GOAL!!!! Are we in post World Cup danger?
A REFLECTION ON SA's NEXT MOVE
It's been a month of ups and downs, highs and lows. A month of spectacular failure vs spectacular success!! The Soccer World Cup has been a consistent topic of conversation, which has people from all walks of life united around a common idea. Finally we have something to discuss with the car guard or the housekeeper or even a stranger in the bank queue! The magic of the moment is South Africa's golden opportunity to harness the current power and energy oozing from the positive mood the citizens are in. How does one do it? Many people are starting to wonder: "How do we keep this mood alive?"
Mountains have always supplied me with great metaphors and examples of the human struggle. Not surprisingly then, I look to the mountains as my frame of reference.
A question I often get asked after a presentation is: What is the greatest risk when you're climbing a mountain?". This is a quality question, because it indicates that the questioner is not easily duped into the warm and fuzzy "if you can dream it, you can do it" ideology. I agree with this statement, but perhaps from a mathematical standpoint it should read: "if you can calculate it, you can do it"! So, let's talk about risk. What are the typical risk factors involved in climbing big mountains? A scary statistic (which is changing steadily due to a few years of great weather and hundreds of summit successes on Everest) has been that 1 in every 7 climbers who climb to the top of Mt. Everest die. As if this is not enough to give you white knuckles while reading this; the second tallest mountain on our planet (K2 in Pakistan) has a fatality rate of 1 to 3!!
If these statistics are what one is up against, what measures can be put into place to avoid being part of the statistic? Some obvious aswers are: planning, preparation and sticking to the game plan. If a climber is not prepared to do a thorough diagnosis of these three crucial elements of an expedition, then they must surely face the dire consequences as set out above. There is a tiny element of luck involved as well, but for the sake of this topic, I'll stick to the tangible points. Off course, there is no magic bullet for experience. The more mountains you've climbed in your lifetime, the better your judgement of things like weather, altitude symptoms and the calculation of risk. More and more mountaineers are trying to accomplish the 7 Summits (which is the tallest peak on each of the 7 continents). This means that more and more inexperienced climbers are heading for the mountains, which may cause an unfortunate increase in the fatality statistic.
"Why do climbers die once they've summitted", you may ask. Herein lies the crucial question, which brings me to the World Cup. Climbers die on the way down from the top of the mountain, because - in their minds - they made the top of the mountain the goal. Obviously the top of a mountain is a goal, but an experienced mountaineer will tell you that it's not the goal. Come again? When people set a goal to reach the top of a mountain, they often forget that the top is only half way! Consequently many climbers have literally run out of steam once the goal is achieved. This poses a serious danger to their descent. When Bruce Herod (my team mate in the 1996 Everest expedition) reached the top of Everest (a dream he had had for many years) he sat down below the Hillary step to rest for a few minutes. Unfortunately he never got up again. There was simply not enough energy left in him to make the descent. As a result he froze to death while resting.
So, what should the goal then be? A successful expedition is when every climber makes it back home alive. Note, I did not say back to the base camp, but BACK HOME! In other words, envision yourself far beyond the goal of reaching the top. What does this have to do with the World Cup? We South Africans are close to the top of our Mt. Everest. The 2010 FIFA World Cup is almost done and dusted. We've done the planning, we've prepared well and we've stuck to the game plan. We have also harnessed the experience of those who've done it before. As South Africans, we can taste the victory, the glory of a successful summit. The only way to hold on to the positive energy we are all embodying right now, is to have another shared vision. To use this current success and propel our memory into the future for more of the same. In other words (to avoid the Big WC Babalas which may beset us) we must ENVISION BEYOND the end of the World Cup. We should start a national dialogue, mobilise our collective creativity and create a memory of the future. What kind of SA do we want to live in? How do we want the world to see us? What needs to happen for this idea/vision to be achieved? By when would we like to achieve it? I've heard it suggested that Football Friday should continue and be used in the pursuit of something else. South Africans are creative, viby, energetic and resillient. Let's use these attributes to create our common identity.
As our beloved patriarch Nelson Mandela said: "Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speak to youth in a language that they understand. Sport can create hope, where once, there was only despair. It is more powerful than governments in breaking down racial barriers".
