Robbed of dynamism and foresight

It will take a generation even with a 7% annual GDP growth rate for us to see the end of the tunnel. It’s not new news. It’s old news. The international institutions pronounced it several years ago. It is not rocket science. We can do the arithmetic ourselves.

If we fail to internalize our reality – that our instincts have robbed us of dynamism and foresight – we shall remain the regional laggard.

How do we dig ourselves out of this hole? Evasiveness, as in euphemisms, is not optimism. Recall Juan Tamad. Has Juan de la Cruz fallen into the trap of life imitating art? Dynamism and foresight demand a great deal. If we are not up to the task, how do we expect to move beyond an underdeveloped country? There is no free lunch.

We can talk about all the positives of PH – from the sweet spot we’re in given our young population to an English-speaking nation to Build-Build-Build, among others – however, unless we build an economic platform beyond the OFW phenomenon and the BPO industry, we are, as an economist raised, like a 4-cylinder car in a race against the much bigger driving machines of our neighbors.

Malaysia has been on Build-Build-Build going four decades now, but not only, they also created the local version of Silicon Valley. We can go country by country, big and small, and we can only weep because they have all left us in the dust.

Before we get too far, let’s bring back the title of the posting, “Robbed of dynamism and foresight.”

Here’s an interesting article especially for us Pinoys: “What Makes an American?,” Jason DeParle, The New York Times, 9th Aug 2019. “I took reassurance this past week in a Texas immigration story that suggests America’s powers of assimilation remain formidable.”

“Two academic camps have shaped debate about the children of immigrants. Both see the majority succeeding — advancing in school, securing jobs and integrating. Intermarriage is high, and English is near universal.

“[One camp] found that children of immigrants not only outperformed children of natives (of similar races) but did so despite having parents with less income and education. How could that be? [They] argue that children of immigrants often enjoy a ‘second-generation advantage’ over native peers.

“Two parts of the argument are familiar — immigrants, self-selected for ambition, pass along their drive, and the intensity of ethnic networks provides support that natives lack. But the researchers also argue that children of immigrants benefit intellectually from living at a cultural crossroads. (They note it took a Russian-born Jew, Irving Berlin, to write ‘White Christmas.’) Children of immigrants, they wrote, often ‘combine the best of both worlds’ — their parents’ and their peers’ — or innovate in ways that ‘can be highly conducive to success.’

“In the Villanueva family, each theory offers a guide to a different daughter. (A son, Dominique, was too young to share his thoughts in equal depth.) Kristine’s experience provided a small reminder that Americanization isn’t always beneficial: She assimilated energetically, but to the distractions of middle school. Lara blended her Filipino and American selves in ways that supplied an edge. She was second-generation advantage personified.

“While Kristine experienced migration as division (English vs. Tagalog, her mother vs. her aunt), Lara found it addition — Rosa Parks’ protests plus her politeness, parents beside her and grandparents on Skype.

“Lara’s Filipino traits included her manners, her long dinnertime prayers and an immigrant’s belief in opportunity. They also included the benefits of a two-parent family, which social science finds considerable.

“From the United States, Lara got a reduced sense of class and gender constraints; a school full of books; and a classroom with just 24 students, instead of 70 in the Philippines. Above all, she got a license to ask questions.

“Nothing about the Philippines had encouraged her to probe. On the contrary, a classroom so crowded had little time for raised hands, and children were taught to respect their elders, not interrogate them. American teachers loved questions.”

What this Filipino-American youngster must have shared with the author would fall into what the blog raises time and again as our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism, rely on political patronage and oligarchy, that at the end of the day, ours is a culture of impunity. They rob us of dynamism and foresight.

We take these instincts for granted yet to a young person exposed to another culture they are explicit and evident.

Hierarchy bestows rank and privilege in many shapes and forms that translate to subservience. Why is our national agenda confined to jobs and livelihoods?

Look who is talking, we in the elite class? What’s wrong with compassion?

No one dares to probe: Where is the dynamism? Where is the foresight? In other words, why disturb the applecart when we can preserve rank and privilege? Also, neuroscience says the chamber of the brain that triggers pleasure, including sexual, is the same one that makes us want to give alms. Consider: Americans gave a total of US$410 billion to charity in 2017. That is far more than the GDP of the Philippines, $313.6 billion.

Industrialization. Innovation. Global competitiveness. These, beyond jobs and livelihoods, must be the focus of our national agenda. Because in the 21st century, they are the key to traverse the road from poverty to prosperity. 

Recall how Mahathir did it. But not only. He and Lee shared the mantra with Deng, and later even Vietnam followed suit: Beg for Western money and technology.

Are we finally getting it? “We now have a true and seasoned agricultural expert at the helm of the Department of Agriculture (DA) in the person of Dr. William Dar, whose reputation precedes him. This brings forth hope that true change is coming in the sector that has been the biggest drag on the Philippine economy for far too long.

