And Singapore too? Consider this news report: “In a study by researchers from Stanford and Yale-NUS college in Singapore—a collaboration between Yale University and the National University of Singapore—soon to be published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers examined ‘implicit theories of interest.’
“[T]hey measured the effects of fixed versus growth mindsets—belief in inherent interests as opposed to those that are developed—to determine how our convictions influence learning and resilience.
“Based on the latest findings, people who have a fixed mindset—the almost mystical belief that passions are revealed to us magically—seem to be less curious and motivated than those with a growth mindset, who understand interests unfold as a process.
“This latest study builds on the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, who has written a great deal about the benefits of a growth mindset. She worked on the new study as well. Dweck’s previous research has shown that people who perceive of themselves as works in progress, who believe in the possibilities of development rather than the fact that we’re all born with inherent fixed traits, tend to be happier, more motivated, and more successful.
“In this [growth] mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts …” [“Find your passion” is bad advice, say Yale and Stanford psychologists; Be wildly curious, Ephrat Livni, Quartz.com, 26th Jun 2018]
And here’s the news from China. “Beijing’s vision of Made in China 2025 — the ambitious state-driven plan to retool China’s industries to compete in areas like automation, microchips and self-driving cars — is not being pushed just by the Communist Party’s top leaders. Instead, the drive is also coming from the bottom up: from the businesses and cities across China that know they must modernize or perish.
“The modernization may not happen in 2025. In fact, it may be long after that. But China will get there, mostly because it has to.
“If Made in China 2025 were a car, the engine has started and it’s definitely moving along … The city was automating well before Made in China 2025 came out in 2015 … but the policy provided [is] a clear direction.”
“The biggest trend in manufacturing is that automation is irreversible … No doubt many Chinese companies will fail in their effort to upgrade. Made in China 2025’s other goals, such as building up world-class microchip industries or self-driving cars, remain out of sight for now.
“Yet when it comes to manufacturing … Made in China 2025 will succeed partly because the effort is bigger than Beijing. Chinese companies and local government officials are determined to climb the value chain so they will not fall into obsolescence.
“The best Washington can do is to make sure its policies help American companies stay ahead of the game.” [Why Made in China 2025 Will Succeed, Despite Trump, Li Yuan, The New York Times, 4th Jul 2018]
That’s quite a dig on the US. What about us in PH?
Consider: “‘Do not compare yourself to others. If you do so, you are insulting yourself’. Ignore for a moment that one of history’s most reviled people—Adolf Hitler—said that because it does makes sense. We tell our children not to be envious of other people because what we see in others does not tell the whole story.
“On almost any category we can always find someone else who is ‘better’ than we are and someone who is ‘worse’ than we are. Comparisons are never valid enough to be taken too seriously, as the world rarely offers a fair and level playing field.” [‘The Philippines is worse than…,’ BusinessMirror Editorial, 1st Jul 2018]
What should we make out of this Editorial? Here is another local perspective: “As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors – have an obligation to this country to report events, accurately and fairly, with all sides in a controversy or an ongoing debate on major issues well covered and represented.
“As a rule today, this does not happen. The current rules governing mainstream media are imbedded in the following indelible principles: First, protect the interests of their owners and those whom their owners support. Second, on issues that do not affect their owners, media persons, as a rule, are practitioners of “envelopmental journalism” and the ACDC principle (attack and collect, defend and collect), meaning whoever gives the money could see their names and ideas in print or in radio or television. Third, partisanship and bias are the names of the game. If you belong to their crowd you can get your name in the newspapers, radio and television, even if your activities and ideas are inane or stupid or both. Fourth, there is no serious discussion of ideas. Fifth, there is no in depth knowledge of events and their implication on the life of the people. Sixth, there is no effort to educate the people. Seventh, there is stress on idiotic entertainment and game shows. Eighth, never mind ideas, just know whether he holds public office; it makes no difference whether his ideas are idiotic or insane, quote him.
“In plain and simple words, there is celebration of documented irrelevance.” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]
If it isn’t obvious yet, the blog is about reinventing ourselves. And why postings end with the quotes below. And as it continues to argue, the challenge every organism face is development. It is the natural law. And that creation is dynamic not static. Especially in a hierarchical culture, static is preserving rank and privilege. Which is incongruous to the interdependence that is the universe and its ecosystem.
As the blog constantly raises, even religious dogmas were upended by Christ himself, e.g., as in what the Sabbath is and isn’t. And in nation building, development means moving from underdeveloped to developed. Which translates to the journey from poverty to prosperity and reinforced by the parable of the talents. Development isn’t evil nor inhuman or unchristian. It is the natural law.
In a recent posting, the blog discussed what net worth is, i.e., the yield after we discount our liabilities from our assets. And benchmarking is also not a new topic. If we are to understand innovation and global competitiveness, we must learn what benchmarking is and isn’t.
It is not about being envious of Singapore or China but an imperative to traverse the journey from underdeveloped to developed or from poverty to prosperity – i.e., to pick and choose the best practices of success models and not be fixated on their weaknesses, given that this world is not about perfection.
The Japanese, the South Koreans and more recently the Chinese (and even Vietnamese) demonstrated the value of benchmarking. It is beyond disassembling a submarine or a German car as the Japanese did to advance their knowledge in technology and into something more profound as in Deng picking the brains of Lee and Mahathir, i.e., to beg for Western money and technology.
It is what the social science calls “unfreezing” – i.e., to unfreeze whatever is set in the mind – to give room for learning and curiosity and motivation. And once they have been absorbed, to refreeze the new mindset. It is at the core of development. Because to develop is to evolve and change – and be dynamic not static.
Consider: Our mindset is set and stuck with OFW remittances and the BPO industry that despite a major effort to develop and pursue Arangkada it has no room to accommodate and learn and be curious and motivated about the pursuit of industrialization as in the JFC’s seven industry winners. Because “pwede na ‘yan” made us embrace the vast consumption cum local economy it created, including a bigger middle class and a handful of billionaires.
It is a disease – our own Dutch disease – that fails to recognize that development is not to preserve the status quo. Which in the case of PH is preserving rank and privilege – nurtured by political patronage and oligarchy – with a little help from us in the elite class.
“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? And that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]
“Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]
“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]
“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists . . . A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]
“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” [William Pollard, 1911-1989, physicist-priest, Manhattan Project]
“Development [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]
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