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M U T

S P I R I T

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J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 2 0

In 2018 we chose to focus our 7th MUT Empowered

Administrators’ Conference on the theme of “Embracing

the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Setting the tone at

the conference, I drew attention to the reality of people

losing their jobs due to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

I spoke about the shock an office administrator would

feel on being told she or he is redundant. I asked

what happens to someone with over 15 years’ work

experience whose responsibilities will now be performed

by machines or absorbed by other employees. As a

way of finding solutions, I looked at how best we as

employees could start preparing to multi-task and work

anywhere. I may have sounded like an alarmist at the time. Yet in less than two years, we

have found ourselves in a predicament that once seemed fairly far away.

In retrospect, I wish we had taken this theme further

and spoken about equipping ourselves to become

more techno-savvy and more wired to perform our

duties optimally, from anywhere. Today, I pen my

thoughts in a world we never envisaged we would

experience: LockdownSA. We are not alone in this;

the entire world is in lockdown as a result of a brutal

but invisible enemy.

I still watch the news, all channels from 400 to 406,

and I am faced with the grief of the departed souls

who I believe are resting in peace. I grieve even

more for those still left behind, like you and I. Are we

embracing a new way of working or are we waiting for

the lockdown to vanish and go back to our old ways?

Are we ready for the fast-changing world of the Fourth

Industrial Revolution?

Unfortunately, there is no more turning back. The

events of the past four weeks have shown us that

digital transformation has to become a part of our

culture – it is no longer a luxury. Look back at the

very first industrial revolution and imagine how the

ancestors felt about abandoning the Stone Age. Our

transition is more brutal because it has come with

such speed and a high human cost – yet there is also

much to be gained if we embrace the transformation.

Having spent the entire period of Lockdown working

as if things were normal, I can conclude that the fears

we expressed in 2018 about embracing the Fourth

Industrial Revolution, now need to be addressed.

Some of the things I have had to navigate on my own

include managing and locating various data, and

understanding the power of online collaborations.

(Believe me, the documents that my colleagues and

I shared in the Cloud helped us to do so much and to

trust one another.)

Moving into this new culture of adapting to work in

the digital space, I have learned that planning my

week, days and hours is more important than ever

before. There are many distractions in the house but

a culture of prioritisation has prevailed. I have learned

in the space of three weeks what would have taken far

longer without the lockdown, and this has reminded

me how truly adaptable we are as people. While the

new world may look daunting, we need not fear – we

will survive together, and we will even thrive if we have

the right spirit and mind set.

I hope this issue of the

MUT Spirit

inspires you along

your own transformation journey. We have a great

human – and institutional – spirit to be proud of.

From the Editor-in-Chief

Mbali Mkhize