Now that is a question that feels as if it was first asked in the 1600's, and I appreciate the original version was, but not the one relating to the Brexit Referendum that took place just three years ago!
Who would have thought that William Shakespeare’s Hamlet could have so aptly described the inexplicable place we, within the UK, find ourselves with Brexit doing the Hokey Kokey. You’re probably thinking has Ammar gone mad, what is he talking about? At times I think that myself. But in all honestly it isn’t the uncertainty that is killing our nation, it is the indecisiveness. Yes, I admit that uncertainty has a big part to play, but if we knew either way as to what was happening we could start planning and preparing for Brexit.
Many moons ago in the heyday of IBM AS400 computing, I had a boss as I first started off in IT, who found it very hard to make decisions. A bit odd, upon reflection, particularly for someone leading a team, but that’s just the way he was. The indecision not only stopped projects from starting but then equally impacted on them finishing which in a technical environment was the worst scenario there could be.
I remember being sent to Safeway for lunch yes that’s how long ago it was and then being told to call him from there and run through the sandwich offer. It would take five minutes to get to the shop, 30 minutes for him to choose the sandwich and then five minutes to get back. In turn I was only left with five minutes to have my lunch, as we only got 45 minutes at the time.
Roll forward nearly three decades and on occasions I offer the wife the choice of takeaway, which then leads to a massive debate, lots of indecision, me getting Hangry and then ending up with a rubbish choice of food as we all try to make compromises to please one another and end up pleasing no-one! What’s the point of these examples of indecisions? Frozen.
Well we look to leaders to lead and appoint them to make the decisions based on their experience and expertise. When there is no reference material then we expect them to know and do the right thing. But when no one is leading then everyone and everything stops, there is no progress. Trying to please all of the people all of the time ends up with no one being happy. Brexit is a complex and curious state of affairs. Not something I admit to know the detail of or can fathom out. Having spoken to numerous people about this carry-on, as it appears, and regardless of how people voted, people just want it all to come to an end and for us all to move on.
Will it ever end, who knows, one thing is for sure, regardless of what happens on the 31st October we will all still be here getting on with our lives. And now should we order Chinese or Indian for supper…? PS Congratulations to all of the finalists and Female AWEsome Leaders for the ABC Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony taking place on the 3rd October. Visit www.abconnexions.org for more info.
Ammar Mirza CBE is the founder and chairman of Asian Business Connexions, Board member of North East LEP and holds various other positions across the private, public and third sectors.
