Yoda: Your focus is your world

However, “focus” is not one-dimensional, as in binary thinking. It is three-dimensional among those who excel especially great leaders. And they are inner, other, and outer.

In other words, in the case of Juan de la Cruz, inner means knowing himself as in self-awareness. But because “no man is an island,” he must also know his neighbors – i.e., other. Moreover, he can’t ignore that we are a subset of this universe – i.e., outer.

Some science comes in for those keen to read up on neuroscience. For example, inspiring leaders assessed on a brain measure of “coherence” – the degree to which circuits within a region interconnect and coordinate their activity – showed a high level of coherence in this vital inner and another awareness area. The specific “region” was in the prefrontal area of the right side of the brain. [Focus: The hidden driver of excellence, Daniel Goleman; Harper]

If it isn’t apparent yet, there is a reason why the blog keeps raising our caste system and our instincts: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy; ours is a culture of impunity.

On the other hand, the dots connect amongst (a) freedom, democracy, and the free market; (b) the 3Cs of the hardy mindset: challenge, commitment, and control; (c) democracy is the mirror image of Christianity – the imperative of the personal responsibility in pursuing the common good; and (d) the elements of cognitive development – i.e., that beyond binary thinking are multiplicity and relativism – the imperative of context.

Let’s hold it right there and look at these two articles from the local media: (a) Half-empty or half-full? How does the Philippines fare in knowledge production? (b) Envy aliens who can avoid PH; pity Pinoys who are stuck here.

“We are at the bottom half of all countries surveyed; we have to catch up with the top half of those countries doing well in knowledge production.

“The United States topped the rankings with a score of 68.37, while Chad was at the bottom of the list with a score of 21.4.

“The Philippines’ ranking dropped 21 compared to last year’s 56th out of 123 countries and 60th out of 138 in 2020.

“The question that needs to be answered by our leaders is: What steps should our government now take to improve our knowledge-based development since our performance here leaves little for comfort?” [Editorial, Manila Standard, 27th Feb 2023]

“Envy foreigners who can avoid the Philippines. Pity Pinoys, stuck in a hellhole they call country.

“Pinoys aren’t going anywhere. Their futures blighted. Half the labor force is under or unemployed. Two in five of their children are undernourished, underweight, and stunted. Grade schoolers score lowest in international math, science, and reading comprehension tests—no skills for hi-tech tomorrows.

“The dynasts rush to put relatives and gofers in a constitutional convention. The Con-con’s primary aim is to extend elective terms – for a tighter economic stranglehold.

“Three hundred delegates will each receive P10,000 daily stipend – P3 million a day extra burden to Pinoys – on top of meals, hotel billeting, and transport. Yet economic managers vehemently oppose any wage increase because supposedly “inflationary and bad for the economy.” [Jarius Bondoc, GOTCHA, The Philippine Star, 3rd Mar 2023]

The bottom line: We are between a rock and a hard place, as in “learned helplessness.”

Consider: We are at the bottom half of all countries surveyed; we have to catch up with the top half of those countries doing well in knowledge production. The United States topped the rankings.

Recall that the blog repeatedly discussed that cognitive development is a function of experience. And given that our neighbors rapidly traversed the journey from poverty to prosperity, they have moved beyond binary thinking.

They have internalized the imperative of context and have a three-dimensional focus. Considering its superior GDP per capita, Singapore is crowding the US in the competitiveness ranking.

Wealthy nations are not necessarily perfect specimens, yet their bigger world stretches their “focus” beyond self (i.e., inner) to other and outer. In other words, development and knowledge production comes with wealth. Why?

In an earlier posting, the blog discussed not embarrassing UP, given its assertion that we must bridge the academic world with the real world.

Consider: “What this MIT-trained CEO wishes school taught her differently: There’s no ‘right way’ to succeed.” [Arcaea CEO Jasmina Aganovic: What I wish school taught me differently (cnbc.com), 28th Feb 2023]

“School taught her to always search for “the clear, best answer,” Aganovic says. But often, you won’t have the time or resources to find a perfect solution, which might not even exist in the first place.

“If you are very academically oriented, and you go to a school like MIT, it’s straightforward to be trained throughout your life to believe that there are correct and incorrect answers,” Aganovic says. “And then once you’re in the real world, it is not as clear, right?”

