A platform for a shared aspiration

Do we want to thrive beyond survival? Why are we still desperately struggling to survive when our neighbors have thrived?

Can we agree on a platform for a shared aspiration?

In jest, we recognize that we are “sabog.” And that comes in full view and living color once we land at NAIA. It’s organized confusion.

But is that a function of being a third-world country? To a foreigner, it screams “poverty.”

While in Metro Manila for our periodic homecoming, the wife and I alternately stay in Legazpi, Alabang, and Paranaque. And drove several times from Makati to the Ayala Mall Vertis North, over the Skyway, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, and Greenhills, among others. 

It’s organized confusion.

Still, a world-class resort in Tagaytay lifted our spirits. And the Vietnamese restaurant nearby, plus a visit to a couple of event venues, rounded a long weekend to remember. And in Boracay, a trio of Brazilians enjoying the open-air bar just before sunset engaged in small talk. Don’t you have “the sunset” in Rio? “This is the best sunset in the world, bar none!”

Why a platform for a shared aspiration – for Juan de la Cruz? 

Because we have fallen into “learned helplessness.” That comes from the mismanagement of the economy – and nation – i.e., the agriculture sector for a century and manufacturing half.

And worse, we are today among the most corrupt in the world. And let’s not forget the Marcos dictatorship and the two EDSAs.

If in a few short weeks, I would get an earful about the web of corruption in the Philippines, it merely confirms that malfeasance is out in the open. But because of learned helplessness, we are no longer perturbed. 

Does it point to naïveté that we think our tax rationalization initiatives and the POGO phenomenon are feathers in our cap and are to embrace?

Can we connect the dots from the EJKs to the role of the Philippines in the transshipment of illicit drugs, to the Bureau of Customs, to the absence of capital punishment, to the double bookkeeping in errant private enterprises, to the monster we created, aka culture of impunity?

The investigative reporters of the New York Times and the Washington Post would have a field day covering the Philippines.

And to paraphrase Einstein, we can’t solve the problems we created with the same thinking that created the problems in the first place.

Let’s stop right there.

Over the last 14 years, the blog narrated time and again anecdotes from my former Fortune 500 company and Eastern European friends. Why? They looked in the mirror and realized where they were. They didn’t want the road they were on. The same thinking was not the way to nirvana.

I was delighted to spend time with two local enterprises in Manila. Both are successful endeavors yet face challenges that demand new “thinking.” Dynamism is in their instincts. 

One challenge they share concerns new business propositions. “We go through the financial measures after financial measures, yet down the gut, we always sense discomfort.”

Recall that the blog often speaks to the photosynthesis phenomenon. And so my response went, The key is replicating the “phenomenon.” The notion that this is a “quant” world is short-sighted.

We need oxygen to live, but not only. There are three dynamics to consider replicating photosynthesis: (a) the marketing mix, (b) the resource mix, which is beyond “finance,” and (c) the execution mix. Once you have the prototype, doing a “test market” or “test run” will confirm your hypothesis. 

Think “dynamism,” and be prepared to iterate not once but several times. There are six ways to Sunday.

On the other hand, if the Philippines were a brand, our personality would run along these lines: “Sabog,” organized confusion, third-world, poverty, “learned helplessness,” and among the most corrupt.

Ergo: We suffer from abject poverty and learning poverty to boot.

Our challenge is beyond Arangkada, AmBisyon, and the PDP. They are tools. Call them strategic plans, if you will. Planning and execution are two sides of the same coin. See above; the key is to replicate the photosynthesis phenomenon.

In other words, strategic plans don’t operate in a vacuum. To manage change, recognize that there are factors that will drive the efforts, but not only. There are restraining ones too.

And we Filipinos don’t want to face that reality — because of the bunker mentality courtesy of our caste system. 

Enter George Gorospe, SJ: Reality is beyond human experience or “system.”

We can’t get Arangkada, AmBisyon, and the PDP off the ground. Why? Because of our instincts, reflected in our 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.

Consider: The Arroyo administration was at its tail end when this blog started. Then, very excitedly, we anticipated the installation of the Aquino administration. Unsurprisingly, the JFC presented Arangkada to him and then to Duterte. And now BBM has embraced Arangkada.

Can we ever agree on a platform for a shared aspiration?

