Execute. Execute. Execute.

Where do we stand with AmBisyon Natin 2040 and the Philippine Development Plan?

I went to AmBisyon again and couldn’t help but smile. It is a good read. Do we want more than “motherhood”? Yet we are proud that we have “connected the dots.”

But what are we missing? Here’s something that jumps out: “We have tried to bank on implementing economic policies together with sector-specific programs to eradicate poverty, but many of them have failed.”

How come we can’t undo our (a) assumptions, (b) biases, and (c) comfort zones?

But we’re the elite class – and shielded from our backwardness as a third-world nation. Such denial in America is “labeled” racism. In the Philippines, is it a “caste system”?

Friends from the Philippines are joining us again to holiday in Tuscany and Santorini. Those familiar with the blog may recall we’ve done Spain, France, and Italy too. What inflation? What if the pandemic threw Philippine GDP growth back five or more years?

For the umpteenth time: Juan de la Cruz carries us on his shoulders – between the OFW remittances and call centers. And we higher up in the hierarchy enjoy the fruits. At the same time, Juan de la Cruz is in dire need of the 4Ps. But because we are compassionate – or is the caste system on full display? – we borrow tens of millions of US dollars from the World Bank.

See above; we can’t undo our (a) assumptions, (b) biases, and (c) comfort zones. Those familiar with the blog may recall that I call them the “ABC of planning and execution” – or problem-solving. That’s how I introduced the topics to my Eastern European friends.

In a word, we can call it “mindset.” Think of the “fixed” or “growth” mindset.

We’ve done amazing things individually, but where is the “personal responsibility to pursue the common good”?

“I wrote a column entitled Help We Are Killing Our Children with Kindness. In his best-selling book The Sibling Society, Robert Bly calls the troubled soul of a nation today: “A culture where adults remain children, and where children have no desire to become adults — a nation of squabbling siblings. The talk show replaces family. Instead of art, we have the internet. In the place of community, we have the mall.”

“NEDA states that although the Philippine government has tried to rely on implementing economic policies and sector-specific programs to eradicate poverty, many have failed because the stakeholders’ behavior varies.

“We must be able to reach the height of wellbeing, relieving us of headaches, illness, and heartaches. Therefore, we must learn to fly to get the crowns. We choose to fly high like the Philippine Eagle or remain a chicken just pecking the ground.

“We used to boast that the Filipino family was the “social security” of the country: whatever went wrong, the family was always there to help us. We never seem to learn to stand on our own feet because we are confident that the family will always be behind us to prop us up.

“We have been conditioned by our family experience to expect somebody to pick us up when we fail. But the boss is not our “itay” or “inay.” We are no longer children.

“In 1986, when UNESCO celebrated its 40th anniversary, twelve well-known educators from among the member states formed a committee headed by the French Finance Minister Jacques Delors. Identified as “The 21st Century Education,” its four pillars matched the Stages of Child Development discovered by Dr. Montessori. Her scientific formula believed that conditioned by the work environment (not play), children can become self-sufficient from infancy to adolescence, acquiring a love for work, order, self-confidence, and economic independence. DON’T BE A CHICKEN, BE AN EAGLE!” [AN EDUCATOR’S REACTION TO ‘AMBISYON NATIN 2040’ – A WAKE-UP CALL TO THE TROUBLED SOUL OF OUR NATION (PART 1), Preciosa S. Soliven, The Philippine Star. 7th Sep 2017]

Should we stop right there?

Recall how the blog speaks to our instincts – that reflect a caste system: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy; ours is a culture of impunity.

See above; Do we want more than “motherhood”? Yet we are proud that we have “connected the dots.” We call it “compassion,” aka paternalism. In other words, our view of Juan de la Cruz is that of an adult that remains a child.

Is that at the root of why Rizal said we love tyranny – that we submit to it?

NEDA, rightly so, wants to cater to Juan de la Cruz. Unsurprisingly, while AmBisyon speaks to “where we want to be,” it does not address squarely “where we are.”

Think of the power of the GPS. We must acknowledge where we are before we can equip ourselves to ascertain where we want to be.

Recall the force-field theory the blog never tires of discussing. When we are on a “journey” or an undertaking, we will encounter forces (a) that will drive us forward and (b) those that will restrain us.

