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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