“Her solution: If following a success script doesn’t always work, stop trying to follow one.

“Instead, make “constant adjustments and judgment calls based on what you know about the business, and then iterating and iterating from there,” she says, adding: “There isn’t necessarily one singular way of doing things.”

But let’s get back to the Philippines.

“You know agriculture is in great trouble when so many op-ed columns abound on the sector, even from writers who don’t generally deal on the subject.

“It’s time for a new approach to managing the sector, and it hinges on provinces taking primary responsibility to make their farmers and fishers productive, competitive, and profitable.” [‘Provincializing’ agriculture, Cielito F. Habito, NO FREE LUNCH, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, 28th Feb 2023]

Let’s hold it right there.

We see the challenge as making the farmers and fishers productive, competitive, and profitable.

Those who read the blog may recall that the US education system was under fire when I moved to New York. And so my then Fortune 500 company, like its peers, took matters into its hands and developed an in-house education and training program consistent with the competencies demanded by the 21st century. For example, Japan Inc. exposed the weaknesses of the US manufacturing that Detroit almost went under.

America had to relearn productivity, competitiveness, and profitability. And note that my employer is a two-hundred-year-old company. Beyond participating in creating the curriculum, I led the upgrade of the company's planning and budgeting model. And in buying an outside technology to beat the competition, launching “the next generation” product for our most significant brand. Considering that we had over a thousand scientists, we hired from Ivies and the top audit firms in the West.

The question about the Philippines is, can the provincial governors make the farmers and fishers productive, competitive, and profitable?

Let’s digress a bit and picture the credentials of Wes Moore, the Governor of Maryland. “He is an American politician, investment banker, author, television producer, and nonprofit executive serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023.

“Born in Maryland and raised mainly in New York, Moore graduated from Johns Hopkins University and received a master’s degree from Wolfson College, Oxford, as a Rhodes Scholar. After several years in the US Army and Army Reserve, Moore became an investment banker in New York. Between 2010 and 2015, Moore published five books. 

“He served as CEO of the Robin Hood Foundation from 2017 to 2021. He was also the host of Beyond Belief on the Oprah Winfrey Network, the executive producer, and a writer for Coming Back with Wes Moore on PBS.” [Wikipedia]

The above profile of a governor would perhaps give the person better than even chances to make his constituents farmers and fishers productive, competitive, and profitable.

In a podcast interview, he narrated that while leading soldiers as a captain in Afghanistan, he focused them on the job at hand as a team and never asked if they were “conservative” or “progressive.” He lived out the three-dimensional focus of inner, other, and outer.

The challenge to the public sector is the absence of a profit motive. And in Singapore, they recognize this, i.e., no body of knowledge distinguishes “drivers” and “enablers.” 

In the case of agriculture, the hurdle is magnified, given the imperative to move beyond the farm and into the industry. And the best practice model the blog discussed is Axelum, a coconut-based manufacturer focused on the export market. Its ecosystem integrates backward to the farm via consolidation of small farms. 

And the full value chain benefits from its global competitiveness mantra. And that includes paying above market rates for farm products being outputs of a modern, productive, competitive, and sustainable ecosystem.

Yoda: Your focus is your world.

However, “focus” is not one-dimensional, as in binary thinking. It is three-dimensional among those who excel especially great leaders. And they are inner, other, and outer.

Gising bayan! 

Can Juan de la Cruz lift himself?

Same old, same old – as far as Juan de la Cruz is concerned – equates to learned helplessness. Yet, it is unsurprising given that our neighbors turned us into the region’s basket case and perennial laggard.

“Learned helplessness occurs when an individual continuously faces a negative, uncontrollable situation and stops trying to change their circumstances, even when they can.”

Have we resolved the car registration-plate fiasco from several years ago? How do we justify the constantly expanding “pork barrel” allocated to legislators? Why would agri products be a goldmine for smugglers and hoarders?

Silence is not golden when it perpetuates bucking personal responsibility. And then we turn around to question freedom and democracy. And for good measure, we point to the Western model.

We are no democracy – and are not free – when we disavow personal responsibility. Yet, given rank and privileges, we in the Philippine elite and chattering classes are the loudest voice against our shortcomings. Sadly, we don't even own up to our failings. And would want to point to a culprit.

