Malaysian 9/11

Twice since yesterday evening, I wrote something and deleted it.Twice I could not decide whether I should publish it. Twice I grappled with a simple question : what is the essence of my blog? Why do I write this pieces. The answer to the latter is quite a straight forward one. I write to release the multitude of ideas,thoughts and strategies that swirl through my mind every waking moment. I write to release my creative energy. The question of what is the essence of this blog is becoming a little more difficult these days though. My ideas and thoughts are almost exclusively related to my passion for leading, managing,business and commerce in general. I view everything else in this light. So, you can almost call me a communist ( I did read Marx when I was 15 much to the displeasure of my English teacher!). I view everything that happens to man on this planet from the perspective of supply and demand. I interpret everything from the fact that man needs work and fulfillment from the work he does. I have very few other passion in life. I am not a passionately religious person. I know my relationship with the Universe and I know for a FACT that there is a power greater than mine. That is all I need to know and I am not interested in convincing others. I am not a passionately nationalistic person. I am in essence a global citizen and for me a human being is meant to be borderless both in action and spirit. For me, the idea of nation states are no longer applicable. I function on gratitude and loyalty to what is fair and just regardless of where, who or what. So, anything other than the world of supply and demand (in all is forms and functions) does not interest me much.

This is the reason that I have always kept my postings as close as possible to business and management. In the few instances when I did write on other matters, I viewed them as 'events'.

In my previous posting, I wrote about the dangers of this country heading the way of Myanmar. Yesterday, we effectively took the first steps on that journey. But, when I wrote that 'Myanmar' piece my hypothesis, if you can call that, was very much based on our failures or potential failures in economic and business strategies. Yes, I did consider the fact that the continuous functioning of our relatively harmonious social structure will be critical too but I didn't really think that that will become a serious problem. Despite all we are not a nation that are militant. We don't burn each others places of worship. We should be fine in that respect. So, I figured that the only reason we may end up like Myanmar is if we mess up our economic and fiscal policies.

I may be wrong.

Maybe, far more important than getting our economic strategies correct, we need to get our social structure correct. Maybe, before we begin a New Economic Model we need to have a New People Model. A new model where the people of this nation are re-oriented to who we are and what is the REAL and TRUE relationship we have with each other. We need to understand, all over again, who our neighbors are. We need to fall in love with each other all over gain. Then maybe after that, we can begin the New Economic Model.

But, that is day dreaming I know. It will be nice but next to impossible. In reality, the New Economic Model and the New People Model need to happen simultaneously as each will influence and play a critical role on each other's success or failure. They must happen con-currently. They must be dissected and debated and strategised together; not in different and separated pieces.

If that is true, what then should the essence of this blog be. Can I, as a consultant and trainer, continue to think and behave exclusively on management and business terms. Or, should I now also become a New People Model strategist (activist?). If the latter is one that will bring the best results to my clients and this country, then I will have to delve into much more than the safe and sanitized world of management and corporate business. I will need to look out of my window of corporate mind-set and comment on the repugnant landscape of the bigotry and social breakdown. If previously I can comment that the past failure of Proton was due to its poor leadership quality, now I will have to say that the many things left unsaid; many of which had nothing to do with the management per se. I may also have to say that Proton was almost a mono-culture company and hence did not enjoy the full benefit of a creative citizenry. If previously I can talk about the brain drain as the cause for our lack of young talents and do it in an almost clinical manner, now I will have to say that the reason why the brain drain is occurring is because of the unfairness inherent and embedded in the very fabric of our systems.

Do I want to do this? There can be a separation of the church from the state (it feels strange using this phrase under the circumstances!). But, can there be a separation of the social ecosystem from business and management?

I am not sure. I am taking a break to ponder this. Whatever it is, the only question that I will ask of my self is : How best I can add value...REAL and TRUE value? And, stay true to the motto of this blog : Thinking Fresh, Being Real, Doing Right!