Flexible Thinking Forum

I was a speaker at the International Public Relations Conference in Nairobi, Kenya last month. I shared insights, experiences in public relations, brand communications and creativity.

I also learned a great deal, from the people and the place.

The delegates were a committed group of executives who, in their daily lives, must overcome obstacles which we take for granted. I gave them learning, and they gave me back wisdom.

While walking around downturn Nairobi, I stumbled across the city’s public library. Its dilapidated Victorian structure was alive with an army of dedicated philomaths – a real cross-section of people coming together with a passion for learning.

The run-down condition, age of many of the books, and cramped conditions for the large numbers there were seemingly no deterrent to the assiduous hunger for knowledge from the assembled readers.

I also enjoyed the sheer buzz of waiting around at the Matatu station. For those unfamiliar with Matatus, the best way to explain is to imagine a dilapidated old people carrier, filled with as many people as possible – a bit like a Rag Committee university stunt – which provide a vibrant, low cost, and sometime lethal means of public transport.

Granted the safety issues must be a concern, but they also demonstrated a bottom up solution to the problems of mass transit; rather than wait for a Passenger Transport Executive to devise a top down solution for you, operators simply start up their own service to meet any available need.

The challenges we will face in the coming years as we climb out of recession will require more bottom up solutions, as the money is simply not there for top down solutions.