The B and U of BUILD.

I have restarted my clothing line 3 times. Lol. There are a number of things I have been learning as I work on my own business and alongside other entrepreneurs. There are also things I learned formally that have worked for me and I love to share this knowledge so that we can all be as effective as possible on our entrepreneurial journeys. In this class, I will be reteaching lessons and courses that I have learned, in the way that I best understood them. Being one who learns more effectively with analogies and scenarios among others, I thought it best to teach using the methods that I adopted when learning initially. This class will be helping us all improve upon our problem solving skills. This is my contribution to eradicating youth unemployment by encouraging young people to start and manage viable businesses.

 

This class will be using lessons from the problem solving and design thinking methodology created by the African Leadership Academy Entrepreneurial Leadership department called BUILD. BUILD is a five-step process that teaches entrepreneurs how to ensure that they solve the root problems - and not the symptoms - when they tackle social issues. I have tweaked the content to be able to teach it the way I personally understand and utilize it by adding lessons from personal work experiences and relatable real-life scenarios. 

 

 Now, let's get started!

 

Believe (Read this out loud to yourself)

“I see and am thankful for opportunities. I dream big and take calculated risks with curiosity and determination as I seek to initiate positive change.”

 

Goal: To recognize and appreciate current resources and capabilities as an individual seeking to create change in any shape or form.

 

You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t believe in your ability to fulfill your mission. You recognize your passions, talents, skills, abilities, capacities, and gifts, and you may or may not yet have identified a problem you will like to solve. i.e. a need you have identified. If you have not consciously considered these things, take a moment to do so right now. You may want to spend some time on each question to come up with an answer. I recommend you note them down as they will come in handy later on in the process. I personally tend to forget the things I am capable of when I am drowning in work, so I use that as my reference point lol.

 

Here are some questions I asked myself when I went through this process;

What are my talents? It doesn’t matter how insignificant or significant I think they are. I appreciate them all the same and am grateful for them. 

·      What are my passions? What could I do forever and not get tired? I am grateful for all of my passions.

·      Which skills have I had the opportunity to learn and develop? I am thankful for the opportunity to acquire and improve my skills, whether I did so yourself via YouTube or anywhere else. 

·      What are my gifts? My network of classmates and alumni, my family especially my parents and close friends who always encourage me are my gifts. My ability to strike conversations with almost anybody is my gift. I call it my superpower. What are yours? If anything makes you think “wow I am so fortunate to have this”, it could be one of those.

·       Which problems have I noticed and am I trying to fill-in? What is the target I am trying to hit? I am grateful for my ability to notice this and my courage to dare to fix it. For me, this very blog is one of my efforts in bridging a gap I have noticed! What is yours?

 

Writer’s Tip: I struggle to give myself credit for the many things I have done so I can understand if you feel the same. However, I must mention that I find I am only able to work effectively when I truly believe that I am capable because I have what it takes. Give yourself credit! I can promise you that it puts you in the right state of mind to work. 

 

Why is this important? Here is a real-life experience that should make it clear.

 

I remember my first BUILD project at ALA. In the first term of school at ALA, first-year students undertake their first BUILD project in small teams of 3-4 members. So, you are encountering and learning, and then directly applying the knowledge to your team’s project choice. 

 

We were asked to make a list of problems we had identified and write each one on a separate sticky note. After this, we all went around to see other students’ sticky notes- this allowed us to find similar problems to what we had written. So now we grouped the sticky notes in order of similarity, then category, and then we were divided into our groups to pick any of the major ‘problems’ that seemed to be the most relatable.

 

I remember I was assigned to a group with two other classmates. I will refer to them as ‘T’ and ‘A’. We were supposed to find a solution to the issue of cleanliness in students’ dormitories. There were two groups solving the same issue. I would tell you for a fact, that was the most unmotivated team I have ever been a part of to date. Myself included. I remember the feeling of powerlessness we all shared. Not a single one of us believed that we could come up with the solution to this problem, and so by the end of a four-month term, we had no viable solution to this broad problem. The other team on the other hand, whose members had expressed confidence throughout the project, ended up spoilt for choice when it came down to choosing which particular solution they could go with. The difference here was a lack of self-belief. It was our 4^thgroup member we couldn’t see but was always there with us. It made every single step of the way heavier and harder than necessary. 

 

Think about it- everyone who shows up at the audition for a show believes they are going to win. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be there at all. That is what the Believe stage is. You are here because you are confident that you can do something. ANYTHING. 

 

Now that you are confident that you are in the right place, WELCOME TO THE BUILDER CLASS. You are in the right place, at the right time.

 

Understand (Read this out loud to yourself)

“Before I design solutions, I seek to understand the affected individuals and the systems in which they operate.”

 

Goal: To identify the actual need, before deciding how you want to tackle it.

 

Understanding is one of the foundations of the BUILDing you are planning to put up. If you are unaware of WHO you are creating for, WHY you are designing it the way you choose to, WHERE you are locating it, the timing involved (WHEN) and HOW you intend to go about implementing, then really, you are just PUTTING up the building, and not BUILDING the building. BUILDing requires high levels of understanding because understanding that the groundwater has abnormally high salt levels would save you the mistake of having to repaint the walls every 6 months without creating an impenetrable layer to stop the salt from damaging the paint, or even rusting your metal taps inside the house. 

 

The process we were taught that I also used to teach my students was the ‘WHY Process’. So when you think you have found what the problem is, for example, “The people in the Abelemkpe mosque area need a bakery in the neighbourhood”, it may look like the solution is simple - “I love to bake, I live in Abelemkpe around the mosque, I will just start baking for the people.” But no. You MAY hit the jackpot if you do it, but best believe, you could EASILY be creating a solution to a problem that is not necessarily existent in Abelemkpe. When we jump to solve problems on our own, we act and think from our biased perspective because if you reeeaalllyy want to bake, you will find reasons to do so. Hold that scenario in mind. 

 

In the context of starting a venture, the UNDERSTAND phase may look like research through reading history, data analysis, surveys and interviews of people meant to benefit from your product or service. Let’s go back to the bakery. When you do your research, you may find that people are not necessarily looking for just another bakery. You might find out from customers of the other bakery near the mini-golf park that they go there because they have more options there. If you go ahead and open a bakery, it is not going to move people from the older one if you don’t give them more options.

 

Try your best to exhaust all avenues available to you.

The only way you can avoid the future regret that comes with not turning every stone is by making sure that you ACTUALLY TURN EVERY STONE when you get the chance to. 

TO BE CONTINUED...