The year is coming to an end. It has been a crazy year as I am sure we’ll all agree. Few of us would have expected a pandemic to rampage across the globe. Covid-19 has accelerated many good and bad trends. It has left millions of people more vulnerable than before. It has also revealed some opportunities for governments, businesses and non-profit organizations to improve their reach and positive impact.

This article contains my end-of-year reflection for 2020. I believe in the value of ‘after action reviews’ and in sharing them openly so others can learn.

This has been a good year for me overall. While my income has decreased, as one would expect in the midst of a pandemic, I managed to make several changes that placed me in a stronger position than I was at the beginning of the year. I’m looking forward to 2021.

COVID-19 will change everything. Like a defining moment in history (such as the Great Depression, 1st and 2nd World Wars, 9/11 and the 1994 elections in South Africa), the future will take on a new course.

On the bright side, we will recover as we always do, though it may take several years before things are back on track.

This experience will influence how we behave in the future. This is evident as I finish this article in the first week of April 2020 during South Africa’s ‘lockdown’.

I’ve known the future to be unstable. This is why I’ve emphasized strategic conversation as opposed to long strategic documents. But I didn’t expect an event of this magnitude to erupt.

In this article, I explore ten interesting shifts or trends that are beginning to emerge as a result of this pandemic. While some of these will be positive, others will need to be carefully monitored.

Here is my end-of-year reflection for 2019. It provides insight into my work as a management consultant for non-profit organizations and social enterprises in South Africa.

I believe strongly in the value of deliberate reflection. Therefore, I write regularly in my journal and strive to do weekly reviews. 

This article reflects on some key trends I’ve observed and the work I’ve been doing. It also looks at some lessons I’ve learned and changes I intend to make in 2020. 

Have you ever wondered whether you could work exclusively on a tablet? This article shares my experiences and insights on this subject, and how as a management consultant I’ve been able to do most of my work on it. 

I bought an iPad four months ago. I’ve never owned a tablet before. Now I’m using it to do 75% of my work; I still require my laptop to do the remaining 25%. I aspire to go ‘iPad only’ but I still need to make some shifts in how I work. 

The principles of this article will apply to any modern professional tablet with a stylus. However, I chose an iPad after watching colleagues hand write their notes on the screen using the Apple Pencil. I wanted a simpler computing experience and hoped that this device might offer it. I was also inspired by Michael and Radek on The Podcast, who frequently talk about how they use their iPads and how it has forced them to rethink how they work.

The quickest way to troll me is to complain that you haven’t found work you’re passionate about. That you are somehow a victim of misfortune because of this.

It is the one behavior that will guarantee a lecture from me.

This is what happened yesterday. Someone close to me complained about this topic and I provided a monologue in response. 

To save time in the future, I decided to be expedient and write my thoughts down. Then when this happens again, I can just shut up and send them a link. It will save us all time.

Here are my thoughts on finding work you’re passionate about.

The end of another year is approaching. It has been a challenging year, filled with meaningful work, many lessons and lots of opportunity. There has also been too little time to do everything I’d intended to do.

I believe strongly in the value of reflection and always do a formal debriefing at the end of the year.

Here are some of my thoughts on 2018 before I take leave on Friday 14th December to enjoy a much-needed break. It sheds some light into my work with non-profit organizations and social enterprises in South Africa, and things I’ve learned along the way.

I am increasingly obsessed with time. Maybe this is a consequence of aging. I see time moving too swiftly. I strive to make the best use of every moment.

I have conducted multiple experiments over the years to see how I can make better use of my time and be more productive at work.

This article concerns my tracking of my work time over a period of one month or 20 workdays. It will yield insight into how this freelancer (or independent management consultant) spends his time. Hopefully the results will still be useful more generally.

I also hope to address the misconception that freelancers spend all their time delivering their service. We must realize that freelancers are still running a business, and therefore need to make time for all the usual business functions within their work week.

I recently received a thought-provoking email from a young graduate who had some work experience with a non-profit organization.

Because her message was so sincere and endearing, I decided to provide a proper reply.

This article contains my career advice for her and other young professionals in a similar position. I will share my career philosophy, insights from my own career, and some collective advice from other consultants I work with.

The end of the year is approaching once again. Time seems to be “accelerating” recently.

I strongly believe in the value of debriefs at the end of a calendar year, and at the end of a difficult project which did not go as expected.

Formal reflection or debriefs also provide value to non-profit organizations and social enterprises. They help to accelerate learning. I’ve recently facilitated several end-of-year reviews for my clients, and the sessions have proven insightful. I encourage you to schedule time to reflect before this year ends.

Here are some extracts from my review before I took leave on 15 December 2017 for a much-needed break. It sheds some insights into my work with non-profit organizations and social enterprises in South Africa.

This passionate letter was published in the Cape Times in early 2008 about the xenophobic violence that has gripped the country.

It discusses how, as a proud South African, I am dismayed by how our Rainbow Nation has descended into a state of xenophobic violence. It has certainly put a black mark against our name. I also discuss how this sad turn of events is symptomatic of poor government performance in a number of areas, and the role of some of our leaders in promoting racial and cultural categorization.