Resiliency, hierarchy and aristocracy:

“Virtues” that hold us hostage?

The writer hears the supposed virtue of . . . resiliency . . . in both developed and developing countries; but is it unwittingly a justification for inaction? And it’s masked in various ways; and to raise a contrary view is deemed sacrilegious, i.e., lack, if not absence, of love of country or of patriotism?

Juxtaposed with resiliency is the virtue we see in . . . hierarchy . . . which we describe as “respect for elders”. But is our definition of elders generously expansive? Thus what we really are respecting and calling a virtue is . . . “aristocracy” . . . as opposed to meritocracy? Behind all the faults the Brits see in the American system, they overwhelmingly point to meritocracy as the “competitive advantage” of the US over the UK, if not Europe. (The US, public and private, spends a bigger share of GDP in R&D and beats Europe in speed to commercialization. However, the US is producing more MBAs – thus the focus on financial engineering – than engineers. And California’s bankruptcy is starving the university system that has been a major source of innovation. Ergo, the US’s slip is showing!)

Thus, it is not surprising that in global companies, whether US- or European-based, meritocracy, not aristocracy rules: it’s not who you are but what you are. And one’s rank (where vice-presidents and graduate degrees are “a dime-a-dozen”) doesn’t influence performance assessments.

The writer was hosted to a going away dinner recently by an Eastern European businessman – who was born under and lived though communist rule. He was comparing two country managers: one would simply say yes to him and the other would present an opposite view but with solid arguments. His conclusion: he couldn’t leave the first one alone but the other would keep him sound asleep at night.

He is now into developing a 4th business unit, each with a number of categories. Bankers and proponents come to him to present acquisition opportunities – because they see a winner amid the global financial crisis. But like a disciplined student, his standard response is: my business model is grounded in competitiveness (meritocracy), not monopoly (aristocracy). Thus he sticks to their core competency such that while the business units are different, they are similar in thought process: from consumer insight discipline, product development, R&D, manufacturing, marketing and to sales and distribution. And it gives them the ability – i.e., increasing and accumulating knowledge and confidence critical to building competitive advantage – to reach across the region and beyond.

In the process, he keeps his thinking fresh and his ideas innovative. He laughs recalling that his thinking has evolved, as opposed to frozen, over the years – which is now into its 4th generation. And then quickly adds, “If Windows is into its 7th generation, I am falling behind! At evening’s end he quips: “I learned a great lesson over dinner: product portfolio – we must constantly rationalize our product offerings across the region and by country and that means generating a healthy product pipeline, to ensure we’re marketing compelling and high-margin products and thus sustain our competitiveness”.

Are we surprised why we are where we are? Why we are the economic basket case of the region? Why we are falling behind our neighbors in every global development measure?

A family friend sums it up: “what we really need is manna from heaven, to save us from ourselves”? But what about doing something about it – open our minds to fresh thinking and unlock the world of innovation, the key to progress and development?