Like a broken record, the blog keeps reminding us that Lee and Mahathir advised Deng [and Juan de la Cruz, too] to “beg for Western money and technology” if China is to lift its people from poverty. It was Vietnam that heeded the advice, not Juan de la Cruz.

Here’s how China translated the Lee and Mahathir counsel: “The economic development of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone took off at the heels of the China reform program. The region’s GDP grew from just over US$8 billion in 1980 to more than US$89 billion in 2000 and nearly US$221.2 billion in 2005. During that period, the average real GDP growth rate in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone exceeded 16 percent, well above the People's Republic of China national figure of 9.8 percent.

“Background: In 1979, the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China announced that Guangdong Province would be allowed to follow less restrictive economic policies and would be permitted to set up three Special Economic Zones (SEZs), including two in the Pearl River Delta, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai.”

Then consider this article: “Philippine strategic environment for corporate planning,” Bernardo M. Villegas, Human Side Of Economics, BusinessWorld, 14th Feb 2023.

“President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. recently signed an executive order adopting the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 which can be a guideline for both the public and private sectors to help the Philippines achieve the goal of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2025 and over the longer term lay the foundation for First World economic status 15 to 20 years from now.”

How do we bring that down to earth?

As the blog has repeatedly said, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The real world is a wealth of knowledge. And so, we must bridge the academic world with the real world.

See above; how China translated the Lee and Mahathir counsel.

And our response is TRAIN and “sustainable consumption”? Is that an academic bias, or what?

What about the real world? Beyond the Bulacan airport, the Ang Bulacan initiative will raise export revenues to $200 billion, and TMCC is on the target list.

What should be our shared aspirations if the BOI is listening? Create an economic zone – with less restrictive economic policies – that will mirror the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and grow Bulacan’s GDP to nearly $221.2 billion.

Can we distinguish that from the over 400 PEZA ecozones that we have? Why do we want to put up three more each year? It’s called insanity! If that’s how we support devolution. It’s insanity to the nth degree! See above; the role of the Philippines in the transshipment of illicit drugs and smuggling in general, including agri products.

Recall that the “present value” concept quantifies the value of the “vital few” – as in the “common good” – and the folly of the “crab mentality.”

We need “quick hits” like yesterday so that instead of a poverty program, we will benefit from the compounding effect of an incremental GDP of $200 billion. Given how we have mismanaged manufacturing, we don’t have to wait 25 years – which would most likely balloon to 50 years.

Hopefully, the BOI and MAP working with Ciel Habito would edify us on a platform for shared aspirations. See above; is the Philippines on the road to nirvana? 

Or are we stuck with the same thinking that created the problems of Juan de la Cruz in the first place? Is it because we are Pinoys? 

We need dollars and sense to define “shared aspirations” instead of rehashing Arangkada, AmBisyon, and the PDP.

Gising bayan! 

I am Juan de la Cruz.

People repeatedly asked why I could speak to Juan de la Cruz. I am Juan de la Cruz. I was born and raised in the Philippines and spent the first 20 years of my career there.

Then think of the blog’s GPS model in response to the challenge of reinventing ourselves.

Where are we; Where do we want to be; How do we get there?

That looks pretty simple, yet too thorny to address.

If we look in the mirror, do we see that our neighbors turned us into the region’s “basket case” and the perennial laggard?

But why? Let’s start with the hypothesis that we mismanaged the Philippine economy – and nation.

The evidence? Why aren’t we a powerhouse in agribusiness and manufacturing when we have an entire and half a century, respectively, under our belt?

Then look at how UP and Ateneo, two of our top schools, have been left behind by their counterparts in the region.

And it cascades down: “Only 10 percent of students in the Philippines met the minimum reading standard, and 17 percent met the minimum mathematical standard expected at the end of primary education, and more than 80 percent of children do not know what they should know in school.”

In the private sector, which is a no-brainer, heads roll when managers mismanage big time. What is unforgivable by private sector standards is how long we put up with the mismanagement.

Let’s hold it right there.

Time is gold. Whatever happened to the “present value” concept? Why does the blog keep speaking to Pareto? Pareto — where the vital few drives the most significant returns — is the key to accelerating returns inherent in the present value exercise. And that is because of the compounding effect, as Buffett would pontificate. Look at how far advanced Singapore is.

