The Plague of Good Intentions

The Plague of Good IntentionsOverview. Hundreds of academicians, economists, journalists, philanthropists, and bureaucrats have expressed their points of view on sub Saharan Africa. However to date no one has applied a life long experience of having actually achieved meaningful and lasting results to this subject. Tom Epley is a turnaround CEO with an unparalleled track record of success in rescuing failing companies. All of the more than dozen organizations he rescued—including as examples Technicolor, Paradyne, Bekins, Globespan, and AMISemiconductors—were dysfunctional and faced significant difficulties. Under Epley’s leadership, every one of these multimillion and billion dollar companies resurged and subsequently produced an immensely profitable return for its owners. Resolved to demonstrate that the capabilities, techniques, and insights he used to turn around companies could be applied to improve the impaired countries of sub-Saharan Africa, he initiated a 4 year long project by traveling throughout South Sudan, interviewing dozens of militia leaders, governors, government ministers, local officials, members of the world aid community, and ordinary citizens, then subsequently upon his return combining intensive research and his own experiences and capabilities to create The Plague of Good Intentions. In this book Epley articulately interweaves his discoveries and conclusions, conveying the following themes: •The perception of the public and media sorely misses the mark when it comes to appropriate “fixes” for the maladies faced by certain struggling countries •Evidence unassailably shows that the historic and current “fixes” have contributed to the five-decades-long decline of these countries •Pragmatic business management knowledge and experience has substantial, critical application to country management •Common sense, workable, and proven prescriptive remedies do exist; and are convincingly presented •These prescriptive remedies should be--but are not-- being applied by country leaders and organizations such as the World Bank, IMF, USAID, and thousands of NGO’s Epley peels back the layers of misconceptions, myths, and delusions regarding the multitude of dysfunctional processes that affect the welfare of sub-Saharan Africa, and instead inserts stories, personal experiences, analysis, judgment, common sense, and his lifetime experience of resuscitating dysfunctional companies into this African crucible, resulting in out-of-the-box but radically sensible conclusions. He tells an easily readable and engaging story of his intellectual journey; and he proposes breakthrough recommendations that can lead to genuine progress for these countries. You, whether an individual contributor, a world wide organization, an NGO (Non Government Organization) or an individual contributor should not give another penny to “African causes” until you read The Plague of Good Intentions----don’t, with all good intentions, contribute to the further devastation of Africa.