The 2nd day of 2019.
Was that two years already?
So much has change. For one, I have probably read over 10,000 pages of academic journals on distance education. And got assessed if I actually understood what I read.
😊
That alone will change someone perspective of life. And to be able to authentically test what one studies is deep deep learning.
Just writing it down as a sort of memorial stone.
Wednesday
Tuesday
Praying for the 2nd half
Technically speaking, it ends at 60. It can be extended to 65. However, the first half of my professional life has been written already.
As I look back, what can be described as a journey to finding out, can also be summed into this - preparation for the next half :- )
And the preparation included painfully chipping away who I think I am. But not really.
It was about revealing to myself who I am. Who He intended me to be.
I'm glad that that the confusion is over with. And that I am given the privilege to operate on my core skill set and talents. And be given the opportunity to thrive in it, that I can support a family.
I am thankful, grateful.
Lord, I lift not only 2017 but also the second half of my professional life. There's a lot of project I am excited about. That speaks to me. I do not know how it is intertwined or how it will play out. I just lift it up to You.
Guide me through it. May Your will be done.
I was an egocentric prick at the start of the first half of it, I do not want to make that same mistake again.
Please, Lord. Have mercy...
As I look back, what can be described as a journey to finding out, can also be summed into this - preparation for the next half :- )
And the preparation included painfully chipping away who I think I am. But not really.
It was about revealing to myself who I am. Who He intended me to be.
I'm glad that that the confusion is over with. And that I am given the privilege to operate on my core skill set and talents. And be given the opportunity to thrive in it, that I can support a family.
I am thankful, grateful.
Lord, I lift not only 2017 but also the second half of my professional life. There's a lot of project I am excited about. That speaks to me. I do not know how it is intertwined or how it will play out. I just lift it up to You.
Guide me through it. May Your will be done.
I was an egocentric prick at the start of the first half of it, I do not want to make that same mistake again.
Please, Lord. Have mercy...
Saturday
humbled and grateful
So much has happened.
What seemed as a dark place then, was apparently, on hindsight, me being buried :) Planted. Being prepared to do something I've never imagine to do. It has been ages since those eventful months. Looking back, You are absolutely right and perfect. I had to go through that to have a perspective. An expanded view.
You know me, Lord.
Thank You for preparing me. Thank You for the privilege. Thank You for allowing me to 'walk on water.' I am an inconsistent fumbling fool, yet You held me. Took care of me.
I'm humbled. Grateful.
Now, I am on this road. This journey. On this answered prayer. May I have the strength to endure it. The weakness and weariness to call upon You that I always walk with You.
May I do what You want me to do.
What seemed as a dark place then, was apparently, on hindsight, me being buried :) Planted. Being prepared to do something I've never imagine to do. It has been ages since those eventful months. Looking back, You are absolutely right and perfect. I had to go through that to have a perspective. An expanded view.
You know me, Lord.
Thank You for preparing me. Thank You for the privilege. Thank You for allowing me to 'walk on water.' I am an inconsistent fumbling fool, yet You held me. Took care of me.
I'm humbled. Grateful.
Now, I am on this road. This journey. On this answered prayer. May I have the strength to endure it. The weakness and weariness to call upon You that I always walk with You.
May I do what You want me to do.
Friday
The Commuting Life in Metro Manila
Though having drivers that consider traffic rules as mere suggestions is part of the problem, it is overly simplistic, foolish even, to lump it all to that fact as the cause of the ever character-building congestion in Metro Manila.
If one will take out all the politics and simply look at facts, the situation becomes clearer. But it is still not easy. It stays difficult. Challenging.
Metro Manila's congestion is unique.
Metro Manila belongs to the top 3 most densely populated area in the world. Which means, our everyday commute is not experienced anywhere in the world. Except maybe for the other two ;- )
If you are from Novaliches and are working in Ayala, that's 27 kilometers. And since we are talking about work, one will always experience the 'rush hour' commute everyday of the work week. A rush hour that really means 2-3 hours of commute, one-way.
Now, the top 1 of the most densely populated city is Tokyo, Japan but they don't have our congestion problems and our 'eternal' commute because they have their railway system. But to say that, we should improved our railways is too simplistic. A railway is an immediate and innovative solution probably during the turn to the 20th century but not in this millennia. True, railways move the most people but it is very capital intensive. Only corrupt politicians love and jump over capital intensive projects :- )
Trains is a fix solution to an ever evolving situation, problem. Think. Have you ever wondered why we have railways to Bicol? What was happening between Bicol and Manila in the past that necessitated a railway? What changed that operating trains now needs some creativity to make it economically viable? Is it, still, economically viable?
