The wind has been blowing all night and with the light of day I can see it’s work all around me. Do you feel it? It blows some times harder than others. It shakes anything loose. It scatters seeds. It can break limbs. It propels. It can bring energy or disaster. How is it for you?
When the winds of change blow in your personal life or in your business, do you break and run, or do you feel energized? Do you huddle in fear, or do you gather the force of the wind to propel you forward?
William Kamkwamba is a young man from Malawi, Africa. He grew up in a village of subsistence farmers whose culture has changed little in thousands of year. In 2001 the maize crops failed, plunging the countryside into famine and near social collapse, and William, who by then had had to quit school because they could not afford it, lost friends to disease and starvation.
You can say that the winds of adversity were blowing strongly against William. But here is where the story becomes a modern lesson on how to make the wind your friend. William found an elementary physics textbook in a local library and saw diagrams of windmills. He could not even read the English text well. From this bit of information, with impressive focus and persistence he built his own version of a windmill from scraps of wire, an old bicycle hub, flattened PVC pipe for blades, and other sundry materials.
He had zero resources - not even a soldering iron, which would have been useless in any case, since there is no electricity in his village. But he is a natural engineer, and even with no guidance or help, he succeeded in making an operating windmill which could power a few lightbulbs for home, a radio, and charge cell phones. He then built a second one to operate a water pump, which made a real difference in village life.
Just as remarkable as his technological triumph, was William's discovery by the outside world. William's windmill came to the attention of an engineer working in the capital city, who blogged about it, inspiring others to take a four hour bus journey to find William, who then quickly came to the attention of international entrepreneurs and technologists.
His life quickly expanded - amazingly, straight from his village he was invited to speak at an African conference organized by TED. Taken under wing by US sponsors, he traveled internationally and received scholarships for his own education as well as funding for his village technology. He now has a website of course (just Google his name), a PayPal donation account, a promotional video, and now a movie that is almost ready for its premier - more international attention within a short time than many media gurus!
Take a few minutes to watch this amazing video and be inspired.
William saw the wind as a friend and a challenge. What about you and your organization? Are you going to let the winds of adversity defeat you, or are you going to harness the energy of the wind and creatively put it to work for innovation?
Remember. . .
When the winds of change pick up, be ready to build windmills! By thoughtfully harnessing the winds of change, you can go further than you thought possible.
I can help you or the leaders that report to you harness the winds of change in an effective way. To find out more, simply click here.
Photo by: whiteafrican