Professor helps Botwana's civil service run smoothly

Botswana sits at roughly the opposite point on the globe from Alberta, and yet the gulf between the two places spans more than mere distance. The critical distinctions are perhaps better measured in culture and time, says Dr. Marvin Washington.

"The average city in Botswana looks something like Grande Prairie in northern Alberta, or most other small cities you'll find in North America. But the big difference between here and there is not one you can easily see. With Botswana you're dealing with a very young country. Think of it like Canada in 1908," he says.

Few people can discuss Botswana with greater insight than Washington. The University of Alberta Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation professor has visited the landlocked, southern African nation more than a dozen times since he was hired in 1999 to help organize branches of its government.

Washington's work on the other side of the world began shortly after he earned a PhD from the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University. A former business colleague from his, Stephen Hacker, had made a presentation at a conference in South Africa, where impressed officials from nearby Botswana asked him to help them modernize their government. Hacker agreed and asked Washington, an expert in strategic management and leadership, to join him.

The two men began working for Botswana on a three year contract. Nearly a decade later, they are still engaged with the young nation, working with leaders in the education system and the police force, among other branches of their government. Washington believes the project's overrun is a mark of its success and complexity.

"Botswana broke peacefully from British colonial rule in 1966. At that time, they developed a 50 year plan to achieve a lot of great things, like free, universal health care, high educational standards and low crime rates. They've done really well, but they've also got a long way to go," Washington explains, adding that he knew next to nothing about Botswana before its government hired him.

A good part of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert, but the nation has been relatively stable and prosperous, mainly due to a deal it struck with the DeBeers diamond company when Botswana seceded from Britain. The arrangement has provided a steady source of jobs and revenue generation that continues today.

"They have some wealth and some grand ideas there, but they have trouble translating that into action and results," Washington says. "For example, when they want to motivate their government managers in the past, they wouldn't simply give them a book by Stephen Covey, they would actually bring Covey to Botswana and give a certificate to everyone who spends time with him. The problem is, giving out all those autographed books and certificates didn't help them reach their goals or make their systems work any better."

Washington sees his job in Botswana as more of a facilitator than an instructor. He tries to help them develop their own organizations rather than tell them what a "good" organization should look like. For example, when he works with police officials, he doesn't help them devise strategies to catch more bad guys; instead, he asks them questions to help them view their challenges from a broader perspective.

A growing issue in Botswana is crime attributed to disgruntled, hungry refugees spilling over the border from neighboring Zimbabwe. Washington is helping the police to see that simply reacting to the situation-putting more officers in border towns, for example-may not help them reach their long term goals as much as "getting out in front" of the problem, and trying to think of creative ways to help the refugees before they get violent.

However, Washington knows simply preaching the virtues of being proactive won't necessarily lead to lower crime rates, especially when you're working in a congested, bureaucratic environment.

"In Botswana, a lot of people have been working in the same job they were assigned to when the country became independent in 1966. That's the way it works there. If you get a job, that's what you do for the rest of your life. It's not like Canada today, where you can change careers and try new things until you find something you're more suited for and passionate about," Washington says.

In this sense, Washington's goal in Botswana requires nothing less than the instigation of a cultural shift-shining a light to help the government officials find their way to the developed world, which means more than the construction of new buildings and roads.

"We try to help them see that if they or their employees are not passionate about helping their organization reach their goals, then there are a lot of other important jobs they could be doing. Maybe they'd like being a farmer. Botswana needs farmers. So, people in Botswana need to know it's okay to make changes if that's what they want to do, and that's the type of thinking we're trying to promote there," Washington says.

When Washington talks about making changes, he speaks from personal experience. He joined the U of A sports management program in 2006 to combine his interest in sports and strategic management and leadership. He is currently working on a number of research projects, including a historical analysis of the development of collegiate sports in Canada, and contrasting this with the way collegiate sports developed in the U.S.

"My approach to things-and this transcends the work I'm doing in Botswana and here at the U of A-is to go out and find something you're passionate about, and when you do that, you'll be able to achieve great things and help others," he says.