Wikipedia: I know everything!
Google: I have everything!
Facebook: I know everybody!
Internet: Without me, ya'll nothing.
Electricity: Keep talking b*tches!
:- )
Friday
Thursday
the man that can't be moved
No. This is not about the song written by The Script. This is about the government executives that should have done something but did not and now is being vilified in all forms of press, the old school and the networked.
My heart cries out for my Filipino brothers and sisters who have suffered so much loss. So much loss that their intelligently designed bodies may switch itself to numbness soon. I can say that because that's what happened to me when my younger brother died more than eight years ago.
I pray for them.
Ormoc, though it is almost 20 years ago, is still vivid in my memory. The Cagayan de Oro images is eerily similar. As Randy David succinctly wrote, "Disasters in search of causes, victims in search of villains, and benevolence in search of recognition."
But though my reaction to Ormoc were limited to disgust and to finger-pointing, I have acquired curiousity this time and asks, "They know that this is bound to happen since 2003, why did they not move?"
The press will offer the sniding remark veiled in dry humour that the government executives must know first how much they can earn before they will move. Though that gets some smirks and whimpering 'applause', it is dangerous because it shows that our local press, knowingly or unknowingly, pre-conditions our minds to the limiting "let's move on" mentality when these government executives must be held accountable, jailed.
But before they can be held accountable, did these government executives truly believe that they have the power to solve it? Did they have the resources to truly tackle this situation?
Climate change is revealing its ugly head, the Brother Cain that was nourished by the Industrial Revolution and first version of Capitalism. Will we suffer the same fate like Abel?
I ask - do we have the right leadership and the apt government structure to deal with this new normal? Or are we stuck in so many oversight committees and ad-hoc teams that we are spread too thinly? So thin that we are as effective as not being there? That our presence only exists in reports and not on the ground?
And more importantly, do we already have enough 'long-view' citizenry that will elect 'long-view' leaders over the 'short-view' ones?
The technical experts showed us where the danger lurks. But since we are here in the Philippines, in a time it is learning to become a nation, logic and PhDs that are enough in highly matured societies and economies, will not cut it for us. The demand we hurl at our technical experts is that they must be able to acquire storytelling prowess equal to their technical know-how.
But even if that is solved, we still have 'short-view' government executives to contend with. An executive who only responds to how fat his pockets get. (Hmmmm, what if these government executives 'owns' construction companies? Do the pockets of these officials get fatter when the national government approves the 'now-obviously-needed' and media demanded infrastructure projects? Interesting.)
But somehow, we already have the structure, the Ombudsman in particular, to process those greedy ones. Strengthening these 'making them accountable' processes is what the current P-Noy Administration is nourishing with the impeachment of a Chief Justice as a sign.
But what if we have done and showed to the world that in the Philippines, the guilty, finally, is held accountable but still this 'educated' man in government excutive clothing still manages to stand still and do nothing in the face of what is now wrongfully described as "alarmist" report.
How can we explain that?
Is it simply for psychological reasons?
What if he did not move because he was simply scared. And he could not accept it that he bit more than he can chew now that he is elected leader and was shown these 'end-of-days' scenarios?
Maybe he dismissed it. Downplayed it. Now, we all suffer because nature made us accept the truth and because the government leader did not have the wits and the heart to move.
The hard part now comes. After acceptance, what do we do now?
Elect the same 'short-view' leaders? Still think that being a leader is simply about power and doors opening? All perks and no sweat? A man that can't be moved? :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
My heart cries out for my Filipino brothers and sisters who have suffered so much loss. So much loss that their intelligently designed bodies may switch itself to numbness soon. I can say that because that's what happened to me when my younger brother died more than eight years ago.
I pray for them.
Ormoc, though it is almost 20 years ago, is still vivid in my memory. The Cagayan de Oro images is eerily similar. As Randy David succinctly wrote, "Disasters in search of causes, victims in search of villains, and benevolence in search of recognition."
