Leading a country, a business and even a sports team is not an easy task. In the “olden days”, the king or emperor would lead his soldiers into battle risking his life at the forefront of the fighting. Those who would be king could not be weak or indecisive as the consequences were dire. Similarly, the CEO of a successful company or the captain of a winning sports team must lead from the front and be able to decide to change strategy when an initial strategy is failing. Decisive leadership not necessarily group consensus is a mark of success. Recent reports reflect the frustration of business leaders with the indecisiveness…
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National Health Insurance in South Africa … will logic prevail?
Following my last post describing an analogy between the space shuttle disasters and the possibility of a system failure following the envisaged implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) in South Africa my thoughts have returned to what I wrote in March 2022. This post reflected on the alternatives to what is proposed in the South African model of NHI. As I wrote then since 1994 the divide between those who have the ability to afford what in South Africa is termed private healthcare and those dependent on the State operated Public Health Service for the provision of healthcare has regrettably grown. The widening gap cannot be laid at the door…
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National Health Insurance … potential for system failure?
I recently read about the two disasters affecting the American Space Shuttles. The Challenger exploded shortly after launch in 1985 while the Columbia was destroyed 20 years ago over Texas on its 2003 return to earth after a 16-day mission. In both cases an accident investigation board (AIB) was established to investigate the causes of the disasters and make recommendations to address what had occurred. In the case of Challenger, a faulty o-ring on one of the solid rocket booster rockets, due to the abnormally cold weather during the launch, lead to flames leaking from the rocket igniting a catastrophic explosion in the shuttle’s external fuel tank destroying of the space…