Can we leapfrog into the 21st century?

That’s the dilemma that we must grasp.

It is why we aren’t at home with the imperative of a hardy mindset: Challenge, Commitment, Control?

In other words, we are yet to recognize the enormity of our challenge.

Let’s hold it right there – and ponder.

We remain wedded to the past through 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.

And our caste system will not be easy to undo.

Even the Catholic Church suffers from its heritage. Yet, it allows contrary theologies.

But we Filipinos are more catholic than the pope; we are so cut and dried.

How do we explain our failures in recognizing that the world has left us behind?

But that is why the blog raises Padre Damaso and the genius of Rizal. Rizal understood the faith more than the church did.

And that is why democracy – despite its imperfections – has advanced the world to the 21st century.

In other words, democracy is the mirror image of the story of creation and the universe – of Christianity, if you will.

“On the sixth day, God designs the land creatures, creates the first human couple, and completes the entire creation. In and of itself, an individual ‘creation’ may be good, but it is excellent when it can contribute to a larger interdependent ecosystem. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

“This day stands alone among all the rest: it is ‘whole.’ Wholeness rests in the complete web of life.

“From an ecological perspective and the Genesis, ‘goodness’ resides in (a) the community, (b) the web of life, (c) in the relations of the whole biosphere. All organisms constantly interact with their surroundings in an endless cycle of giving and receiving. No creature, human or otherwise, can live in isolation.

“No matter how sophisticated and complex and powerful our institutions are, we are still exactly as dependent on the earth as the earthworms.  Ultimately our happiness rests on the health and well-being of the larger earth ecosystem and the common good.” [“Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation,” Center for Action and Contemplation, 26th Oct 2021]

In other words, humankind has erred – it lost the spirit and intent of democracy in the translation – ditto for Christianity.

And the US is a great example. It has forgotten the North Star, i.e., the common good. That’s why even honest-to-goodness conservative Christians are calling out the folly of right-wing extremism: It is the common good, stupid!

Put another way; even the Vatican is a human construct. And that explains why it had to evolve from the crusades to the inquisitions to ecumenism.

Why does the blog keep religion in its discussions? Because it explains our instincts. And unless we can upend our instincts, we can’t ever internalize the 3C’s of a hardy mindset: Challenge, Commitment, Control.

We can’t move beyond binary thinking – and suffer the consequences – if we can’t leverage “cognitive development.” And the barrier is enormous because we lack the experience in human development – as in nation-building. And in more ways than one, it is driven by economics – evolving from agriculture to industrial to service. 

To those of us in the chattering classes that continue to seek refuge in human constructs like a system, that is why the blog keeps raising the 3C’s of a hardy mindset.

But more than that, even if we believe we know world history and read a zillion books on this or that “ism,” there is nothing like being born and raised into socialism, for example.

That is why my Eastern European friends became the inspiration for the blog. Is Russia, the remnant of the old USSR, a system model that we want to consider – because democracy is the culprit of Philippine poverty?

Or is that manifesting our rank in the caste system?

This small group of Eastern Europeans bested over 15,000 companies across the EU to model commercial success, innovation, and business ethics. How many Filipino companies – big and small – can be the model across the Asia Pacific region?

What were we thinking? How did we take the reality that our neighbors, one after the other, became an Asian Tiger?

With due respect, our economic managers are still bragging about our Build, Build, Build. How does that stack up against our backwardness as an economy and nation?

We better put our noses on the grindstone and work our butts off if we ever want Juan de la Cruz to overcome abject poverty.

The world is in turmoil. But that is not an excuse not to forge ahead.

And despite sounding immodest, the blog relates my experiences because we must keep benchmarking against best-practice models, not rely on our rank in the caste system.

Those familiar with the blog may recall how the Japanese upended American manufacturing prowess. They were not shy to benchmark against best-practice models. And their mantra was to “steal shamelessly.” And they succeeded in replicating the German cars, for example. Today, Vietnam is taking its turn.

And recall that Lee and Mahathir shared something similar with Deng, “Beg for Western money and technology.”

In other words, the immodesty of the blog is to demonstrate benchmarking in the real world.

Can we pause once more – and internalize the imperative of benchmarking?

