General Description
ImagiNation aims to generate thought-leadership and action on how to build broad prosperity in South Africa. It forms part of the Dialogue-Circle, a series of programmes, at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Johannesburg), within which emerging and senior leadership in business, government and civil society interact to build a better national future.

ImagiNation members come from middle and senior management in business, government and civil society. They work in areas such as strategic planning, BEE, CSR, sustainability, new products for poorer communities, industry-specific policy development or similar areas.

They engage during the course of the year around key themes such as Black Economic Empowerment, the ‘Second’ and Informal Economy, Small Business Development and try to mainstream some more creative ideas.

ImagiNation represents an opportunity to gain a better understanding of socio-economic realities that shape corporate strategy; it ensures that participants are up to date with latest thinking on how to build an inclusive economy and provides a space for them to learn how to better contribute to the further upliftment of the country.

Process
In celebrating our first ten years of democracy it is clear that political freedom for all has not yet translated into economic freedom for most. An economic divide still runs through South Africa. and creating sustainable broad prosperity is a key leadership challenge of the next ten years.

I was approached by the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) through Colleen Magner, who is a member of Pioneers of Change, in the middle of 2004 to assist in the conceptualization of this project. The brief was “What can GIBS do to significantly contribute towards building an inclusive growing economy in our country?”

I had been working in rural development for a number of years as a consultant and was looking for a new challenge involving national issues.

I started to look at how GIBS could contribute to building a broadly prosperous South Africa and together we conceived the GIBS ImagiNation Programme. This is our first year running the programme and for most participants the experience has been hugely beneficial. It is early days yet.

I have learned much about how to design transformative learning experiences for senior executives around this key issue. I have a better understanding of the key challenges and opportunities that face the economy of our nation.

I have many questions…

• In a post cold war ideological vacuum where right is right, is there an alternative to the race to the social and environmental bottom? And how do we navigate this road without compromising our values.
• To what extent can each of us make a difference with our limited spheres of influence? And to what extent can personal transformation take us there?
• In a country with 40% unemployment, is high speed economic growth the only answer?
• How will Africa deal with China? Is their an African answer to Africa’s economic problems?
• Do our own internal challenges around healing the past disadvantage us in a WTO free-trade world or could they provide a national competitive edge?
• What is economic value? Is it indicated by stock exchange performance? Is it about more work for more people? When does economic value align with social value?

I think that bringing new ideas to life requires support, compromise and personal commitment.

I am lucky in being supported by an amazing internal team on ImagiNation and by the environment at GIBS. I have realized that we cannot achieve all things to all people. Some will be disappointed. I am small in a big world but impact can still be significant. I am also completely committed to the success of this programme and economic transformation in my country.

It is a local cliché but it is true: South Africa is “Alive with Possibility”. I have come to realize that my passion is this country and her people. It is what gets me out of bed on Monday morning and makes me work late into the Friday night. I want to help process the issues of her past, build her present and dream her future, and I want to walk her streets and her mountains. I want to work under her sun and her rain. I cannot imagine being anywhere else.

May 2005

www.gibs.co.za/imagination

e-mail Anthony Prangley

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