But though my reaction to Ormoc were limited to disgust and to finger-pointing, I have acquired curiousity this time and asks, "They know that this is bound to happen since 2003, why did they not move?"
The press will offer the sniding remark veiled in dry humour that the government executives must know first how much they can earn before they will move. Though that gets some smirks and whimpering 'applause', it is dangerous because it shows that our local press, knowingly or unknowingly, pre-conditions our minds to the limiting "let's move on" mentality when these government executives must be held accountable, jailed.
But before they can be held accountable, did these government executives truly believe that they have the power to solve it? Did they have the resources to truly tackle this situation?
Climate change is revealing its ugly head, the Brother Cain that was nourished by the Industrial Revolution and first version of Capitalism. Will we suffer the same fate like Abel?
I ask - do we have the right leadership and the apt government structure to deal with this new normal? Or are we stuck in so many oversight committees and ad-hoc teams that we are spread too thinly? So thin that we are as effective as not being there? That our presence only exists in reports and not on the ground?
And more importantly, do we already have enough 'long-view' citizenry that will elect 'long-view' leaders over the 'short-view' ones?
The technical experts showed us where the danger lurks. But since we are here in the Philippines, in a time it is learning to become a nation, logic and PhDs that are enough in highly matured societies and economies, will not cut it for us. The demand we hurl at our technical experts is that they must be able to acquire storytelling prowess equal to their technical know-how.
But even if that is solved, we still have 'short-view' government executives to contend with. An executive who only responds to how fat his pockets get. (Hmmmm, what if these government executives 'owns' construction companies? Do the pockets of these officials get fatter when the national government approves the 'now-obviously-needed' and media demanded infrastructure projects? Interesting.)
But somehow, we already have the structure, the Ombudsman in particular, to process those greedy ones. Strengthening these 'making them accountable' processes is what the current P-Noy Administration is nourishing with the impeachment of a Chief Justice as a sign.
But what if we have done and showed to the world that in the Philippines, the guilty, finally, is held accountable but still this 'educated' man in government excutive clothing still manages to stand still and do nothing in the face of what is now wrongfully described as "alarmist" report.
How can we explain that?
Is it simply for psychological reasons?
What if he did not move because he was simply scared. And he could not accept it that he bit more than he can chew now that he is elected leader and was shown these 'end-of-days' scenarios?
Maybe he dismissed it. Downplayed it. Now, we all suffer because nature made us accept the truth and because the government leader did not have the wits and the heart to move.
The hard part now comes. After acceptance, what do we do now?
Elect the same 'short-view' leaders? Still think that being a leader is simply about power and doors opening? All perks and no sweat? A man that can't be moved? :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
+ three months
It has been three months since I landed from Tokyo. From that immersion, recently but limitly called ISO14051, that changes mindset... the next steps.
I got the tools and methodology pat down. I am in the process of developing materials that I hope to be of used and of value to the planned learning sessions that will happen in 2012 in various plants and corporate offices in the Philippines.
There's so much to share. My heart still spills grateful tears everytime I have this moment to reflect on. My mind is still wandering why me?
But this 'unplanned' immersion happened. Now what?
What do I do with something I have been given for free? A free thing that speaks to me and makes me feel alive?
I truly feel responsible.
My being tells me to freely share it. But I cannot just share it without contextualizing it to apppropriately fill the Filipino psyche and respecting its strengths, its limitations and its bent. If I am to simply repeat the presentation given out by the sensei, I will flat-out and simply do a disservice.
My challenge, I realize after the trip, as a learning facilitator, encapsulated in the title called "Professor", in the Philippines is to aggregate knowledge and distill it to the essential that speaks to a Filipino mind and moves his heart.
Express the 'music' you hear in your heart and feel in your mind! Get out of the boat, into the water and walk :- )
The self-talk that's getting so much airplay now in my head.
