My Articles

A young man tracked down my phone number a few weeks ago. He had finished university only recently, a good degree in hand, a head full of dreams, and one…

There is a small shop near my home where I buy almost everything. The owner is not the cheapest on the street. His shelves are not the fullest. Yet every…

There are two women selling food at Kariakoo. They have set their stalls side by side, shoulder to shoulder. This one’s pilau and that one’s pilau come from the same…

A few years ago I found myself at a business breakfast, one of those long tables where the coffee is good, the pastries are better, and everyone is quietly waiting…

Governments Don’t Struggle to Speak Governments don’t struggle to speak. Statements are issued, press conferences are held, and policies are explained with confidence and authority. From the outside, it looks…

The Dangerous Assumption There’s a dangerous assumption we keep making in this space. If you host something big enough, visible enough, and important enough… it must matter. It sounds logical.…

A Deal That Was Already Decided It was one of those meetings that should have gone well. Strong proposal. Clean numbers. Confident room. Afterwards, the sales team was certain: “We…

Familiar Boardroom Story It usually starts the same way. A long table. A presentation that has too many slides and not enough answers. Numbers have dropped. Sentiment is bad. Someone…

A Conversation You Won’t Like One evening, somewhere between a quiet office and a loud mind, I sat with a young professional who had just “rebranded.” New photos, new colors,…

A Conversation in a Boardroom A few months ago, I sat in a glass-walled boardroom with a senior executive of a respected institution. Intelligent. Experienced. Decorated with titles long enough…