Make South Australia the MBA state

South Australia’s Department Of Premier And Cabinet, has released a document this weekend entitled, Future Adelaide: State Of Illumination.

And this glossy magazine and website – futureadl.com.au – are certainly shining a light on some of the best and most exclusive aspects of South Australia you can imagine.

From pristine underwater scenes to dusk photography of luxurious homes, this effort paints a beautiful picture of SA and one that many of us would aspire to.

But is aspirational enough?

Is it possible to afford to stay in luxurious, executive accommodation for John and Kathy Smith from Kilkenny?

We have a temporary gap between the snapshotted highlights of our state being used to lure high rollers and venture capitalists to South Australia, and the run-of-the-mill, garden variety South Australians who do the essential work like tend emergency wards, collect rubbish, and play celebrity tennis.

But this article is not one of those poppy-trimming articles at all. This article is a hymn, an anthem, a call-to-arms for the best minds our state has to offer.

By applying MBA Thinking, I have seen the way, the truth, and the illumination, to forge a pathway that ALL South Australians will one day be able to tread.

We must take a moonshot and aim to make South Australia the MBA State!

Can aspirational thinking actually work?

The short answer is, yes, when you set aspirational goals, you will usually achieve them.

But there is a caveat.

According to research by Nora H Hope, Marina Milyavskaya, Anne C Holding, and RichardKoestner, in the 2016 paper, The humble path to progress: Goal-specific aspirational content predicts goal progress and goal vitality, they found that while life values influence the types of goals that individuals set, individuals make more progress on goals connected to intrinsic aspirations.

Put simply, when your goals arise from within, you are much more likely to achieve them.

This begs the question, then, how can we motivate 1.677 million people to pursue an MBA course?

Our universities will answer that their promises of practical focus and flexibility will win the day but Goggle Box shows us that most Aussies are quite content to flake in front of the box of an evening rather than push themselves to do a Masters Degree after hours.

However, by applying MBA Thinking, I have discovered the answer has been right under our noses, every time we’ve opened the boots of our automobiles; number plates.

I postulate that adding the slogan “SA – The MBA State” to all number plates in South Australia, will gradually seep into our collective consciousness and plant the seed for intrinsic motivation to take up MBA studies.

If you still need convincing, consider the evidence.

From Festival State to Defence State, our number plates have been predictors of SA psyche

Consider this, if you will.

Back in 1980, South Australia rolled out new number plates emblazoned with the slogan, SA – The Festival State.

At that time, SA had an occasional Festival in the air-conditioned Festival Centre, and a sweaty arts gathering called Focus soon changed its name to the Adelaide Festival Fringe and the Festival State became reality.

The Wine State was one of the next number plate slogans and it resonated with South Australians.

Not only did it inspire more South Aussies to get out to cellar doors on weekends, it gave us an aspirational goal to combine driving with wine, helping us achieve the highest drink driving rates in the nation by 2014.

Obviously, that sort of gusto, which is usually celebrated, was frowned upon, but it makes my point.

When South Australians are exposed to number plate slogans, the messaging seeps deep into our hearts and souls and dreams and starts influencing our actions.

Sadly, The Defence State number plates correlate to a rise in defensiveness among South Australians, which led to panic buying of toilet paper when Covid-19 first struck.

This behaviour was hitherto unseen in South Australia and surprised and angered supermarket mogul, John-Paul Drake.

How do we make SA the MBA state?

The next step is to take action.

As the popular entrepreneur, Gary Vaynerchuk says:

Through action comes vision and through vision comes action. It all just builds.

These are stirring words from Gary, with a hint of having been written while under the influence of one of our number plates. Can you guess which one?

For me to inspire you to join this movement, I know I need to listen to Gary, just as much as I listen to Stephen Covey in his 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People:

You can’t be successful with other people if you haven’t paid the price of success with yourself

So, today, I have paid a price.

I have paid it to Ezy Plates by ordering the number plate you saw at the top of this article.

I have paid it by taking time to craft this inspirational and well-crafted article, drawing upon the best MBA Thinking I can muster.

In short, I am leading by example and sending this article back and forth across our 20-minute city to pick up as many passengers as I can.

Very soon, you will see me driving around South Australia with the number plate: MBAST8.

When you see me, get behind me.

When you see me indicating, let me into the lane ahead of you.

And when I’ve slipped into your lane, I promise I’ll wave.

I also promise to welcome all the other universities to join us.

I hope this stirring message will inspire the government’s communications team led by Jehad Ali and Rebecca Clifford to lend their skills and include this call, this dream, this vision, this movement, in the next edition of their lovely Adelaide advertising.

One man cannot be everywhere.

But any great journey starts with a 25kmh zone near some roadworks, which is why I am keeping my expectations in first gear.

This will be a long journey, not so much a dash to the cellar doors of McLaren Vale or Barossa Valley, but more like an extended winetasting trip to Clare Valley, Coonawarra, or even Port Lincoln.

In the beginning, I will be satisfied that if one cyclist notices my number plate and decides to enrol in an MBA (preferably, A Lunchtime MBA, during the Adelaide Fringe Semester) in South Australia, my effort will have been worth it.

The fruits will create a ripe harvest

Imagine a South Australia where everybody has an MBA degree.

• Traffic will flow better because motorists will understand that sure and steady gets you to work on time, and cyclists will grasp the concept of those little lanes on the left hand side of the road.
• Our theatres will fill again as South Australians begin hungering for satisfying entertainment that challenges their worldviews while losing their appetites for fussy singing judges and cranky cooks.
• And parents will be able to help not only their children with homework but will be able to guide our teachers in the ways of spelling, grammar, and sentence construction.

But perhaps the biggest benefit will be that all the fancy places showcased to interstate people, will be within the reach of every single South Australian who wants to live a coffee book lifestyle, if they consider that their cup of tea.

Just pause for a moment and reflect on this vision: A state full of MBAs.

If we could achieve that, our future will be so bright the rest of Australia will need to wear shades!

Now that’s what I call a State Of Illumination.