How can I stop it now that my beloved Philippines is in the news again because of what happened in Cagayan de Oro. Reminds me of what happened in Ormoc, Leyte almost 20 years ago - dead bodies, mud, and logs floating around.
Lord, I am small and the whole world is big... but I have You :- )
One of the takeaway I have from my Tokyo trip is I finally saw what happens when everyone is brave and expresses their hopes and dreams to the world and not limit it to dim lights, alcohol-altered talk and opinionated blogs :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
I got the tools and methodology pat down. I am in the process of developing materials that I hope to be of used and of value to the planned learning sessions that will happen in 2012 in various plants and corporate offices in the Philippines.
There's so much to share. My heart still spills grateful tears everytime I have this moment to reflect on. My mind is still wandering why me?
But this 'unplanned' immersion happened. Now what?
What do I do with something I have been given for free? A free thing that speaks to me and makes me feel alive?
I truly feel responsible.
My being tells me to freely share it. But I cannot just share it without contextualizing it to apppropriately fill the Filipino psyche and respecting its strengths, its limitations and its bent. If I am to simply repeat the presentation given out by the sensei, I will flat-out and simply do a disservice.
My challenge, I realize after the trip, as a learning facilitator, encapsulated in the title called "Professor", in the Philippines is to aggregate knowledge and distill it to the essential that speaks to a Filipino mind and moves his heart.
Express the 'music' you hear in your heart and feel in your mind! Get out of the boat, into the water and walk :- )
The self-talk that's getting so much airplay now in my head.
How can I stop it now that my beloved Philippines is in the news again because of what happened in Cagayan de Oro. Reminds me of what happened in Ormoc, Leyte almost 20 years ago - dead bodies, mud, and logs floating around.
Lord, I am small and the whole world is big... but I have You :- )
One of the takeaway I have from my Tokyo trip is I finally saw what happens when everyone is brave and expresses their hopes and dreams to the world and not limit it to dim lights, alcohol-altered talk and opinionated blogs :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Friday
a blessed generation
I mean that. Seriously. Truthfully.
I was born 25 September 1974. I was in my tweens when EDSA 1 happened.
And when I graduated from college, the Philippines was considered, globally, as a tiger cub in the mid-1990s due to President Ramos. Fifteen years remove from EDSA 1, the first impeachment, I think :- ), in the Philippine history happened. But prior to that, the Internet bubble burst.
I had a better grasp of what these events meant for I was finishing my graduate studies around this time. Specifically, I was writing my Strategic Management paper :- )
Besides that, I was in EDSA this time.
And during the first decade of the new millennium - my business-mind and 'chops' were honed by stewarding a boutique talent agency in the scandal-laden GMA presidency. The year 2001-2010 is the best time to learn, hands-on, what it means to run a business in precarious times.
On top of that, the industry I belonged to was hit by two powerful driving forces. One, a fundamental change. From an analog form of advertising to a digital, networked and dynamic one. Second, the fluctuating economy highlighted by the 2008 global financial meltdown. The advertising industry and the number of projects and the type of projects it cranks out, you see, is a leading indicator of the collective read of business minds.
It was also around this time, I intellectually plunged into the world of Kaizen, of Total Quality Management, of Lean Thinking, of Just-in-time, of Six Sigma and of Theory of Constraints among others.
And then Manny Pacquiao gave a jolt to Pinoy pride :- )
And now, I am offered another treat, a second impeachment. This time against Chief Justice Corona.
It is perfectly understandable to be wary of what's happening. But to be worried is really not the best thing to do right now. A crisis, as US President Obama suggested, is too valuable a thing to be wasted with worries.
These times and the unfolding events are the best times to learn what it means to give birth to a new Philippines. We are, currently, developing our own version of democracy.
Though it is easy to conclude that the spokesperson and the lawyers are making use of their 15 minutes of fame, I am thankful that the media is showing me, in dramatic details, how the government works. The powers of the Executive branch, of the Legislative and of the Judiciary and how it is related to each other to ensure a check and balance in the system.
