Browsing by Author "Ortega, Ian"

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    AI adoption no longer optional.
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-02-20) Ortega, Ian
    Al has ceased to be a productivity tool in the narrow sense. It is becoming a structural input to how organisations learn and how quickly they onboard talent.
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    Bell-a mu gilaasi: The beautiful chaos of being Ugandan
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-05-22) Ortega, Ian
    Ugandans have a unique ability of turning even the ordinary into something vivid, social, and unmistakably original. From shortened names to the icon rolex and kikomando and endless banter, this piece captures a people whose identity is as fluid as it is proudly distinct. At its heart, it is a love letter to the unmistakable Ugandan-ness that shows up everywhere, all at once. Question is, you as you, oli ku oligino?
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    Cost-cutting is not a growth strategy.
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-03-27) Ortega, Ian
    One of the things new CEOs tend to do when they arrive in an organisation is to embark on a cost-cutting drive. And rightly so, because what better way to make your impact felt than to close up all the point where the boat is leaking.
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    Education is the key... Hardwork pays...nio nio nio:
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-03-27) Ortega, Ian
    It is 7pm, almost a week since I promised the editor that I will pen this piece I realise that the adulting I am meant to write about is one I am also caught up in. You know you are in the thick of things when you start to understand why your mother always returned from work and rushed into her bed room.
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    Founder CEOs VS manager CEOs.
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-04-03) Ortega, Ian
    In the course of my life, I have noticed two types of CEOs founder CEOs and manger CEOs. Founder CEOs are those who built the business from scratch and grew it amidst all the challenges. They exercise lots of agency and they have learnt to passionately love this game of builders.
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    Managing transitions in family businesses
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-05-22) Ortega, Ian
    In Uganda, one of the most beautiful transitions was in the Mulwana Group, the transition from James to Geoffrey. It is a beautiful story of an indigenous business that moved from the first generation to second generation.
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    Sustainable business : who builds the systems?
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-04-24) Ortega, Ian
    In Philosophy, Socrates said, “it begins when one learns to doubt—particularly to doubt one’s cherished beliefs, one’s dogmas and one’s axioms… There is no real philosophy until the mind turns round and examines itself.” Systems was one of my cherished beliefs, I grew up on it, and I came to adopt it as a given. That the reason Ugandan businesses did not live to see another generation was a failure to build systems.
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    What is the point in life?
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-02-23) Ortega, Ian
    If you asked me the point in life, I would tell you it is to eat the forbidden fruit. To open doors you found locked so that you learn why they got locked in the first place. To break rules so that you learn why they existed in the first place.
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    Who can flex better?
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-02-27) Ortega, Ian
    When the Covid-19 pandemic promised a new normal, it sounded like a joke, a catch-phrase in many business circles. It is no wonder when the lockdowns were eased, some business leaders rushed to return to the old normal. Seven years later, and the facts are staring at us.
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    Why organisational change is often hard to pull off?
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-05-08) Ortega, Ian
    I have witnessed some fair amount of organisational change, many times as an observer and quite a few times as an orchestrator. In all those moments, I have always confirmed one thing – change is hard, not just for those affected by the change but even for the change agents. I love Japanese author Haruki Murakami. In his book, Kafka on the Shore, he talks about the storm which is an equivalent of change: "And once the storm is over, you will not remember how you made it through
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    You win by seeing what everyone else has ignored.
    (Daily Monitor, 2026-03-06) Ortega, Ian
    The post-pandemic world has been described as brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible. Everything we knew about business, the organisation does not seem to hold anymore. Coupled with these are the ever-changing population dynamics.