Editor’s note: Zanele Njapha, an international transitions facilitator and future of work speaker who helps companies navigate organizational changes and step confidently into the new world of work, will be a keynote speaker at ISACA Conference Africa 2022, to take place 20-21 July. Njapha recently visited with ISACA Now to discuss her quirky nickname, her views on entrepreneurship and organizational change, and more. The following is an edited transcript of the conversation:
ISACA Now: You have an interesting nickname, “The UnLearning Lady” – how did you come to acquire that?
When I started working to support organizations’ transition into new ways of working, my positioning was as an “UnLearning Expert.” So, helping teams let go of outdated ways of seeing, doing and being.
In 2020, I continued with this positioning, but I rebranded my look and cut my hair. This impacted my brand slightly, as all my branding still displayed me with a big afro. After the change, clients were somewhat confused if it was still me and began saying they wanted the “unlearning lady with the big hair.”
After assuring them that it was still me, I picked that name up and never looked back.
ISACA Now: What prompted your interest in entrepreneurship?
When I was 8 years old, my mother turned my sister and I into little entrepreneurs. We sold chips and sweets to other pupils at our school.
Sadly, I would always come up short during cash-up, as I would consistently dig into my stock during snack times and didn’t understand how the money management all worked.
From then on, I’ve started a range of businesses and deeply believe in the power of entrepreneurship to support and boost the global economy, but also bring hope to millions of previously disadvantaged homes.
ISACA Now: Have advancements in the emerging tech landscape in recent years made entrepreneurship more accessible, more complex, or both?
I’d say both. Both have been significantly supercharged. You look at how quickly the average person can register a business compared with just five years ago – it’s extremely exciting.
It points to infrastructure and an environment where entrepreneurs are excited to start, test, grow and fail. All are such key parts of being a business owner.
Two thoughts on this:
- Regarding the accessibility, yes, digital advancements have made entrepreneurship more accessible, but this means we’ve realized just how little tech we need. Previously, you’d need to dedicate an entire room to just your desktop computer (that at first we didn’t believe we needed to run a business). Accessibility has also shown us that with just a smartphone, we can register, start and grow our enterprises with global partnerships and get access to various markets. Having said that, though, we still have a significant chunk of our global population that could better position their informal businesses, were tech just a little bit more accessible. I guess it’s still quite relevant, especially in an unequal world.
- On the part of complexity, I’d say tech has gotten complex just to make business simple. Processes, systems and tools have a pretty complex back end that allows the front-end user to have a simpler and more user-friendly journey through personalization and user-friendly specs. In my personal view, it’s never been more simple and complex to integrate tech into business. Quite the exciting paradox of our times!
ISACA Now: What are some of the common mistakes companies make when implementing big organizational changes?
- They Rarely (if ever) Reminisce Together
As leaders, your team needs to know you also sometimes miss the way things used to be because, honestly, you do. I like to believe there is a thin line between missing or reminiscing with appreciation and longing for the past.
Teams often buy into the idea that their leaders are 100 percent sold on the change and have absolutely no attachment to the old way of being or doing. This is a lie and it’s important to demystify it by speaking honestly with them about what you miss about the way it used to be. I recommend this be done humorously with an upbeat energy, as it can very easily turn sour and nostalgic.
- They don’t tell their teams why.
Why is the change the best thing for them? Not for the company, but for their personal goals, visions and dreams.
When companies I work with are able to help their people link the organizational change to their own growth plans and dreams, truly phenomenal things happen.
Individuals are able to rally behind intensive changes, innovate and collaborate in unseen ways because they finally understand why the change will benefit their deepest desires and purpose beyond the profitability of the organization.
ISACA Now: How much progress do you think there has been in addressing some of the gender disparities in the tech workforce, and what needs to happen to make even greater strides going forward?
I believe there has been progress made – nowhere near enough, but definitely a great start. I love Sheryl Sandberg’s (Meta COO) quote, “One day there won’t be women leaders, just leaders.” I don’t think we’re there yet though.
One of the hindrances to this progress and what adds complexity to this conversation is that gender disparities and issues around this go far beyond the workplace and even tech itself. It’s societal and systemic. So much so, that when our young children (male, female, gender-neutral or nonbinary) come from a world and society that still restricts their capacity, there’s only so much that organizations can do. Having said that, though, there is certainly a role we can play in shifting those societal perspectives and norms.
Some great things I’ve seen clients and other organizations do are shifts like building an organizational culture that allows all talent to equally access resources and leadership opportunities and creating forums and platforms for conversations on how the company can support their gender-diverse talent in more personalized ways.
But a great place to start is always conversation and realizing that building inclusive work cultures and environments starts with listening to what our talent desires and deeply needs, and then co-creating that with them, so they can own this agenda, support it and watch it flourish.