Sport can give us hope. Hope creates vision. Without a vision people perish.
Hi
Hi
After the final whistle By
After the final whistle
By Steuart Pennington of www.sagoodnews.co.za
We have been asked by a range of organisations, think-tanks and academic institutions to comment on what we should do as a country to sustain the momentum of our FIFA 2010 remarkable success "after the final whistle has blown". In this newsletter, CEO of SA - The Good News, Steuart Pennington, shares his thoughts.
Words of Caution
We must retain the perspective that FIFA 2010 is an "event" in which we, as a country, have excelled. But since 1994 we have staged more than 147 international sporting events with similar success, just not on the same scale. We have done this before.
We must recognise that this particular success has resulted in a sense of national unity and pride that is unprecedented. In addition the global community, probably for the first time, has both an experiential and an informed view of our country.
The global media have had to eat their words. If anything they will respond by seeking out opportunities to vindicate their prophecies of doom and gloom. They are unlikely to lavish us with ongoing praise.
That we have learnt a number of invaluable lessons is indisputable, but it would be unwise to think that as a result of our FIFA 2010 success we have discovered new truths about our country which will enable us to deal with many of our underlying structural challenges such as education and health in a new way. If anything, our considerable success has reinforced existing positive truths that the doubters have been nay-saying for the past 14 years. But these doubting Thomases, here and abroad, remain ignorant and cynical of the wider truths of our country. We would go as far as to say that they still don’t understand or comprehend them.
It is upon this challenge which we must build. Ensuring that the truth of our country is understood here and abroad.
Therefore, we must NOT:
Use this success to have a go at politicians; the "Danny Jordaan for President" syndrome;
Use this "event" success to think that we can adopt a similar approach to some of our structural challenges, health, education etc. expecting similar results;
Try to maintain the existing social momentum. "Events" result in euphoria and disappointment – one-off highs and lows. Trends, if positive, produce long term confidence and if, negative deep seated anxieties;
Think that we must move onto the next "big thing". Life will, and needs to, get back to normal;
Shoot from the hip by becoming baffled by our own euphoria and thinking that we are now in a position to change South Africa and the world;
What we must do:
Compile accurate statistics on all the issues that have surrounded this event, such as attendance at games, number of tourism visits, the tourism spend, the tourism accommodation profile, the success of the special courts, the security incidents, the transport issues and the like. There will be much that we can learn for the future;
Measure the impact of this event on our global brand equity. Answering the question "Has South Africa and Africa’s branding improved, and what are the lessons learned?";
Measure the impact of this event on Africa, particularly in respect of relations between South Africa and the rest of Africa;
Understand the legacy expectations and our ability to deliver on them in respect of Africa;
Examine the lessons learned, and build on them
Hold FIFA and the teams that visited to their legacy project undertakings;
We should recognise that:
The conventional wisdoms, the generalisations and the cynicism in this country in respect of our future will not disappear with this success (just listen to the current talk shows – the cynicism is back!). Only 6 months ago a survey revealed that 80% of our youth were planning to leave South Africa because of a lack of confidence in its future; lack of job opportunities, education, BEE, security, xenophobia and Affirmative Action were given as the reasons. These perceptions will not suddenly disappear;
That many of our developmental challenges continue to require long term structural changes which are now not "suddenly" possible because of our success in organising the FIFA World Cup;
That we have been distracted from many of our underlying challenges; unemployment, poverty, health, education, racial issues and crime by this event;
That much of the truth of SA still evades the media, our newly found global fans and the reading public.
Therefore, our recommendations in terms of what we should be doing to maintain the momentum are as follows:
Focus on a campaign of teaching our citizenry and the global community the truth about South Africa with a specific intention of instilling confidence in its future;
Develop a specific campaign around mobilising civil society towards building a safer South Africa;
Focus on youth development and opportunity;
Implement a schools campaign to build an understanding of our truths for both teachers and learners so that they develop an informed perspective of our future
Focus on good citizenship, www.forgood.co.za is an example of this;
Our challenge is to translate the success of this event into long term sustainable initiatives that build the same kind of confidence that we have right now.
Our challenge remains real confidence in the future of South Africa.
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