Why did the blog relate the “organized confusion” so present in merely driving around Metro Manila? It is the microcosm of the life of Juan de la Cruz.

“Learned helplessness typically manifests as a lack of self-esteem, low motivation, persistence, the conviction of being inept, and ultimately failure.”

We keep plugging along and putting up more and more PEZA ecozones as though the over 400 haven’t demonstrated our insanity. Doing the same thing over again, expecting a different result, is how Einstein defined insanity. Ours is for the books, to the nth degree.

“The concept of learned optimism: By explaining events to ourselves constructively and developing a positive internal dialogue, people can break free from their cycle of helplessness.

“People can push back against learned helplessness by practicing independence from a young age and cultivating resilience, self-worth, and self-compassion. Engaging in activities that restore self-control can also be valuable.” [Learned helplessness, Psychology Today]

Given our sheltered upbringing, do we wonder why Juan de la Cruz – unwittingly – could personify Juan Tamad or Bondying?

Consider our instincts reflected in our caste system: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy; ours is a culture of impunity.

The blog has repeatedly discussed the Pareto principle and the “present value” concept.

If we want to explain to Juan de la Cruz constructively the value of developing a positive internal dialogue – to address our challenge – what would that entail? Could it be that we’ve had a negative “internal dialogue”?

For example, isn’t our default challenge overcoming poverty? And in the process, we took the Pareto principle and the “present value” concept for granted. Unsurprisingly, we’ve been a disaster waiting to happen.

We have institutionalized the “crab mentality” and tossed the “common good.”

In other words, because we value the “trivial many” instead of the “vital few,” our economic development has been stunted.

To preserve rank and privileges, when we are higher in the hierarchy, we respond to the expectation of paternalism. And that explains how we consigned Juan de la Cruz to the bottom of the pyramid, pulling him farther away from practicing and developing independence.

That explains, too, why ours is no democracy. We don’t need the ICC because we are sovereign and adhere to the rule of law.

And did we say that with a straight face? Or are we living out our caste system? See above; the car registration-plate fiasco and beyond.

We are among the most corrupt in the world. And we know we're down the pits – of learned helplessness.

Our economic managers, legislators, and think tanks better set the example. Constructively, develop a positive internal dialogue – to address our challenge. For example, start with the Pareto principle and the “present value” concept.

And that means tossing the sacredness of the 6%-7% GDP growth metric. That will take a generation to move us up incrementally. And that means to recall and not fall into the “manufacturing uptick” prognosis of several years ago.

And not to keep putting up more PEZA ecozones and instead learn from our neighbors, the Pearl River Delta Economic Zond and the Samsung Vietnam partnership.

During the Duterte administration, a BOI official asked me how Pareto works in the real world. And this was a person that came up the STEM route at UP. It confirms that the academic world falls short of the real world.

And so I narrated the story of my Eastern European friends to demonstrate that a losing proposition of eight years, even in an MSME, can snowball to be a significant global player in the industry by focusing on the vital few. And for added measure, I narrated how my former Fortune 500 company had to sell over a hundred brands and purposely cut revenues in half to focus on the vital few.

Moreover, the blog has narrated numerous other examples. That is not to embarrass UP. It demonstrates the limitations of the “quant” approach, i.e., it is not the be-all and end-all in decision-making and the real world.

I’m back in New York, and the first email I got was from a Philippine executive, the company’s president. It’s his second stint as president. “Please keep sharing models; even our ExCom falls into the trap of the trivial many.” And he was educated in New York, had worked in a major US company, and was tapped by a Philippine company because of his credentials.

Jeff Bezos pointed out that even at Amazon, they don’t employ higher math in their algorithms. And we know how algorithms compromised the model used by social media behemoths like Facebook and elevated the monster that rewarded trolls. And when Maria Ressa won the Nobel prize, that was central to her argument behind the success of Rappler and why she faced countless suits.

And I have been an analytics practitioner for decades, and I develop my algorithms, not attracted to higher math models. And that’s how I set a different direction at my former Fortune 500 company’s planning, budgeting, and restructuring efforts. And that includes acquiring an outside technology to beat the competition in the race for “the next generation” product for our most significant brand. And it works even in the dissertation of a Ph.D. candidate that I assisted.

Still, in all cases, the lesson is the dynamism that is the character of this universe. And consistent with the elements of cognitive development. 

