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Authors pen prescription for new economy

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Paradigm Shifters – Re-inventing Your World (2013)
Published by Paradigm Shifters
Authors: Elton Mutize and Lovemore Tembo
ISBN 978-0-7974-4489-8

THE book Paradigm Shifters-Re-inventing Your World is a worthwhile read.
It is a motivational and inspirational book written by Elton Mutize and Lovemore Tembo.
Many local motivational books that I have come across have fallen short chiefly because they are a regurgitation of Western ideas that have been difficult to implement locally.
But in Paradigm Shifters — Re-inventing Your World whose foreword is written by tourism industry guru, Dr Shingi Munyeza, who guided and kept afloat leading hotelier African Sun during the most turbulent times of our economy, are not only refreshing, but helpful insights.
As some among us struggle to understand that, economy-wise, we are starting from ground-zero, reading the book which emphasises the importance of how re-invention will be a great assist.
“Those who master the art of metamorphosis rise above the confines and constraints of their immediate milieu and assume invincibility in the face of insurmountable challenges,” writes Elton Mutize and Lovemore Tembo.
“They push existing boundaries, smash barriers and create new frontiers.
“They become the vanguard of human accomplishment; the famed Paradigm Shifters, those who establish new realities.”
The writers, one, Tembo, a holder of a Bachelor of Science Honours Degree in Psychology from the University of Zimbabwe and Mutize who possesses a Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) Degree from the same institution present their case in a simple language, easy to understand.
Independent Zimbabwe’s biggest programmes to date, the liberation struggles, land reclamation and indigenisation of the economy have necessitated the creation of a new economy, an indigenous economy.
Theirs is a message that will resonate with the indigene who understands that it is no longer a ‘business-as-usual-approach’ required to succeed.
Quoting people like Les Brown, they highlight the importance of remaining glued to an aspiration.
“If you want a thing bad enough that you go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it. To give up your time, your peace and your sleep for it… if neither cold nor poverty banish your goal, sickness or pain of body and brain can keep you away from the thing that you want, if dogged and grim you besiege and beset it, with the help of God you will get it,” they quote Les Brown.
Using local and international examples they show how resilience and fortitude is all that is required in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges.
With institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank continuing to make loud noises citing how there can be no development without them, the book points out success is not a preserve of the few or the elite.
“The point here is simply that you are capable of doing so much more. You are a boxer punching below your weight, yet you have what it takes to deliver the sucker punch.”
The book is a slap to those wallowing in self-pity.
“It has been discovered that the biggest deposit of alluvial diamonds in the world is in Zimbabwe… This is in exclusion of the vast gold and platinum deposits… Entrepreneurs are flocking from all over the world to be in Zimbabwe. Many individuals are even wishing they were born Zimbabwean while you, a Zimbabwean are wishing you were the ‘proud’ holder of the famed American Green Card,” write the authors.
“There is therefore no excuse for being mediocre.
“You have none else to blame, but yourself if you do not succeed.”
The writers urge re-looking the African school curriculum and call for inculcation into the young African mind values and norms that hold in high esteem the treasures of the motherland.
“The African school curriculum and mindset should adopt a pragmatic approach that is well positioned to solve critical contemporary societal and national challenges.
“If the educational institutions in Africa are archaic and not relevant to today’s world, they must be tinkered with. They must be re-invented so that the school systems churn out graduates attuned and well prepared to provide apposite solutions to the continent’s persistent hiccups and catapult the development agenda forward.
“It is time that no longer should there be hundreds of thousands of degreed individuals of African streets seeking employment. There should be an avalanche of African employers magnetically attracting the expertise of the world’s top expatriates.”
The message or central theme of the book is that there is no excuse for failure.
“It is not unusual to hear one say, If I had enough money to invest, I would surely go into business. If I had a good job I would have my own car. If I had wealthy parents, I could be enjoying the best education on offer.
“We don’t need more strength or more ability or greater opportunity. What we need is to use what we have.”
Paradigm Shifters – Re-inventing Your World is a must read and I highly recommend it for all the progressive people that see the country becoming an economic giant that it will eventually become.

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