Hakuna Matata!
I have never quite been sure why we like taking stock and predicting the future at the end of something as arbitrary as a 12 month period. However, I do not want to be the one to question what the wise before me have set as what seems to be an evaluation time period for not only the economy but also life in itself.
One cannot help but sense the nervousness around the world as the year 2019 begins. We have wars, trade conflicts and political turmoil throughout the world. It wasn’t too long ago when such problems were generally isolated to the East but the start of this new year is different in that there seems to be just as much nervousness about the developed world than the lesser developed one. As someone who has worked in the Middle East, I cannot help but seek solace from this situation. This is because over 26 years of my professional life as a Middle Eastern executive, starting the year with nervousness has largely been the norm for me. There have always been perfectly valid reasons for this in the Middle East. However, 2019 is different. The nervousness that we have historically felt in the Middle East is now pervasive — my peers in the United States, the UK, Europe, India and China are feeling just as nervous as we always have.
It would be easy for me to say “Hakuna Matata” and end this blog right here. After all, the world of tomorrow has always been a brighter place than the world of today despite what some executives may lead you to believe about the current state of affairs. However, I do not think I would be doing my readers justice if I were to bring this post to such an abrupt conclusion. In fact, if that were to be the case, the pessimists would have scored a victory and I would have to come to terms with the possibility of passing a world on to our future generations which will be worse off than the one we have today.
This fundamental discomfort of mine with pessimism about the future is not based on a whim or the feel-good factor of being the eternal optimist. It is based on hard evidence. China alone lifted over 10 million people out of poverty in 2018 and targets to lift a further 20 million out of poverty by the year 2020. The rest of the world was also making progress: other countries around the world contributed to the lifting of 24 million people out of poverty in 2018 and are expected to beat that in 2019. And then there is the continuous development of the cities of the future. For me personally, nothing is more inspiring than the great city of Dubai that attracted 90 million passengers to it airports for the first time ever in 2018. The once-distant dream of 100 million passengers now seems a real possibility for 2019!
Anecdotally also I do not have to look far to see why I believe in a better future. When I walk into class to teach primary school children the fundamentals of entrepreneurship through Arcadia’s Junior MBA programme, I see the future of the world in its purest form — young minds wanting to change the world in ways that would brighten up even the most negative soul out there. When I look at my 2 sons, I not only see two boys who are far more curious, confident and compassionate than I ever was at their age but also two young adults who will impact the world positively through their optimism more than anything else.
I can truly see the advantages of being negative: it potentially conserves wealth, it makes one sound reasonably intelligent and it allows one the satisfaction of saying “I told you so” when things actually do go wrong. However, negativity is also hugely contagious. It spreads within organizations at rates that are far quicker than any viral infection that may be out there and can, if not controlled, permanently damage the very DNA of organizations. So if you have been kind enough to read this blog post of mine, please do try and remain positive about 2019 and if you are unable to do that then “Hakuna Matata”.
Happy New Year!