We cannot be in denial of reality and take the easy way out – that the glass is already half-full.

Let’s hold it right there.

But where do we begin? Recall the distinctions between the (a) fixed mindset and (b) growth mindset.

Unfortunately, given that Juan de la Cruz is an adult that remains a child, he starts with a fixed mindset.

And that explains why we never felt the impulse to move forward as a nation.

“AmBisyon Natin 2040” is the government’s plan to transform the country into a prosperous middle-class society free of poverty by 2040.

“The World Bank says about AmBisyon: “To achieve the AmBisyon Natin 2040, the Philippines needs to triple its income per capita in the next two decades. The Philippine economy needs to grow at an annual average of 6.5 percent in the next 22 years, faster than the average growth of 5.3 percent since 2000—a challenge that only the Asian Tigers and China have managed to accomplish. Faster economic growth will also need to be shared more broadly to eradicate poverty and improve the living standard of the average Filipino.”

In other words, we must acknowledge that we want to be the next Asian Tiger.

DON’T BE A CHICKEN, BE AN EAGLE!

We want to soar like an eagle, not embrace “pwede na ‘yan.”

But we have no experience in nation-building, unlike our neighbors. And that’s why we must undo our fixed mindset and embrace a growth mindset. That means we must benchmark against the Asian Tigers. “Beg for Western money and technology,” said Lee and Mahathir to Deng. And Mahathir said it to us too.

Why can’t we execute AmBisyon or Arangkada or the scores of industry road maps? Why won’t we benchmark against our neighbors?

Recall the following from an earlier posting. “Benchmarking paves the way to “forward-thinking.” Moreover, it facilitates prioritizing the “vital few” over the “trivial many.” But until then, Pareto can only be abstract.

“In other words, given our lack of experience in development, we can’t help but be academic.

“When I related that I mentored a Ph.D. candidate in developing her dissertation, it wasn’t to brag – but to demonstrate real-world stuff.

“Consider that the anecdotes the blog shares have a common thread. They are real-world stuff: from my old MNC’s most significant brand to becoming a dominant global brand to my Eastern European friends “killing” a brand of the industry’s most influential player and, as necessary, moving up from an MSME that was a losing proposition for eight years, to my Ph.D. friend becoming the global marketing director of a world-famous brand, to Toyota successfully creating the Lexus brand, today’s sturdiest car in the market with the highest resale value.

“The bottom line: Lateral thinking explains why benchmarking is universal. Conversely, absent forward, lateral, and creative thinking, the above examples won’t lend themselves to an “aha moment.” 

“Why is the blog challenging the nation to rally behind industrialization, including economic managers, think tanks, and legislators? Recall how the blog parallels nation-building and brand management. It translates freedom, democracy, and the free market to real-world terms.”

What are we missing with AmBisyon and the PDP? We aren’t leveraging the GPS. Before we can wax poetic about “where we want to be,” we better sharpen our understanding and acceptance of “where we are.”

We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy; ours is a culture of impunity.

Humankind thrives with other living things because of the photosynthesis phenomenon. We are a subset of this universe, which is dynamic and interconnected. In other words, the oneness of the universe is not a secret.

How can we be parochial and insular? Why have we been left behind? We want to be like Singapore – to move from a third-world to a first-world economy and nation. But Singapore is a tiny city-state. And so there is Guangdong with its “Pearl River Delta Economic Zone.”

In other words, let's not keep sitting on our laurels – of hundreds of export processing zone – because they fail the 21st-century test of "innovation and global competitiveness."

Benchmark and industrialize.

If it is not apparent, I am spelling out a preamble for AmBisyon – and NEDA to adopt the GPS model.

And then, we will better appreciate why we can’t be parochial and insular. And why we must benchmark and industrialize.

Execute. Execute. Execute.

Where do we stand with AmBisyon Natin 2040 and the Philippine Development Plan?

Do we want more than “motherhood”? Yet we are proud that we have “connected the dots.”

But what are we missing? Here’s something that jumps out: “We have tried to bank on implementing economic policies together with sector-specific programs to eradicate poverty, but many of them have failed.”

How come we can’t undo our (a) assumptions, (b) biases, and (c) comfort zones?

Gising bayan!