“Secretary Dar espouses ‘new thinking’ in his approach to managing Philippine agriculture, organized around eight ‘paradigms’: (1) modernization of agriculture; (2) industrialization of agriculture; (3) promotion of exports; (4) farm consolidation; (5) roadmap development; (6) infrastructure development; (7) higher budget and investments for agriculture; and (8) legislative support.” [Dar’s paradigm shifts, Cielito F Habito, NO FREE LUNCH, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 9th Aug 2019]

Recall Habit no. 2 of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, “Begin with the end in mind.” The above paradigms are spot on, yet we must ensure the rest of us buy into the game plan, i.e., we can relate to the sense of purpose.

For example, why are we monitoring PH competitiveness rankings? Because no one will want Philippine products and services if they are not competitive.

Agri-based products are not exempt from the imperative of global competitiveness. In the private sector, globally successful enterprises are driven to attain competitive advantage.

That is why the blog had repeatedly raised the decade when investors abandoned Procter & Gamble because they lost their competitive edge. Today, they have an activist investor that successfully forced himself into the board to ensure they don’t succumb to complacency: Today’s excellence is tomorrow's commonplace. Proctor & Gamble is a Philippine icon which is not a surprise given they invented marketing or brand management.

Is there a moral to the story?

In our case, if we are to reinvent agriculture, we must get a good handle and establish the core portfolio of PH agri-based products. The operative word is core. It borrows from Pareto’s 80-20 rule. The 20 percent that will generate the most significant revenues and margins must make up the core of the portfolio.

Once we know what they are, we can work backward and figure out how we will get there. It is not linear but lateral thinking, i.e., there is dynamism and foresight. Begin with the end in mind and establish a sense of purpose for Juan de la Cruz to buy-in.

We can then work on and flesh-up the above eight paradigms.

Let’s start with revenues. Must we more than double Philippine export receipts to appreciably raise our income per capita? Let’s then identify the benchmark country that generates this desired national income. What is the composition of their exports, including agri-based products?

How can we mirror their agribusiness revenues? If coconut is our biggest gun, then we must set our sights to make the Philippines the number one coconut producer. It must include major income generators, both consumer (e.g., coconut water) and industrial products. The key is to move coconut up the value chain. [Political patronage and oligarchy stunted the development of this industry, yet no one paid the price except Juan de la Cruz.]

Which countries and enterprises must we establish as benchmarks for us to mirror our portfolio of coconut-based products; and as important so that we don't reinvent the wheel but build on their knowledge-base and best practices? Innovation comes from being outward- not inward-looking. [See below re “Pinoy abilidad”.]

Since the source for the initiative are the coconut trees, which country must be our benchmark so that we can replicate their success stories in tree farming? 

Sweden is a great example; they have replanted 80% of their trees with the rest left untouched; they can supply the needs of tissue-based products like napkins and toilet paper on a sustained basis well into the future.

We are the opposite. As though there’s no tomorrow, we’ve denuded our forests yet witnessed how people and things suffer from floods and climate-related phenomenon. Why? Dynamism and foresight are not second nature to us.

What about the farmers, how do we pull them together so that we generate economies of scale? Again, we need a benchmark, and Denmark’s cooperative ethos is what we must acquire.

We have so far three different layers of benchmark points: product portfolio, tree farming, farm consolidation as in cooperative. 

We must invite friends like the Swedes and the Danes, to name two, and pick their brains so that we can leapfrog our efforts in agriculture, industrialization, innovation, and global competitiveness.

The writer’s private sector background offers a different approach to how we’ve pursued agriculture. Which brings Lee Kuan Yew to mind, he led and managed Singapore like an enterprise, like a company. 

We too acknowledge the model such that we point to the best practices of MNCs when we are looking at reforms in the public sector.

For example, in the private sector, R&D does not own innovation. Conversely, economic development and nation-building are beyond Economics. Many postings ago, the blog discussed that with the writer’s Eastern European friends R&D, Marketing, and Sales all report to the same business unit manager.

It goes beyond the formal structure. It’s a culture and instinct likewise. At Silicon Valley, it’s been translated into a course, Design Thinking, by Stanford University. Management gurus gave it a new label, Agile Project Management, an innovation beyond cross-functional management.

What about benchmarking, is it second nature to us or does “Pinoy abilidad” get in the way? Sadly, we have yet to accept and recognize that it has not served us well.

Those involved in statistics or big data and analytics know that in a universe, there will always be groups better than us and worse than us. If we are to learn dynamism and foresight, we will not accept “Pinoy abilidad” as the equivalent of excellence.

No different from our culture of impunity, “Pinoy abilidad” is a product of our instincts. It explains why we’re the regional laggard. We can’t succumb to insanity by doing the same thing repeatedly.

Gising bayan!

“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]

“You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard and be very determined to achieve your goals.” [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

“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]