One on One
You’ll find that there is no college or university at the moment that offers a degree in research despite it being a very crucial subject. There are quite a lot of institutions in the western world with specialized programs on different types of research. Having been in this business for nearly ten years, I’ve realized that one of the things that impede the continent generally, save for South Africa, is the low understanding and low appreciation of what research is. The best way forward is to sensitize people on research and help them adopt it. We have established the Steadman Centre for Applied Research Training where we train people, most of whom are working executives on application of research. Not the theoretical aspects that you would find at learning institutions. Our agenda is to mainstream research and make it known to the market. In this respect we have introduced the Research Club of Kenya in high schools and so far the results are encouraging.
The desire to keep things changing, highly motivates me because I hate routine, I hate doing things that are mechanical. That is why I like research because everyday you are researching on different things, you are tracking things that are dynamic. If you don’t hunger for change the world would remain the same. This would not be beneficial to anybody whether socially and commercially. Of course when I talk about change I am referring to positive change.
I could say the youth feel that they are too young and there’s still time to do all the other things later. The young people should project and present themselves in a way that inspires confidence from the older generation. Once they package themselves as people who can be trusted, responsible, and visionaries; it’ll be easier for them to go up the corporate ladder. Particularly because they possess the energies and have less commitment compared to the older people. I think the challenges are not a lot because the world embraces youthful management and companies now are looking at younger people to be at the top because that way they are guaranteed of a longer future in terms of performance.
What I do is enable a dynamic environment since people tend to get bored in doing the same thing all the time. A dynamic environment whereby we’ve got new products coming and services, changing the general ambiance of things. The other thing is that they have a lot of freedom in terms of how they work. Freedom here means that I have not encouraged a hierarchical type of management, it is more horizontal. This makes them to be their own managers since they plan and execute their work more proficiently. I don’t believe in money being a motivator because it’s never enough.
Media monitoring is our heritage, it is how Steadman as a company grew. We set up the company to monitor the media as an independent watchdog. It involves watching that an advertiser is not being shortchanged and that his AD is not only being aired, but is also being aired at the right time and in a way that isn’t distorted. It also makes sure the messages are clear and coherent. Advertisers subscribe to that service, so we charge them a fee for monitoring to make sure that the money used in advertising doesn’t go down the drain. We also basically analyze all editorial content and classify them by different areas for use by politicians, scholars or any other party.
The Steadman Group is readily linked to opinion polling especially on the political front. How can a layman review the merit of an opinion poll?
It is quite a tough one because for one it takes a leap of faith for one to believe that a sample of two thousand or three thousand can represent a population of nearly fifteen million people. For validation first of all one needs to understand the dynamics that are used in sampling. He ought to pay attention to how the sample used in research is distributed with regards to the country’s population. Beyond that then one has to come over and be taken through how the entire process of how the interviewers were trained, how they interviewed, how the questions were framed. Because a question like “Who would you vote for?” would give you a different answer from “Would you vote for Kibaki?” the way an interview question is structured is also very important.
I don’t look up to just one individual as my role model for everything. You find that whoever it is that I aspire to be like would have gotten there through an environment completely different from mine. There is also a difference on where they have reached in life and most importantly the path to it. I have a cocktail of role models since I have to be very dynamic, I have to maintain that flexibility. The same way I do a lot of research to make an informed decision is the same way I wouldn’t stick to one individual as a role model.
The corporate environment sought of dictates that you have to behave in a certain manner. Lots of people here might think I’m a very serious, rigid, strict though dynamic kind of person; I am two totally different people here and at home. I as much as possible make my domestic environment very smooth and easy. With no rules at all, if I have to place my socks on the table, so be it. My wife and I would fight over the fact that I am too easy with the boys; I am not a disciplinarian at all.
My life is not based on a routine kind of program. As I had told you earlier I get bored with anything very fast, rarely would you find me doing one thing for a long time. But then again I do not have that much time for leisure, but when I do I would do a couple of things like going out for a round of golf.
The first and very ultimate advice which tends to sound boring is about Vision. Never get into anything if you don’t have a clear vision about what the business is all about, whether the business is new or is an existing one. I can tell you that I have seen some brilliant CEOs failing because they lack a clear vision. They move from one company where they have been very successful to another and do not consume the vision of the new company. For that reason they do not execute their duties or perform as well. Vision is important because it dictates everything from the things you do, how you talk, the people you relate with, how you craft your strategy, how you brand your company... nearly everything. Personally I take a lot of risks because my vision is very clear. Before you write that business plan or that strategy, your vision has to be clear. When you start doing something then come up with your vision later, it wont work and if it does then it is purely out of luck.
Another piece of advice is that you should not take other people in similar businesses as yours as your competitors. The competitor at all times should be your client problems. Because if you cannot address a client’s problem or be able to anticipate how the problem is likely to occur tomorrow, then you do not have solutions for them and someone else would.
2 comments:
Hi am impressed by that interview part of it coz Waititu was my leader and I was his assistant in scouting in high school Giakanja
mureria
yah giakanja.. he is a real inspiration... and he is not consumed by his status
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