Automatically saying trains is the answer is like buying a mainframe today where other options (e.g. cloud computing) are available. Trains could be part of the solution but it is not the only solution.
Which brings us to the very heart of our commuting life. Before we even talked about solutions, what do we think is the problem?
The undisciplined drivers? (I thought we shot that down already.) The commission-based pay of drivers? The corrupt politicians? The inept civil servants who was supposed to do a technical study? The drug-crazed bus drivers? The over-reliance from foreign consultants who in the end will only push for their native country's technology? Or the fact that the financial centers like Ayala, Ortigas and BGC is far from Novaliches, from Lagro, from Paranaque, from Antipolo, from Laguna and from Cavite? The non-existent land use law? Capacity and demand mismatch? The uncontrolled private-led development? All of the above? None of the above?
How we frame the problem drives the solution we set.
"...why think like mere men?"
If one will take out all the politics and simply look at facts, the situation becomes clearer. But it is still not easy. It stays difficult. Challenging.
Metro Manila's congestion is unique.
Metro Manila belongs to the top 3 most densely populated area in the world. Which means, our everyday commute is not experienced anywhere in the world. Except maybe for the other two ;- )
If you are from Novaliches and are working in Ayala, that's 27 kilometers. And since we are talking about work, one will always experience the 'rush hour' commute everyday of the work week. A rush hour that really means 2-3 hours of commute, one-way.
Now, the top 1 of the most densely populated city is Tokyo, Japan but they don't have our congestion problems and our 'eternal' commute because they have their railway system. But to say that, we should improved our railways is too simplistic. A railway is an immediate and innovative solution probably during the turn to the 20th century but not in this millennia. True, railways move the most people but it is very capital intensive. Only corrupt politicians love and jump over capital intensive projects :- )
Trains is a fix solution to an ever evolving situation, problem. Think. Have you ever wondered why we have railways to Bicol? What was happening between Bicol and Manila in the past that necessitated a railway? What changed that operating trains now needs some creativity to make it economically viable? Is it, still, economically viable?
Automatically saying trains is the answer is like buying a mainframe today where other options (e.g. cloud computing) are available. Trains could be part of the solution but it is not the only solution.
Which brings us to the very heart of our commuting life. Before we even talked about solutions, what do we think is the problem?
The undisciplined drivers? (I thought we shot that down already.) The commission-based pay of drivers? The corrupt politicians? The inept civil servants who was supposed to do a technical study? The drug-crazed bus drivers? The over-reliance from foreign consultants who in the end will only push for their native country's technology? Or the fact that the financial centers like Ayala, Ortigas and BGC is far from Novaliches, from Lagro, from Paranaque, from Antipolo, from Laguna and from Cavite? The non-existent land use law? Capacity and demand mismatch? The uncontrolled private-led development? All of the above? None of the above?
How we frame the problem drives the solution we set.
"...why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
Quiet Time
Alone with God.
Well, it's Holy Wednesday. Why not?
My two ladies are still sleeping. Beb, my wife, had a bout with contractions during the wee hours of the night. She is tired. She needs sleep. (God willing, we will be welcoming our baby boy in less than 10 days.) While Yanna, well she's two. She will sleep until she 'feels' she has no one beside her on the bed.
I have been dismissive with doing a blog entry for more than a year. Aside from FB, Twitter and IG - I started to feel and to think that doing a blog is like a chore until it wasn't. Hence this entry :- )
I am grateful to God for allowing us, Beb and I, to experience what it means to be a parent. Yanna has brought so much joy into our lives and she has allowed me to love in ways I did not know I could. I am thankful that I have received love from Him (and from my parents) that I can draw from that love and give it.
And now, I will be a father again. My mind races to 2am feedings, 3 am diaper changes, singing lullabies at 4am to getting ready to go to work at 6am. It sounds like a chore until you remember the cherished magical moments of seeing the little one smile and yawn :- )
The past year was filled with a lot of 'know thyself' days, nights and weeks. My prayers were straighter. My pleas, honest. My tears roots from agony. These experiences had made me appreciative of the laughter and of the joys of life.
Resignation and being alone with God. Check and check :- )
I am being introduced into an old concept of "faith, hope and love" in a new way.
