Think Philippine Inc., not Philippine Economy

Recall the banner of this blog, “Philippine Economy: Reinventing Ourselves.”

And why it introduced the science of “thinking.” This subject of “thinking” is as challenging as can be.

Consider: Edward de Bono, the father of “Lateral Thinking,” failed in his efforts to get “thinking” into the education field. On the other hand, everyone salutes Einstein, and in more contemporary times, there is Steve Jobs.

The consolation is that at Yale, they offer a course in figuring out these geniuses.

What about us Filipinos? We have seen every neighbor – one after the other – leave us in the dust, and what are we thinking? We still believe in our heart of hearts that we are “learned” and “sophisticated.”

It’s the caste system.

It also explains the current crisis in America. White Americans, especially Trumpians, see themselves as belonging to the higher class. And this sense is reinforced by their belief in a higher order, i.e., their Christian faith. Translation: Holier than thou. Everyone else outside the tribe is undeserving. And this slice of the population is roughly 40 percent. And it explains why Trump is still in the news.

But we Filipinos must not laugh. We are the regional laggard, if not the sick man of Asia, because of our caste system.

How can we reinvent ourselves then?

When I was a regional manager at my old MNC-company, the only place I’d hear local managers drop the buzzword “paradigm shift” was in the Philippines. Not in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, China, or even Singapore. In fairness, the Indians would bend my ears to their discourses on different topics.

And when FVR was president, I kept hearing, “Think global, act local.”

But why did the company invest more in the other countries? Sadly, we were not alone. And what’s the fallout?

Fast-forward to the present. Every time our plane would land at NAIA, the first thing the wife and I would see out the windows was Philippine poverty. And it always reminds me of the New Yorker-guest I had 40 years ago, and his first impression of Manila was its poverty.

Can we go beyond buzzwords? Can we shift paradigms, imagine the Philippines as Philippine Inc.?

What’s the difference? In the private sector – especially in today’s highly competitive world where innovation is dizzying – the imperative of personal responsibility and the egalitarian ethos is pronounced. Translation: Rank has no privileges; miscreants pay the price.

Even in the public sector, it happens. Think of now, former New York Governor Cuomo.

Of course, Trump has been getting away with murder. But that’s another story. Translation: That’s why I have no respect for US politics – i.e., I visualized the future when the family transferred to New York. In other words, the 6th Jan insurrection in the Capitol was visible even as early as decades ago, if not earlier.

How? Because freedom and democracy are beyond merely winning – and beyond party. It is about the common good, stupid!

But then consider: If there was the “apple-tree” transgression at Eden, we had the “banking-tree” transgression in contemporary times. That was when the financial community crossed the line between investment and retail banking.

“Historically, retail banks have used cash deposited by savers for investment activities. Following the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the United States sought to reduce the risk of savings used to pay losses incurred on bad investments with the Glass–Steagall legislation of 1933, which controlled affiliations between banks and securities firms. This legislation was weakened in the 1990s, culminating in its abolition in 1999 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act. That triggered a spate of international mergers, creating companies so vital to running the global financial system that they were ‘too big to fail.’ Investment losses in the financial crisis of 2007–2008 threatened to bankrupt these systemically important banks and national governments felt obliged to bail them out at great cost.” [Wikipedia]

And if there was Satan at Eden, in more contemporary times, we have bad actors – as in despots.

“The Syrian civil war started on 15th Mar 2011 and has developed into the largest movement of people globally since WWII. It is also a very complex war due to the many players involved, either directly or indirectly. The main groups directly in Syria are (1) Government forces under President Al-Assad, whom Iran and Russia support, and (2) Opposition forces: Free Syrian Army, Islamic Front, Rojava (Kurds), Army of Conquest, and ISIS or ISIL.” [Google]

And if we add “climate change,” it may prod us to believe that this world is coming to an end.

I stood by the Grand Canyon a few times, remember how minuscule humankind can be, and imagine how monstrous the ice age played out. And whenever I fly by the Alps – which is almost 5,000 meters high – I would remember that archeologists found particles that came from under the sea.

Then consider how long planet Earth has been around: “Earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, plus or minus about 50 million years. Scientists have scoured the Earth, searching for the oldest rocks to date radiometrically. In northwestern Canada, they discovered rocks about 4.03 billion years old. Then, in Australia, they discovered minerals about 4.3 billion years old. Researchers know that rocks continuously recycle due to the rock cycle, so they searched for data elsewhere. Since it is thought the bodies in the solar system may have formed at similar times, scientists analyzed moon rocks collected during the moon landing and even meteorites that have crash-landed on Earth. Both of these materials dated to between 4.4 and 4.5 billion years.” [National Geographic]

Recall that the blog often references the character of this universe, i.e., dynamism and interdependence.

And despite the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists recognize that there are zillions more that humankind can’t figure out. For example, beyond the galaxies in constant forward motion while in multiplication mode, some go extinct.

I would only smile when I hear people assume their choices are tops and irrefutable. And these are the ones to whom innovation is foreign.

Recall how humankind deals with – and thrives despite – the dynamism of the universe, and thanks to Maslow, we now know and must respect the hierarchy of human needs.

The Catholic Church may have a problem with that, but it is not a surprise, and it is the epitome of the caste system.

