Reflection – The story of African rivers

Manuel Vazquez – Director Innovation and Transformation at Wollega

Challenge

With 2500 staff in Africa, Wollega is one of the largest engineering consultants on the continent and the

largest consultant in South Africa.  The company has completed its two year business plan which is

focussed on building a future ready Wollega. This future ready strategy is built on three platforms of

innovation, digital engineering and eminence. The innovation platform is defined in the Wollega

Business plan as follows: “Our innovation aspiration for our organisation is that our clients must see

benefits from that focus on innovation. Innovation will be focussed on clients and we need to

demonstrate the value of our ideas to both our clients and to the business. At the heart of our innovation

of the client experience will be the concept of design led thinking. Our innovation program is in place to

differentiate our offerings. We will encourage and nurture innovation and technical excellence from our

people.”

As Director Innovation and Transformation for Africa I am responsible for the implementation of the

innovation strategy and design thinking on the continent. The process of implementing an innovation

culture and systems thinking into an engineering consulting business is not easy in that engineers are

very analytical thinkers.

Selection

I have chosen storytelling as one of the tools to introduce design methodologies into the business.  We

all have our own stories and through using this approach we can hopefully get employees to understand

the power of using this tool.  By using storytelling we can get our engineers to have more empathy for

the end users of our projects.  Storytelling allows us to connect real people to our solutions.  If we can

get our engineers to reflect on the emotions and feelings of the end users it will allow us to approach

problems from a very different perspective.  Through storytelling we understand that there are much

larger group of stakeholders who we sometimes overlook or make assumptions about that are through

our world view. This requires us to spend more time asking questions relating to why.  As engineers we

tend to jump very quickly to the solution mode or what works?  Storytelling gives you a different

perspective that allows you to spend more time with what is?

Application

In applying the story telling tool we chose a project in Nairobi related to providing a solution for cleaning

up the urban rivers.  Instead of using a technical environmental approach we adopted a storytelling

methodology.  We looked at the relevance of rivers in African culture and the role it played in shaping

African culture.  We discovered a term: “By the rivers” which has its roots in African culture.  If you had

a special announcement to make you would go ‘down to the river’ to make the announcement.  The

term therefore has special significance in African culture and speaks to the history and legacy of the

area.  By adopting this approach we could tell a very rich African story of the impact that rivers play in

shaping culture and history.  We then speak about how local people can reclaim the rivers.  By

reclaiming the rivers they can reclaim their history and legacy as Africans.  After this story has been

told we introduce the environmental aspects and what innovation we can use for people to reclaim the

rivers.

Insights

Through using this approach we discovered that rivers play a significant role in shaping African history

and culture.  It is a special place linked to significant stories in the history of the continent.  Through

telling this story you can reignite pride and passion in people and their history.  By elevating this part of

their history and recognising the significance of rivers people start to have a renewed pride in being

African and they feel that their story has relevance.  A broad range of stakeholders were identified

through the storytelling process with most people being able to relate similar stories from their

forefathers.  The challenges that people experienced through the stories were very similar.  The idea

of cleaning up the rivers took on a new significance because it was much more than a “foreign”

environmental issue.  It became an opportunity to reclaim the history and legacy of whole communities.

It also became an opportunity to meet old and lost friends.  A rally point around celebrating what it

means to be African.  The environmental programmes and technology artefacts that were introduced

became tools to reclaim their history.  This is a significant different approach to the traditional way of

innovation and technology being brought into Africa.  The traditional way which says this is some great

technology that that will solve your problems.  “It works in the Western world and will therefore work in

Africa.”  We see numerous cases across Africa where inappropriate technology is implemented or when

solutions are provided that are not through the lenses of Africans. Storytelling allows us to place the

end user at the centre of what we are doing.  It allows us to have empathy and understanding of people’s

challenges, hopes and aspirations.

Approach

The storytelling approach worked very well with getting the local citizens on board and supporting a

river cleaning project in the locality.  The challenge is now to scale this up and include private sector

early on in the process for them to become an invested stakeholder.  This can be done by identifying

corporates that are located close to the river and getting them to “adopt” certain sections of the river in

the vicinity.  In order to do this corporates need to feel that they are also part of shaping the story and

in this way take joint ownership of a natural resource that can ultimately add value to the city and their

employees.


