The Nobel Prize winner in economics in 2006, Professor Edmund Phelps, already pointed out the only way that will work – entrepreneurship. He said that most people look for jobs rather than careers. “A job is almost an admission of failure. You are saying, “I don’t want to take risks. I just want somebody else to tell me what to do and pay me for doing it””. A career, on the other hand is an indication that you know what your skills are, believe you are good at them and want to make the most of them.

If we take Professor Phelp’s criteria for success, the chaps who make and sell those beautiful beaded things on the roadside are adding more to our economy than the earnest little Admin Clerk who spends the day pushing papers from one side of his desk to the other. The bead-weaver has to judge his market, hone his skills and improve his salesmanship to become successful. The Admin Clerk just does what he is told and goes home to watch his soap operas at the end of the day.

It’s rather sad that we tend to regard the clerk as a success and the bead-weaver as a failure. It should be the other way around.

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me”. I and only I can shape my destiny. I cannot depend on my relatives, friends, the Government, Financial Institutions et al. I need to have a good look at the way I think and decide if I should not change it. It may need a drastic paradigm shift in my thinking pattern; it may require that I start looking at non-conventional ways of meeting my needs; it will require an open mind. This is the only way I can confront an uncertain future. This is the only way I can make it….and make it big.

Raymond C. Thomas, B.Sc.(Hons.), M.B.A.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

RRR-Link (SA) Ltd.

What next? Yes, the turmoil in the financial market has derailed the global recovery. Yes, the European debt criss threatens to cause another recession, weakening the recovery in South Africa – Europe buys about a third of the nation’s manufactured goods. One could go on….and on but stop to think for a moment. Why is the European economy going down hill? Why, on the other hand, countries like India, Brazil, China and Japan are growing……consistently year after year? Why?

The Nobel Prize winner in economics in 2006 Professor Edmund Phelps, gives some insights into this issue. In his acceptance speech in Stockholm, he remarked that in countries like America, India, Brazil, China and Japan, people enjoy challenges and competition, and love solving problems. Except for America, the economies of the other countries are growing. But in most countries in Europe, where the work force expects protection and doesn’t like taking risks, the economy stagnates. This provides a clue to many of Africa’s economic problems as well.

It’s all about attitude. We look for “jobs” rather than careers. A job is almost an admission of failure. You are saying, “I don’t want to take risks. I just want somebody else to tell me what to do and pay me for doing it.” A job changes into a career when a person is prepared to go the extra mile.

Raymond C. Thomas, B.Sc. (Hons.), M.B.A.

Deputy Chief Executive Officer

RRR-Link (SA) Ltd.