Mindset change: What can be fixed?

We hear about it unwaveringly daily: from the private sector to government; academia, down to between individuals among others. 

Young people often approached me for guidance on their projects. One common item on their planned activities’ lists is, mindset change. “We want to conduct mindset change among fellow youth”, they often tell me, but when asked which mindset they specifically plan to change, they ‘speak in tongues’, pointing to failure before take-off. 

What is really so hard about mindset that cannot be fixed? Is it something foundational and incurable? What, exactly, is it?  Successful mindset change necessitates first determining the 5WHs: What; Who; Where; Why; When; and How.

At the just-ended Kololo National Science Week hosted by the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Secretariat—Office of the President, from panel discussions, speeches to participants’ observations, the call for mindset change could not be over-emphasized. 

Among influential speakers was Prof Barnabas Nawangwe, the Makerere University Vice Chancellor, who proposed, “…the education sector should introduce mindset training to guide young innovators and ensure they have self-belief. The idea started in Korea and the country is the eleventh biggest economy in the world. We should think of having mindset change as a topic taught in classes…” 

Important to note is that these discussions happened on the sidelines of top-notch exhibitions from Ugandan innovators, including Kiira Motors’ Kayoola buses, moreover, at the time, Uganda’s first Satellite, PearlAfricaSat1, had just been launched into international space; She Cranes’ victory; Uganda’s Achilles Brunnel Byaruhanga had won a Tusk conservation award in the UK; Dr Gladys Kalema winning a global award for her innovative leadership in developing new approaches to human-wildlife interaction to counter zoonotic diseases; and a plethora exciting others, literally in one week. Interestingly, these no-mean-feats are not passionately and widely talked about as would be the case with cynical propaganda.

Mindset is deeper and wider than commonly perceived. It denotes an individual or group’s general attitude towards specific realities. Mindsets are developed consciously through psycho-social programming, socialisation—teaching; training and instruction, among others. 

The forementioned National Science Week anchored on the theme: “Uganda in 2040: The Future We Want Through Science, Technology, and; Innovation”, points to crippling skepticism about self, wider society or government, among young innovators—curable through intentional education. Referring to Korea’s coveted economy in view of youth mindset change, implies patriotism achieved, inter-alia, through mandatory national service youth programmes. 

Indeed, as argued, innovations drive socio-economic transformation. And innovations begin nowhere, but, in the mind—formalised curiosity. 

Every sane mind is curious and capable of creating one’s desired future, but to churn worthwhile innovations thereof, a complete paradigm shift is inevitable—minds freed from pessimism to optimism; empowered and purged. This requires undoing the morass of impossibility thinking hitherto imbued in youths’ minds—reprogramming them with possibility thinking. 

Thinking is the highest faculty humans are capable of; if it goes wrong, everything else follows suit. Overcome your limiting beliefs. Didn’t Edgar Mujuni, one of the three Ugandan Satellite engineers, study from Nyakahita, Mitooma District?! The STI Secretariat politely reminds us that we are only limited by our attitude—mindset. Regardless of social biases, your idea is valid—bring it on! 

Patrick Katagata Jr, Office of The President ~ STI Secretariat,
[email protected]