More than a Blind Biker

A different Bumble Bee Insight today - a story about a client of mine - an amazing man, Jacob Kruger.

Jacob calls himself the Blind Biker which you will understand when reading the article. He has faced extreme adversity with great fortitude and is an inspiration to all of us, whether disabled or able bodied.


The article is reproduced from Imfama Magazine with both their and Jacob’s permission.


More than a Blind Biker…
Lindie van Zyl

I pondered for a long time on how I could capture the essence of an interesting, multi-facetted man that I was introduced to. Which box could I put him in for a clearer description? I soon realised though that 36 year old Jacob Kruger does not fit into any box. In fact, Jacob casually sums up his whole existence in four words: “I am just me.” He has been blind for just over four years now, but losing his sight never changed who he was. This is Jacob Kruger…

Getting Back on the Bike:
Let me start here…the accident. Jacob is a motorbike enthusiast and loves to drive around on his bike. In November 2005 he had a major accident with his bike when a motorist in the lane next to him, swerved into him. Jacob and his wife, who were both on the bike, were thrown off. He sustained serious injuries and was in a coma for almost a month, taking just over three months to become lucid again. The serious physical injuries resulted in his loss of sight. Sadly, Jacob’s wife was killed in the accident.

Doctors told Jacob that his brain moved around so much inside his scull during the accident that his optical nerve tore where it was attached to his brain – this caused his blindness.

He eventually left the hospital in March 2006, and started orientation and mobility training, which included getting used to walking around with a white cane, doing some cooking and so forth. The orientation and mobility training helped Jacob, however, the greatest enlightenment for him was finding out how to make use of technology without his sight, and getting back to using a computer. Since Jacob is a web developer and had basically lived on the internet since it became available in South Africa around 1996, re-learning how to use a computer was very important to him.

Raising Hell with the Hellrazors:
After his accident, Jacob did a Google search for ‘blind motorcyclist’ and came across a write-up about Billy Baxter, who was part of the UK army's motorcycle stunt team before he became blind. Billy is now in the Guiness Book of Records for doing 180mph on a bike after losing his sight. Jacob found Billy to be very inspiring and wanted to get back on a bike himself, but just sitting at the back was never an option for him.

When Jacob recovered, he was back at work and back in the biking scene. He is a member of a bike club called the Hellrazors (named after the Ozzy Osbourne song). The club members support Jacob in many ways, including guiding him when he rides his bike.

Once a year, normally in November, the Hellrazors organise their own track day at the Phakisa raceway in Welkom, and this is where Jacob gets on his favourite motorbike (a Suzuki Bandit 1200 Streetfighter), puts on a radio headset, full leathers and a good helmet, and rides up and down the main straight with his friend giving him instructions via a cellular phone.

Jacob enjoys this so much that he says: “Although I have a dark visor on my helmet since I don't need to let the light in, I reckon the 50 or so people watching me, cheering, shouting and taking photos must have known that I was smiling so broadly inside my helmet that it almost hurt my face.”

IT Enthusiasm:
Jacob, who is an IT-fundi, designed the Hellrazors’ website (www.hellrazors.co.za), his own website (www.blindza.co.za) as well as some interesting pieces of programming for and about blind people.

Although he knows only basic braille (he only uses it for labelling things like pills, spices and food), Jacob has written his own talking computer software, including a braille reference feature which gives instructions on how to write letters in basic braille as you type them on the keyboard. He has also invented his own talking version of snakes and ladders for the computer - using the original board, along with sound effects and speech output. The idea behind the game, as explained by Jacob, is for it to be used even by sighted kids so that they can form an idea of how visually impaired people use computers.

Jacob started the first e-mail mailing list for 'bikers' in South Africa in 1997, called BikerZA. He has now also started such a list for visually impaired persons and anyone interested in supporting them, or even just for people who are interested in learning about their lifestyle. The link to the page for that mailing list is: www.freelists.org/list/blindza

Dog Tags and Tattoos:
Above all, Jacob is an excellent advocate for blind people. He is very approachable and carries the ‘signs of blindness’ with pride. As he puts it: “I wear leathers and have tattoos, so people are not afraid to ask me questions”.
True to his style, Jacob sports braille tattoos on his forearms, which consist of black raised ink dots. He is a firm believer in balance and therefore he has two words of equal length – one positive and one negative- on his arms. The left arm’s tattoo spells out the word “depression” and the right one balances it with “positivity”. He also wears a silver dog tag plate around his neck with his name brailed on it. Jacob uses his dog tag and tattoos to show people what braille looks like. I must say this is definitely more interesting than having braille explained on an alphabet card!

Jacob is also working on a set of instructions for newly blinded people. This will include who to contact, where to go for assistance and so forth. On this he added: “I refer people to Council as some people do not know about its existence.”

