Discipline - The Over-Flogged Horse.

In the light of the indiscipline and chaos reported at this year’s Ghana Nation Service Scheme registration, the question that arises is what accounts for the chaos. The quick response of many is one word “indiscipline”. I feel the word is over-flogged and an excuse for our many systemic failures.

Laws were created to enforce discipline right? If people would not "naturally" misconduct themselves would there be need for laws?

If you expect that because you have established laws people will automatically comply, your society will never fix its discipline problems because the laws were made by man and when we choose and given sufficient pressure we can break them.

You need to do something more to make it attractive to comply with the law and order, and that is the basic understanding most people who are quick to blame a misconduct on indiscipline are missing. 

Discipline or indiscipline are intangibles we do not control so the create the perfect target for our failings. Systems and processes however are tangibles that hinge on us so we steer away from allocating blame to them.

If you do not put in place the design, processes, systems and structures to make the law capable of being complied with and harder to break, it will get broken and over and over again when the opportunity presents itself. 

What makes one and the same person comply to law at location A but break it at location B? Reflect on that.

Comments

DECODING THE MYSTERY OF THE GHANAIAN MECHANIC & TECHNICIAN

Ghanaian mechanics and technicians tend to have a terrible reputation. Prior to the country gaining the uncomfortable reputation of becoming an e-waste dump site, many vehicles and devices have ended their useful life here. Many vehicles and gadgets have gone to their grave-yard in the hands of the Ghanaian mechanic and technician. Fitting shop in Ghana - Photo credit N. Ojewska. It is shocking when someone goes to the hospital seemingly healthy but never returns. However, this is a common fate for many gadgets and equipment in Ghana. So what exactly is the problem? What makes the Ghanaian mechanic or technician so stereotypically terrible at their job. After years of dealing with Ghanaian mechanic and repairers it has become quite clear to me what the fundamental problem accounting for their inefficiency in the large majority of repair cases is. While we have common tendencies such as taking things for granted and "trusting God", using crude tools, general ove...

THE GHANAIAN DREAM

We originally published this on ModernGhana.com on 1 June 2012 I call it 'the Ghanaian Dream'; what the average citizen of Ghana aspires for. The imagery associated with this article was an attempt to define a concrete measurable objective or criteria within which the performance of the politician could be measured, not only that but also a clear target that the political leader must aspire to meet; a milestone, a yardstick. The premise for this is my observation that people cannot really objectively see or measure the performance of the political leader unless there is a measurable target which they (the politician) must attain at every point in time. This target must be clear within the minds of the citizen and must be seen to be generally agreed upon by the majority of citizens. Call it a national policy frame work but not quite that, just an ordinary summary of the most common aspirations of individual citizens, such as accommodation, transport, job, leisure, child...

Change Ghana

Search This Blog