Mindset versus public reforms
By Peter M. Muthete
The much awaited Public Service Reforms Agenda was launched by President Peter Mutharika on February 11 2015 at the Bingu International Conference Centre in Lilongwe and what remains now is its implementation.
But as Vice-President Saulos Chilima, who chaired the Public Service Reforms Commission, alluded to, there have been 79 attempts to reform the public sector in the past. This revelation has prompted questions like: “Why did those attempts fail? If implementation has been a problem, how are people assured that this time around this report will pass the test of the implementation process?”
Well, it is true that the Public Service Reforms Agenda has triggered the genesis of a new era, giving Malawians an opportunity to put aside their fixed mindset and accept that they are the change they want to see and that change must happen now.
It is important to note that after applauding government for the launch, we should guard our own mindset which has fertile ground to rob the willpower towards marching to the right direction.
Fixed mindset can wear down our strong belief and determination in what we plan to do. The worst scenario is the stage when we limit ourselves that time is not ripe for us Malawians to change the way we do our business, 50 years after independence.
Our mindset, according to psychologist Carol Dweck, forms the basis for how we perceive ourselves, the world, and how we function in it. Dweck explains that it is our mindset that drives factors that determine what we make happen in our lives.
For a long time, Africa, has been an underdeveloped continent not because it lacks resources or because it is poor, but rather because its people have a poor mindset. It is our poor, fixed mindset that deceives us. It kills the sense of urgency and self-reliance in us. It prevents people to think outside the box. It makes people to expect everything good to happen automatically and free of charge.
After the launch of the Public Reform Agenda, every Malawian should start reflecting on his or her belief systems. Nurturing the development of growth mindset will help us to focus on the positive side of any change.
Growth mindset instils the notion that personal success comes when you work hard. Furthermore, it inspires the spirit of not being discouraged by failure, since failure is seen as part of a learning process. Jack Canfield once said “Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you will miss when you don’t even try.”
Malawians should urgently start employing the mindset change concept right from their homes, villages and districts for the benefit of our country. Let us all adopt a positive mindset over a negative one, and adopt a growth mindset over a fixed one. Indeed, let us think outside the box and change our mindset by first, believing that we can do the change, thereafter, be in the forefront to contribute a little something we can afford, and lastly focus on finding solutions rather than only identifying problems.
True, every government has a social contract to provide necessities for the well-being of its citizens. However, a well-informed citizenry will take responsibility and interest on how to look after their own lives. Good citizens believe that begging for everything makes one appear inferior.
It is a painful reality that there are still many people who are waiting for someone to tell them the importance of believing in their own capabilities, digging a toilet for themselves, clearing earth roads to their homes, going to the hospital when they are ill, and let alone start reflecting on the possible number of children their family should have—although or these things are for their own good. Programmes on mindset change could be ideal; otherwise, it appears common sense might not be so common.n
The author is deputy director for Public Sector Reforms but writing in his personal capacity