Iterate. Iterate. Iterate. 

It is not binary thinking or the search for the correct answer, as in perfection. It only happens in the classroom to ace an exam, but no currency in the real world.

But then again, as the Singaporeans recognized, the public sector is handicapped by the absence of the profit motive and hence does not have the body of knowledge regarding the advances in knowledge management. For example, in pursuing economic undertakings, it is critical to distinguish the “drivers” from the “enablers.”

TRAIN and “sustainable consumption” are enablers despite their elegance. And the Ang Bulacan initiative beyond the Bulacan airport is a “driver” because it will raise exports to $200 billion, enough for us to catch up with Vietnam, for example.

Moreover, “quick hits” – as in the vital few – enjoy the benefits of the compounding effect, on the one hand, and the trivial many do not – as in devolution, on the other.

Can Juan de la Cruz lift himself?

Not if he keeps pointing at a culprit instead of recognizing and accepting that “personal responsibility” is the cornerstone of freedom, democracy, and the free market. 

And how our neighbors awed the rest of the world as Asian Tigers.

Gising bayan!

A platform for a shared aspiration

Do we want to thrive beyond survival? Why are we still desperately struggling to survive when our neighbors have thrived?

Can we agree on a platform for a shared aspiration?

In jest, we recognize that we are “sabog.” And that comes in full view and living color once we land at NAIA. It’s organized confusion.

But is that a function of being a third-world country? To a foreigner, it screams “poverty.”

While in Metro Manila for our periodic homecoming, the wife and I alternately stay in Legazpi, Alabang, and Paranaque. And drove several times from Makati to the Ayala Mall Vertis North, over the Skyway, Loyola Memorial Park in Marikina, and Greenhills, among others. 

It’s organized confusion.

Still, a world-class resort in Tagaytay lifted our spirits. And the Vietnamese restaurant nearby, plus a visit to a couple of event venues, rounded a long weekend to remember. And in Boracay, a trio of Brazilians enjoying the open-air bar just before sunset engaged in small talk. Don’t you have “the sunset” in Rio? “This is the best sunset in the world, bar none!”

Why a platform for a shared aspiration – for Juan de la Cruz? 

Because we have fallen into “learned helplessness.” That comes from the mismanagement of the economy – and nation – i.e., the agriculture sector for a century and manufacturing half.

And worse, we are today among the most corrupt in the world. And let’s not forget the Marcos dictatorship and the two EDSAs.

If in a few short weeks, I would get an earful about the web of corruption in the Philippines, it merely confirms that malfeasance is out in the open. But because of learned helplessness, we are no longer perturbed. 

Does it point to naïveté that we think our tax rationalization initiatives and the POGO phenomenon are feathers in our cap and are to embrace?

Can we connect the dots from the EJKs to the role of the Philippines in the transshipment of illicit drugs, to the Bureau of Customs, to the absence of capital punishment, to the double bookkeeping in errant private enterprises, to the monster we created, aka culture of impunity?

The investigative reporters of the New York Times and the Washington Post would have a field day covering the Philippines.

And to paraphrase Einstein, we can’t solve the problems we created with the same thinking that created the problems in the first place.

Let’s stop right there.

Over the last 14 years, the blog narrated time and again anecdotes from my former Fortune 500 company and Eastern European friends. Why? They looked in the mirror and realized where they were. They didn’t want the road they were on. The same thinking was not the way to nirvana.

I was delighted to spend time with two local enterprises in Manila. Both are successful endeavors yet face challenges that demand new “thinking.” Dynamism is in their instincts. 

One challenge they share concerns new business propositions. “We go through the financial measures after financial measures, yet down the gut, we always sense discomfort.”

Recall that the blog often speaks to the photosynthesis phenomenon. And so my response went, The key is replicating the “phenomenon.” The notion that this is a “quant” world is short-sighted.

We need oxygen to live, but not only. There are three dynamics to consider replicating photosynthesis: (a) the marketing mix, (b) the resource mix, which is beyond “finance,” and (c) the execution mix. Once you have the prototype, doing a “test market” or “test run” will confirm your hypothesis. 

Think “dynamism,” and be prepared to iterate not once but several times. There are six ways to Sunday.