The saving grace is that they recognize a higher being between Einstein and his pal (at the Manhattan Project) William Pollard, a physicist-priest. Still, they understood dynamism:

“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]

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein.

Let’s get back to the Philippines – and consider: “Filipinos are still far from reaping the benefits of the rapidly advancing digital age. While preparedness for the Fourth Industrial Revolution now preoccupies business and economic planners, the essential homework remains to equip the vast mass of Filipinos even to be part of it.

“PIDS notes the urgent need to remove regulatory barriers and expand market opportunities to allow ICT players to invest, build, and innovate, regardless of size, ownership, and technology—and not limit network-building to enfranchised telecom firms. BSP also stresses financial education, digital literacy, and consumer protection as vital to financial inclusion.

“The work ahead is daunting, but critical and urgent if we are to bridge the great divide not only within our country but also between our country and the rest of the rapidly digitalizing world.” [“The great divide,” Cielito F. Habito, NO FREE LUNCH, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 5th Oct 2021]

But here’s another perspective: “We have a young, growing, and English-speaking population, an asset that the ongoing pandemic has not diminished. Our fertility rate will continue to be above replacement (2.1 babies per fertile woman) for at least the next 20 years. In a world where developed countries are suffering from the rapid aging of their population, we have our pluses: our median age of 24 will continue to support our two most significant engines of growth. They are the vast remittances sent by the Overseas Filipino Workers and the earnings of 1.3 million well-educated workers in the BPO-IT sector. These two account for some 12 to 15 percent of our GDP.

“Together with the other countries in the Indo-Pacific region, we will be benefitting from the rise of the Asian Century.” [“2050 take me there,” Bernardo M. Villegas, The Human Side of Economics, BusinessWorld, 5th Oct 2021]

Let’s add another viewpoint: “Experience, therefore, is not the clearest lens through which to view the forces buffeting the global economy. The world has changed dramatically since the 1970s, and globalization has created a vast network of interdependencies. The system now faces a new, unique test.” [“Is the world economy going back to the 1970s(?),” The Economist, 5th Oct 2021]

Then consider: “Is America Inc getting less dynamic, less global and more monopolistic(?),” The Economist, 16th Sep 2021.

“The Economist set out to test all three hypotheses about American business: that it is less dynamic, less global, and more concentrated. The results appear nowhere near as bleak as the doomsayers would have you believe.” [“Is America Inc getting less dynamic, less global and more monopolistic(?),” The Economist, 16th Sep 2021]

Remember Japan Inc.? And note The Economist also calls the US, America Inc.

The blog often references Japan Inc. because of how it undermined the US manufacturing prowess – and economy. That was when my old MNC-company moved the family to New York, and I was involved in addressing the shortcomings of US higher education given its impact on the private sector.

“A primary feature of Japan, Inc. was the crucial role of Japan’s trade ministry, which guided Japan’s development in the postwar years in a strategy of export-led growth, known as the Japanese Miracle.

“This growth was due to American investment immediately after the war and government regulation of the economy.

“Close collaboration between corporate executives and government officials enabled the government to create winners. Another major characteristic of Japan Inc. was institutionalized business alliances, known as keiretsu, which dominated Japan’s economic activity. The Japanese miracle created Japan, Inc. and lasted until the 1991 Japanese financial crisis.” [“Japan Inc.,” Adam Hayes, Investopedia, 2nd Nov 2021]

Those familiar with the blog know that it never fails to stress that systems aren’t static and are merely human constructs. And Japan, followed by the Asian Tigers, China, and Vietnam, demonstrated a dynamic system.

None of these economic miracles are pure free enterprise models. And so, even The Economist is calling the US, America Inc.

Can we think of the Philippines as Philippine Inc.?

Should our economic managers, legislators, and economists be the first ones to demonstrate that we Filipinos can shift paradigms?

In other words, it is not about beating our chests because we can deliver a 6%-7% GDP growth rate.

Here’s a quote from an earlier posting: “We cannot just repeat the Marcos to Cory movie.

Let’s hold it right there.

We wanted Cory after Marcos because she was upright and God-fearing, and compassionate. Compassionate, especially to the poverty-stricken Juan de la Cruz.

But here’s where the science of “thinking” comes into play. We are glossing over what’s at the heart of our caste system, the value of hierarchy and paternalism.

The hierarchy must lead the war on poverty. Even Duterte said the same thing but differently, i.e., fight poverty via the war on drugs.

Recall that there are two sides to an equation. There is populism on one side and leadership on the other. And leadership is not one-dimensional even when it must demonstrate the ability to synthesize.

Recall how I did my homework given the challenge of succession planning in an MNC – in over 200 countries and territories. And at the heart of it is leadership development.

But then again, the science of “thinking” demands forward- and lateral thinking. Why did I dig deeper into the UK civil service system of selection? And then, the UK, because of the politicians playing politics, bet and lost on Brexit.

In other words, perfection is not of this world. How then can one-dimensional – logical yet linear and incremental – thinking even have a prayer in today’s highly competitive globalized world?

“We need a leadership that can grasp that we are GDP-starved. The ‘leadership’ must synthesize and pull out what matters, given our instincts of the crab mentality.

“Education, health care, the 4Ps, MSMEs, among others, are all critical. 