I purposely inserted the above paragraph for the eyes of our economic managers — i.e., it quantifies the value of the “common good” and the folly of the “crab mentality.” And the cynical way to put it is that in the name of paternalism, we applaud “devolution” and unwittingly consign Juan de la Cruz to the “bottom of the pyramid” — and conquer him as did Machiavelli. 

Question: Have political patronage and oligarchy blocked FDIs?

In fairness, we people-powered Marcos. But we can’t sit idly by time and again.

Why is the “GPS” a tough challenge? Because we are not prepared to look in the mirror. And that explains why we indulge in “Fire, Aim, Ready” instead of “Ready, Aim, Fire.”

Don’t we encounter new ideas daily for Juan de la Cruz to overcome poverty? Where is Maharlika as we speak? Yet, our challenges are decades old, if not centuries old. We keep firing indiscriminately because we can't look in the mirror and acknowledge where we are.

We have been running amok like a headless chicken for the longest time.

I had to look in the mirror when I started the blog and acknowledge that I was a party to the mismanagement of the Philippines – because I am Juan de la Cruz.

Recall how the blog characterizes democracy. It is the mirror image of Christianity, i.e., the imperative of personal responsibility to pursue the common good – which equates to “love of neighbor.”

In other words, being Juan de la Cruz, I am not surprised that we mismanaged this economy – and nation. We have been running away from “personal responsibility.”

How? When we (a) accept incompetence at one end and submit to impunity at the other and (b) expect, if not seek paternalism and fall into the crab mentality.

And the vicious circle continues; it perpetuates short-sightedness to the detriment of the virtuous cycle.

Ergo: We wasted decades, if not centuries, to let this nation rot — because the commitment to personal responsibility to pursue the common good deserted us.

Given that we are higher in the hierarchy – as the Philippine elite and chattering classes – the onus is on us to demonstrate that we can look in the mirror.

We have been patting ourselves on the back all this time. It’s called bunker mentality, courtesy of the rigid walls of our caste system. And that explains why our neighbors turned us into the region’s “basket case” and the perennial laggard.

We say it repeatedly but would conveniently forget that we are taking credit away from Juan de la Cruz. It is his remittances and BPO revenues that drive this economy.

And our economic managers can only speak to “enablers” because the “drivers” are Juan de la Cruz and Juan de la Cruz.

What to do? Our economic managers must learn from our neighbors. Beg for foreign money and technology. But we can’t even imagine how, because we take it for granted, we’ve done a great job c/o the BOI and TRAIN and whatever acronyms we like to throw around.

That is why we can’t even establish “Where we are.” And running amok like a headless chicken.

That is the root of our mismanagement of the economy — and nation.

Let’s hold it right there.

The blog shared the partnership Samsung and Vietnam struck. And Vietnam has no Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, so Samsung had to commit to a few infrastructure efforts to create the requisite ecosystem to produce their smartphones. And because the Vietnam factory worker needed the skillset for the chore, the partnership called for joint investment in training.

Why does the blog keep beating the Samsung Vietnam partnership black and blue? Because the export revenues they generate match the aggregate OFW remittances and BPO revenues but with a more significant multiplier effect on the Vietnam economy because of the subindustries it created.

Translation: Aggressive exports explain how Vietnam and the Asian Tigers overcame poverty. It was not the war on poverty as in our 4Ps. That’s why the Ang initiative of generating $200 billion in exports must be the avenue our economic managers must be salivating about, not academic hypotheses such as TRAIN or “sustainable consumption.”

And that translates, in layperson’s terms, the elements of cognitive development: Beyond binary thinking, there is multiplicity and relativism — the imperative of context.

And today, for us to beat Vietnam, say, to lure TMCC, we must think better than Vietnam and more like the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. We don’t have to go all the way, but we must know the best practice model to work toward replicating it.

Why does the blog raise the imperative to bridge the academic world and the “real world”? The Vietnamese and the Chinese know the distinctions.

It’s encouraging that the BOI and MAP are working with Ciel Habito focused on driving exports.

What is the hypothesis? What are the big tickets items like TMCC that we must dissect to the nth degree; and then aggressively drive efforts to deliver against them? That’s called the “vital few,” aka Pareto, instead of the “trivial many.”

And the PEZA plan represents the latter, i.e., to launch 1-3 ecozones in 2023 and achieve a 10% investment growth.

We need “quick hits” to gain the experience and confidence to (a) manage change, (b) Juan de la Cruz, and (c) overcome mismanagement. 