On the other hand, if the Philippines were a brand, our personality would run along these lines: “Sabog,” organized confusion, third-world, poverty, “learned helplessness,” and among the most corrupt.

Ergo: We suffer from abject poverty and learning poverty to boot.

Our challenge is beyond Arangkada, AmBisyon, and the PDP. They are tools. Call them strategic plans, if you will. Planning and execution are two sides of the same coin. See above; the key is to replicate the photosynthesis phenomenon.

In other words, strategic plans don’t operate in a vacuum. To manage change, recognize that there are factors that will drive the efforts, but not only. There are restraining ones too.

And we Filipinos don’t want to face that reality — because of the bunker mentality courtesy of our caste system. 

Enter George Gorospe, SJ: Reality is beyond human experience or “system.”

We can’t get Arangkada, AmBisyon, and the PDP off the ground. Why? Because of our instincts, reflected in our caste system: We are parochial and insular. We value hierarchy and paternalism and rely on political patronage and oligarchy; ours is a culture of impunity.

Consider: The Arroyo administration was at its tail end when this blog started. Then, very excitedly, we anticipated the installation of the Aquino administration. Unsurprisingly, the JFC presented Arangkada to him and then to Duterte. And now BBM has embraced Arangkada.

Can we ever agree on a platform for a shared aspiration?

Like a broken record, the blog keeps reminding us that Lee and Mahathir advised Deng [and Juan de la Cruz, too] to “beg for Western money and technology” if China is to lift its people from poverty. It was Vietnam that heeded the advice, not Juan de la Cruz.

Here’s how China translated the Lee and Mahathir counsel: “The economic development of the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone took off at the heels of the China reform program. The region’s GDP grew from just over US$8 billion in 1980 to more than US$89 billion in 2000 and nearly US$221.2 billion in 2005. During that period, the average real GDP growth rate in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone exceeded 16 percent, well above the People's Republic of China national figure of 9.8 percent.

“Background: In 1979, the Central Government of the People’s Republic of China announced that Guangdong Province would be allowed to follow less restrictive economic policies and would be permitted to set up three Special Economic Zones (SEZs), including two in the Pearl River Delta, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai.”

Then consider this article: “Philippine strategic environment for corporate planning,” Bernardo M. Villegas, Human Side Of Economics, BusinessWorld, 14th Feb 2023.

“President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. recently signed an executive order adopting the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028 which can be a guideline for both the public and private sectors to help the Philippines achieve the goal of becoming an upper middle-income economy by 2025 and over the longer term lay the foundation for First World economic status 15 to 20 years from now.”

How do we bring that down to earth?

As the blog has repeatedly said, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. The real world is a wealth of knowledge. And so, we must bridge the academic world with the real world.

See above; how China translated the Lee and Mahathir counsel.

And our response is TRAIN and “sustainable consumption”? Is that an academic bias, or what?

What about the real world? Beyond the Bulacan airport, the Ang Bulacan initiative will raise export revenues to $200 billion, and TMCC is on the target list.

What should be our shared aspirations if the BOI is listening? Create an economic zone – with less restrictive economic policies – that will mirror the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and grow Bulacan’s GDP to nearly $221.2 billion.

Can we distinguish that from the over 400 PEZA ecozones that we have? Why do we want to put up three more each year? It’s called insanity! If that’s how we support devolution. It’s insanity to the nth degree! See above; the role of the Philippines in the transshipment of illicit drugs and smuggling in general, including agri products.

Recall that the “present value” concept quantifies the value of the “vital few” – as in the “common good” – and the folly of the “crab mentality.”

We need “quick hits” like yesterday so that instead of a poverty program, we will benefit from the compounding effect of an incremental GDP of $200 billion. Given how we have mismanaged manufacturing, we don’t have to wait 25 years – which would most likely balloon to 50 years.

Hopefully, the BOI and MAP working with Ciel Habito would edify us on a platform for shared aspirations. See above; is the Philippines on the road to nirvana? 

Or are we stuck with the same thinking that created the problems of Juan de la Cruz in the first place? Is it because we are Pinoys? 

We need dollars and sense to define “shared aspirations” instead of rehashing Arangkada, AmBisyon, and the PDP.

Gising bayan! 

I am Juan de la Cruz.