"But we are GDP-starved — as in, we are oxygen-starved and need it first and foremost.

“Recall that the blog spoke to Mayor Isko, creating a task force comprised of Bill Gates, the CEO of Apple, the CEO of Samsung, and Warren Buffett.

“Why?

“Beg for foreign money and technology — and cover our deficits measured against our neighbors!

“That’s what Lee and Mahathir said to Deng – and even Vietnam followed suit.

“That is how our neighbors left us one after the other.

“And so, we need a quantum leap of $200 billion in GDP to leapfrog the economic output of these neighbors! 

“And give that much-needed oxygen boost to Juan de la Cruz.

“Then recall my Eastern European friends, an MSME that was a losing proposition for eight years, becoming a model for Europe because of their commercial success, innovation culture, and business ethics.

“And ‘innovation,’ as the blog has repeatedly stressed, borrows from the instincts of Steve Jobs. He defined creativity as simply connecting the dots. And that presupposes forward- and lateral thinking. If it isn’t apparent yet, it is what this posting illustrates.

“The next president must preside over Philippines Inc. by doggedly pursuing commercial success, innovation and be a paragon of good governance, not a culture of impunity.

“We cannot keep to our crab mentality.

“Forget about OFW remittances and the BPO industry, our top eight companies, the ‘sweet spot’ in our consumer market, the 4Ps, our MSMEs, and the Build, Build, Build program. They collectively don’t generate the levels of GDP to feed Juan de la Cruz – or fund the Department of Agriculture.

“But then again, that’s why in figuring out a solution, we must be on the lookout for the distinctions between ‘drivers’ and ‘enablers.’

“For example, nation-building is beyond economics. Economic policies, whether fiscal or monetary, are enablers, not drivers.

“That’s why the blog always speaks to ‘photosynthesis.’ We need more than economics.

“To illustrate: Living things need oxygen released into the air by plants. But plants need ‘energy’ from sunlight, carbon dioxide absorbed from the air, water through the soil, and the glucose generated.

“It’s called an ecosystem. That’s why the blog calls out higher education, where every discipline insists on being the drivers, not acknowledging when they are the enablers.

“Yet, it is not a license for Juan de la Cruz to be ‘sabog’ – as in the crab mentality. The operative word is to synthesize – to combine several pieces into a single or unified entity.”

We are debating who the next Philippine president must be.

Consider: Can the person we are endorsing look economic managers, legislators, and economists in the eye and say: We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Learning and innovation go hand in hand, and the arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.

Think Philippine Inc., not the Philippine economy.

Gising bayan!

There are two sides to an equation.

Let’s hold it right there.

Those familiar with the blog know that I am not a bean counter, and the title is to reintroduce the science of “thinking,” which is why the blog often speaks to the academic world and the real one.

Why? Because even intelligent people can’t escape the two operating systems in the brain: (1) automatic and (2) conscious. That’s why Daniel Kahneman is a Nobel Laureate; he pointed out what people take for granted.

Let’s go over some examples. They may be boring, but that’s to keep us away from the “automatic” operating system of our brains.

Here’s a good starting point: On one side of the equation are the assets (A) minus (-) the liabilities (L). And that leaves us, on the other side, the net worth (NW). Or A-L=NW.

Juan de la Cruz may not know it instinctively. And I am reminded of my mother; may she rest in peace. She was a product of the Philippine Normal School.

She can’t recite A-L=NW. But she taught me a few profound lessons. She made sure I joined the Boys Scouts when I was in Grade V; throughout high school, I experienced holding a leadership position in all four years.

But even more, character-building is, “Honesty is the best policy.”

If I became more than a business strategist and hands-on implementor in today’s globalized world, it was how she helped me put things in proper order. She did not always win out because I was a lazy student, voted least likely to succeed by my high school class. But every nugget of wisdom she imparted in my juvenile mind through some magic got through and came forth – as my business career expanded beyond our shores.

On the other hand, my father – may he rest in peace, too – tutored me in math and how to use the “caton.” But he failed to make me a soldier. Poor as we were, he thought the ticket to a career – as with three of my uncles – was to get into PMA.

But I never told him how a corporate career got into my head. He was a clerk in an insurance company, a promotion, following his first job as an elevator operator – back in the day. He was a freshman at UP when the war broke out and got married right after; he never had the chance to go back to school.

One day – and I was not even ten – while at his office, I saw a man through his glass-walled office facing the rows of clerks, including my father. Who is he, I asked? He’s the boss. That was the seed planted in my head.

After that quick bio, let’s get back to A-L=NW. What is surprising is when those who consider themselves number savvy ignore this reality.

But it isn’t surprising because the world and higher education teach us logical yet linear and incremental thinking. What are we missing? Forward- and lateral thinking.

For example, dissertations are about rationalization with no guarantee of impacting the real world.

Consider: We embraced the hypothesis that OFW remittances – i.e., a consumption economy – would compensate for skipping industrialization – because of our “sweet spot” or a very young population.

Here’s another example. There is populism on one side and leadership on the other. Yet, we championed direct democracy and LGUs, on the one hand, and accepted weak national leadership or submitted to autocratic leadership on the other. Either one skews the equation – as in we’re the regional laggard, if not on the road to a failed state.

