Are we able to use entrepreneurial approaches in non-profit organizations or the government sector?
Some citizens feel that the way that our government is currently functioning is a legacy of the past, created by vastly different times. However, due to changing economic times all across the globe Namibians have to find new ways of serving our communities effectively. This is a major challenge for Namibia right now, and a call to action to look at how we lead those around us and also those who lead us.
How do you as an individual make your colleagues at work more effective, and use Namibia’s Vision 2030 to steer our governmental sector to greater heights. Innovation is derived from a noun (in’e va’shen), meaning change that creates a new dimension of performance. Reinventing the Namibian government is a huge task, which could be very difficult for one person to achieve.
Those in senior and powerful positions in the public service sector might be able to help us with this challenge. At least twice in its brief history India tried to reinvent itself. First, soon after gaining independence, and later in the 1990’s.
Reinventing ourselves as a nation is critical, because there are fundamental forces that could impact our policy decisions in complex ways and create difficult circumstances.
As a civil servant in the Namibian government you may read, reflect and be able to conceptualize large changes in the economy, often caused by crises. More than ever there is a dire need in Namibia to focus on small ways in which each individual civil servant or public official must look for strategies or techniques to reinvent himself or herself in the current role in any given position. If you really think “Vision 2030” there are many forces, which could impinge on your role as well as place tremendous pressures on your time.
Reinvention at any level (individual, group or in the organization) requires taking ownership, which means that we all have to start operating with an entrepreneurial mindset. In the context of reinventing our government how will this work, since the individual person spearheading the reinvention process is not an entrepreneur.
The person leading the government reinvention process is a ‘government ‘intrapreneur’. You have chosen to take psychological ownership in your work situation, and that in itself manifest entrepreneurial traits.
Excellence, innovation and reinvention will not take place at any level without this basic transformation perspective in large organizations. This usually spreads from ‘employee to psychological owner’. The path of reinvention, intrapreneuring and taking entrepreneurial ownership roles, are similar. But these are not paths that are chosen by the vast majority of Namibians in any profession, since this path entails and involves a lot more of the person than necessarily more of an “employee mindset”.
Although is it seen as a very challenging and daunting tasks it is important that we as a nation address these issues. For example, how can a media house owned by the government use entrepreneurial approaches to reinvent itself? Sit with the editorial staff till the paper goes to press. Each staff member whether they on that particular project or not must learn something new and constantly come up with new ideas of how things could be improved.
More importantly the priorities have to be communicated to everyone and what look at those things the media house can get rid of. Using an inexperienced group of staff members can also trigger interesting and innovative ideas in non-profit leadership.
In non-profit leadership the level can range from very high to low, but if an example of standards is set, by doing and not by just writing memorandums I think governmental organizations can succeed. I strongly believe that it is important for organizations whether government or private – to be run like corporate entities.
The distinction lies only in performance outputs. Not everything is bad about the government culture of doing business and we need to embrace the positives and work on them.
By Dr. Wilfred Isak April
Dr. Wilfred Isak April is a University of Namibia (Unam) graduate and holds a PhD in Entrepreneurship (New Zealand). He lectures in Leadership, Organizational Behaviour and Entrepreneurship at Unam.