Prophets get paid more than historians. In Zimbabwe, as in many places, offices and streets and filled with Historians. Experts in the past. Political, social, economic and entrepreneurial historians – experts at why we are where we are today and whose fault it is.
In Zimbabwe, they’ll tell you about colonialism, the ‘illegal’ or ‘targeted’ sanctions, land reform, 2008 inflation on and on. They blame the President, they blame the Prime Minister etc but always victims of their past.
Entrepreneurs with this mindset will tell of how they were born poor, how 20 years ago their daddy didn’t love them, how 3 years ago the bank wasn’t lending- — always the past, often eloquent, but very rarely helpful.
Oh and if you ask a historian why they focus so much on the past they’ll say it’s because it’s our past that defines us and that there’s no going forward without understanding the past.
Nonsense.
The Future however, which is where we’re all going, belongs to Prophets, not historians. Prophets make bold predictions of what’s to come, they invest heavily for things that historians and commoners will be surprised by. The result is that they’re always ahead of everyone else.
Strive Masiyiwa wasn’t the only one to see the opportunities that existed in telecoms in Zimbabwe, he was just the first. He was prophetic. By the time his competitors (rivals) saw what he saw, he was way ahead in implementation, strategy and mindset.
Bill Gates is the same, he gets paid today because 30 years ago he invested heavily to take advantage of opportunities that were not yet obvious to his competition. By his own admission, one of his biggest mistakes was not seeing the significance of online search early enough. Google did, and today they’re are number one, far ahead of Microsoft’s Bing search engine.
It’s easy to look at a company like Econet Wireless now and come up with intelligent sounding theories about why they are such a success, because it all history now. Looking into the past is easy. The future is risky business though. You could be wrong and if you are they’ll be consequences.
When is the best time to invest in Zimbabwe, start your own business, explore new technologies, make a strategic shift? Where will the biggest and best opportunities in Zimbabwe be 3 years, 5 years or 10 years from now? What should you be doing now to get ready for the future?
Time will answer all questions sooner or later. But in the same way time isn’t waiting for you, you probably shouldn’t be waiting for time either. If you make a bold prediction and take massive action on it, it’ll change the course of your life. If your prophesy proves false, we’ll probably never hear of you, but if you’re right…you’ll be the prophet with the profit.
Not a bad place to be!
Mind you, they’re also prophets of doom, but sheesh, that’s another story.
Prophets Get Paid More: Why Strive Masiyiwa Earns More Money Than You
Wel thought out Max. The only problem that I however have with this article is it articulates brilliantly the importance of predictive leadership and points out a few examples where ths has worked yet it fails to outline to the reader ways in which they can identify the signs of e tyms. There are small events that lead to THE EVENT. How can we tell that the idea we have is the nxt big thing? How then should we act on the idea to ensure that our pocketr equal those of the ‘prophets’?
Imakando, thanks mate! I have a few ideas on how to know the difference between a good idea and a dumb one. but it’s a lot harder to tell a good idea from a brilliant million dollar idea. Partly because rarely is the next millionaire a result of just a good idea – so many other factors to consider. This i’ll add a part 2 on this post, thanks for commenting mate!
Extremely brilliant and valuable piece of advice there Max. I salute you
Thanks Ozias! Appreciate it!
this is good Max, waiting for part. keep it up man
Great stuff max
Hey this is great man
this is brilliant
A prophet is a Visionary so is an entrepreneur ,he sees into the future ,so many will persecute you bcoz you operate in a higher dimension.
brilliant piece
You see these prophets are man of God.The truth is if one pays tithe,seed in a certain ministry blessings flow n businesses starts operating at higher and extra ordinary levels.There is power in giving
Boss, when it comes to teaching about business and marketing, i am yet to find anyone like you in Zimbabwe, seriously. You are an inspiration.
Great words from a great Teacher. You are the best Max, i like the way you draw the thick line between ‘Historians’ and ‘Prophets’. When it comes to predicting the future, coming up with an innovation it`s what concerns a lot.
Usually we spent or efforts/ability or the mind-power within ourselves on some ‘crap’ rather to say so. Thanks for the advise Max
This is really getting my head buzzing Mr Soutter. Thank you for yet another brilliant piece. I wish i could share this a million times!
Someone said don’t talk to me about labor pains but show me the baby.I think you are that guy who doesn’t just talk but you show real evidence and prove people to think.Keep up with the great work
Barnabas, will certainly keep it up, thank you for the kind words.
Luv the insight it opened my eyes dankie