Consider too: Tax revenues on one side and national income (or GDP) on the other. And why the blog says we are GDP-starved. We cannot rely on and keep slicing and dicing the tax revenues we derive from a nominal GDP per person to drive every critical initiative – from farming to education, to health care, to the 4Ps, among others.

It is not about the half-full glass, and Philippine GDP is too meager to feed over a hundred million Filipinos.

Here’s a quote from earlier postings: “We are GDP-starved. Forget about OFW remittances and the BPO industry, our top eight companies, the ‘sweet spot’ in our consumer market, the 4Ps, our MSMEs, and the Build, Build, Build program. They collectively don’t generate the levels of GDP to feed Juan de la Cruz – or fund the Department of Agriculture.”

But then again, that’s why in figuring out a solution, we must be on the lookout for the distinctions between “drivers” and “enablers.”

For example, nation-building is beyond economics. Economic policies, whether fiscal or monetary, are enablers, not drivers.

That’s why the blog always speaks to “photosynthesis.” We need more than economics.

To illustrate: Living things need oxygen released into the air by plants. But plants need “energy” from sunlight, carbon dioxide absorbed from the air, water through the soil, and the glucose generated.

It’s called an ecosystem. That’s why the blog calls out higher education, where every discipline insists on being the drivers, not acknowledging when they are the enablers.

Yet, it is not a license for Juan de la Cruz to be “sabog” – as in the crab mentality. The operative word is to synthesize – to combine several pieces into a single or unified entity.

We must synthesize populism and leadership. We must combine a consumption-service economy with an investment-industrial economy. We must coexist with other nations to bring money and technology to Juan de la Cruz.

It is the common good, stupid!

Then consider our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Let’s get back to photosynthesis.

Living things need oxygen. 

Undertakings or enterprises – whether public or private – need income, as in the “sunlight.”

Of course, we need more than “sunlight.” But that's why it’s called an ecosystem, and it is not one-dimensional.

And why there is cognitive development, i.e., the challenges humankind faces demand more than binary or dualistic thinking. Take relativism.

And they relate to the modern math concept of sets and subsets. And that mirrors the nature of creation and the universe, i.e., dynamism and interdependence.

But how do we transport “photosynthesis” to the real world?

Let’s get to more examples.

Here’s again a quote from earlier postings: “Think of the following as subsets or building blocks in our nation-building efforts: (1) OFW remittances; (2) the BPO industry; (3) our being a consumer market – that we like to call ‘sweet spot’ because ours are young consumers; (4) the 4Ps; (5) the eight top companies; (6) MSMEs that account for almost 99% of registered enterprises.

“But why are we still GDP-starved? All those building blocks collectively fall short of lifting Juan de la Cruz from poverty. 

In other words, we are “oxygen-starved.”

“And that is why we need another building block. But first, we must recognize how (a) Vietnam did it and (b) Mahathir turned Malaysia into a favored FDI destination.

“That means we must (a) become a regional manufacturing hub for techno products and (b) lure the world’s best tech companies and most significant investors to the Philippines.”

And from my old MNC-company: “Those familiar with the blog may recall that I presented a quick and dirty game plan to enter China, and both the president and CEO expected the leadership piece woven in. ‘Are you offering the job to John today?’ That was the first thing out of the CEO’s lips.

“It was not a dissertation. One chart with these simple bullet points: A third of the market is in the three major metro areas. We will capture a 20% market share, giving us the margins to go head-to-head against the only Western brand in the market. They have a 20% market share but are widespread. There are doors and doors open to us. But we will start and focus on the three major metro areas to get the biggest bang.

“John used the same bullet points when we presented to the Board Policy Committee. But he spread it over three charts to speak to each one. Still, there was no need for a dissertation. Readers of the blog may recall that John was my boss in the Philippines.

“The real world is where Juan de la Cruz suffers from abject poverty, and that cannot be compensated by us beating our chests for the dollar billionaires we created.”

Then recall “that in Eastern Europe, while my role would suffice as consulting, I agreed to organize, run, and develop the sales force to show them the ropes of aggressively driving revenues.

“Still, they must recognize the imperative to connect the dots. And why they still want me to hold their hands, especially with the pandemic and with me working from home.

“And what are the dots to connect? They are the three dynamics of (1) the marketing mix (and its foundation is the product portfolio that must continually respond to the challenge of raising one’s well-being; not the dead-end of “serving the bottom of the pyramid”); and between the portfolio of products and markets is the challenge of analytics: where to sell which products, why, how, and what is the priority as in Pareto — to get the biggest bang; (2) the resource mix (and it includes the access to finance, and banks favor businesses that have credible game plans, and credibility isn’t free; (3) the execution mix: who will do what, when, where, and how.”

“The challenge we face is not a cakewalk.”

Why does the blog speak to education, on the one hand, and the “real world” on the other?

And it is not a new challenge. Recall how often the blog speaks to the shortcomings of US higher education. And I was involved in “unbundling” it for my old MNC-company.

It is not that higher education is passe. The very nature of this universe is one of dynamism and interdependence, and education cannot be static.

And in this era of innovation, rapid prototyping has become the norm as opposed to the concept of “due course.” Think of the rapid development of the Covid-19 vaccines.

And education must recognize that change keeps changing at warp speed.