People repeatedly asked why I could speak to Juan de la Cruz. I am Juan de la Cruz. I was born and raised in the Philippines and spent the first 20 years of my career there.

Then think of the blog’s GPS model in response to the challenge of reinventing ourselves.

Where are we; Where do we want to be; How do we get there?

That looks pretty simple, yet too thorny to address.

If we look in the mirror, do we see that our neighbors turned us into the region’s “basket case” and the perennial laggard?

But why? Let’s start with the hypothesis that we mismanaged the Philippine economy – and nation.

The evidence? Why aren’t we a powerhouse in agribusiness and manufacturing when we have an entire and half a century, respectively, under our belt?

Then look at how UP and Ateneo, two of our top schools, have been left behind by their counterparts in the region.

And it cascades down: “Only 10 percent of students in the Philippines met the minimum reading standard, and 17 percent met the minimum mathematical standard expected at the end of primary education, and more than 80 percent of children do not know what they should know in school.”

In the private sector, which is a no-brainer, heads roll when managers mismanage big time. What is unforgivable by private sector standards is how long we put up with the mismanagement.

Let’s hold it right there.

Time is gold. Whatever happened to the “present value” concept? Why does the blog keep speaking to Pareto? Pareto — where the vital few drives the most significant returns — is the key to accelerating returns inherent in the present value exercise. And that is because of the compounding effect, as Buffett would pontificate. Look at how far advanced Singapore is.

I purposely inserted the above paragraph for the eyes of our economic managers — i.e., it quantifies the value of the “common good” and the folly of the “crab mentality.” And the cynical way to put it is that in the name of paternalism, we applaud “devolution” and unwittingly consign Juan de la Cruz to the “bottom of the pyramid” — and conquer him as did Machiavelli. 

Question: Have political patronage and oligarchy blocked FDIs?

In fairness, we people-powered Marcos. But we can’t sit idly by time and again.

Why is the “GPS” a tough challenge? Because we are not prepared to look in the mirror. And that explains why we indulge in “Fire, Aim, Ready” instead of “Ready, Aim, Fire.”

Don’t we encounter new ideas daily for Juan de la Cruz to overcome poverty? Where is Maharlika as we speak? Yet, our challenges are decades old, if not centuries old. We keep firing indiscriminately because we can't look in the mirror and acknowledge where we are.

We have been running amok like a headless chicken for the longest time.

I had to look in the mirror when I started the blog and acknowledge that I was a party to the mismanagement of the Philippines – because I am Juan de la Cruz.

Recall how the blog characterizes democracy. It is the mirror image of Christianity, i.e., the imperative of personal responsibility to pursue the common good – which equates to “love of neighbor.”

In other words, being Juan de la Cruz, I am not surprised that we mismanaged this economy – and nation. We have been running away from “personal responsibility.”

How? When we (a) accept incompetence at one end and submit to impunity at the other and (b) expect, if not seek paternalism and fall into the crab mentality.

And the vicious circle continues; it perpetuates short-sightedness to the detriment of the virtuous cycle.

Ergo: We wasted decades, if not centuries, to let this nation rot — because the commitment to personal responsibility to pursue the common good deserted us.

Given that we are higher in the hierarchy – as the Philippine elite and chattering classes – the onus is on us to demonstrate that we can look in the mirror.

We have been patting ourselves on the back all this time. It’s called bunker mentality, courtesy of the rigid walls of our caste system. And that explains why our neighbors turned us into the region’s “basket case” and the perennial laggard.

We say it repeatedly but would conveniently forget that we are taking credit away from Juan de la Cruz. It is his remittances and BPO revenues that drive this economy.

And our economic managers can only speak to “enablers” because the “drivers” are Juan de la Cruz and Juan de la Cruz.

What to do? Our economic managers must learn from our neighbors. Beg for foreign money and technology. But we can’t even imagine how, because we take it for granted, we’ve done a great job c/o the BOI and TRAIN and whatever acronyms we like to throw around.

That is why we can’t even establish “Where we are.” And running amok like a headless chicken.

That is the root of our mismanagement of the economy — and nation.

Let’s hold it right there.

The blog shared the partnership Samsung and Vietnam struck. And Vietnam has no Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, so Samsung had to commit to a few infrastructure efforts to create the requisite ecosystem to produce their smartphones. And because the Vietnam factory worker needed the skillset for the chore, the partnership called for joint investment in training.