Reflection – The story of African rivers Manuel Vazquez – Director Innovation and Transformation at Wollega Challenge With 2500 staff in Africa , Wollega is one of the largest engineering consultants on the continent and the largest consultant in South Africa . The company has completed its two year business plan which is focussed on building a future ready Wollega . This future ready strategy is built on three platforms of innovation , digital engineering and eminence . The innovation platform is defined in the Wollega Business plan as follows : “ Our innovation aspiration for our organisation is that our clients must see benefits from that focus on innovation . Innovation will be focussed on clients and we need to demonstrate the value of our ideas to both our clients and to the business . At the heart of our innovation of the client experience will be the concept of design led thinking . Our innovation program is in place to differentiate our offerings . We will encourage and nurture innovation and technical excellence from our people . ” As Director Innovation and Transformation for Africa I am responsible for the implementation of the innovation strategy and design thinking on the continent . The process of implementing an innovation culture and systems thinking into an engineering consulting business is not easy in that engineers are very analytical thinkers . Selection I have chosen storytelling as one of the tools to introduce design methodologies into the business . We all have our own stories and through using this approach we can hopefully get employees to understand the power of using this tool . By using storytelling we can get our engineers to have more empathy for the end users of our projects . Storytelling allows us to connect real people to our solutions . If we can get our engineers to reflect on the emotions and feelings of the end users it will allow us to approach problems from a very different perspective . Through storytelling we understand that there are much larger group of stakeholders who we sometimes overlook or make assumptions about that are through our world view . This requires us to spend more time asking questions relating to why . As engineers we tend to jump very quickly to the solution mode or what works ? Storytelling gives you a different perspective that allows you to spend more time with what is ? Application In applying the story telling tool we chose a project in Nairobi related to providing a solution for cleaning up the urban rivers . Instead of using a technical environmental approach we adopted a storytelling methodology . We looked at the relevance of rivers in African culture and the role it played in shaping African culture . We discovered a term : “ By the rivers ” which has its roots in African culture . If you had a special announcement to make you would go ‘ down to the river ’ to make the announcement . The term therefore has special significance in African culture and speaks to the history and legacy of the area . By adopting this approach we could tell a very rich African story of the impact that rivers play in shaping culture and history . We then speak about how local people can reclaim the rivers . By reclaiming the rivers they can reclaim their history and legacy as Africans . After this story has been told we introduce the environmental aspects and what innovation we can use for people to reclaim the rivers . Insights Through using this approach we discovered that rivers play a significant role in shaping African history and culture . It is a special place linked to significant stories in the history of the continent . Through telling this story you can reignite pride and passion in people and their history . By elevating this part of their history and recognising the significance of rivers people start to have a renewed pride in being African and they feel that their story has relevance . A broad range of stakeholders were identified through the storytelling process with most people being able to relate similar stories from their forefathers . The challenges that people experienced through the stories were very similar . The idea of cleaning up the rivers took on a new significance because it was much more than a “ foreign ” environmental issue . It became an opportunity to reclaim the history and legacy of whole communities . It also became an opportunity to meet old and lost friends . A rally point around celebrating what it means to be African . The environmental programmes and technology artefacts that were introduced became tools to reclaim their history . This is a significant different approach to the traditional way of innovation and technology being brought into Africa . The traditional way which says this is some great technology that that will solve your problems . “ It works in the Western world and will therefore work in Africa . ” We see numerous cases across Africa where inappropriate technology is implemented or when solutions are provided that are not through the lenses of Africans . Storytelling allows us to place the end user at the centre of what we are doing . It allows us to have empathy and understanding of people ’s challenges , hopes and aspirations . Approach The storytelling approach worked very well with getting the local citizens on board and supporting a river cleaning project in the locality . The challenge is now to scale this up and include private sector early on in the process for them to become an invested stakeholder . This can be done by identifying corporates that are located close to the river and getting them to “ adopt ” certain sections of the river in the vicinity . In order to do this corporates need to feel that they are also part of shaping the story and in this way take joint ownership of a natural resource that can ultimately add value to the city and their employees .