Like many people all over the world I have had the often unpleasant experience of applying for or renewing a passport with my local issuing authority. Both in South Africa (where I live) and in Zimbabwe (where I am from) I have experienced extremely poor service and long queues. In some cases having to leave at the end of the day without actually submitting the application because the queue was too long. Imagine my surprise after my latest experience renewing my son’s passport when the Zimbabwean consulate set up a temporary satellite office in Durban. We arrived at the required location and were professionally greeted, ticked off a booking list and walked through a very efficient and professional service.
I remember walking out just over an hour later thinking how strange it was that the entire process was so pain free and queue free compared to what I had experienced in the past. What had changed? In short the actual documentation required and how it was processed was exactly the same as it had been for many years. Having been though this process many times I even recognised many of the staff, meaning that most of the people working there were the same. So what exactly was new?
In short it seemed like the massive change was due to the existence of 7 strategically placed bits of paper detailing stations 1 to 7. Every applicant started at station 1 and followed the process through to station 7 which was the submission. The role of each station was clearly demarcated with the officials guiding the applicants in terms of what was required. A process that usually took the whole day with identical documentary requirements had been reduced to an hour by simply notifying people what was required and what they had to do next!
This got me thinking of how we often confuse the need for a tool with the goal we are trying to achieve. The passport application documentary process is a manual process. We still complete forms and stick photographs onto these forms with glue. Officials mark each correct form with a red pen. In the past it got me thinking how technology and computerisation could have made such a huge difference in the whole process. However, the team in Durban were able to change the outcome of the process without a single computer being deployed!
In many personal and business situations we rush to ask for new tools to do the job. We need better software, better machines, better equipment, more people or do we really? A lot of the time we may be confusing the outcome we want with the tool that is required. If the goal is to have a hole in the wall we don’t always need to buy a drill. We can hire one, use a hammer and a nail and we can pay for someone to drill one for us. What is more important is the hole rather than the drill.
The latest software disruptors are the ones that seem to grasp this concept the best. We actually don’t need a taxi. What we need is an affordable means to get from A to B in a safe and efficient way. That’s why UBER exists. I actually don’t need to go to the store. What I need is bread and milk. That’s why delivery services exist. I actually don’t need to go to the movies. What I need is to watch a movie. That’s why streaming services exist.
How often we conflate the goal with the tool required. My favourite example of his thinking is that of school principal Mukosi Leonard Mudhavi who was featured in an article of the Financial Mail. This article is behind a paywall…sorry! Mr Mudhavi is school principal of Forte Secondary School in Soweto South Africa. The school is situated in one of South Africa’s poorest areas but has been able to achieve a pass rate of 97.8% in 2020 and is aiming for 100%. Mr Mudhavi is clear on the goal that he wants but has not been limited by having a single tool in his arsenal. He has partnered with local NGO’s, has hired younger staff who relate better to learners with new teaching methods and has used incentives to get learners that need it into extra lessons. It would have been easy for him to request more teachers for his school (which are desperately needed) or better classroom infrastructure (which is also needed) but those tools were never the goal. The goal is a 100% pass rate.
In summary we all want better tools and technology to achieve our goals. Sometimes, however, getting the tool becomes the goal and we lose sight of what we were planning to achieve with that tool in the first place. Or the humble realisation that our commitment to that particular tool has blocked us from seeing that there were other ways of achieving the same outcome. PS/ If anyone with influence into South Africa’s state electricity provider Eskom is reading this…there are many ways you can provide electricity for South Africa. They don’t have to always involve coal powered stations! You are welcome.
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