The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

Aligning with GhanaThink’s motto “Less Talk, More Action”, my life story is one of action over words— where I substitute interest in motivational speeches for driving change through work done and sharing about impactful initiatives. Amid my professional endeavors, football is a major feature in my life as well. It offers relaxation, inspiration, and a lens through which I view community, excellence, and even African pride. In 2014, I decided to not wear my passion for football on my sleeve and not put my heart too much into football, the results, the emotions, etc. My heart still lies with Accra Hearts of Oak and I would like to see the club conquer ! My journey with football started in my childhood, spent on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus in Kumasi, Ghana . I did not just frequent the library just for books and newspapers to know trivia, but also to play tennis and football. I was not one of the top players in my neighbourhood, many of my fr...

By the time the 2003-2004 season started, I had been at MIT for almost a year. It was hard. I couldn't watch my favorite European team 's game as much as I wanted. I was in a country where soccer was not the most popular sport. Mind boggling. Arse... let me stop myself. No, let me continue. Arsenal. Man United's fiercest rivals were enjoying their finest season. Arsene Wenger 's men went undefeated for a whole season and won the league again. The Invincibles. +Manchester United  won the FA Cup though, ensuring we didn't end up trophyless . On the flip side, Arsenal won the 2005 FA Cup and have won only one trophy consistently over the last 8 years, the 4th place trophy that allows them to play the Champions League . Yes, I went there . Oh wait, you mean Arsenal hasn't won a major trophy since 2005? For real? Talking about Champions League, some Jose Mourinho guy and his band of brothers beat our beloved team in 2004 Champions League and went on to win ...

There are many noisy Manchester United fans. I am one of them on occasion. I have been a supporter of Manchester United since 1994. It's hard to believe that it would be 20 years since I started cheering and following Manchester United . During that time, Manchester United has been one of the most successful sports club in the world. Its undisputed leader, Sir Alex Ferguson , retired after capturing the club's 20th English championship. David Moyes was his assigned heir and though he's off to a fairly shaky start, many ManUtd fans are solidly behind him. He has a long way to go to fill the shoes of the man who run   +Manchester United  like a businessman and has a Harvard Business School case study around his work. I started following football aka soccer very closely in 1994. My father is a Hearts of Oak supporter so I naturally became a Phobia fan too. Growing up, we used to watch a lot of European soccer, I can clearly remember the "Football Made in German...

I went to church today. I don't go any given Sunday by the way. My cousin, Efibah , was telling me, " I pass through your neighbourhood to go to church all the time, and I know you don't go to (any) church ". So, she passed by again and I tagged along with her. To Agape House New Testament Church . 10:30am? No problemo. Even if I slept at 4am after a partycrewgh outing, I could make that. I need to renew my faith anyway. Let's just say that once I entered the church and looked around, it only took me 2.33 seconds to decide I'd be blogging about being at #AgapeHouse . So here goes. I spent all the blog write up time tweeting. So I'm going to let the tweets speak for themselves.  Am at the Agape House in East Legon for church today. My cousin brought me here. Lovely church on all levels. — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) July 14, 2013 The Agape House pastor is white. I was surprised but I shouldn't be. The Christ the King priest is white 2. Hope he ...

Do you believe in a winning charm? From about 1994 up until 2003, 4 diferent NBA franchises won rings. We know Hakeem Olajuwon, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan led their teams to championships, but there were others who contributed heavily. There was Clyde Drexler, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Kobe Bryant and David Robinson to name a few. During this period though, two men were part of every single NBA championship team.  Robert Horry & Steve Kerr . #Winning wingmen. Robert Horry was a young forward with the Houston Rockets in 1992. He had some success in the college game, winning 3 division titles. He had game winning shots in Rockets' 1995 championship run. Hakeem the Dream Olajuwon carried them to back-to-back championships (94-95) while Michael Jordan took a break from basketball. When MJ came back, he had one Steve Kerr dude who didn't seem to miss an open 3 as a teammate for championships in 1996, 1997 and 1998. He's famous for thi...

Learning so much at the SHAPE Africa event happening at African Pride in Cape Town now. So I had to share some with you :-) Team best practices: Have designed & assigned responsibilities to every1 with relevant tasks (based on strengths & diversity). #shapeafrica — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) May 7, 2013 Team best practices: Establish & follow through with timelines for all tasks. Account for dependencies & lead time. #shapeafrica — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) May 7, 2013 Team best practices: Have a centralized point to store & share data & resources. Save time for looking for information. #shapeafrica . — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) May 7, 2013 Team best practices: Ensure constant feedback & iterations during project evolution. Use this to "Think on your feet". #shapeafrica — Ato Ulzen-Appiah (@Abocco) May 7, 2013 Team best practices: Get feedback from customers (those who support) & beneficiaries (those you support) ...

I know the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is not over but I am not waiting till July 11, 2010 to talk about the Black Stars' tournament. It's been a week since the Black Stars crashed out of the Mzansi Mundial, after solely carrying Africa's charge through to the knockout stages. I have finished mourning. The Black Stars made Ghana and Africa proud. They knew they had a job to do when they changed the inscription on their bus to 'Hope of Africa'. You could hear it in their interviews. The Ghana flag was redesigned with the African map replacing the Black Star. The Black Stars became known as the BaGhana BaGhana of GhAfrica. Well done, Black Stars, you made us all proud. Let's recount your journey. I blogged about before the tournament - "I believed that when the boys camped together and built chemistry, they'll do well. And we saw how they made Afria proud in 2006." "The boys have been together and I know they are shiing jama at this very mome...