Why does the blog keep beating the Samsung Vietnam partnership black and blue? Because the export revenues they generate match the aggregate OFW remittances and BPO revenues but with a more significant multiplier effect on the Vietnam economy because of the subindustries it created.

Translation: Aggressive exports explain how Vietnam and the Asian Tigers overcame poverty. It was not the war on poverty as in our 4Ps. That’s why the Ang initiative of generating $200 billion in exports must be the avenue our economic managers must be salivating about, not academic hypotheses such as TRAIN or “sustainable consumption.”

And that translates, in layperson’s terms, the elements of cognitive development: Beyond binary thinking, there is multiplicity and relativism — the imperative of context.

And today, for us to beat Vietnam, say, to lure TMCC, we must think better than Vietnam and more like the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. We don’t have to go all the way, but we must know the best practice model to work toward replicating it.

Why does the blog raise the imperative to bridge the academic world and the “real world”? The Vietnamese and the Chinese know the distinctions.

It’s encouraging that the BOI and MAP are working with Ciel Habito focused on driving exports.

What is the hypothesis? What are the big tickets items like TMCC that we must dissect to the nth degree; and then aggressively drive efforts to deliver against them? That’s called the “vital few,” aka Pareto, instead of the “trivial many.”

And the PEZA plan represents the latter, i.e., to launch 1-3 ecozones in 2023 and achieve a 10% investment growth.

We need “quick hits” to gain the experience and confidence to (a) manage change, (b) Juan de la Cruz, and (c) overcome mismanagement. 

The varied personal experiences narrated by the blog at (a) my former Fortune 500 company and (b) those with my Eastern European friends are “real world” stories of “quick hits.”

One more time with feeling. Did we mismanage this economy – and nation — or what?

I was born and raised in the Philippines and spent the first 20 years of my career there. I was a party to the mismanagement of the Philippines.

Where are we; Where do we want to be; How do we get there?

That looks pretty simple, yet too thorny to address.

We can’t look in the mirror; how could we ever establish “Where we are”?

Gising bayan!

The French have the right to be lazy.

Thanks to Lafargue, the French have the right to be lazy. But now Macron wants to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. “The French budget risks floundering on pensions that are siphoning off nearly 14% of the nation’s GDP each year – roughly twice the drain than in the United States and behind only Italy and Greece in Europe.” [David A. Andelman, CNN, 11th Jan 2023]

There is no free lunch, even in the wealthy nations of the West.

What more for a developing country like the Philippines? Our impulse is to point to a culprit other than ourselves.

Enter the 3Cs of a “hardy mindset” – challenge, commitment, and control. We must embrace our challenges and commit to overcoming them, recognizing that we have no control over others but ourselves. The onus to change is on us.

Consider: We have over 400 economic zones yet set a 10% investment growth target – even when our neighbors generate export revenues from 2.5 to almost six times ours.

Before PEZA, we had EPZA, created in 1972. That was half a century ago. Nueva Ecija held the distinction of Rice Granary of the Philippines by the 1920s, over a century ago. And we are the second-largest coconut-producing country.

Yet, we aren’t a powerhouse in manufacturing and agribusiness.

It’s called mismanagement.

In other words, the poverty we’ve faced for the longest time is our own. “Catering to the bottom of the pyramid” is shortsighted. Politicians come and go, but if we are to be proud of our institutions, our economic managers and think tanks must step up to the challenge.

Short-sightedness nourishes the crab mentality and the sense of entitlement and emboldens political patronage and impunity.

Our economic managers must recognize the North Star, the “context.” The context is for the Philippines to be a first-world economy and nation.

Juan de la Cruz must thrive. He has the same aspirations — as we do in the Philippine elite and chattering classes — to be self-actualized and prosperous.

The war on poverty — as in the 4Ps — is shortsighted. As it stands, we need to continue with the 4Ps for twenty-five more years.

Fourteen years ago, when the blog started, it pointed out that Vietnam had already cornered more FDIs than the Philippines. Then, in 2020, or eleven years later, Vietnam’s GDP topped ours. But that is a broken record; the Asian Tigers did the same thing to us.

Please recall the elements of cognitive development. Beyond binary thinking, there is multiplicity and relativism – or the imperative of context. And the ability to navigate those elements is a function of experience – which our neighbors gained by leapfrogging industrialization.