That’s why in the pursuit of innovation, there is a process called “Design Thinking.” And two of the steps are prototyping and testing. The object is to be able – in the shortest possible time – to visualize and test a solution.

It is not a cakewalk. But it does not mean sticking to the old ways.

And here, our instincts will always get in the way: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

We are doomed if we in the Philippine elite and chattering classes cannot figure out the two sides of the equation.

We cannot skew the nation to populism without leadership. And we are on the wrong track of getting deeper into LGUs without the requisite “leadership.”

For example, we cannot just repeat the Marcos to Cory movie.

We need a leadership that can grasp that we are GDP-starved. The “leadership” must synthesize and pull out what matters, given our instincts of the crab mentality.

Education, health care, the 4Ps, MSMEs, among others, are all critical. 

But we are GDP-starved — as in, we are “oxygen-starved” and need it first and foremost.

Recall that the blog spoke to Mayor Isko, creating a task force comprised of Bill Gates, the CEO of Apple, the CEO of Samsung, and Warren Buffett.

Why?

Beg for foreign money and technology — and cover our deficits measured against our neighbors!

That’s what Lee and Mahathir said to Deng – and even Vietnam followed suit.

That is how our neighbors left us one after the other.

And so, we need a quantum leap of $200 billion in GDP to leapfrog the economic output of these neighbors! 

And give that much-needed “oxygen-boost” to Juan de la Cruz.

Then recall my Eastern European friends, an MSME that was a losing proposition for eight years, becoming a model for Europe because of their commercial success, innovation culture, and business ethics.

And “innovation,” as the blog has repeatedly stressed, borrows from the instincts of Steve Jobs. He defined creativity as simply connecting the dots. And that presupposes forward- and lateral thinking. If it isn’t apparent yet, it is what this posting illustrates.

The next president must preside over Philippines Inc. by doggedly pursuing commercial success, innovation and be a paragon of good governance, not a culture of impunity.

We cannot keep to our crab mentality.

Gising bayan!

Haven’t we messed up with Juan de la Cruz yet?

It’s the caste system, stupid! And I don’t mean just the Philippines.

“This Is Why We Need to Spend $4 Trillion,” David Brooks, The New York Times, 20th Sep 2021.

To appreciate why the quote from Brooks, he was the first pundit I wrote at the New York Times. He is a conservative Republican. And when Dubya (George Bush) became the party’s candidate for president, he waxed poetic for all the reasons to elect the clown.

Here’s an aside. An American friend was so taken by the speech of GMA when she visited Washington that he wanted her to be the US president. “Ours couldn’t put one simple sentence together.”

Those familiar with US public television would know that Brooks and a democratic pundit had this regular debate, rooting for their respective dogmas.

Disclosure: I did my homework on “selecting people” in a leadership position, and Dubya had many negatives if we were disappointed with Cory despite her positive attributes. The evidence? Take one: He concocted a bogus war in Iraq, no different from Johnson doing it in Vietnam.

In an MNC, succession planning is a big part of running an enterprise. We were in over 200 markets and must be proactive in leadership development. Those familiar with the blog may recall that I presented a quick and dirty game plan to enter China, and both the president and CEO expected the leadership piece woven in. “Are you offering the job to John today?” That was the first thing out of the CEO’s lips.

Let’s hold it there to expand on the quick and dirty game plan. 

It was not a dissertation. One chart with these simple bullet points: A third of the market is in the three major metro areas. We will capture a 20% market share, giving us the margins to go head-to-head against the only Western brand in the market. They have a 20% market share but are widespread. There are doors and doors open to us. But we will start and focus on the three major metro areas to get the biggest bang.

John used the same bullet points when we presented to the Board Policy Committee. But he spread it over three charts to speak to each one. Still, there was no need for a dissertation. Readers of the blog may recall that John was my boss in the Philippines.

The real world is where Juan de la Cruz suffers from abject poverty, and that cannot be compensated by us beating our chests for the dollar billionaires we created.

A dissertation can rationalize every positive we trumpet in the academic world yet miss the real world. Recall the Ph.D. I mentored. We revised the outline approved by the professor to capture the real world, even setting aside the great Mathematician’s — Markov — algorithm. That was her ticket to become the global marketing director of one of the world’s famous brands.

Let’s go back to my homework.

In doing my homework, I traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to St. Paul, Minneapolis, to a professor’s study in his new house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to a company in Memphis, Tennessee that loudly trumpeted their embrace of the Total (Japanese) Quality, among others. The Memphis-based company also operates in over 200 countries and territories – and I would see their trucks everywhere I traveled.

I met up with a team of consultants who pioneered the 360-degree leadership assessment model. And a guru that came out with a best-seller in organization effectiveness.

And in Dublin, meet up with one of the two consultants behind the UK civil service selection process. The UK is the global standard in civil service efficiency and effectiveness.

Still, perfection is not of this world – as in how the politicians bet and lost on Brexit. Translation: Its fallouts are still reverberating. News item: “The pandemic and Brexit have exacerbated the shortage of truck drivers, which resulted in tens of thousands of EU nationals leaving their trucking jobs in the United Kingdom.” And the cold season is here; car drivers find petrol stations closed and homes need heat despite the unusual spike in prices; food rotting in warehouses – as in the supply chain ruined. That is akin to a perfect storm.

