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Showing posts from January, 2019

Public Infrastructure Contracts and Corruption

Infrastructure, including roadworks, water supply, sewerage, and road drainage has historically been the 'feeding tree' of Jamaican politics. What the taxpayer sees on the physical surface of a project is typically a fraction of the total work done. Most is underground. This allows shoddy work to be done quickly and covered up, away from prying eyes. The road foundation layer that should be 12 inches thick, is laid 4 inches thick, only to be discovered when it fails. A building is very different. It has a superstructure and a substructure. The part you see above ground is typically a significant portion, if not most of the work done (especially for buildings of a few storeys). It's easier to measure and test after the fact.  The truth is that Jamaican construction industry is in a 'goldie-locks sweet-spot' for corruption and overpricing. It is not small enough for one or two local contractors to be shamed by repeated failed projects, eventually getting forced...

Creativity

Creativity is the ability to come up with something that doesn't currently exist. Discovering new ground where a treasure may have been 'hiding in plain sight'.  Like any expedition I suppose, at its core, this is an exercise in positivity, and as with anything new, there is the risk of failure. There is little time for blame or negative thinking, and those people must be left along the way. It also involves finding new, effective and sometimes unconventional ways to clear your head. Sometimes it's brainstorming with like minded people, meditating, changing your surroundings or simply getting some rest. Meditation can be any enjoyable or repetitive activity that occupies the front of your mind, so that the back of your mind can escape and ruminate on an idea, or land on an insight. No two people achieve this in exactly the same way. Jogging, sketching, playing an instrument, or playing a thought provoking TV series  (that you've already seen) in the back...

The Second Coming of Usain Bolt

When racism was at its peak in football, Arsene Wenger called one of his scouts with an assignment. He was told to begin a special search that might not be easy. Wenger had made a personal decision to "look around for a black boy a to give a chance". After that, whenever they would talk there was a discussion on how the search was going and what progress, if any, had been made. Out of that process a candidate emerged, but Wenger was not fully convinced. The young attacker seemed "fat and clumsy". Not to be deterred however, Wenger, who was a "good runner back then", would run with his young charge after work until gradually his speed and consistency improved. W atching from the sidelines, Wenger started noticing something else. In plays where defenders seemed to have the upper hand, and would win the ball easily; suddenly there was his 'little' guy, ahead of him with the ball, closing in on the keeper. The goals didn't take long to come after ...