The varied personal experiences narrated by the blog at (a) my former Fortune 500 company and (b) those with my Eastern European friends are “real world” stories of “quick hits.”

One more time with feeling. Did we mismanage this economy – and nation — or what?

I was born and raised in the Philippines and spent the first 20 years of my career there. I was a party to the mismanagement of the Philippines.

Where are we; Where do we want to be; How do we get there?

That looks pretty simple, yet too thorny to address.

We can’t look in the mirror; how could we ever establish “Where we are”?

Gising bayan!

The French have the right to be lazy.

Thanks to Lafargue, the French have the right to be lazy. But now Macron wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. “The French budget risks floundering on pensions that are siphoning off nearly 14% of the nation’s GDP each year – roughly twice the drain than in the United States and behind only Italy and Greece in Europe.” [David A. Andelman, CNN, 11th Jan 2023]

There is no free lunch, even in the wealthy nations of the West.

What more for a developing country like the Philippines? Our impulse is to point to a culprit other than ourselves.

Enter the 3Cs of a “hardy mindset” – challenge, commitment, and control. We must embrace our challenges and commit to overcoming them, recognizing that we have no control over others but ourselves. The onus to change is on us.

Consider: We have over 400 economic zones yet set a 10% investment growth target – even when our neighbors generate export revenues from 2.5 to almost six times ours.

Before PEZA, we had EPZA, created in 1972. That was half a century ago. Nueva Ecija held the distinction of Rice Granary of the Philippines by the 1920s, over a century ago. And we are the second-largest coconut-producing country.

Yet, we aren’t a powerhouse in manufacturing and agribusiness.

It’s called mismanagement.

In other words, the poverty we’ve faced for the longest time is our own. “Catering to the bottom of the pyramid” is shortsighted. Politicians come and go, but if we are to be proud of our institutions, our economic managers and think tanks must step up to the challenge.

Short-sightedness nourishes the crab mentality and the sense of entitlement and emboldens political patronage and impunity.

Our economic managers must recognize the North Star, the “context.” The context is for the Philippines to be a first-world economy and nation.

Juan de la Cruz must thrive. He has the same aspirations — as we do in the Philippine elite and chattering classes — to be self-actualized and prosperous.

The war on poverty — as in the 4Ps — is shortsighted. As it stands, we need to continue with the 4Ps for twenty-five more years.

Fourteen years ago, when the blog started, it pointed out that Vietnam had already cornered more FDIs than the Philippines. Then, in 2020, or eleven years later, Vietnam’s GDP topped ours. But that is a broken record; the Asian Tigers did the same thing to us.

Please recall the elements of cognitive development. Beyond binary thinking, there is multiplicity and relativism – or the imperative of context. And the ability to navigate those elements is a function of experience – which our neighbors gained by leapfrogging industrialization.

Singapore has recognized the public sector’s lack of understanding of knowledge management initiatives. For example, our economic managers speak to “enablers” but not “drivers” of “economic undertakings.” [“Understanding the drivers, enablers, and performance of knowledge management in public organizations,” L. G. Pee and Atreyi Kankanhalli; Conference Paper, Dec 2008, Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.] “TRAIN Law continues to support economy's growth.”

That lack of understanding of knowledge management initiatives in the public sector will yield short-sightedness or “analysis” and the absence of “analytics,” which is forward-, lateral, and creative thinking.

On the other hand, in the private sector, the revenue streams are the drivers of the enterprise. In fairness, the profit motive makes the defining “drivers” instinctive to business managers, which is not the case with “economic managers.”

Should we reinvent Philippine education to bridge the academic world and the “real world”?

“Poor teacher training,” Editorial, Manila Standard, 10th Feb 2023.

In education, we have a money problem and mindset problem beyond poor teacher training. And that is why we can’t lose sight of the accelerated journeys – from poverty to prosperity – that our neighbors pursued. In other words, to gain experience and confidence in managing change, we must seek “quick wins.”

We can walk and chew gum simultaneously. It is not binary thinking. Sadly, people struggle to move beyond logical yet linear and incremental thinking. And that is because, as neuroscience explains, the well-developed chamber of the brain is the binary, not the “lateral chamber.”

Yet, the imperative to prioritize never ceases within the context of an ecosystem. And why the blog keeps speaking about the photosynthesis phenomenon.