Consider: The Philippines has no development model experience. We rely on two things that came upon us like manna from heaven: (1) the OFW phenomenon and (2) call centers. They are spoils of globalization that we like to criticize.

And that brings us back to our failure to recognize: (a) the story of creation and (b) this universe – characterized by dynamism and interdependence.

I admire Bernie Villegas for acknowledging that we – our generation – blew it.

That is a good starting point to slay Padre Damaso in our psyche.

And since the blog has questioned our higher education, recall that my introduction to the subject came when my old MNC-company relocated the family to New York. Corporate America had to take the bull by the horns because Japan Inc. was going to seize the leadership of the US.

And so, let’s not be insulted if our education system is in no better shape.

Nor should our top companies be defensive.

Dynamism and interdependence must be our mantra.

In the meantime, how do we leverage “cognitive development” in the absence of experience – in nation-building?

Beg for foreign money and technology!

That is how our neighbors did it.

Unsurprisingly, after the Samsung smartphone and Apple AirPods, Vietnam leapfrogs into car manufacturing – and export.

Do we wonder why the blog keeps using the word “leapfrog”?

That comes from the science of thinking – i.e., forward- and lateral thinking instead of logical yet linear and incremental thinking.

Again, that is why the blog speaks to my old MNC-company experience.

How many 200-year-old Fortune 500s would revise their planning and budgeting systems especially coming from a minority from a small, developing country like the Philippines? Or why would they allow me to buy technology from the outside despite a technology center of a thousand scientists? There are lots more anecdotes the blog can recall. But that will be overdoing it.

That is the best way to explain cognitive development. Binary thinking did not hold my bosses.

And it also explains democracy and the imperative of leadership inherent in self-government and the egalitarian ethos. That is how to get to the “common good.”

In other words, unlike a caste system, leadership in an egalitarian ethos is dynamic. Beyond downward, it is horizontal and upward as well.

And that is why Juan de la Cruz will struggle to upend tyranny.

And it goes full circle. That is why when I got to Eastern Europe, I had to spell out our social contract from the get-go: Freedom and the free market are not about rules but principles.

And how did I translate that? For example, I hold workshops – not deliver lectures – that stop short of spoon-feeding them. They had to practice problem-solving in small groups.

Even my assistant cum translator and driver learned big data and analytics from a simple excel format I used when I agreed to organize, run, and develop the salesforce.

Today, his efforts allow me – wherever I am – to log on to a dashboard generated by an AI program, and I see every piece of action going on across countries down to the store level, including photos of how our products are presented and seen by shoppers.

These people got into my head and figured out why I do store checks and take off their brand management hats and wear a consumer’s hat. Simply put, they must respect the hierarchy of human needs. And Aristotle educated humankind about the human senses. The “hierarchy of human needs” equips humankind not just to survive but thrive in this dynamic universe. See above; the story of creation.

And from the dashboard, I see how much we will sell for the month, the quarter, and the year. And if we are lagging, I can drill down on the vital data to exploit and those to fix. That sounds matter-of-fact, yet it comes from “force-field theory” developed by social scientist Kurt Lewin.

Of course, these friends are yet to reach my forward- and lateral thinking level accumulated over decades of experience. But that is why I hold them by the hand.

Recall what the blog said about who the next president of the Philippines must be? The next president must preside over Philippine Inc. by doggedly driving commercial success, innovation and be a paragon of good governance, not a culture of impunity.

And that starts with recognizing the challenge facing the new president, our dismal investment record.

Can we pause – and ponder?

Our economic managers and economists, even our tycoons, don’t have the experience in nation-building as their counterparts in the neighborhood do. And it will not be easy to switch mindset from “reflex” mode to “reflection” mode.

If we can face the challenge as Bernie Villegas has acknowledged, we will be taking the first step.

“The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step.” [Lao Tzu]

Can we leapfrog into the 21st century?

That’s the dilemma that we must grasp.

It is why we aren’t at home with the imperative of a hardy mindset: Challenge, Commitment, Control?

In other words, we are yet to recognize the enormity of our challenge.

We remain wedded to the past through 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.

And our caste system will not be easy to undo.

Gising bayan!