Did I say that I have no respect for (US) politics and chose not to exercise the right to vote?

But let’s get back to Brooks.

“I've spent the last few weeks in a controlled fury — and I’m generally not a fury kind of guy. Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and others are trying to pass arguably the most consequential legislative package in a generation, and what did I sense in my recent travels across five states? The same thing I feel in my social media feed and on the various media ‘most-viewed’ lists.

“Indifference.

“Have we given up on the idea that policy can change history? Have we lost faith in our ability to reverse, or even be alarmed by, national decline? More and more, I hear people accepting the idea that America is not as energetic and youthful as it used to be.

“I can practically hear the spirits of our ancestors crying out — the ones who had a core faith that this would forever be the greatest nation on the planet, the New Jerusalem, the last best hope of earth.

“My ancestors were aspiring immigrants and understood where the beating heart of the nation resided: with the working class and the middle class, the ones depicted by Willa Cather, James Agee, Ralph Ellison, or in ‘The Honeymooners,’ ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ and ‘On the Waterfront.’ There was a time when the phrase ‘the common man’ was a source of pride and a high compliment.

“Look at the list of states that, according to a recent analysis of White House estimates by CNBC, could be among those getting the most money per capita from the infrastructure bill. Many of them are places where Trumpian resentment is burning hot: Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota.

“Biden had it exactly right when he told a La Crosse, Wis., audience, ‘The jobs that are going to be created here — largely, it’s going to be those for blue-collar workers, the majority of whom will not have to have a college degree to have those jobs.’

“In normal times, I’d argue that many of the programs in these packages may be ineffective. I’m a lot more worried about debt than progressives seem to be. But we’re a nation enduring a national rupture, and the most violent parts of it may still be yet to come.”

It’s worth repeating. “we’re a nation enduring a national rupture, and the most violent parts of it may still be yet to come.”

The blog can speak to the caste systems of the Philippines and the US because my family lived through them.

For example, we lived in desirable gated communities in the Philippines and the New York metro area. And in the case of the latter, we’re paying two sets of taxes beyond federal – with New York ranking first in total taxes (personal income and state).

And where is Trumpian resentment burning hot per Brooks? Alaska, Wyoming, Montana, North and South Dakota. And they could use the Biden trillions to create jobs for blue collars and non-college degree folks.

It’s the caste system, stupid!

Yet, whether it’s Trump or Biden, Uncle Sam cannot be about “America First, and Only” – if it deserves to be a hegemon. Why do Americans call the US president the leader of the free world?

Biden messed up Afghanistan because he was playing populist politics, i.e., Americans want out. That he can be a Trump but not precisely – and appeal to Trumpians. 

But leadership must move beyond “analysis” into “analytics.” For example, beyond AUKUS, Biden must keep to the GPS model: Where are we; Where do we want to be; How do we get there. Otherwise, the Republicans will label him incompetent – i.e., all bluster a la Trump – if they haven’t already.

Biden indicated that he knew Trump was transactional, not strategic, and why he pronounced, “America is back.”

That brings us to the Philippines – in a long, roundabout way.

Here’s a quote from an earlier posting: “Let’s digress a bit. Didn’t we say that what we need is ‘happiness,’ not GDP? That is patronizing and can only come from us in the Philippine elite and chattering classes.

“Because like the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Philippines needs funding. But let’s hold it right there.

“Funding does not mean tax revenues. Tax revenues come from national income or GDP. Can we not connect simple dots?

“Recall what the blog says all the time: We are GDP-starved. Forget about OFW remittances and the BPO industry, our top eight companies, the ‘sweet spot’ in our consumer market, the 4Ps, our MSMEs, and the Build, Build, Build program.

“They collectively don’t generate the levels of GDP to feed Juan de la Cruz – or fund the DA.

“Is that hard to comprehend?”

Let’s keep to “funding.” Why do we keep moving deeper into LGUs? Because they need development too, like imperial Manila?

How shortsighted is that? Very much; because it is a blatant display of the crab mentality.

We cannot rely on a measly national income per capita and keep dishing tax revenues to LGUs and codifying it with the Mandanas law. That is a race to the bottom, and the opposite of optimization is suboptimization. Translation: Nobody wins; everyone loses.

Can we not figure that out?

We are GDP-starved. Forget about OFW remittances and the BPO industry, our top eight companies, the “sweet spot” in our consumer market, the 4Ps, our MSMEs, and the Build, Build, Build program. They collectively don’t generate the levels of GDP to feed Juan de la Cruz – or fund the DA.

Consider: America is an economy of over $20 trillion. (And its GDP per capita is 702% ours.) It has the means to spend $700 billion in defense – almost twice our GDP – and that is why even a conservative Republican like Brooks is endorsing the Biden trillions.

What about us in the Philippines? We can’t copy America. But we can benchmark against our neighbors. They begged for foreign money and technology, and today are major export countries.

And, worst of all, these neighbors left us in the dust!

It’s the caste system, stupid!

We value hierarchy and paternalism instead of the common good.

And the common good comes from self-government – as in personal responsibility and an egalitarian ethos. In other words, it is not about “rank has its privileges.”

Are we Juan Tamad, Bondying, and Padre Damaso rolled into one?