Our challenge? No development experience. We struggle to move to multiplicity and relativism. Because we don’t forward-think, we aren’t at home defining a desired outcome or context. And absent the latter, we can’t generate multiple scenarios to pick and choose the way forward confidently.

See above; it’s called mismanagement.

We value hierarchy and paternalism by being “easy” on incompetence, irresponsibility, and inefficiency. Granted that rank has its privileges, including incompetence, we turn around and bestow paternalism on those subordinate to us. And that twin value would explain why we turned from the region’s “basket case” to a perennial laggard.

Why aren’t we a powerhouse in manufacturing and agribusiness? How can a nation be underdeveloped after over seventy-five years?

We won’t be ahead of the curve in energy development, manufacturing, and agriculture until we overcome short-sightedness. And the crab mentality is a classic. Over the last 14 years, the blog has spoken to a pretty simple GPS model – because it facilitates forward-, lateral, and creative thinking.

Vietnam had and still has an infrastructure problem. Their education system is not world-class. And there is corruption too and inefficiency. But we still think we have to address each of our share of these challenges before we can overcome being the regional laggard.

In fairness, they are “enablers.” And we must fix them. Still, we must aggressively seek the “drivers” and exploit them.

And that’s what Vietnam did; it followed the journey of the Asian Tigers – leapfrogging industrialization by begging for foreign money and technology.

Are we “teachable”?

Unsurprisingly, as we already did, we would fall into learned helplessness.

What is “learned helplessness”?

“It is a mental state in which an organism forced to bear aversive stimuli, or stimuli that are painful or otherwise unpleasant becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are “escapable,” presumably because it has learned that it cannot control the situation.” [Encyclopedia Britannica]

And there is also “cognitive bias.”

“A cognitive bias is a subconscious error in thinking that leads you to misinterpret information from the world around you and affects the rationality and accuracy of decisions and judgments. Biases are unconscious and automatic processes designed to make decision-making quicker and more efficient. Cognitive biases come from several things, such as heuristics (mental shortcuts), social pressures, and emotions.

“Although these biases are unconscious, there are small steps we can take to train our minds to adopt a new pattern of thinking and mitigate the effects of these biases.” [https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-bias.html]

That is why the blog has introduced the imperative to pull neuroscience into our nation-building challenge.

Juan de la Cruz is beyond survival. Juan de la Cruz must thrive.

Our economic managers, legislators, and think tanks must recognize the North Star, not perpetuate short-sightedness. Short-sightedness nourishes the crab mentality and the sense of entitlement and emboldens political patronage and impunity.

Gising bayan! 

The challenge is to be “dynamic” and “principled.”

If Juan de la Cruz is to move from “know it all” to “learn it all,” he must embrace dynamism yet be principled.

But is that too high a mountain to climb?

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

“The Philippines ranks 116th out of 180 countries in the global corruption index. Transparency International included the Philippines again in the list of countries identified as “significant decliners” in Asia-Pacific, with its score dropping five points from 38—the country’s highest—in 2014 when it ranked 85th out of 175.

“What that means is that our country is among the most corrupt in the world, not that we have posted a significant decline in corrupt activities in our bureaucracy.” [“No significant decline in corruption levels,” Ernesto M. Hilario, About Town, manilastandard.net, 3rd Feb 2023]

In other words, we will attract not the desirable FDIs and technology but harmful foreign elements. Think “mafia” types living next door. Then think how we, in the Philippine elite and chattering classes, would turn a blind eye to EJKs. God bless our souls. God bless this country.

On the other hand, the private sector, represented by MAP, continues to do its thing. Being from the private sector, I am elated.

“In the Edelman Trust Barometer today, “business” is the most trusted element in society. The reason is that people have given up on politicians who seem to be out for themselves and gridlocked. Most top-ranking politicians are in their 70s and 80s and unfamiliar with what people need. I think people are looking to businesses to help solve problems like climate change, healthcare, income inequality, food shortages, and supply chain.

“Government is not set up to deal with those things. They can pass laws but can’t address them, so everyone’s looking to business. That’s the challenge for today’s leaders: if they don’t address today’s problems, they won’t be good leaders, I can tell you.” [“Author Talks: Bill George sets a course for ‘true north,’” McKinsey, 15th Sep 2022; George is Harvard professor and former Medtronic CEO]

“MAP today has solidified its standing as a professional, impartial, and independent organization whose advocacies extend beyond its mission to achieve management excellence.

