Through my journey as a tech innovator in the country, I have witnessed a couple of young innovators winning prize money and countless others losing.
Whereas in Silicon Valley innovators might be aiming to take their companies public, in Uganda we are aiming at winning prize money.
The psychology concept of a carrot and a stick should not be foreign to us. The world over, people have been motivated with carrot-prizes. But I would like us to think about the opportunity cost.
The success stories in technology world-over have been an outcome of focus. Individuals have focused their resources on a specific vision.
The different competitions with prizes have planted a betting spirit in the young innovators. The mindset of a bettor, is the opposite of focus. The bettor believes that one day they will be lucky. They are constantly in the pursuit of luck.
In the background, the competitions could be a result of meetings between people intent on sparking technological innovation in the country. Whereas the short term results can easily be seen, the long term results need foresight.
If we really want to spark technological innovation in the country, let us change the reward. Instead of rewarding the innovator that creates a solution just for the possibility of the win, let us reward the one that has been most focused.
Let our young innovators carry 50 year visions instead of 3 month visions. Let them see their ability to transform the nation with their minds, instead of just seeing their ability to win prize money with their minds.
"Akakyama amamela wokagolora, omenya kamenye"
Yours Truly
Felix Kitaka
(Tech Kojja)
Whereas in Silicon Valley innovators might be aiming to take their companies public, in Uganda we are aiming at winning prize money.
The psychology concept of a carrot and a stick should not be foreign to us. The world over, people have been motivated with carrot-prizes. But I would like us to think about the opportunity cost.
The success stories in technology world-over have been an outcome of focus. Individuals have focused their resources on a specific vision.
The different competitions with prizes have planted a betting spirit in the young innovators. The mindset of a bettor, is the opposite of focus. The bettor believes that one day they will be lucky. They are constantly in the pursuit of luck.
In the background, the competitions could be a result of meetings between people intent on sparking technological innovation in the country. Whereas the short term results can easily be seen, the long term results need foresight.
If we really want to spark technological innovation in the country, let us change the reward. Instead of rewarding the innovator that creates a solution just for the possibility of the win, let us reward the one that has been most focused.
Let our young innovators carry 50 year visions instead of 3 month visions. Let them see their ability to transform the nation with their minds, instead of just seeing their ability to win prize money with their minds.
"Akakyama amamela wokagolora, omenya kamenye"
Yours Truly
Felix Kitaka
(Tech Kojja)
spot on!
ReplyDeleteYou have a valid point, however I think you don't have full understanding of how this works. You need to talk to some "winners of prize money" and know their story, then you'll know that they actually have long term plans.
ReplyDeleteI have talked to several, and I can assure you, its more often not about the money. In most cases the money is even very little and not expected to have very big impact on their business. Although for some startups the impact is actually big.
For example one startup won $2,500 at a competition and they were able to buy their first laptops and internet connections, which meant they could work faster. They released the first version of their app in less than 2 months. On to the next level!
For many of the people you see entering competitions, its part of their "50 year vision" that you refer to, a stepping stone to the next level.