Haven’t we messed up with Juan de la Cruz yet?

Gising bayan!

We cannot build this nation from the ground up.

But our instincts continue to blind us – especially us in the Philippine elite and chattering classes – because we like to believe we are success stories individually.

And there lies the plight of Juan de la Cruz. What is missing? The common good.

In other words, our instincts reveal our values: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

The blog has been playing like a broken record for over a dozen years, yet it doesn’t get traction.

Why? Because we are “learned” – even “sophisticated” per an American diplomat who had the most flattering words for us Filipinos post-Philippine assignment.

A colleague from my old MNC-company – who had two stints in the Philippines and moved up to Asia-Pacific President – would remind me: “after the Philippines, everything is downhill.” He knew that we – the Philippine elite – lived in gated communities and chauffeured around.

And here we were in the mornings – winter, spring, summer, or fall – walking from the Grand Central station (the final stop of our train commute from Connecticut) to our building a couple of blocks north. 

What else can Juan de la Cruz ask for?

Sadly, Juan de la Cruz has to separate from family – and home – to be an OFW because the Philippine economy cannot feed them. At the same time, we in the Philippine elite bash in our successes – as individuals.

What is missing? The common good.

We cannot build this nation from the ground up.

Didn’t Marcos try with his “New Society”? Or Cory – to restore the rule of law? Or FVR – to celebrate Global Philippines?

We even had two economists – GMA and PNoy; and a supposedly model mayor, i.e., Duterte.

We’re missing Erap. Here’s the take of Britannica: “In 1998, Estrada ran for president, though his candidacy faced significant opposition. Ramos, barred by the Constitution from running for a second term, endorsed House Speaker José de Venecia, and many of the country’s influential businessmen opposed Estrada’s populist proposals. The Roman Catholic Church denied Estrada its support because he admitted he fathered four children by women other than his wife.

“He did have the vote of Imelda Marcos, the widow of former president Ferdinand Marcos and then a member of Congress. He enjoyed a devoted following among the country’s poor. Estrada captured nearly 40 percent of the vote, handily defeating his nearest rival, de Venecia, who garnered only 15.9 percent. The margin of victory was the largest in a free election in the history of the Philippines, and Estrada was officially declared president by Congress on 29th May 1998.

“Estrada’s tenure as president was short-lived: A corruption scandal erupted in October 2000 when a fellow politician claimed that Estrada had accepted millions of dollars worth of bribes. In November, the Philippine Senate began an impeachment trial but abandoned it after some senators blocked the admission of evidence. On 20th Jan 2001, massive protests ousted Estrada, and his vice president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, ascended to the presidency. Later that year, Estrada was brought to trial on plunder charges (large-scale corruption) and accused of procuring more than $80 million through bribes and corrupt dealings. Estrada denied the accusations, calling them politically motivated, and he remained relatively popular in the Philippines despite the charges. In September 2007, he was convicted of plundering and sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison.”

In prior postings, the blog spoke to Mayor Isko; a movie actor turned politician too.

Is he a model politician? Should he be the next president? Will we successfully come together as a people and unite the opposition to support the model politician?

And my reference point is my Eastern European friends. Despite being merely an MSME – and a losing proposition for eight years – they bested over 15,000 companies across Europe to be a model.

Why? How? Beyond being a commercial success and its innovation culture, it is a paragon of business ethics.

Translation: The public sector is not unlike the private sector, i.e., it is an “enterprise.”

And for an enterprise to succeed, it must impact or deliver value to the real world. And it does so via an innovation culture. And to reinforce and perpetuate the “enterprise,” it must be upright. 

And we should say ditto for Philippine education? Must education impact and deliver value to the real world?

Translation: Education must not be about learning the “how-to” or mechanics but the science of “thinking.”

And higher education in the US has its failings too. They had to overcome Japan Inc. The latter taught the world lots of “mechanics” as in Total Quality, yet they also missed the science of “thinking.”

Like Asian martial arts, Steve Jobs used the weight of Japanese technology to beat them by moving the world to digital — using Japanese technology. That’s how the iPod killed the Walkman.

Please recall that “innovation,” as explained by the blog, is about connecting the dots (thanks to Steve Jobs) and presupposes forward- and lateral thinking: Where are we; Where do we want to be: How do we get there.

On the other hand, where are our heads? And that is why the blog never stops playing our instincts: We are parochial and insular; we value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Enter: Philippine agriculture. “Funding agriculture right,” Cielito F. Habito, NO FREE LUNCH, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 28th Sep 2021.

“Why has the Department of Agriculture (DA) perennially received much less than it asks from the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) composed of government’s top economic managers, which finalizes the national budget proposed to Congress? Fellow Inquirer columnist Ernie Ordoñez recently noted that in 2020 and 2021, the DA got only 22 and 30 percent, respectively, of what it originally requested, and got even less in 2022. What gives? Don’t the economic managers believe in the importance of agriculture to our economy?”

Let’s hold it right there.

Those familiar with the blog may recall this scenario: Over dinner, the country manager where I was doing a restructuring initiative blurted out: "My wife asked me to ask you if you are firing me."

And my response: I am here to guide you and your team to figure out three things: (1) Where are you; (2) Where do you want to be; (3) How do you get there.