“We initiate, support and reinforce in multiple platforms to influence changes for the better. During its strategic meeting, we committed to working on crafting and implementing a two-pronged strategy to significantly contribute to this objective: by (a) bridging and enhancing the internal fundamentals and (b) harnessing our collective strengths to help in building a national future in shared prosperity.

“Our 2023 theme is “Bridging and Building a Progressive Future.” That will guide our directions and activities for the year. We mapped out six priority programs aptly embodied in the acronym B R I D G E: (1) We keep Bridging our internal strengths; (2) Focus on Resilience and recovery; (3) Initiate and welcome Innovation; (4) Advocate Diversity, equity, and inclusion; (5) Make a strong push for Growth and people development; (6) Base our actions on what can contribute to the environment, social and governance goals.

“These priority programs integrate the significant concerns of our members gathered from the responses in a quick survey in November. The results identified the Top 10 issues ranked according to priority. We duly noted that (1) ease of doing business remains to be the top concern, followed by (2) economy, (3) energy, (4) climate change, (5) competitiveness of local industries, (6) education, (7) agriculture, (8) infrastructure, (9) environment, social and governance goals and (10) dealing with local governments.

“Ciel Habito, the former secretary of NEDA under the Ramos administration, heads the Cluster on Resilience and Recovery. His group will persistently pursue the eight-point MAP recommendations that MAP submitted in 2022 to the then-incoming administration.

"To provide inputs to our members on the business horizon, we will hold an economic briefing. We feel that we can enrich the context of economic prospects if we can identify investment opportunities we can take advantage of to expand our markets.

“This year, therefore, we will introduce an innovation of twinning the briefing on the economy with an investment campaign scheduled within the first quarter of the year. The pursuit of this initiative is in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry.”

Recall that my former Fortune 500 company chose me to be the regional manager over my Asian peers because we Filipinos were more sophisticated in business and industry than our neighbors. Recall, too, that I was indolent as a student. But I have been exposed to modern business in the Philippines through five different sectors.

Sadly, we didn’t demonstrate their dynamism. Yet they’re not perfect.

The challenge is to be “dynamic” yet “principled.”

Let’s hold it right there.

Recall that the blog never tires of speaking to humankind being a subset set of this universe in constant motion and expansion.

The blog asserts that democracy is the mirror image of Christianity, i.e., the imperative of personal responsibility to pursue the common good translates to “love of neighbor.”

Yet, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel because we witness the photosynthesis phenomenon 24/7, i.e., interdependence is the law of nature.

Humankind is about thriving in this world. Juan de la Cruz is beyond survival.

In other words, we must overcome the shortsightedness that defines Juan de la Cruz. And the mantra of “inclusion” is a classic example. It is insane. Yet, it is logical, given our caste system.

The bottom line: Our neighbors turned us from the basket case of Asia and then the perennial laggard – because we did not demonstrate their dynamism.

But do we see the door opened for us? Our neighbors aren’t perfect. But we must demonstrate dynamism to get through this open door.

How do we translate that in the “real world”?

Here’s a quote from an earlier posting: I dipped my toes in the “call center” industry per my promise to a friend (who runs an enterprise.)

At the end of a two-day business review, I shared my impressions, “Be close to the trees, but don’t miss the forest.” Long story short, I challenged the team to “double the business.” Several weeks ago, I shared with them a GPS model – to guide them in their planning session: Where are you; Where do you want to be; How will you get there?

I had asked for the character of the nut that the team had to crack, especially the target market and its size and the best-in-class competition – the superiority they demonstrate, from the product architecture to the length and breadth of the customer experience.

Philippine enterprises – like our economy – are still minuscule. The only way for them to thrive globally is to scale up.

Yet, scaling up is not in our lexicon. And it comes from our caste system where [the concept of] “scale” is beyond Juan de la Cruz and is the privilege of the hierarchy – as in an oligarchy. 

Our worldview is between “privilege and entitlement.”

Consider: BOI reported adopting the Pareto principle to focus on “big ticket” items. That was after Mr. Ramon Ang shared his Bulacan initiative, which would generate $200 billion in export revenues beyond the Bulacan airport — and negate the advantage of our neighbors. And as the blog raised, we can include agribusiness under the Bulacan umbrella.

We cannot hold to the sacredness of the 6%-7% GDP growth metric if we want to be ahead of the curve in energy development, being imperative in leapfrogging industrialization, for example.

