode onto the highway from a nearby bush.
We thought the donkey would continue crossing the highway, but when it noticed our headlights it stopped and looked in our direction.
My colleague applied emergency brakes but the car failed to stop in time and we hit the donkey’s back leg and seriously damaged the right fender. We both escaped with minor injuries.
Most animals run away when there is impending danger particularly on the highways with the exception of a few like donkeys. Examples which come to mind are goats and sheep and even cows.
Don’t leave everything to fate
I learnt that when danger approaches the donkey becomes immobilised and surrenders its destiny to fate.
Many individuals and corporates in Zimbabwe do not take warning signs seriously.
Warning of impending hard times (overheating) can be in the form of cash-flow challenges, failure to meet statutory obligations such as NSSA, Paye, Vat, Zimdef, Pension, Nec and respective trade unions.
Most companies treat such challenges lightly and only start acting when it’s too late or when the arrears have reached alarming levels.
After dollarisation it is now common to hear people going for six months without pay.
Before dollarisation this was unheard of. The only challenge with this is that the arrears continue to balloon to unsustainable levels and sooner or later such companies might be asked to pay the outstanding salaries all at once or in batches.
Face reality
Donkeys are naturally stubborn animals even in the face of impending danger.
This is probably why the donkey we hit left the sanctuary of the bush to venture onto the highway and even after noticing the impending danger it remained rooted to the spot instead of running for dear life.
Likewise some companies can be victims of exogenous factors and most do not take any action but prefer to wait for the inevitable.
Instead take a leap of faith and come up with a way of mitigating the impact of these uncontrollable variables.
When faced with danger always find a way of running away from the middle of the road.
Relying on miracles
Some managers fail to act in the hope that they will get their companies out of danger by some miracle.
When confronted with life threatening challenges donkeys do not move from the middle of the road.
They only move when the car stops. Most people neglect their responsibilities and hope something else will help them to overcome their challenging circumstances without their personal input.
If we continue to neglect small responsibilities, it will become routine. Though most people believe in miracles happening without them putting any effort I personally believe that the greatest miracles happened because the beneficiary of the miracle prayed for one and had faith that they will receive it.
When confronted with life threatening challenges, do something.
Don’t just wait for a miracle.
Nobody knows what normally goes on in donkeys’ minds or why it be haves in the manner it does but we can assume from their reaction that they believe in territorial rights (comfort zone), which makes them oblivious to the potential fatality they face.
Companies must always be vigilant and not assume that they will always in remain in their comfort zones because dangers are lurking everywhere.
The writer is a managing consultant at CLC Training International. E-mail: [email protected]
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