“Don’t the economic managers believe in the importance of agriculture to our economy? I am certain that they do. After all, the secretary of finance, usually considered the primus inter pares among them, was once secretary of agriculture himself under President Cory Aquino. A key member (Dr. Bruce Tolentino) of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral was also undersecretary to then Agriculture Secretary Sonny Dominguez, and Governor Ben Diokno, a seasoned economist, surely sees agriculture's critical role as well. And Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua's past work as a World Bank economist had him leading a multi-year jobs program that had agriculture as a critical focus. So what makes them seem so ‘harsh’ on the agriculture budget?” [Habito, op. cit.]

Let’s imagine this scenario: The DA is an enterprise. And I walk in to do a restructuring initiative. And the DA Secretary asked: My wife asked me to ask you if you’re firing me.

And my response: I am here to guide you and your team to figure out three things: (1) Where are you; (2) Where do you want to be; (3) How do you get there.

Of course, this parade of secretaries deserved firing in the private sector, one after the other.

And that mirrors why the president of my old MNC-company (a 200-year-old Fortune 500) saw the power in the planning and budgeting system I introduced in the region and embraced it for the entire company.

But it’s the public sector so let’s be kinder and gentler.

Let’s start with the title of the article: “Funding agriculture right.”

Are we surprised? Recall what we say about our MSMEs that they must have access to funding.

And that is consistent with our rent-seeking, oligarchic economy. Only the moneyed and political patrons can succeed in an enterprise because they have access to funding.

But let’s digress a bit. Didn’t we say that what we need is “happiness,” not GDP? That is patronizing and can only come from us in the Philippine elite and chattering classes.

Because like the DA, the Philippines needs funding. But let’s hold it right there.

Funding does not mean tax revenues. Tax revenues come from national income or GDP. Can we not connect simple dots?

Recall what the blog says all the time: We are GDP-starved. Forget about OFW remittances and the BPO industry, our top eight companies, the “sweet spot” in our consumer market, the 4Ps, our MSMEs, and the Build, Build, Build program.

They collectively don't generate the levels of GDP to feed Juan de la Cruz – or fund the DA.

Is that hard to comprehend?

What should have been the question, is it funding for the DA, or should it be for Philippine agriculture to be a successful enterprise?

In other words, it must be a commercial success via an innovation culture and reinforced and perpetuated as an institution by uprightness.

And where are our heads again? We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Here’s a quote from an earlier posting: “Our economic managers emphasize the imperative to raise agriculture’s productivity to feed into manufacturing and industrial development.

“That is classic linear thinking. And we should have done that decades ago.

“We must leapfrog and toss linear and incremental thinking.

“We in the chattering classes have repeatedly raised the point that Lee Kuan Yew successfully ran Singapore like a business.

“In other words, he knew that Singapore had to traverse poverty to prosperity rapidly, and he had to aggressively drive GDP – i.e., Singapore’s revenues or the top line.

“That is how a private enterprise thinks, and that the lifeblood of the company is Sales – because they drive revenues.

“Recall that in Eastern Europe, while my role would suffice as consulting, I agreed to organize, run, and develop the sales force to show them the ropes of aggressively driving revenues.

“Still, they must recognize the imperative to connect the dots. And why they still want me to hold their hands, especially with the pandemic and with me working from home.

“And what are the dots to connect? They are the three dynamics of (1) the marketing mix (and its foundation is the product portfolio that must continually respond to the challenge of raising one’s well-being; not the dead-end of ‘serving the bottom of the pyramid’; and between the portfolio of products and markets is the challenge of analytics: where to sell which products, why, how, and what is the priority as in Pareto — to get the biggest bang; (2) the resource mix (and it includes the access to finance, and banks favor businesses that have credible game plans, and credibility isn’t free; (3) the execution mix: who will do what, when, where, and how.

“That’s why the blog raised the challenge – lift GDP by an incremental $200 billion. The Philippines cannot just aspire to be a first-world economy, and it must work its butt off.

“What does that mean? It is the difference between ‘analysis’ and ‘analytics.’

‘Analysis’ is why we celebrated the uptick or resurgent manufacturing back in 2015. In contrast, ‘analytics’ says that our premise was shortsighted.

“Recall the GPS model: Where are we; Where do we want to be; How do we get there.”

In other words, in the case of Philippine agriculture, the product portfolio must continually respond to the challenge of raising one’s well-being; not the dead-end of “serving the bottom of the pyramid”; and between the portfolio of products and markets is the challenge of analytics: where to sell which products, why, how, and what is the priority as in Pareto — to get the biggest bang.

We want to be in Philippine agriculture to be a commercial success via innovation and “upright” ethics.

And it starts with figuring out the product portfolio that must make up Philippine produce.

In other words, we want Philippine farmers and finished goods producers to be a commercial success, i.e., they sell high-margin products that are competitive in the global market.

That is what will lift Juan de la Cruz from poverty, not raising the DA budget a few points year-in, year-out.

But we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The Vietnamese tapped the IRRI – which is in our backyard – for know-how. And so they export rice, and we import them.

Why? We in the Philippine elite and chattering classes assume we are learned and successful individually.

What are we missing? The common good.

We cannot build this nation from the ground up.

Beg for foreign money and technology. That is how our neighbors left us in the dust one after the other.

Gising bayan!