حکمت سازمانی در ۱۰۰ ضرب‌المثل آفریقایی: مقدمه‌ای بر پارمیولوژی سازمانی

I was assigned the section on development studies. The major finding I can remember from the assessment was that the number of African authors resident on the continent were the least, almost insignificant category. Today, nothing much has changed. African authors living on the continent remain the least category on personal and organizational development materials on the continent. As a result, Africa still lacks her own voice and people who can speak to her on issues facing the continent and the world as an African contribution to international issues today. To be truly effective, organizations in Africa must evolve a home grown system of organization that suits their culture and heritage. Direct copying of ideas from Northern or Eastern cultures will not work. We will greatly benefit if we build on the organizational advancements from these areas but they will only work for us if we contextualize them. When we build this organizational system, the people in the North and East will also benefit by getting insights from us that they can contextualize in their situations. This crossfertilization of ideas is what is needed for synergy in an environment where the whole world is becoming one global village. Using the wisdom contained in African proverbs to promote organizational knowledge and practice presents an unlimited and timeless way of understanding organizational effectiveness in an era of continuous change. Related to the above is the scantiness of comprehensive and relevant resources to help organizational leaders and consultants manage effective organizational change processes. As already pointed out, there are so many resources on different aspects of project management. There are far less resources, in relative terms, on organizational development especially as they relate to developing countries and their contexts in general. As a result, organizations in developing countries have to borrow frameworks and models from America and Europe. The book uses the indigenous wisdom contained in African proverbs to awaken organizational consciousness appropriate for the age of organizational wisdom and show how organizations can go ## 1. Bringing an Indigenous Wisdom Based Organization Development (Organizational Paremiology) awareness to organizational leaders and change agents 2. Presenting an African Proverbs based approach and frameworks to facilitating OD processes in organizations to all types of organizations worldwide. ## 3. Demonstrating that the wisdom contained in African Proverbs can contribute positively to modern life in general. ## What are Proverbs? Proverbs are an integral part of African culture. They are simple statements with deep meaning. They are sentences edited from long experiences. They are guidelines for individual, family and village behaviour, built upon repeated real life experiences and observations over time. Proverbs are a mirror through which a people look at themselves --a stage for expressing themselves to others. A proverb is the mirror of the community. The way people think and look at the world, their culture, values, behaviours, aspirations and preoccupations can immediately be understood by looking at their proverbs. While Africa has many languages and cultures, proverbs offer them common ground. The same proverbs recur in similar forms in almost all African languages and societies. Some state facts from a people's history, customs and practices; others express philosophical thoughts, beliefs and values. Yet, they make communication instantly possible, irrespective of differences in geographic origin and cultural backgrounds. Proverbs are the common property of Africans because they are ascribed to wisdom of all the ancestors. A preceding statement like "so said the ancestors" accords the proverb its unquestionable authority. • Proverbs are like seeds. They only become 'alive' when they are 'sown'. They are simple statements until applied to real life situations, bringing them to life and expanding their meaning. • By being metaphorical, proverbs create strong mental pictures. This is a great tool for motivating people to action. ## The Audience of the Book This book is meant to be a resource for raising organizational consciousness among organizational stakeholders interested in organizational capacity building namely (e.g., board members, managers, staff wishing to improve the performance of their organizations and donors). It is also meant to be a toolkit for OD practitioners and other consultants. In addition, it will make good leisure reading for those interested in indigenous wisdom and how it can be creatively applied to improve organizational performance and modern life in general. The book will be of particular value to volunteers and expatriates working in or coming to work in Africa and other developing regions; students and teachers of (organizational) development or African studies; and all development practitioners. The humour in the African proverbs can be a good way of managing stress which is so common arising from the increasing pressures of modern life. The book, therefore, makes general good reading for anybody. This is the essence of Organizational Paremiology. The book is divided into eight chapters. The first chapter presents an overview and a framework of the African Proverbs Based Organization Development (Organizational Paremiology) process upon which the subsequent chapters are built. The successive chapters then build on this by explaining in detail the different components of the Organizational paremiology process and presenting proverbs based tools for organisational improvement. The second chapter discusses organizational assessments as the first step of the Organizational paremiology process. The chapter presents the assessment model and process. The subsequent chapter discusses interventions that can be implemented following an organizational assessment. Since no organization can rise above the level and quality of people it employs, the third chapter discusses self-development. Chapter four discusses how organizations can ensure healthy relationships among the people in the organization through developing teams and team spirit, managing conflict and managing power and conflict. The chapter also discusses how to ensure effective inter-organizational relationships. The fifth chapter discusses the importance of strategic positioning for organizations. It discusses the strategic planning process and characteristics of effective strategies. It finally discusses the importance of linking organizational activities to the strategic plan of the organization. The sixth chapter discusses how to ensure an effective organizational structure. The seventh discusses how to ensure effective organizational policies, systems and procedures for an organization. It discusses the major policies, systems and procedures needed in an organization and what determines what policies an organization needs. The last chapter concludes the book by discussing how the OD or Organizational paremiology process can be practically and effectively managed in an organization. Michael Hammer (2003) starts his book The Agenda by observing that, "to write a business book today takes confidence that verges on foolhardiness. The business world changes so quickly that a book is likely to be irrelevant by the time it appears; one extolling innovation How does the following proverb teach about the importance of looking beyond financial and material resources and skills and competences in building organizational capacity?