I take this intelligently edited presentation over a classroom discussion :- )
And another thing, these events are highlighting, again, the brilliance of those people who wrote the 1987 Constitution. It's nice to be reminded that they, who came before me, were not asleep. I hope that when the generation after me comes, my generation will be judged the same way as I do for those who came before me :- )
Hmmm, I wonder now what kind of a President would a person of my age be when the time comes?
Being an optimist, that President, I think would be something else. For sure. For he saw, experienced and participated in a lot of transformation. From a dictatorship to a democracy. From an analog to digital technology. From a round world to a flat one :- )
A blessed generation indeed.
I am blessed and I am privileged that I am a Filipino at these times :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
I was born 25 September 1974. I was in my tweens when EDSA 1 happened.
And when I graduated from college, the Philippines was considered, globally, as a tiger cub in the mid-1990s due to President Ramos. Fifteen years remove from EDSA 1, the first impeachment, I think :- ), in the Philippine history happened. But prior to that, the Internet bubble burst.
I had a better grasp of what these events meant for I was finishing my graduate studies around this time. Specifically, I was writing my Strategic Management paper :- )
Besides that, I was in EDSA this time.
And during the first decade of the new millennium - my business-mind and 'chops' were honed by stewarding a boutique talent agency in the scandal-laden GMA presidency. The year 2001-2010 is the best time to learn, hands-on, what it means to run a business in precarious times.
On top of that, the industry I belonged to was hit by two powerful driving forces. One, a fundamental change. From an analog form of advertising to a digital, networked and dynamic one. Second, the fluctuating economy highlighted by the 2008 global financial meltdown. The advertising industry and the number of projects and the type of projects it cranks out, you see, is a leading indicator of the collective read of business minds.
It was also around this time, I intellectually plunged into the world of Kaizen, of Total Quality Management, of Lean Thinking, of Just-in-time, of Six Sigma and of Theory of Constraints among others.
And then Manny Pacquiao gave a jolt to Pinoy pride :- )
And now, I am offered another treat, a second impeachment. This time against Chief Justice Corona.
It is perfectly understandable to be wary of what's happening. But to be worried is really not the best thing to do right now. A crisis, as US President Obama suggested, is too valuable a thing to be wasted with worries.
These times and the unfolding events are the best times to learn what it means to give birth to a new Philippines. We are, currently, developing our own version of democracy.
Though it is easy to conclude that the spokesperson and the lawyers are making use of their 15 minutes of fame, I am thankful that the media is showing me, in dramatic details, how the government works. The powers of the Executive branch, of the Legislative and of the Judiciary and how it is related to each other to ensure a check and balance in the system.
I take this intelligently edited presentation over a classroom discussion :- )
And another thing, these events are highlighting, again, the brilliance of those people who wrote the 1987 Constitution. It's nice to be reminded that they, who came before me, were not asleep. I hope that when the generation after me comes, my generation will be judged the same way as I do for those who came before me :- )
Hmmm, I wonder now what kind of a President would a person of my age be when the time comes?
Being an optimist, that President, I think would be something else. For sure. For he saw, experienced and participated in a lot of transformation. From a dictatorship to a democracy. From an analog to digital technology. From a round world to a flat one :- )
A blessed generation indeed.
I am blessed and I am privileged that I am a Filipino at these times :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
my first Christmas "gift"
I have to write about this 'gift' I received.
But when it was given to me, I was panting and glad to know I was alive :- )
You see, I dreamed that I was dead.
There's no funeral. No lines. No longing faces. No wailing. No tears. I was just in a box and I was seeing it from a point of view of someone playing an RPG game. It's like I was on the bed and looking at the ceiling. But I was dead :- )
I wasn't afraid.
I just felt sorry to leave my beautiful wife, Beb. But later on, the feeling evolved to an understanding of and a realization of - I should have dared more. I should have pushed more. I should have ran after my dreams harder and tried to make it into a reality.
