And today, we have the convener of NEW THINKING WEST AFRICA CONFAB, Ayodele Adebayo to tell us more about the upcoming event, the ideas behind the event and so much more…
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Let’s get to know you better…
My name is Ayodele Adebayo. I am a corporate trainer, I train organizations, business leaders, executives, I train around design thinking and emotional intelligence, how they can bring design thinking and emotional intelligence into business, management, leadership, consulting around whatever thing they are into as a tool for problem-solving at any organization. I am certified in design thinking and emotional intelligence.
Let’s talk about the event that will be coming up later this month, what brought the idea of this event?
I have been a fan of a new Africa, right from the time I’ve been in school. I’ve always looked forward to a better Africa, a new opportunity, a privilege for people to grow and develop.
While growing up, I’ve noticed people were always looking forward to a particular time where things will become changed for us in Africa but I’ve realized that year in year out, that change is not forthcoming.
In Africa, we have different kinds of people, different kinds of leadership styles, people who have assumed leadership positions, made promises but things still persist. A lot of solutions have been propounded and you realize that these problems still exist.
So if some of those problems of yesteryears still persist now then it means that there could actually be something missing from the standpoint so that’s where everything actually started from. It is possible for us to come together and look at Africa from another perspective, not from the common/general one we all know in order to see how we can proffer solutions to our problems not from the same platform but from another angle entirely.
What concept is behind the title “RE-THINKING A NEW AND ENABLING AFRICA FOR PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY”?
Like I said earlier, there has been a series of solutions, so it won’t look like one is playing down on the work that has already been done in different countries in Africa. But you realize that irrespective of those solutions, programs, goals that have been propounded, you realize that some of these problems still persist. It is my belief and that of my organization that a particular thinking was responsible for some of those solutions which have been propounded earlier, but it’s unfortunate that some of those solutions are not working, if they are not working, it doesn’t mean Africa is not thinking, it just means we have to rethink that there is a need for us not to just continue on the same old pattern of thinking we always have around our problems, can we rethink our problems in a new way entirely on a new template so that we can see solutions that have not been seen before.
Looking at the faculties and speakers, do you think they are actually the best for this event?
Looking at our speaker/faculty, Olakunkle Soriyan popularly known as the futurist, he is a man I’ve known over the past 12 years and he has propounded series of solutions that I have seen and of course have been tested by organizations both locally and internationally even by countries, time tested and proven solutions.
He has propounded several solutions to people all because the standpoint to which he comes is not such that is very popular but very powerful enough to change the organizations and transform things all around. Another thing about him is there is always a thought revolution that happens whenever you sit down to listen to somebody like him.
Before I go further on that, let me quickly say this, this program is for two days; 26th and 27th July, this is the progression, on 26th we are going to be having a full day training where we will look into how organizations can get themselves repositioned within the new economy, because most people don’t really understand that things are changing in the world, we are now in the era of fourth industrial revolution, the solution that is being proffered to problems back then in the second, third industrial revolution cannot stand the test of this present revolution so there is a new shift already, of course, organizations need to understand some of those shifts and bring on board the realities of the fourth revolution into play.
Not only as fourth revolution is concerned, we are also moving towards the fifth revolution and it’s going to change a whole lots of things in businesses, establishments, management, and people need to understand that and that’s why we will be having that training on the 26th for organizations, business leaders so on Saturday we will have the full conference looking at how we can apply the new thinking in Africa so that Africa can come out of all these recycled problems we face year in year out.
Who are those you have worked with?
I have been privileged to work with different organizations, individuals and it’s been very interesting.
I have also trained quite a number of organizations on different topics and works, I’ve done business development for different organizations as well and I have spoken at different conferences.
Last year I was one of the conference speakers for DESIGN THINKING in Ghana where we had over 500 people across Africa and beyond coming together and I happened to be the only Nigerian speaker.
I’ve worked with Immaculate television, Impact group, Lagos state technical education and vocational board, and other series of international and local organizations and when you asked all these organizations, they will tell you Mr. Ideation, that’s my brand name is the man you have to work with when it comes to taking your business out from the usual solutions to stand out solutions.
Who are those you look up to (Mentors, Influencers, Role model) in Nigeria, Africa?
My number one mentor is Olakunke Soriyan and that’s why he is coming down to speak at this conference and of course apart from him, of blessed memory, Les Brown has been somebody I really enjoyed and loved. I have others as well like Dr. Rearl, he is a Professor at the University of Cape Town South Africa and many others.
Tell us things you would like to change in Africa if given the opportunity to?
The first thing I will change in Africa is Africa’s mentality, it is very important because I’ve realized that nothing changes around you until your mentality changes first so there is a lot you might not be able to achieve if your mentality is not changed.
If I’m able to change Africa’s mentality then I will be able to change the way Africans think, when I say mindset, you know mindset talks about perspective so if I’m able to change African’s perspective then I will be able to change how you think and if I can change how you think then I will be able to change every African.
Let’s do random question, what do you do when you are not working
Fortunately or unfortunately, I’ve found out that I’m always working almost all the time, but when I’m not working, I try to leisure, watch a movie, take a stroll or sightsee.
Can you tell us what more to know about this conference, the venue, registration fee, what to expect from the conference?
The event holds on Friday 26th to Saturday 27th July, Friday is going to be a full training, in that training, organizations and everybody that will be coming will have the opportunity to design their desirable future, we are running the year 2024. We are going to be using design thinking tools to design what your organization will be in the year 2024, it’s not going to be motivational, rather, it will be a handsome training the whole of Friday.
On Saturday, We will be having the main conference where we will have keynote speakers, panel discussions, we will have breakout sessions, and solutions will be proffered to dominant problems in Africa.
More details about the conference:
Friday only: 15,000 naira
Saturday only: 10,000 naira
Friday and Saturday: 20,000 naira
Corporate Reg.: 300,000 naira (Group of 5)
Students Reg.: 5,000 naira or two days
Venue: CARLTON GATE XCLUSIVE HOTEL, IBADAN
To register, follow this link: bit.ly/netwac
For further information, log on to www.newthinkingwestafrica.org
Call +2348064462791, +2348036698877
Email: info.impressionafrica
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