How to transform Ghana in less than two years!

Ghana has more natural resources than Japan, Singapore, and South Korea combined. We also have some of the most industrious, resourceful and brilliant minds on the planet. Over half a century of independence, is this the best we can do? So, what’s our problem?

With 35 years in the US Automotive Manufacturing Industry, I can tap into my experience and offer an insight.

The Challenges

Prior to retirement, I worked as a production manager in a billion dollar car manufacturing plant burdened with numerous challenges. We continuously missed production, quality, and cost targets. Endlessly chasing after bad money with good money! This article is about how we bounced back.
 
Joe to the rescue

This is also the true and compelling story of Joseph Per, the man headquarters sent to save our plant. He changed my life. Guaranteed this experience can transform a whole nation. All of us can learn a lot from Joe.

As our new Plant Manager, Joe spent his first week doing his version of Jack Welch’s “Management by Wandering Around.” An hour long meeting afterwards went something like this:

“What do you managers consider the most important part of your jobs?” He asked. Without doubt SAFETY!  Our daily briefings start and end with safety.

Joe added, “All week I noticed the complete disregard for company safety rules. I expect you to change that with all the enthusiasm, and motivation you can muster”.  That was the end of the meeting.

The doubts

The eminent turn-around guru talked about safety instead of the real production issues. Joe remained adamant. He spent most of his time motivating and counseling us to take ownership of Safety! We were skeptical to say the least.
 
If you cannot beat them, join them

By the fourth week, we either had to get on the safety bandwagon, or he will find someone else who would.  Joe made that clear. He was the commander-in-chief and it showed. Relentless is an understatement. We couldn’t beat him, so we had to join him. 

Joe hit the floors everyday hunting for safety violations. Resolute as ever!  If he ever found any noncompliance, the responsible manager had to answer with no excuses. We learned quickly never to come up with excuses. Joe takes no prisoners.   

The converts

In a few weeks, all of us had become safety advocates. We ate, breathed, and slept safety. All workers in the plant followed the guidelines and soon it became a part of us. Humans are creatures of habit, and Joe knew that! Hard to change, but our behaviour can be modified.

Didn’t see this coming

When we finally got safety under control Joe called us into yet another meeting. Finally he will focus on our main challenges. So we thought. Not a chance!
 
“The safety enforcement has only just begun. As managers you must sustain it for as long as this plant exists”. That’s it? Joe must be smoking something!
Sensing our frustrations, Joe challenged, asked, and answered us. All in one breath:

“If you cannot implement and sustain a simple and fundamental task like safety, how can you manage the more complex and difficult assignments? You cannot! It takes discipline and you don’t have it. Not yet.”

So profound and it hit us hard. My God, Joe is freaking right! A simple law of nature!

Lesson number 1: If you cannot sustain it, then you have not really and truly mastered the fundamentals.
There is no Lesson number 2.

Someone just turned the lights on!

Holey crap, it finally clicked! This wasn’t just about safety. The whole shebang had everything to do with the discipline needed to excel in the fundamentals and beyond. Why didn’t we see that?
  
“Now go out there, keep the place clean and make safety our mantra.” We did.

The power and the glory

We noticed first hand, the power of unintended consequences. Joe knew all along what the intended consequences would be. The benefits were mind-boggling. Fewer injuries meant less absenteeism and more employees increasing productivity. Quality and machine uptime improved with better lighting, cleanliness and orderliness. Cost was under control. Above all, the best safety records ever! All these were achieved without more capital expenditure. In six months we went from a struggling plant to one of the best. Joe provided a plan and the leadership. The entire team saw the merits. We embraced it and took ownership.

Life’s rich rewards

I retired feeling real blessed to have been a part of this rich experience. To this day, mastery of the fundamentals, the acquired discipline, and proper work ethics are the greatest arsenal in my personal and professional life. It’s my ultimate survival kit since returning home to Ghana!

Life’s lessons

I visited the plant a year ago. I was humbly proud that the work we started still endures. The place runs like a well-oiled machine. Better than I left it. They have grasped the real art of problem solving. It’s all about discipline! Show me an undisciplined army of big strong men, and I can show you a group of well-disciplined high school cadets who can take them on and triumph!

The corporation has invested more to expand the factory. To think that it all started with safety concerns and evolved into an enviable competitive advantage is a remarkable achievement.  

Joe has since moved on to bigger things.
   
Next stop, Ghana!

A New Approach

A workable and sustainable development plan for Ghana must not be based solely on how much money we can throw at every problem we create. The discipline to manage the money well has eluded us since independence. Indiscipline breeds lawlessness, corruption, and the social iniquities that continue to impede our progress. That’s Africa’s toughest challenge! 

A Blue Print for Ghana’s development

Time to find the one thing we can all do for ourselves and our country but have never developed the passion and discipline for. It must be simple, feasible, sustainable, minimal cost, involves everyone, and above all, has the potential to make the most impact in our lives.

The first thing we notice in any developed country is how clean and organized it is. In my humble opinion, the blue-print is right in front of us. It starts with a plan to thoroughly clean the filthiness, and our polluted environment. If sustained, this alone can transform our dear nation in two years or less.

Intended and unintended consequences

With a well-executed cleanup plan, Ghana can wipe out malaria and other diseases: less health care costs. Clean gutters: less floods, more recycling jobs, and non-polluted water ways. It will create a whole set of new industries. Above all, a very well disciplined, motivated, proud, neat and organized Ghana. Then whatever challenge life throws at us, we are prepared to take it on.

A rejoinder

To paraphrase Joe, “If as a people we cannot accomplish a simple and fundamentally worthy task like cleaning our own country, then we have no business trying to manage the more complex ones like our economy, corruption, lawlessness, electricity, water, fiscal responsibility etc.”

We would have proven Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew right about us: That we lack the discipline to manage our affairs. That was in January 1964! 

After reading this article, I hope it will stimulate us to realize who we are, what we have become, and what we are capable of. We are better than this!


Written by Chris Aviah-Gyebi, Tema
Email:  caviah@yahoo.com
(1972 Senior Prefect, Tamale Secondary School and
currently a member of The Old Tamascan Students Association).