I was sad that I did not and that I can not do anything about it now that I am 'dead'. And when I was about to cry - I woke up.
I now grasped that it is really better to have honestly tried, had the chance of succeeding but landed and felt the sting and the punch of a 'failed attempt' rather than no attempt at all.
I get that now. 'First hand' :- )
And I am thankful, Lord. I am. Accept my tears and the emotions that goes with it. Emotions that I can not even begin to describe. But You know them, Lord.
I am thankful. Grateful.
Signed,
Elisier "Lion of Judah"
"... why think like mere men!"
But when it was given to me, I was panting and glad to know I was alive :- )
You see, I dreamed that I was dead.
There's no funeral. No lines. No longing faces. No wailing. No tears. I was just in a box and I was seeing it from a point of view of someone playing an RPG game. It's like I was on the bed and looking at the ceiling. But I was dead :- )
I wasn't afraid.
I just felt sorry to leave my beautiful wife, Beb. But later on, the feeling evolved to an understanding of and a realization of - I should have dared more. I should have pushed more. I should have ran after my dreams harder and tried to make it into a reality.
I was sad that I did not and that I can not do anything about it now that I am 'dead'. And when I was about to cry - I woke up.
I now grasped that it is really better to have honestly tried, had the chance of succeeding but landed and felt the sting and the punch of a 'failed attempt' rather than no attempt at all.
I get that now. 'First hand' :- )
And I am thankful, Lord. I am. Accept my tears and the emotions that goes with it. Emotions that I can not even begin to describe. But You know them, Lord.
I am thankful. Grateful.
Signed,
Elisier "Lion of Judah"
"... why think like mere men!"
Friday
coming to an end and approaching a new beginning
Our academic term is about to end. Next week, finals. And the students have started with their half-hearted "...Merry Christmas, Sir!" greetings :- )
They don't mean that. What they are actually suggesting is that they be given a passing grade because it's Christmas.
Ah, the feeling of entitlement. Sad. Really. It is.
From my observation "'Merry Christmas!' greeting students" can be segmented to "I was handled with baby gloves until now", the "'Friends with Benefits' professor friends ", the "Senior Citizens", the "Dazed and Confused lot" and the "True Blue".
Sometimes a student can be in cross section of two or more segments like someone who buys siomai in Siomai House and also buys it in Gloria Maris. The former, being part of the pedestrian segment while the later as part of a more'motivated' segment. Though the siomai eater is only one, he belongs to two segments :- )
But the usefulness of the siomai correlation ends there.
Though I appreciate the inventiveness and the 'flexibility' of students in building and acquiring street smarts to get that elusive 'Pass', I hope they also appreciate that there are certain and non-negotiable things in this world.
I mean, would they entrust their health or there parent's health and be treated by a doctor who got his license because he was only a friend of all his med-proper professors?
Would you? No!
Would they allow themselves to be opened up by ObGyn who got her license because the Medical Board together with the regulatory body saw that she was already an overstaying med-student?
Would you? No!
There is a reason for the 'pass' and the 'not yet'. There is a reason why engineering is demanding, hard and difficult.
If we do not understand that, then, we now know why we are where we are.
Maybe we should try to become somebody else other being an engineer even if we are already in our mid-20s and still in college. Because it is sad, and it honestly sucks, to be a 2nd-rate version of ourselves.
Or maybe it's time to rest and to reflect.
Listen. Be still and ...
"... why think like mere men."
They don't mean that. What they are actually suggesting is that they be given a passing grade because it's Christmas.
Ah, the feeling of entitlement. Sad. Really. It is.
From my observation "'Merry Christmas!' greeting students" can be segmented to "I was handled with baby gloves until now", the "'Friends with Benefits' professor friends ", the "Senior Citizens", the "Dazed and Confused lot" and the "True Blue".
