The Following article was written and generously contributed to us by Kenneth Fullerton of PlaNet Finance. In it, he describes his experience at South Africa’s Brightest Young Minds Summit and makes connections between the topics discussed and the Results-Based Accountability framework.
Between 16 and 20 July I was honoured to participate in – as 1 of 100 invited delegates – the 2015 Brightest Young Minds (BYM) Summit, organised under the theme ‘#TIA (This is Africa)’. BYM is a 15 year old non-profit company, that exists to create a positive social impact through identifying 20 to 32 year old African ‘go-getters’, who have demonstrated their commitment to positive social change through their actions. Further it aims to connect these young leaders together to think about and act on solving complex social and environmental challenges and to mobilise alumni and other resources to make a sustainable impact. BYM CEO, Madelynne Wager, says “young Africans everywhere are taking responsibility for improving their communities. BYM exists to identify these young people and take their initiatives and impact to the next level”.
Despite guest speakers presenting on their work, achievements and impacts coming from a wide range of different sectors and communities a significant theme emerged throughout the Summit: the need for collaboration and the power of partnerships. Irrespective of the development challenge faced or sector of operation, partnerships can be used to ensure complementary skills are put forward, resources are shared and maximised, repetition is avoided and for increased funding and resources to be secured. This can be the case whether it is an economic, education, energy, entrepreneurship, gender, health, innovation and/or technology challenge. Case studies of successful partnerships should be widely shared for the benefit of others striving to overcome such challenges. On why partnerships are of such importance, why they have been central to BYM presentations and discussions and why successful case studies should be promoted widely, Wager notes that “there is value in connected people with different skill sets and similar success stories. Their experiences can complement each other and amplify their ability to succeed”.
Brightest Young Minds CEO, Madelynne Wager.
Collaboration and the creation of sustainable partnerships are also of central to the Results Based Accountability framework, regardless of whether the challenge is at the performance or population level. On how relevant partnerships can be formed, Mark Friedman, the author the RBA framework book and manual Trying Hard Is Not Good Enough, notes that partnerships can be formed, and people brought together, in different ways depending on the challenge faced and the environment being operated in. Some can be formed by law, some by executive order, some by foundation initiatives and others through spontaneous and organised gatherings. They could also vary greatly in size. Similar in nature to the actual BYM, Friedman notes that, “almost all of these methods draw on the energy created by dissatisfaction”.
Complex developmental, economic and social problems can be overcome–but, according to Dion Chang, a Summit guest speaker and the Founder of Flux Trends, a South African futures and trends organisation–it is time to “do things differently”. Different and innovative, out-of-the-box approaches and solutions are needed in order to successfully overcome increasingly complex challenges and problems. Of critical importance to understanding and overcoming such challenges is the gathering and use of accurate data. This is also of high relevance to the RBA framework. While life is complex and cannot be reduced to a set of numbers and equations, in complex environments, it is often impossible to know if things are changing, and getting better or worse, without data.
While there are successful case studies of people, organisations and other stakeholders successfully overcoming major development challenges, through the formation of partnerships and the use of innovative solutions, significant challenges still continue to exist in our societies. Leadership is required in order to drive positive change. “BYM looks for pragmatic leaders”, according to Wager, “because we believe people who are willing to push boundaries and drive action are the young leaders who will change the world”.
Ken Fullerton (@KenFullerton)
July 2015
Good read, Ken thanks. Having attended the summit twice over two years, I have observed the power of collective thinking demonstrated by the initiatives started in the post summit days!
A very solid description of the BYM experience!