By Ian Ortega
There was a time when not more than three entertainment websites existed in Uganda. Yet, it’s the existence of these three websites through a state of competition, conflict and collaboration, it’s these hate-love relationship that gave birth to the online entertainment scene. Thus, before these three websites the scene didn’t exist, it couldn’t take off. And others could have never built. Yet from this scene, you then got the other online bloggers, gossip sites, gossip shows on television and even on Radio.
I have been wondering, what’s that number required to build a scene? Computing had Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. The electrical scene had Tesla and Thomas Edison. The Ugandan Political scene in recent years has had Besigye, Museveni, Mao and Robert Kyagulanyi. If we think of the party scene, we could think of Sheilah Gashumba and Etania. The conclusion here is that you need a certain number of people to build a scene. And it’s through the growth of the scene that the rewards of the scene can come to those who participated in building the scene and those that buy the products and services of that scene.
I have thought about the same in the Management Consulting Scene in Uganda. Currently, O.G occupies the scene alone. It is the early days of this scene. Yet, O.G cannot do it alone. It must invite other plays to the scene. It must invite other platforms, potential competitors and collaborators to join the scene. That’s to say, O.G must have two or three more players that are actively pursuing similar objectives and interests, and through this combating, these players sharpen each other and thus actively birth the scene of management consulting in Uganda. It’s the tale of the Minimum Viable Scene (MVS). What does it take to build a Minimum Viable Scene?
First, I believe it takes obsession. Scenes require obsessed individuals, the kind that will keep knocking on a door until something opens, the kind that will keep moving around the walls until an entrance is revealed. These individuals must have a certain level of genius, they must be motivated beyond money. Scenes cannot be built with money as the pure motivator. These individuals must know about each other in some way, or at least be in the know of the other’s work. They must be in an active competition and collaboration. These individuals must have the courage to build out of the box, to birth worlds that haven’t appeared before. And to stay wrong in the short term, if that’s what it takes to be right in the long-term. Thus, there must be a positive deviance to these individuals, they must have the arcane ability to bet on the long-term greatness and outcomes of the scene. They must also be active evangelists for the scene, bringing more tools to the scene and opening more commons for willing players on the scene.
When I think about all the scenes I am actively involved in, it then starts to make sense. From the Innovation and Strategy Scene to the Management Consulting scene. The thing with scenes, is that precisely because you’re building something that hasn’t been built before in your context, you can’t take much advice from those around you. Few can conceptualize what a scene will look like, unless they are actively involved in the building and creation of that scene.
The Age of builders and creators is upon us, and the magic is in the scenes.