Life According to One: Disrupting the Sameness of Things
Have you ever heard the phrase “Shit stinks but its warm”? It’s a firm favourite, especially in these times of apathy. We easily get used to low expectations because it is good enough; it’s warm. We don’t resist or fight back; we accept things because that’s the way they are. We’ve sold ourselves short, we no longer want to excel just in case our excellence draws too much attention or acclaim, or maybe because we have decided that sameness and mediocrity are the new standard. I believe we have become way too comfortable with the sameness of life, we are apathetic and now live in a world where “fine” is good enough. I have often been in conversations where phrases like ”It’s good by Kenyan standards” float by unfettered, not realizing the damage they cause. As if Kenyans will accept below par products and services because they originated in the country. Do we accept less out of apathy or laziness? Every year, we throw around brand Kenya slogans like “proudly Kenyan” but what are we proud of if we are comfortable with mediocrity? What does it do to the national psyche if people do not care enough to strive for more? Our sense of national pride can only be a deflated one and our individual sense of worth low. We strive for our accomplishments to be measured against standards far below what we can achieve or imagine. How frightening is it to set a bar so low that our own aspirations are suppressed? Thank goodness for disruptors who look at the rot and who want more because for them warm is not good enough.
All disruptors are innovators. All disruptors ask questions and the best disruptors raise new questions. They look at things and decide to add, up-cycle, recycle, mould, build and change how we think, live, work and interact. When they start to create, their contributions are not always welcome. They are changing the status quo, altering the way things are done and sometimes even create a need where there wasn’t one before. Imagine the invention of the wheel and its subsequent incorporation into transport, what a disruption that must have been to horse riders and walking laymen everywhere. Someone dared to imagine that there was a more efficient way to travel, what of the cost or risk or speed? The ancient Sumerian disruptors who first created the wheel as a means of transportation must have caused quite a stir in the Sumerian society and quite possibly an uprising (led by camel sellers) that saw their way of life irrevocably changing. I think it is true in any society that no matter how beneficial the innovation might be, it is heralded by harsh criticism. 60 years ago, the status quo in Kenya was colonisation. It was the way things were. When disruptors asked for more, people told them to keep quiet because life was good enough. But good enough was not good enough and the disruptors grew and formed organisations that fought for Independence. The administration of the time imprisoned, tortured and even killed some of the dissidents. But without these disruptors, where would we be now? Decades later, Kenya was governed by a one party dictatorship, with no democratic process. A new generation of disruptors stood up to the system of the time, advocated for the peoples’ right to choose and democracy was born. Disruptors have shaped history. It is their purpose.
I recently watched “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” and the character played by Tim Robbins says; “In times such as ours, however, when there is too much order, too much management, too much programming and control, it becomes the duty of superior men and women to fling their favourite monkey wrenches into the machinery. To relive the repression of the human spirit, they must sow doubt and disruption.” I used to think that we had no disruptors in our generation but I was wrong. We live in an age of micro-disruption. Now, there are disruptors in every field, changing the dimensions of their world. In fashion, architecture, film, music and technology, creators introduce new, note worthy inventions that sow doubt and disruption. Sometimes the idea is not new but the process itself changes the way things are done. The disruptor excels as a result of their inherent interaction with their community. Disruptors become synonymous with change for the betterment of the community and the idea fits well into our African ethos. Although we often comment on how diverse and different Africa is, we still share a common ethos across the continent, the idea of umoja or a distinct oneness that draws us together in a Harambee spirit. We disrupt not for individual gain but with the idea of propelling society. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Theresa Izay has created seven-foot high traffic robots that not only police traffic but also tell the pedestrians when it is safe to cross. The newer model robots also play songs to pedestrians reminding them about traffic regulations. These robots have reduced the number of accidents and minimized traffic.
The most exciting disruptors are those who upset the top down system where products, information and services trickle down to the public. Now, new grassroots products and systems have been introduced causing social unrest and forcing administrations to react to what the people want. New technology has allowed ways to create community-policing systems that react in real time. Apps on your phone can now advise on which matatus are safest, which institutions are most corrupt and even which roads have the least traffic. This activist type disruption puts the power into people’s hands, allowing them to be the ultimate administrators of their own lives. Of all the grassroots organisations, social media is one of the most disruptive and active forces. Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) has become a nationalistic force that can poke fun at its own people, condemn governments and hold international media houses accountable. Despite a perceived lack of unified national identity, KOT has created a pack of watchdogs united in tormenting political blunders or social irregularities and keeping outsiders in check. They have not only disrupted views on National cohesion in Kenya but also changed the way the world views Kenyans.
Disruptors are necessary in every society. They push us forward and challenge the status quo and while not everyone should be a disruptor, everyone should participate in an act of disruption, be it in their work, or in the love lives or what they think, we should embrace the power of disruption. We should ask new questions that force a new perspective. We should allow the madness of love to change the way we live. Disruption comes in many shapes, from the macro disruptors who change history and whose names are recorded in books to the more mundane disruptors who choose discomfort over familiarity. It doesn’t take much to be a disruptor, just a love for more, a vision of beauty and a commitment to change. We must find ways to move forward boldly into the unknown with the ambition to change what has been and embrace the possibilities of what we can become. Welcome disruptors, rise up against what is comfortable because warm is not good enough.
By Wanuri Kahiu For more musings Follow @Wanuri on Twitter
