Thus Spaketh Idd Salim

Failure is good. Embrace it

It is really sad. But it is the story of my life. And someone has got to tell it. And who better to tell my story than me. So, here we go.

It is started with the lethargic 8-4-4 system. I was (and still am) surrounded by people bred to know and understand that FAILURE is never an option and is punishable by the most severe forms of retribution.

Ofcourse, being me, I got all A’s in KCPE and then joined Starehe where failed miserably in KCSE getting a pathetic B. Yes, I know, alot of C+ and D- readers are already laughing. And that is the topic for today.

We are in a society where you are not allowed to fail.

A society where D- and C students laugh at the B+ and A’s daily struggles and desire to be UNIQUE and NOT normal. I am OK with that. I LOVE winners. But do you want to know who I LOVE most? People who failed, trying to be different. People who put their best foot forward and gave an opportunity their best shot, fell down on their face and failed miserably. This breed of people were laughed upon and called names by their peers and colleagues. “Join us and be a successful mediocre”, the peers advised.

But ohh, no! Not this breed. The got up, dusted themselves and put their chin up. Put on their best foot forward again and said, THIS IS IT! They used the wisdom got from their previous BAD and SHAMEFUL failures and said, Never again. They took on another opportunity. Worked day and night and told their peers to watch that space. And guess what happened? They failed again. Miserably. And again. And Again.

These muthafokaz that I am talking about have balls of steel and clits of diamond. They never back down. Some of their peers who thought they were strong gave up and ‘flew out’ or ‘got employed’ or ‘moved on’. But not the breed I am talking about. They know what they are doing and they understand the objective. Lose a bishop and a few pawns. But a check-mate is just 2 moves ahead.

Thomas Edison was allowed to fail 10, 000 times. We never allow our thinkers more than HALF a failure. Silicon Valley has a culture of allowing people to FAIL. That is why we have the Googles, Facebooks and Twitters of this eWorld.

We all become masters and fully proficient gurus after we reach the tipping point. After 10, 000 hours of working on something. Statistically, the average entreprenuer breaks even and becomes SUCCESSFUL after AT LEAST 3 failures. In Africa/Kenya we kill our next Edisons after their first failure. Ignoring the lessons. Failure is a chisel we must all be cut to shape with. It is a furnace we must all be moulded by. There are no options, if you want TRUE independence.

I have been asked alot. What happened to the M-Pesa API, to Xema, to SIM-Backup, to Zunguka, to TechMataa. Some, I shelved because the time was not right. Some were super-ceded by other projects that, once complete, will make the former better and more lucrative. I know, some of you are confused by that statement. Some are saying, “Ahhh, kumbe”. Chess vs Checkers.

But you should not expect everyone to understand the Chess Moves of a meticulous planner, while all they are used to is the straight-forward pussy-game of checkers. That is why then someone asks me, ‘What are you working on’, I cringe. I would explain it to you, but your brain would explode.

I know I speak for a lot of people, then I talk about being judged and questioned daily by people who have not accomplished ANYTHING themselves in this life, apart from a pathetic time-bombed 5/6-digit paycheck, monthly. The breed of people who, when they die, it is as if they NEVER existed. No legacy. Nothing to change the world/country/village. Just another dispensable employee.

But then again, maybe that is their role in this ecosystem. Maybe they were born to give us people to prove points to. Maybe they were born to laugh down at us and bring out the ‘Acha Nitakuonyesha’ monster in us.

Back to code.

Wazi.