That’s why the blog never tires of distinguishing (a) logical yet linear and incremental thinking and (b) forward, lateral and creative thinking. 

And that is why the Ang initiative must be a driving force in our journey from poverty to prosperity, as well as the shift in the BOI direction. And note that I challenged my BPO friends to double their business.

What we must learn and want to claim is dynamism. We don’t want the world to keep leaving us behind.

Said differently, we must pursue the sectors of the economy, be it agriculture, manufacturing, or service, knowing full well that whatever industry we focus on must generate the equivalent of the vital few. And that means we deliver against the metrics of innovation and global competitiveness.

The challenge is to be “dynamic” yet “principled.”

“The traditional model of the leader-hero who saves the day knows it all, is the most intelligent person in the room, and is too often driven by power, fame, glory, or money is not appropriate in today’s environment. That is true for several reasons: Today’s fast-changing, complex, and unpredictable environment necessitates a different kind of leadership. Nobody can claim to have all the answers to solve the complex crises we’re facing, and the most adaptable organizations are those in which decisions are decentralized.

“With the idea that a company’s purpose is far more than making money and gaining ground, the hard-charging, profit-optimizing hero-leader model has lost much of its appeal.

“An increasing number of employees now value authenticity and connection over a facade of strength and infallibility. The nature of work has changed from the more mechanical, repetitive type to jobs that require ingenuity and creativity.

“Successful hero-leaders can easily start believing that they’re untouchable and, ultimately, indispensable. It’s easy to be seduced by power, fame, glory, and money. It’s easy to become disconnected from reality and colleagues, surrounded by sycophants and “yay-sayers.”

“Unsurprisingly, people today expect a different kind of leader.” [“5 Principles of Purposeful Leadership,” Hubert Joly, Harvard Business Review, 6th Apr 2022]

“Rightly or wrongly, ‘ethics’ often has a connotation of right and wrong. ‘Values’ tend to be idiosyncratic to individuals and organizations. Values can and should differ among organizations, and there is no right and wrong, per se. ‘Principles’ are more actionable rules of conduct that inform decisions, and those principles are particular to a person or a company.

“Principles are tradeable currency. We can write them down, debate, prioritize, dismiss, or adopt them. By clearly articulating a principle — “It's always wrong to lie to customers” or “Social media companies are responsible for all their users’ content” — it’s easier to step back and look at the idea objectively. Where might the “principle” help guide a decision? Are there situations where that principle is less important than a conflicting principle, or do principles need to evolve?

“None of this is to say that the terms “ethics” and “values” must be out of discussions of entrepreneurship, but rather that the concept of “principles” can give students a tool to approach complex decisions without presupposing a universally correct answer or ethical system.” [“Teaching Principled Entrepreneurship,” Luke Sykora, Stanford University, 23rd Oct 2019; https://ecorner.stanford.edu/articles/teaching-principled-entrepreneurship/]

Those familiar with the blog may recall that when my wife and I arrived in Eastern Europe, I anchored their introduction to the free world: Freedom, democracy, and the free market are not about rules but principles.

Yet, the above articles would still speak to the American experiment – because “principles are tradeable currency.”

Recall the 41 men on the Mayflower that left the Old World for the New World. Despite the instincts for everyone to be for themselves, man, woman, and family, this group of men realized why they sought the New World in the first place. And so they committed to pursuing the common good via self-government, which presupposes personal responsibility.

And they became the model of freedom and democracy despite the countless times they tripped themselves. And they again stumbled; fast-forward to the present.

Why? The pursuit of the common good is not about being conservative or progressive. The latter are values, not principles per se. See above; principles are tradeable currency, while values presuppose a universally correct answer or ethical system.

Conflicting principles, on the other hand, need to evolve. It’s what dynamism is because “reality” is beyond any human experience or system, to paraphrase the late George Gorospe, SJ.

It applies to the principle of interdependence being the law of nature. And why freedom-loving people and nations commit to pursuing the common good. It is what humankind learned after two great wars to prevent the third. It is not a claim of perfection, thus not the choice between evils, but the personal responsibility to seek the common good.

If Filipinos struggle to figure that out, we should not feel inadequate. Even Americans are in awe of the commitment of the Ukrainians to freedom and democracy.

The challenge is to be “dynamic” yet “principled.”