Singapore has recognized the public sector’s lack of understanding of knowledge management initiatives. For example, our economic managers speak to “enablers” but not “drivers” of “economic undertakings.” [“Understanding the drivers, enablers, and performance of knowledge management in public organizations,” L. G. Pee and Atreyi Kankanhalli; Conference Paper, Dec 2008, Nanyang Technological University and National University of Singapore.] “TRAIN Law continues to support economy's growth.”

That lack of understanding of knowledge management initiatives in the public sector will yield short-sightedness or “analysis” and the absence of “analytics,” which is forward-, lateral, and creative thinking.

On the other hand, in the private sector, the revenue streams are the drivers of the enterprise. In fairness, the profit motive makes the defining “drivers” instinctive to business managers, which is not the case with “economic managers.”

Should we reinvent Philippine education to bridge the academic world and the “real world”?

“Poor teacher training,” Editorial, Manila Standard, 10th Feb 2023.

In education, we have a money problem and mindset problem beyond poor teacher training. And that is why we can’t lose sight of the accelerated journeys – from poverty to prosperity – that our neighbors pursued. In other words, to gain experience and confidence in managing change, we must seek “quick wins.”

We can walk and chew gum simultaneously. It is not binary thinking. Sadly, people struggle to move beyond logical yet linear and incremental thinking. And that is because, as neuroscience explains, the well-developed chamber of the brain is the binary, not the “lateral chamber.”

Yet, the imperative to prioritize never ceases within the context of an ecosystem. And why the blog keeps speaking about the photosynthesis phenomenon.

Our challenge? No development experience. We struggle to move to multiplicity and relativism. Because we don’t forward-think, we aren’t at home defining a desired outcome or context. And absent the latter, we can’t generate multiple scenarios to pick and choose the way forward confidently.

See above; it’s called mismanagement.

We value hierarchy and paternalism by being “easy” on incompetence, irresponsibility, and inefficiency. Granted that rank has its privileges, including incompetence, we turn around and bestow paternalism on those subordinate to us. And that twin value would explain why we turned from the region’s “basket case” to a perennial laggard.

Why aren’t we a powerhouse in manufacturing and agribusiness? How can a nation be underdeveloped after over seventy-five years?

We won’t be ahead of the curve in energy development, manufacturing, and agriculture until we overcome short-sightedness. And the crab mentality is a classic. Over the last 14 years, the blog has spoken to a pretty simple GPS model – because it facilitates forward-, lateral, and creative thinking.

Vietnam had and still has an infrastructure problem. Their education system is not world-class. And there is corruption too and inefficiency. But we still think we have to address each of our share of these challenges before we can overcome being the regional laggard.

In fairness, they are “enablers.” And we must fix them. Still, we must aggressively seek the “drivers” and exploit them.

And that’s what Vietnam did; it followed the journey of the Asian Tigers – leapfrogging industrialization by begging for foreign money and technology.

Are we “teachable”?

Unsurprisingly, as we already did, we would fall into learned helplessness.

What is “learned helplessness”?

“It is a mental state in which an organism forced to bear aversive stimuli, or stimuli that are painful or otherwise unpleasant becomes unable or unwilling to avoid subsequent encounters with those stimuli, even if they are “escapable,” presumably because it has learned that it cannot control the situation.” [Encyclopedia Britannica]

And there is also “cognitive bias.”

“A cognitive bias is a subconscious error in thinking that leads you to misinterpret information from the world around you and affects the rationality and accuracy of decisions and judgments. Biases are unconscious and automatic processes designed to make decision-making quicker and more efficient. Cognitive biases come from several things, such as heuristics (mental shortcuts), social pressures, and emotions.

“Although these biases are unconscious, there are small steps we can take to train our minds to adopt a new pattern of thinking and mitigate the effects of these biases.” [https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-bias.html]

That is why the blog has introduced the imperative to pull neuroscience into our nation-building challenge.

Juan de la Cruz is beyond survival. Juan de la Cruz must thrive.

Our economic managers, legislators, and think tanks must recognize the North Star, not perpetuate short-sightedness. Short-sightedness nourishes the crab mentality and the sense of entitlement and emboldens political patronage and impunity.

Gising bayan!