Executing ideas with confidence

Ideas are only as good as they are executed with confidence. Reading news reports from the 36th Philippines Business Conference and Exposition, the writer was figuring out – perhaps unfairly – if the takeaway from the gathering would come down to ‘executing ideas with confidence’.

Rightly so, President Aquino proudly articulated the administration’s efforts to aggressively tap foreign direct investments. And the business sector (PCCI) for their part offered an excellent agenda: ‘to adopt an industrialization and an integrated infrastructure program as part of a long-term economic plan to boost growth’.

The PCCI deserves plenty of credit for stepping up to the plate. And recognizing how much effort they expended to distill their proposed agenda, they do deserve our praise. The writer had early on talked about the JFC’s (Joint Foreign Chambers) efforts to define 7 strategic industries where we could be competitive; and for which we could attract foreign direct investments, of $75 billion. These two initiatives could represent the best chance for the Philippines to move its economy forward. And thus the key is to execute them with confidence. And that means the public and private sectors solidifying the partnership that they appear to be forging, recognizing that partnerships aren’t necessarily perfect.

The global economy demands the highest levels of competition – and it starts in the mind. We can’t afford to be tentative nor lacking in resolve. We have other challenges and issues but we can’t afford to dissipate our efforts either. That may not be easy because of our compassionate heart and our instinct to be inclusive? But if indeed we are compassionate, we need to recognize that until we have the means, our compassion would be toothless.

For instance, there is a fly in the ointment: ‘The European Union (EU) has warned that if the Philippines continues to drag its feet on a possible Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the EU might not be able to accommodate the Philippines anymore because it is processing several agreements with other Asian countries . . . This comes at a time when even Vietnam has already overtaken the Philippines in terms of exports of manufactured goods to the EU.’

And what’s our response? ‘We have already said that the FTA with the EU may take between four to six years to complete . . . It entails a lot of work for all of us . . . FTAs should not be entered into lightly. In fact, the current FTAs of the Philippines have been underutilized . . . Our own business sector has not been taking advantage of the opportunities with FTA . . .’ (The Philippine Star, Oct 16)

Is this another one of those where we seek perfection? Perfection is not of this world? Analysis-paralysis, is that what it is? In business the mantra is: the organization first – because it serves a large and diverse constituency and thus a force for good when so committed; and in our case, it is the country first – not friends, not relations, not cronies, not hierarchy? Country first – or is that Greek to us?

Or are we again protecting an industry – which is why we’ve been failing the country for so long? Of course nothing is simple, but when we are the basket case of the region and there is a market to be tapped, what is the excuse? Mañana? In the private sector, that kind of attitude and foot-dragging is simply unacceptable – and so it is in nation-building? (‘Needs to be studied’ seems to be the code to justify our foot-dragging, as the tax row raised by KLM suggests – even when ‘the Philippines is the only country that charges airlines these taxes, Tourism Secretary Alberto A. Lim said’.)

Leadership is about ideas executed with confidence. We now have nearly fine-tuned ideas but the challenge remains: can we prioritize and execute with confidence?