Motorcycle Gloves and a Dog called Inzamam:
Jacob, who lives in Kempton Park, is still designing websites, but also started a new job in October 2008, programming in a Windows environment. He adjusted to his new world quite fast. Jacob also told me that he uses his motorcycle gloves for cooking, since they're thin enough to still be able to feel what he’s doing without really having to worry about getting burnt. Although this is very ingenious of him, I wouldn’t advise trying this at home!

A big black Labrador guide dog named after the great Pakistani cricket player – Inzimam ul Haq, joined Jacob in February 2009. Jacob and Inzamam are already getting along nicely.

On Playing ‘Happy Birthday’:
In his already busy life, Jacob still has time for hobbies! He says that he plays drums as a form of exercise as well as a way to vent his frustrations. Well, at least he’s thought of a melodious way to vent… Jacob also recently acquired a mouth organ which he carries around in his bike jacket. He feels that this is one instrument where being able to see or not, has no impact on your playing of the instrument. He is practising whenever he has time, and has already mastered playing Happy Birthday, although I’m sure a few more interesting songs will be added to his repertoire very soon!

Originally published in Imfama Magazine. The official magazine of the South African National Council for the Blind
PO Box 11149, Hatfield, Pretoria 0028
Web: www.sancb.org.za, E-mail: stacey@sancb.org.za

Integrated Rugby

A couple of Saturday's back I was at KES (King Edward VII School) in Houghton to watch their first team "The Reds" take on Jeppe Boys High - both government schools. KES won with some excellent school boy rugby.

I am no rugby guru but those in the know are saying The Reds this year are the best first team that KES has fielded for many years. Much of that maybe due to the new coach, Carl Spilhaus.

What struck me was that seven of the KES starting 15 were black players. Apparently all 15 are also boarders, but it was the integration of the team that caught my attention. Seeing that the team is so strong this year one can surmise that this is a team chosen on merit. And as such what a really super example of how integration can occur naturally when given time.

These boys were mostly born in 1991. They are children born after Nelson Mandela was released from jail and who started school well after the first democratic elections. If this team is an indication of what is happening in school rugby then we can say that it has taken 15 years, since the 1994 birth of the "new" SA, for integration to get through to matric level sport. If these 18 year olds (white and black) are given support and encouragement some of them can conceivably move on into provincial and eventually national rugby over the next five years. It will then have taken 20 years to achieve natural integration in rugby - just a generation! Without all the aggro that has accompanied the forced, accelerated integration at national level since 1994.

Was pushing integration, with its rumours that players haven't earned their jerseys, really worth it?

Lessons from Barbara Cassani

Today’s thoughts are especially for those of you who are either managers or business owners – and anyone else who is interested.

Yesterday we awoke very early to an extremely cold autumn morning on our small boat on the Vaal Dam. So I climbed back under the duvet for a few hours of great reading. I was reading “Go - An Airline Adventure” by Barbara Cassani. The Sunday Times (probably the UK one) says it is “One of the business reads of the year” and I agree wholeheartedly. In March 1997, Barbara Cassani was asked to set up and run a low cost airline for BA. She turned a profit in three years, led a management buyout and eventually sold the company for £374 million, just four years after its launch.

Surprisingly for a story about a business started with corporate money, this is a story of entrepreneurship. This lady used guts and chutzpah coupled with excellent people skills and sound business analysis to do what very few thought possible. The book is a really enjoyable read whilst at the same time sharing a great deal that we can all learn from.

Some of the points I picked up on:
· The management team of Go were always clear on the company’s purpose – “To be Europe’s best low cost airline. - To provide best prices with the best no-frills service.”

· Barbara (the CEO) stated from the outset that ‘employees must know they matter and customers must get genuine value for money’. And she stuck to this even when it meant some very tough decisions. After 9-11, when other airlines had to lay off staff, Go did not. They had regular GO MAD awards for people who made a difference and all staff received personal thank you’s and birthday messages from the CEO. Go reintroduced pre assigned seating because the normal low cost push and shove method created excessive stress for the traveller.

· At the same time she is a tough, determined, driven lady – no push over. She is a perfect example of what I often speak about - making sure people are treated well does not mean being soft.

· Go demonstrated another of my favourites - marrying human and business needs results in a profitable company with happy people working in it. They had tremendous spirit resulting in staff and management often going much further than the extra mile to handle emergencies. Barbara calls this their Warrior Spirit.

· This Warrior Spirit was part of the culture Barbara and her management team created at Go. It was a culture of all working together to make the company successful. Barbara comments on how there will always be operational glitches in a low cost operation. At these times only with the goodwill of the employees pulls the business through. She says you cannot buy this goodwill. I agree but would add that you can earn it through treating everyone authentically, kindly, fairly, equally but uniquely.

· Barbara’s communication skills really stood out for me. She communicated as openly and as frequently as possible with staff and customers using many methods but mostly verbal – either in person or with podcasts. This was emulated by her management and staff so that when emergencies occurred at airports that were beyond their control, they still managed to keep their customers – because they talked to them!

