How Your Culture Affects Your Business. The Yoruba’s Case Study.
Culture is the total way of life. This definition of culture has ever stuck with me since the early days and I will be pardoned to say the same for most people reading this. I’ll also be pardoned to say much of its significance and relevance were abstract even till today.
To understand the power of culture, consider the relationship between a potter and clay. People are the clay and culture is the potter. It molds us with or without our intention. The hierarchical effect of culture tends to heat up as we move from countries to states to cities to communities, organizations, and families. Culture is a strong force, culture dictates ethics and value, culture constructs virtues, culture defeat principles, and as written by a friend, culture eats up strategies. Where there’s no culture, a default catastrophic culture, influenced by personal experience, tribe, family, religion, different across individuals is birthed.
Dissecting culture is not the reason I’m here today. Culture is a deep topic and obviously above the scope of this writing. I’ll recommend a book written by Ben Horowitz #WhatYouDoIsWhoYouAre. An insightful piece that dissected the topic in a practical and relatable way.
Just like you, I’ve made trades with individuals from different tribes in Nigeria, from a petty trader to a corporate partner. As a startup founder who is kin in knowing what makes what works, I’ve observed a certain trend predominant among the Yoruba’s. The essence of this reading is to take a deeper dig at what the trend is, the effect on businesses and why it’s majorly a culture defect.
While I happen to be from the Yoruba tribe which tilted my bias towards the Yoruba case study, this writing is not in any way meant to be or perceived as a tribal insult. Rather, it should be read from the general perspective that our culture, irrespective of the tribe, shapes our views and affects our daily lives. Just as the bushido, the code of the Japanese Samurai allow the warrior rule Japanese for almost 700 years and proceed to incubate that culture in present, modern Japanese(I once read on how this same culture plays a pivotal part on why Toyota could leapfrog its western incumbents, in Ford and GM to become the world’s most valuable car company.) This same culture has shaped the apprenticeship style of the Igbo trade and makes it the world’s largest business incubator.
Don’t get it twisted, no culture even has it 100% pure. While some are mendable (as far as the vision is visibly defined), for some, you just know there’s a design flaw that has mostly undermine its purpose and renders its importance almost to nothing.
For the Yoruba culture, these flaws are most apparent in petty trading, and I’ll be pleased to take you on a short journey of certain events. I know I’m not alone.
Most times when I needed to buy something, my first action usually is to seize up whoever the seller is and the resulting conclusion shapes further conversations. In most cases when the subject happens to be a Yoruba, respect, and care is needed to avoid unnecessary altercations. This attitude has in most cases proven to be a stronghold in keeping these small businesses backward. This is not to say this is the only attribute needed for success, but it’s a vital one. It becomes even more apparent when you compare the operational strategy of a typical Yoruba trader to the Igbos. Although it doesn’t mean the Igbos are purist. They also have their problem of scale which is somewhat a culture defect but I leave that for another to demystify. Likewise, it doesn’t mean no Yoruba succeeds in business, a lot do. Many have evolved the cultural defect and those who haven’t but offer good products will thrive. At least, for a while.
So back to our main discussion, what is the problem with the Yorubas and why is this prevalent? Simple answer, it’s the culture; Long answer, In case you’ve forgotten, culture is a strong force that eats up its subjects. To better understand what’s going on under the hood, we need to say a bit about the wonderful Yoruba culture itself. But before we begin, it’s important to understand something about the culture; No culture evolves by accident. Any culture that spans years or outlives generations always has a course, a why and in some cases when a culture has no course, it is formed as a result of the behavioral effects of its people. The Yoruba empire was historically known to have been formed by 2 powerful deities, Orunmila and Obatala. Obatala was said to have created humans out of clay while Orunmila will go on to become the first king of the land. The deity nature of Orunmila stood him out among ordinary humans and accord him the respect of the gods. Humans fear the consequence of disobedient towards these deities and wouldn’t even dare to stare them in the eye. Respect and Honesty are always key when in dialogue to avoid any rot. Subsequent kings inherit this acclaim, and it’s no coincidence that every Yoruba king is referred to as “Ikeji Leyin Orisha (The second in command to the gods)”. Everyone revels this position mainly because of the accord, the respect and the power it bestows and would do anything to cling in. Respect became a way of life, a culture, an ethic. Without any doubt, a culture built on the platform of respect would in any day defile any odd, build allies and defeat even the strongest of enemies. However, one with design flaws will fade, fall and fail to see its vision. In my opinion, the Yoruba culture became buggy and naturally tilted itself away from its intention if any or maybe fails to define a vision for its existence.
Just like the Japanese culture created a shocking rule that defines their ethics and guides their modern development, Just like Toussaint Louverture, the only man in the history of slavery that led the successful slave revolt, urges his army to make decisions that demonstrate priority. We need to create rules that define how our culture will shapes our existence and put us in driving seat of global economic growth.
