05 May A tale of two border posts

At WorldsView Academy, our 2026 theme is Practical Management.

In January, we reclaimed management as a serious craft. In February, we explored the manager’s role in organisational design. In March, we looked at managers as decision-makers. Now, as we build toward our 20 May Conversation Café, we turn to a new question: why do performance conversations so often fail to improve performance?

I have just returned from a road trip through Zimbabwe.

Sumantra Ghoshal once wrote about “the smell of the place” – the way an environment shapes energy, behaviour, and possibility. He contrasted the oppressive weight of one setting with the lightness and vitality of another. On this trip, I experienced something similar.

A tale of two border posts.

Two systems, separated by a bridge. The same people moving through both.

On one side, the experience is heavy. The infrastructure is worn and uncared for. Dirty. The environment feels neglected. Baboons roam the parking lot, with a sign warning you about them. Unkempt officials sit eating while processing documents. There is little eye contact. Passports are handled carelessly. The queues are long, slow, and poorly managed. A young assistant curls up in a corner on her phone, disengaged from the chaos around her.

On the other side, the experience is entirely different. As you enter, a bar-coded slip is issued. The process is clearly marked. Officials are uniformed and attentive. There is eye contact, and people wish you well on your journey. Movement is tracked digitally from station to station. Vehicle licence numbers appear on a screen as you progress. The system is clean, visible, and efficient. People move with a sense of flow. There is a noticeable lightness – and you feel cared for, welcome.

Both are in Africa. Both serve the same purpose. Both process the same people. Only one works.

It is tempting to explain the difference in terms of people – motivation, attitude, discipline. But that is not where the story begins.

Performance starts with enablement.

A clear process. A workable system. An environment that supports the task. Technology that makes the flow visible. None of this is particularly complex, but when it is absent, performance becomes almost impossible to sustain. Only once these conditions are in place does behaviour begin to matter in a meaningful way – people who understand the work, who are trained to execute it, and who bring a basic level of care and decency to what they are doing.

At the Zimbabwean side of Beit Bridge, this combination is working – in a way that is, frankly, world class. On the South African side, it is not.

That raises an uncomfortable question. If performance can differ so visibly between two systems with similar constraints – and where one side arguably has more resources – what is actually driving the difference?

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that governance, management, and care for the system itself are decisive.

Which brings us back to organisational life.

Many performance conversations focus on targets, behaviours, and accountability. Far fewer examine the conditions under which performance is expected to occur. We ask people to perform in systems that are unclear, fragmented, or poorly designed, and then wonder why performance conversations feel repetitive, strained, or ineffective.

In those conditions, the conversation becomes familiar.

“You need to improve performance.”
“I am trying, but…”

And very little changes.

As we build toward our May Conversation Café, we want to explore this more directly. Why your performance conversations aren’t working is not a question about technique. It is a question about how performance is enabled, how accountability is structured, and what managers can realistically influence.

If you have ever sat in a performance conversation that felt necessary but unproductive… if you are responsible for performance but not always given the conditions to enable it… if you are investing in performance systems without seeing the results… then this conversation may be worth your time.

We invite you to join us on 20 May for Practical Management – Why Your Performance Conversations Aren’t Working.

Register here to take part in the Conversation Café.