The other 10%
At the Kubatana offices, we have a small chalk board which sits outside the door and upon which we write fun quotations and motivating messages, or whatever strikes our fancy. I think the original hope was that random passers by would spot the board, and the pieces of chalk, and be inspired to contribute some of their own words. But so far, that hasn’t really been the case.
The other day, my colleague wrote on the board “90% of life is just showing up.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned a bit when she told me that. It feels like one of those self-help succeed in business kind of mantras. And it goes against my strong Protestant work ethic that, surely, it’s not enough to just show up. It couldn’t possibly be so simple. There must be a whole host of other things you’ve got to do as well. Showing up is a good start, but maybe it’s more like 50%.
So I stammered a bit today when the man delivering the paper stopped and said -
“Your sign. What does it mean?”
And I thought about that Lotto slogan – You’ve got to play to win, so I mentioned something like that. We discussed the importance of at least showing up if you want something – it won’t come to you if you’re sitting off in the corner somewhere. And we chatted about the value of participation, of pitching up for something, even if you didn’t know what it might yield.
He turned to carry on with his paper deliveries, only to come back a moment later.
“So, what’s the other ten percent?”
Ah, that’s the meat of it, I thought. So we spoke a bit more, about attitude and intention and what you can bring to the table and what you can share and how you are with other people. The other ten percent, surely, is our own individual, unique way of being. It’s things like dedication, commitment, humour, creativity, innovation, determination, compassion, openness, and so forth.
I might disagree with the maths, but showing up must be at least half the battle. If you don’t show up, no one ever gets to see your other 10%.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has called a stay away for 19 and 20 September. It is a continuation of their programme of action since last year, but they announced the dates only this week, and so far I haven’t heard much discussion of it or gotten a sense that people even know about it, much less are planning to take part.
Next week, 90% of life will be not showing up – at work, at the bank, in the shops, in the queues, at the beer halls, in the cafes, and so forth. There are plenty of reasons for Zimbabweans to be angry right now. There has been no national action about the price controls and shortages, and the country is getting hungrier and hungrier. The other ten percent – the ZCTU’s communications, mobilisation, meetings with business leaders, discussions with the general public, working with other organisations, its innovation and creativity in getting people inspired, its use of a range of media to inform people – will make all the difference.