“To bring about real change we must disturb the balance, our status quo.” Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow
Status quo is a Latin word which implies the current or existing state of affairs. To change the status quo means to stop doing things as being done presently or alter the existing state of affairs. Change per se is a situation that people are normally scared of because naturally we feel uneasy in dealing with uncertainties.
Logically we will all prefer to pursue the same path we are used to, be it individually, corporately or nationally because we feel confident and comfortable about the circumstances.
What sets great innovators or entrepreneurs apart from the rest of us is their ability to question the status quo. A research conducted on the World’s most successful entrepreneurs revealed that this class of persons is obsessed with questioning the status quo and suggesting radical changes, even when an existing product is generating healthy profits. They are often tinkerers and fearless about experimentation from a young age, and hold fast to their curiosity about new ideas in their professional life, whether at a cocktail party or a board meeting.
In my part of the world, talking of Sierra Leone, it is culturally unacceptable to question the existing state of affairs especially in our communities. There are custodians of our long lasting culture ever ready to resist any move to make changes to situations one felt there is the need to, even at the peril of their lives. The usual respond is “this is how our forefathers did it and we must continue in that regard. The tradition must go on”.
Pastor Ajisafe usually says a successful man is the man that dreams and imagines, because he always look into the future and always wants to make changes in life. A man who reminiscences ended up as a failure, because there is no plan for the present to impact on the future. This has been a big problem for our country Sierra Leone. Whenever there is a new government in place, they come to judge the past. This is one reason why we are so backward. Take for example, a company wants to relocate the King George’s home and put up a better complex because they intend to utilize the present location for business and everybody and newspapers started crying foul that the status quo should not change. What happened last weekend by nature will now force them to relocate as part of the building was brought down by a falling tree.
As a Christian, the Charismatic way of worship that makes us more prayerful and spends less time in Church has been criticize, some people will say they will not attend a Church they are older than or the Church their parents left them is where they will attend till death, but we are seeing today the die -hearted Creoles are now flocking into these churches seeking salvation because they have accepted the changes that are show to come.
When we criticized the Bondo society of being inhuman and barbaric, they tell us it is tradition that should not be tampered with as it has started before we were born. In the past where they sending babies and children to the bush? No! Today we see babies being carried on their mothers back after undergoing circumcision and the number of deaths recorded is now unprecedented. These are all the nonsense that is affecting the growth of Sierra Leone. We need to change according to times, we need to dream and imagine a better Sierra Leone, but our leaders on assuming power instantly go back to the old ways with tribalism, regionalism, cult practices and the rest. It is now a norm that every president of the country should be part of the Paddle masquerade or else he won’t win elections. What nonsense.
A typical traditional challenge that readily comes to mind is giving girls as young as nine years given to men that are fit to be there grandfather for marriage. Visit the Provinces and see how this our nasty and hopeless culture have destroyed young girls that were destined for greatness.
It is this traditional approach that denies us of the opportunities to redefine our values for our own growth and development. No wonder we are told to shut up even when grownups behave like recalcitrant children. Who are we to question them?
This is where I hold the same view with my Editor when it comes to our culture and democracy. We as a nation want to hypocritically behave as if democracy is our culture whereby the youths cannot question the status quo yet at the end of the day the youth will be expected to vote for better leadership as well as taking over the mantle. Is it then democratically wrong for us to question such leaders who do not perform to our expectations?
Unfortunately anybody fond of questioning the status quo is always regarded as disrespectful or too known person by conservatives.
Last Friday my editor sent me to the inauguration of Rotary new president; I went there and did meet with the man who was a Mr. Carr who they both spoke on my invite. To my greatest shock, I was pushed aside by him by telling me to wait. I waited for almost one hour and he never got back to me, so I decided to leave the Bank Complex and drive home. It is good to respect ourselves as well as our profession. Would I have gone there when I didn’t know what was going on, I don’t think so. These behaviors of some of us need to be questioned and we all have to change the status quo.
Moving away from culture and looking at the corporate world, it is difficult for employees to effect positive changes they believe could change the fortunes of the company, more especially when top management has a long term defined system of working. Employees asking tough questions or proposing a new way of doing things may not be received well at a company. Most managers cannot stand the energy of a new employee trying to engineer a whole innovative process into the working environment. They are used to a system hence changing the status quo is like denying them their usual grounds of authority.
At the national level, unless a government is made up of people who are ready to question the status quo there will never be any significant change for the electorates to appreciate. Unfortunately under such a situation it is only the leadership who recognize the change hence they end up spending enough resources to talk about it. Do people need to be told that it is raining when indeed they can see and feel the rain? That only happens when it is not raining in their vicinity because even the blind and the deaf and dumb feel and see it when it rains.
We cannot stick to the same old way of doing things and expect to have a different result. We will remain where we are until we begin to question the status quo. It is only through that that we can identify the improved, enhanced and better solution to our challenges at the individual, corporate and national level. This mentality can be a bit daunting to newcomers, especially if they come from an environment with entrenched and rigid processes; but, once they realize they have the freedom to explore new options and have the opportunity to be an instrument of change, they quickly adjust.
Our president is now a good talker, going around talking about attitudinal change, was at the Stadium past Sunday delivering a religious speech, but how can we have a president who call the name of Jesus and still allows ‘ariogbo’ the devil incarnate to perform at his lodge. You either worship God or the devil, because both can’t go together. The president on two occasions in China gave false hope to Sierra Leonean students when he fully aware that his Education Minister is supreme. We will always question the status quo, as we want to see a better Sierra Leone where lies and deceit will not be the order of the day
For us to see Sierra Leone with a better future in about 20 to 30 years from now there is the need to build a capacity that is non-existence today and this is possible only if we begin to appreciate views and concerns that question the status quo. In the corporate world, it is the company that thrives on questioning the status quo that will remain relevant and survive the competition. Globalization is fast outpacing local companies because most of the time these companies want to hold on to their old ways of doing business and not willing to go the extra mile by questioning the status quo and thereby depart from the norm. The time to begin questioning the status quo is nigh and remember; only a man that dreams and imagines will succeed in this planet earth.
By Austin Thomas