Recall that the blog never tires of speaking to humankind being a subset set of this universe in constant motion and expansion. Do the elements of cognitive development come to mind? Beyond binary thinking, there is multiplicity and relativism – the imperative of context.

Maharlika is just one of the zillion times we tripped ourselves. Why? We take context for granted.

Yet, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We don’t want to envy Singapore or Norway. We want to be a first-world economy and nation.

One more time with feeling. We want to be a first-world economy and nation.

That is the “context,” not Maharlika. When we have internalized the context, we can think laterally and creatively to figure out many ways to get there. But we must prioritize and then connect the dots into an ecosystem.

If we are to reinvent Juan de la Cruz, how do we relate that fundamental given to the home, the school, the community, or the church? For example, the late George Gorospe (SJ) lamented that we could teach the young about “reality” – that it is beyond any human experience or system – yet as a people, we won’t internalize it given the home, the work setting, and the “community-at-large” live by our instincts, our 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.

How do we overcome our instincts? Should we start with reinventing Philippine education? As a freshman, I remember the introduction to the modern math concept of sets and subsets in Math 101. 

But how should we pull together the fundamental givens as a bridge between the academic and the “real world”?

“Tito, we learned how to be entrepreneurs in the school and then exposed to the real world, including overseas.”

A nephew and two friends attended Enderun Colleges and found themselves overseas because the school curriculum included stints with the world’s greatest chefs. Today their restaurant has been featured by Tatler a couple of times, being among the top dining places in the country.

“I know it is difficult to look far ahead, but having a small flowchart in your head would be nice. As someone who owns a restaurant braving the pandemic, don’t only focus on cooking or what happens in the kitchen. There’s more to it than that. 

“Be logical with your decisions, and if you can manage the risks of your choices, then do it. You are not alone – you have a team, and you work with that team together as a family. You have a sea of responsibilities; let your team help you navigate. They have your back, and you’ve got theirs. Don’t be a superstar.” [Running A Restaurant During The Pandemic: Alphonse Sotero Of Lampara Speaks Out | Tatler Asia]

Recall the Vietnam Food Association. That is how they cut the many layers in their agribusiness industry. For example, farmers voluntarily join the association and do not need intermediaries. 

Question: If UP Los Baños will lead the reinvention of Philippine agriculture, should we adopt the Enderun model so that students learn how to blaze the trails for our farmers?

What about UP Engineering? Should they learn why the EPZA export zones model is not the way to go to be globally competitive? Should they have stints overseas to learn from the Asian Tigers, for example? 

How do our engineers learn and internalize the reality of Pareto? What about our economists?

How do we overcome our instincts? How do we reinvent Philippine education? 

We must be close to the trees but not miss the forest. 

We must be great analysts but must master analytics. It is about forward, lateral and creative thinking.

If innovation is beyond R&D, and nation-building beyond Economics, we must now pull neuroscience into our journey from poverty to prosperity. 

“Twelve Researchers Recognized At Philippines Promising Star Awards 2016 - Asian Scientist Magazine.” “The Philippines Promising Star Awards 2016 recognizes researchers of Filipino nationality based in the Philippines who have produced world-class research papers in their respective fields as indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection.

“The recipients represent nine broad fields spanning social science, computer science, clinical medicine, plant & animal science, neuroscience & behavior, economics & business, molecular biology & genetics, materials science and environment/ecology.”

These Filipino scientists’ challenge is adding value to our nation-building efforts. In other words, we can’t be too close to the trees that we miss the forest.

Consider: “Currently, PEZA oversees 421 ecozones hosting 4,346 locators. The ecozones have generated a total of 1.8 million direct jobs. PEZA is confident it will achieve its 10% investment growth target for 2023.” [“PEZA sets launch target of 1-3 ecozones a year,” BusinessWorld, 9th Feb 2023] 

In other words, because of the sacredness of the 6%-7% GDP growth metric, we are proud to see investment grow by 10%. 

“Scaling up” is not in our lexicon – because we mistake the academic world for the “real world.” And we can’t shake off the crab mentality.

The challenge is to be “dynamic” yet “principled.”

If Juan de la Cruz is to move from “know it all” to “learn it all,” he must embrace dynamism yet be principled.

But is that too high a mountain to climb?

Humankind is about thriving in this world. 

Juan de la Cruz is beyond survival.

Gising bayan!