Break from tradition

“Buckingham Palace announced that Harry and Meghan would no longer use their ‘royal highness’ titles, nor would they receive public funds for their royal duties. They also plan to pay back $2.4 million in public money that they spent renovating their home in the United Kingdom, Frogmore Cottage. 

“On Jan. 8, the couple said on Instagram that they had decided to step back from the royal Family after months of ‘reflection and internal discussion.’ They said they would split their time between the U.K. and North America.” [“Harry says he and Meghan ‘had no other option’ but to ‘step back’ from the royal family,” Tim Stelloh, NBC News, Jan. 20, 2020]

Two things came to mind after the Harry-Meghan announcement, although they may not fit “to a tee”: (a) “Fiddler on the roof,” i.e., attempts to maintain traditions, and (b) the Chinese proverb: “Wealth never survives three generations.”

The wife and her siblings are beneficiaries of such wealth, and the wife, consciously or not, will want to upend the proverb. Likewise, she already broke from tradition by moving to New York while her father refused even to get a U.S. visa. Her mother was the opposite; she loved holidays and travel, which she passed on to the wife and daughter.

If Meghan, assuming observers are correct, is the influence, could the writer be the one? He comes from a low-income family and similar though unlike Harry, had no option but to break from tradition. At 23, he accepted a job in Davao, de facto turning independent and never looked back. The daughter repeats the story in jest when chatting with cousins and friends that aren’t trust-fund babies.

That brings us to the Philippines, the nation, and the economy. “Frankly, I don't know if there's a solution to our dysfunctional, inefficient, and corrupt bureaucracy. The incentives in our political and economic systems don't point toward bureaucratic reform. What I do know is that breaking up the country's highly concentrated markets and getting more competition, especially from foreign investors; and an emphasis on export tradables (manufacturing and agriculture) will raise the demand for better governance.

“In the meantime, it’s enough to know that our bureaucracy is a binding constraint to growth.” [“Our dysfunctional bureaucracy as a binding constraint,” Calixto V. Chikiamco, Introspective, BusinessWorld, Jan. 19, 2020]

Is there a solution? Consider: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy that ours is a culture of impunity.

Should Juan de la Cruz break from tradition? “Given the technological changes that have occurred in the last five decades, the idea of an all-around self-sufficient industrial development, as articulated by the Filipino First senators in the 1950s-1960s, may not be practical today.  However, the idea of building a strong nation with a strong industrial and agricultural base remains relevant, especially in an unpredictable VUCA world that we are living in.” [“Rebalancing development strategy: Filipino First in an uncertain and volatile world,” Rene E. Ofreneo, LABOREM EXERCENS, BusinessMirror, Jan. 16, 2020]

In other words, does Juan de la Cruz have an option given the unpredictable VUCA world – volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous – of ours?

We grew up listening to the concept of the “free will.” How does that measure against the contemporary science of the “growth mindset”? For example, the blog has raised the imperative to “foresee and forward-think,” which presupposes a break from the status quo, as in “Pinoy Kasi.”

As some would know, the writer has been a volunteer development worker in Eastern Europe, a calling he stumbled upon after he retired from his old-MNC company.

Consider: After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the wife organized a trip to Eastern Europe – which she also did when China opened its borders. The family flew into Athens and then traveled through Bulgaria – where the Rila monastery stood out and the medieval town of Nessebar on the Black Sea coast as well as an ex-communist mess hall across from the Russian Church in Sofia – and up to Romania, where they watched “Carmen” in Bucharest.

That experience made the couple see Eastern Europe as an exotic destination and influenced the idea to make a return visit. But the challenge was more compelling. Here are the two most impoverished countries in Europe seeking assistance on how to transition from communism to capitalism as part of their accession into the E.U.

If the writer still needed convincing, the local representatives of USAID made the pitch: “You will be part of history, so you may want to consider the challenge seriously.”

In other words, here are a people that were leaving their past, yet it was not going to be a cakewalk: “When the USSR collapsed in 1991, institutions and economies collapsed as well in Ukraine and other Soviet republics. They were quickly taken over and plundered by kleptocrats and oligarchs building fortunes from the ruins of the former superpower.” [“Ukraine fears Trump hold on aid exposed vulnerability in war with Russia,” Mac William Bishop, Mariana Henniger, Oksana Parafeniuk; NBC News, Dec. 30, 2019]

To break from tradition – or pursue an altogether different path – means to recognize both the “helping” and “hindering” forces that will come into play and impact the undertaking. That is why the science of the “growth mindset” – or hardy mindset – must be taken to heart.

