. . . If we ever want to be a developed country
In the early 80’s when corporate America was going through its self-doubt courtesy of Japan Inc., programs labeled “Managing Change” and the like were in abundance. The writer, proud of his Philippine business and corporate experience, was nonchalant as he sat through the program sponsored by his employer. He thought it was superfluous given that everything in business was about change. But over the ensuing 25+ years he realized that managing change cannot be taken for granted – yet he has not mastered it. (The writer reads the articles of about 30 opinion makers and has sensed a similar pride as the writer had in the way we do business and things in general. The difference today is he had seen and touched both extremes – from greed in the West to poverty and death in Africa – and they feed the thoughts in his articles.)
No one is perfect . . . and so there are things we “tolerate” – like mistakes made by kids being part of growing up; though the writer’s daughter in a reversal of role now “tells him what to do”. But there are things we can prevent: the writer remembers the priest (while in a retreat last Holy Week in Tagaytay) whose cellphone rang that stopped him dead in his tracks – a young person was calling contemplating suicide.
The economy of the Philippines is akin to health care in America or uniting Europe under the EU. Neither is a cake walk. Managing change cannot be taken for granted . . .
Managing change risks ruffling feathers – we’re creatures of habit – but whenever there is a fork in the road, if we are our brother’s keeper, we can point the way to go. For example: the writer spent 8 years in an oil refinery where the first lesson taught every new employee was safety. Culture took a back seat – every violation was dealt with most severely. (A red light means stop, not maybe? Not optional?)
In another example, the writer many years ago was preparing to check out of a hotel room in Manhattan when the general manager called to offer assistance with his luggage, only to learn later that the staff was on strike. The writer’s employer was a major client and the general manager wanted to ensure he took care of business, if that meant carrying the luggage of guests. Rank took a back seat. (Hierarchy is so ingrained in us that we struggle undoing it, i.e., not wanting to risk disrespect, etc. Similarly, we sincerely believe sheltering our kids is what our faith and family is all about and consequently perpetuate hierarchy in our culture – breeding señoritas and señoritos in abundance. The writer’s daughter, while nurtured in and a product of Catholic schools (disclosure: she chose an Ivy for her college, worked in Wall Street and volunteered in an inner city school), would just shake her head seeing Filipino mothers (with the “yayas”) baby their daughters while visiting them in school in New York. And we’re surprised that when they become politicians they serve themselves instead of the people? It is predictable and to be expected – they grew up being served their every need, and then some? Remember Eden – the first and greatest lesson in character building?)
We are the economic basket case of the region – and so we rail against poverty. Our ways over several decades have not worked . . . and that’s reality . . . Houston, we have a problem! We can be proud of our culture and whatever else instinctively drives our motivation, but reality is reality. (Disclosure: the writer remembers his confessor-friend’s advice around the subject of reality – that felt like a never ending theme then. Was he playing moral theologian or simply being a friend or both?)
In computer lingo they have an unwritten rule: “garbage-in, garbage-out”. In Total Quality Management they define “insanity” in jest as: going through the same motion over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
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