Sometimes a student can be in cross section of two or more segments like someone who buys siomai in Siomai House and also buys it in Gloria Maris. The former, being part of the pedestrian segment while the later as part of a more'motivated' segment. Though the siomai eater is only one, he belongs to two segments :- )
But the usefulness of the siomai correlation ends there.
Though I appreciate the inventiveness and the 'flexibility' of students in building and acquiring street smarts to get that elusive 'Pass', I hope they also appreciate that there are certain and non-negotiable things in this world.
I mean, would they entrust their health or there parent's health and be treated by a doctor who got his license because he was only a friend of all his med-proper professors?
Would you? No!
Would they allow themselves to be opened up by ObGyn who got her license because the Medical Board together with the regulatory body saw that she was already an overstaying med-student?
Would you? No!
There is a reason for the 'pass' and the 'not yet'. There is a reason why engineering is demanding, hard and difficult.
If we do not understand that, then, we now know why we are where we are.
Maybe we should try to become somebody else other being an engineer even if we are already in our mid-20s and still in college. Because it is sad, and it honestly sucks, to be a 2nd-rate version of ourselves.
Or maybe it's time to rest and to reflect.
Listen. Be still and ...
"... why think like mere men."
mash-ups :- )
I have always kept, at least, three 'hats' within arm's reach.
The first 'hat' is being a TQM/ Kaizen/ Lean Six Sigma guy for, at least, a decade now. I have done projects implementing these methodologies and tools. The second 'hat' is being a paid actor. I have done professional theater, and still from time to time, TV ads. And the third 'hat' is being a learning facilitator and talent developer. I am a professor at an engineering school, during TThS, facilitating engineering courses and at the same time, during MWF, a steward of a talent and casting agency.
From experience, these 'hats' have harmoniously co-existed. In fact, they have complemented one another for it has a common denominator - a person. This person could be a client. In other days, an audience or a caster. In other days, a student. And in other days, a talent.
All want the same thing - another person who can assist them face the challenge or task at hand.
This morning, the three got mash-up :- )
Thanks to Sir Ken Robinson.
Zen espouses that perfection happens when there is nothing to take out. In lean thinking, its application is in the precept that one does not do anything that is unnecessary so that effort can be placed on necessary things.
Transporting this to a classroom or in a learning situation - all that is necessary is really a professor and a student. And progression happens when that give and take learning relationship between a teacher and a student is developed.
And this development happens when the learning facilitator, the actor, can make the student, the audience, identify with him :- )
A glorious mash-up!
"... why think like mere men?"
The first 'hat' is being a TQM/ Kaizen/ Lean Six Sigma guy for, at least, a decade now. I have done projects implementing these methodologies and tools. The second 'hat' is being a paid actor. I have done professional theater, and still from time to time, TV ads. And the third 'hat' is being a learning facilitator and talent developer. I am a professor at an engineering school, during TThS, facilitating engineering courses and at the same time, during MWF, a steward of a talent and casting agency.
From experience, these 'hats' have harmoniously co-existed. In fact, they have complemented one another for it has a common denominator - a person. This person could be a client. In other days, an audience or a caster. In other days, a student. And in other days, a talent.
All want the same thing - another person who can assist them face the challenge or task at hand.
This morning, the three got mash-up :- )
Thanks to Sir Ken Robinson.
Zen espouses that perfection happens when there is nothing to take out. In lean thinking, its application is in the precept that one does not do anything that is unnecessary so that effort can be placed on necessary things.
Transporting this to a classroom or in a learning situation - all that is necessary is really a professor and a student. And progression happens when that give and take learning relationship between a teacher and a student is developed.
And this development happens when the learning facilitator, the actor, can make the student, the audience, identify with him :- )
A glorious mash-up!
"... why think like mere men?"
Thursday
lantern wisdom
"...I'm a Green Lantern. I fear nothing. Fear is the enemy of will. Will is what makes you take action. Fear is what stops you and makes you weak. You must ignore your fear. When you're afraid you can't act. You can't act, you can't defend. You don't defend, you die!"
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