Otherwise, the “fixed mindset” is bound to take over – because to forward-think and foresee goes against linear and logical thinking, i.e., the latter is quantitative while the former is qualitative. And the chamber of the brain that does quantitative chores is more developed. Put another way, and it explains why visionaries are few and far between.

Recall the challenge to Philippine higher education discussed in an earlier posting: “A well-educated citizenry is an economic and social necessity.”

“That’s a quote from the McKinsey & Company, Social Sector Report of September 2017: “How to improve student educational outcomes: New insights from data analytics,” Mona Mourshed, Marc Krawitz, and Emma Dorn.

“Policymakers, educators, and parents all over the world want students to understand and be able to apply their knowledge of math, reading, and science. Yet improving educational outcomes has proved elusive.

“In the case of the Philippines, we leaped to K-12. But is that it? The McKinsey report presents these two findings: (1) Having the right mindsets matters much more than socioeconomic background; (2) Students who receive a blend of teacher-directed and inquiry-based instruction have the best outcomes.

“Students with a ‘growth mindset’ — those who believe they can succeed if they work hard—performed 9 to 17 percent better than those with a ‘fixed mindset’— those who believe their capabilities are static.

“There are two dominant types of teaching practices. The first is ‘teacher-directed instruction,’ in which the teacher explains and demonstrates ideas, considers questions, and leads classroom discussions. The second is ‘inquiry-based teaching,’ in which students are given a more prominent role in their learning—for example, by developing their hypotheses and experiments.”

In the meantime, should we pause and ask: What will it take for Juan de la Cruz to rapidly develop a “growth mindset” and break from “Pinoy Kasi”?

“I don't believe we will ever reform our bureaucracy unless and until we become a more outward-looking economy, i.e., the tradables of manufacturing and agriculture become significant drivers of economic growth.

“That is not the present case, where services represent the most substantial portion, and our export to GDP ratio is a mere 30% (and declining over the years), compared to other countries like Vietnam where exports are crucial and represent 100% of GDP.

“The fact of the matter is that outward-looking economies have the best and most efficient bureaucracies. Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and China are all outward-looking economies, and they rely on their competent administrations to nurture their outward-looking economies forward.

“It’s not hard to see why this is so. To conquer foreign markets and win against trading rivals, producers must have an efficient bureaucracy behind them. Samsung, Hyundai, L.G., and other South Korean companies, for example, would not be able to compete in the world market if their home bureaucracy weren’t efficient. If their government couldn’t provide proper infrastructure, for example, their export goods wouldn’t be able to move efficiently and competitively to foreign markets.

"On the other hand, here in the Philippines, the political economy favors a weak and inefficient bureaucracy. With the aristocracy in many regulated, inward-looking non-tradable industries (power, banking, ports, shipping, real estate, among others), the incentive is to 'capture the regulator' or prevent competition rather than support an efficient and impartial bureaucracy." [Chikiamco, op. cit.]

Do we stand a chance given 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 reprise the science of the growth mindset: We must take it to heart. Otherwise, the “fixed mindset” is bound to take over – because to forward-think and foresee goes against linear and logical thinking, i.e., the latter is quantitative while the former is qualitative. And the chamber of the brain that does quantitative chores is more developed. Put another way, and it explains why visionaries are few and far between.

Gising bayan!

“Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Moreover, that they will be such is not to be doubted, for he who submits to tyranny loves it.” [We are ruled by Rizal’s ‘tyrants of tomorrow,’ Editorial, The Manila Times, 29th Dec 2015]

“Now I know why Paul dared to speak of ‘the curse of the law’ (Galatians 3:13). Law reigns and discernment is unnecessary, which means there is little growth or change in such people. When you do not grow, you remain an infant.” [Faith and Science, Open to Change, Richard Rohr’s Daily Meditation, 23rd Oct 2017]

“As a major component for the education and reorientation of our people, mainstream media – their reporters, writers, photographers, columnists, and editors – have an obligation to this country . . .” [Era of documented irrelevance: Mainstream media, critics and protesters, Homobono A. Adaza, The Manila Times, 25th Nov 2015]

“National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country's natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency’s value, as classical economics insists. [A] nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade.” [The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Michael E. Porter, Harvard Business Review, March–April 1990]

“You have to have a dream, whether big or small. Then plan, focus, work hard, and be very determined to achieve your goals.” [Henry Sy Sr., Chairman Emeritus and Founder, SM Group (1924 - 2019)]

“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]

“Development [is informed by a people’s] worldview, cognitive capacity, values, moral development, self-identity, spirituality, and leadership . . .” [Frederic Laloux, Reinventing organizations, Nelson Parker, 2014]