Chutzpah – In pursuit of a dream

Chutzpah; audacity, boldness or courage to try something most would cringe from attempting is an essential, if barely mentioned, element of growth and development of both the individual and society. Daring to do things differently, to be different and take a risk is what has changed the course of history. It is also an essential part of entrepreneurship.David Remnick’s ‘Bridge’ is an interesting and enlightening expose about the US President Barack Obama and the environment that played key role in his rise to presidency through time and space. Unlike the other two Obama books; ‘Dreams of my Father’ and ‘Audacity of Hope’, it was refreshing to see the man, through the eyes of his peers, opponents and other people. ‘Bridge’ has more than lives up to expectations (and will keep you awake at night!). It also gives the less obvious insight into the president, chutzpah!Few people believed that it was possible to have an American president who happens to be black (Colin Powell says, suggesting a black American President implies there is another white American President!). “America was just not ready”, they said. Blacks, being a minority and just coming from slavery and racism, not so long ago, frankly had no chance. Who would imagine that a ‘skinny kid with a funny name’ (as Obama often describes himself) being the 44th president of the United States (and the first one who happens to be black)? It takes some chutzpah.However, chutzpah does not just happen in a vacuum. There are ‘phases’ that one goes through. These include, but are not limited to;The ‘why’ phase: the questioning period where one seeks to ‘put the society into perspective’. Your mind will seek to understand why things are done the way they are; better still, if and how they can be done better. It’s easier to go through this phase when one find themselves in a position where they are the outsider, e.g. lives in another country, has an unconventional family set up or is a member of a minority group, and to a lesser extent, lives in a heterogeneous society. Obama found himself in nearly all these circumstances (an African American child of an absentee Kenyan father and an American mother who spent part of his childhood in Indonesia).The faith and action phase; it is unlikely that you will find everything in the society ‘spick and span’. The question is do you think, nay, believe that it can be made better? Are you willing, even in a small way, to champion that change? In Obama’s case, becoming a community organizer was a way of trying to solve the problems of the black communities that had been ‘left behind in the American dream’. It was seen by most, including the members of those same communities, as a thankless job where ‘victories’ are few and far in between. This kind of thinking is, most of the time, the cause of corruption in its various forms. Everything begins in the mind and, as such, when one’s mind is in a defeatist (fearful) mode (characterised by, fight or flight), they seek short cuts which range from corruption, tribalism, racism; and the worst case scenario is probably genocide as was the case in Rwanda. The thinking is of ‘here and now’, ‘us vs them’ and negatively historical. The audacious, instead, think of the future, inclusively and long term.The modification phase; Very few things work out at first attempt. Obama, during his community organisation days, realised that to effect change he desired needed to have power and legal knowledge. He went to Harvard and later joined politics to this effect (remember ‘change we can believe in’?). Before your objective is achieved, you are going to adjust your methods. Your success depends on how quick and accurate these adjustments are. As we learn from our history, during this period of the Genocide commemoration, let us change and improve. Let us also learn patience. The wise say ‘no one can rise suddenly in the world…not even the sun!’