· She and her team stuck to the company’s values; were high energy; made tough decisions and found creative solutions.

Barbara writes, "Business models don't make profits, people do.
Passion, honesty and emotional commitment to people and the business produces excellence; mediocrity is the result without them."

I think this is a must read for business owners and managers. And this coming long weekend is a great opportunity to snuggle in and read. (The ISBN number is 0 7515 3560 5.)

It's a generational thing

Have you noticed that your attitudes and values are different from that of your parents or grandparents? Perhaps they keep the old wrapping paper to reuse, saying “waste not, want not” and get upset when you change jobs after “only” five years.
If you have children in high school or older do you sometimes clash with them over their attitude or values. Are their friends more important than their own family and would they prefer to send a text message instead of talking face to face?
This is apparently because we belong to different generations.

When I first heard about generational theory I thought it was nonsense. I believed my children differed from me because they were going through a teenage phase, which would pass. And I differed from my mother because we have different personalities. Then I began noticing that the younger staff in our office, were different from myself and colleagues of my age, in some ways that were consistent amongst themselves, regardless of personality.

Unlike many other theories about people this one is not psychological but sociological. And it isn’t new. A 14th Century Bedouin, Ancient Greek writers, Chinese philosophers and the writers of the Old Testament all noted the cyclical nature of history and generational development. However it was really popularised by two Americans, Howe and Strauss, in the 1990’s. Since then our own Graeme Codrington, with his company TomorrowToday, has made it easy for all of us to understand through his talks and his book called “Mind the Gap”.
Graeme explains simply, “Generational theory explains that the era in which a person was born affects the development of their view of the world.” Strauss and Howe point out that “History creates generations and generations create history”.

A generation tends to be about 20 years in length. Because it is bounded by significant events in the country or region the dates can differ from place to place. According to Codrington people in South Africa with the same generational characteristics are 3-5 yrs younger than the same group in the UK and that in turn is 3-5 yrs younger than the same generation in the US. Therefore in total there is up to 10 years difference between SA and the US. This is important when reading articles about the latest generation – the millennium generation. Most of these are written from the States and speak about their place in the workplace. Here in SA those people are just finishing school now and have not yet entered the workplace.

Tonight I would like to briefly look at two of the generations that are very active in our workplace at present: the baby boomers who were born from around 1950 and the Generation Xers who followed them from about 1970 until the end of the 80’s. So for us here that means if you are over 40 years old you are possibly a Boomer and if you are younger then you maybe a Generation Xer.

Those who have studied these two groups in the workplace describe the Boomers as a workaholic generation, driven, goal oriented and bottom line focussed; motivated by vision, mission and strategy. They are principled and optimistic with a leadership style that doesn’t consult much with other generations. They hate ageing hence the booming industry in anti aging products.

On the other hand the Xers look for quick, short term rewards and for a work-life balance. They are informal, self reliant and individualistic. All of which can make them appear arrogant and rebellious. They dislike bossiness and company culture. And they need constant change and experiences. They are sceptical of hype and being “sold” and tend to be more pessimistic.

People born as the generations changeover are called cuspers. According to Codrington they tend to take on the characteristics of one or the other generation but they are comfortable with both. This makes them very good at bridging the gap.

Why is it useful to have some understanding of how generational theory applies to the workplace?
Well differences between people are often a cause of conflict. But if we understand where that difference is coming from it is easier to tolerate and accept it and potential conflict can then be reduced.

Recession?

At a business networking function on Tuesday evening, the guest speaker spoke about a recession and us needing to open our eyes to it. I didn’t see the purpose in that.

I spoke to quite a few people at the dinner who are not feeling pessimistic. They don’t deny that globally a big shake up is taking place. They just don’t feel it is “the end of the world”. In fact one or two said “This is Africa’s time.”

We are not in a recession. Maybe we will still go into one, maybe we won’t. What do we achieve by focusing on the possibility? How does it make us feel any better or prevent it or get us out of it?

The speaker suggested that we shouldn’t be spending money on extravagant luxuries. I agree with that, if the spending means using credit and increasing your debt. As individuals the lesson we can take out of the current circumstances is that debt is a trap. Take small but continual steps to get yourself out of any debt you may already have and don’t create any additional debt without careful consideration.

It seems to me as a lay person that everything in international finance and economics is cyclical. And those cycles benefit some and hinder others. When interest rates are high those with bonds and loans cringe, but pensioners with investments rejoice. Then they come down and the response swings over. When dollars are expensive in rands the importers cry, whilst the exporters rejoice. Despite all the doom and gloom stories there are astute businessmen preparing to make a lot of money right now.

I suggest we each need to find where we can make present circumstances work for us. As an example my work with staff and managers, when embraced, results in increased efficiency and productivity. In tight economic times smart companies realize they can no longer afford to be wasteful with their human resource. They need to be more productive in order to be profitable. I need to capitalize on that. What can you capitalize on?