South African problems looking for solutions
Entrepreneurs are people who hunt for problems to solve.
South Africa is fertile hunting ground for problems.
We have A LOT of them. LOTS!
What is seriously lacking are capable entrepreneurs and innovators who have the talent. motivation and influence to solve these problems.
When problems are worked on by people with the means to solve them, value is created and waves of progress ripple.
Economists will classify this progress as growth, sociologists will see it as development.
No matter how you want to skin it, the result is a higher standard of living and the unlocking of potential.
By all accounts - there should be a massive fight over who gets to solve which problems, but for some reason - there is a palpable reluctance to address the needs that clearly exist.
Why?
This could be because (a) the forces that are maintaining the status quo are too powerful to be challenged, or (b) the country lacks individuals and groups with the innovative drive / skillsets to successfully tackle the issues.
Real innovators are people who relish a challenge and buy into the concept of status quo disruption through an iterative approach - so logically "point (a)" is then mute and should be discounted.
Big lumbering complex systems that lack agility are an easy target for nimble innovators.
So the only logical explanation for the persistence of complex problems in South African society has to be a lack of competent innovators.
Just as a gentle reminder for those who are wondering - these are just some of the complex problems (they're more like problematic themes to be fair) that need to be solved:
- Youth unemployment
- Sluggish economic growth
- Water crisis
- Agricultural inefficiencies
- Highly-concentrated economy
- Lack of market sophistication
- Minimal export-led growth
Does South Africa also then have an innovation-mindset supply problem?
Who is training the next generation of innovators?
Where are these mindsets being developed?
Where are the incubators that are creating the conditions under which experiments can be conducted?
Is there a pipeline of innovation that exists that we are not aware of?
Entrepreneurs are not people that look for a problem for the solution they're currently peddling for a quick buck here and there - those people are called con artists. And there are a lot of them.
Entrepreneurs are people who strive to solve big, nasty, wicked problems.
Entrepreneurs create new value by successfully identifying problems and finding creative solutions to them.
Entrepreneurs are optimistic about the future and believe in their ability to create better futures.
At this time - where are they?