Lord, You alone know me. You know the sighs I have, the true prayers of my soul.
Well, it's Holy Wednesday. Why not?
My two ladies are still sleeping. Beb, my wife, had a bout with contractions during the wee hours of the night. She is tired. She needs sleep. (God willing, we will be welcoming our baby boy in less than 10 days.) While Yanna, well she's two. She will sleep until she 'feels' she has no one beside her on the bed.
I have been dismissive with doing a blog entry for more than a year. Aside from FB, Twitter and IG - I started to feel and to think that doing a blog is like a chore until it wasn't. Hence this entry :- )
I am grateful to God for allowing us, Beb and I, to experience what it means to be a parent. Yanna has brought so much joy into our lives and she has allowed me to love in ways I did not know I could. I am thankful that I have received love from Him (and from my parents) that I can draw from that love and give it.
And now, I will be a father again. My mind races to 2am feedings, 3 am diaper changes, singing lullabies at 4am to getting ready to go to work at 6am. It sounds like a chore until you remember the cherished magical moments of seeing the little one smile and yawn :- )
The past year was filled with a lot of 'know thyself' days, nights and weeks. My prayers were straighter. My pleas, honest. My tears roots from agony. These experiences had made me appreciative of the laughter and of the joys of life.
Resignation and being alone with God. Check and check :- )
I am being introduced into an old concept of "faith, hope and love" in a new way.
Lord, You alone know me. You know the sighs I have, the true prayers of my soul.
Monday
on trickling down
The Philippine economy grew. The darling of investors.
If only every Filipino knows what that meant, we all should be happy. But not everyone knows and if the status quo continues, every Filipino will become oblivious in a generation or two.
I do not know what the current government experts, the think-tank thought and what did they propose when the President expressed his quandary but I think actions towards the unchecked price of quality higher education should be part of it.
Why?
How can one enjoy the benefits of the economic gains when the inputs used to perform these economic activities means that a family must have at least, for now, PhP 1 million to send one child to earn his higher education?
How many Filipino families can afford to do that? And even if the financial criteria has been met, are the professors able to waddle through the emotional and psychological baggage these kids carry for growing up in a household where only a single parent is present?
And why is there only a single parent? It is because the other one is an OFW. He is one because to raise his family in his motherland, means he has to find work where his skills are appreciated and paid what it is due. This work does not exist in the Philippines. It exists somewhere else.
Whatever it is that we celebrate now is not sustainable if we are biased towards having an education system that is designed for pure profit as the way moving forward. Because, by design, that education system will become more exclusive in every annual iteration. The costs will always increase as it is driven by the double-edge sword called inflation. So to meet the profit numbers, for profit-educators will increase tuition fees or they cut on cost by putting the implementation of learning management systems on steroids.
All of these is fair in love and war if the Philippines actually have a robust welfare system that softens the blows of these systemic sways but we do not have. These system will breed anger. Disenfranchisement. Or faith in God :- )
One can argue that one does not need to have a college degree to play in these economic wind. For one, a person can put up a street food cart in front of the tall buildings where BPOs congregate or put up a laundry shop for the modern vampires. But if we accept this, then we should also shut our mouths when the foreign press writes editorials and stories that we are a land of domestic managers. Always taking. Never making. Never creating. Never developing.
This, I think, is the reason why unemployment remains the same even if the GDP numbers grew. The hypothesis of trickling down will only happen if the channel where the economic gains should flow or pass has been laid out. And that channel is called inclusive quality education.
I sure that the programs the Cabinet put forward has more short-term gain flavor than long-term. That's what happens when politics eats, swallows and spits out what is best in us.
"... why think like mere men?"
If only every Filipino knows what that meant, we all should be happy. But not everyone knows and if the status quo continues, every Filipino will become oblivious in a generation or two.
I do not know what the current government experts, the think-tank thought and what did they propose when the President expressed his quandary but I think actions towards the unchecked price of quality higher education should be part of it.
Why?
How can one enjoy the benefits of the economic gains when the inputs used to perform these economic activities means that a family must have at least, for now, PhP 1 million to send one child to earn his higher education?
How many Filipino families can afford to do that? And even if the financial criteria has been met, are the professors able to waddle through the emotional and psychological baggage these kids carry for growing up in a household where only a single parent is present?
And why is there only a single parent? It is because the other one is an OFW. He is one because to raise his family in his motherland, means he has to find work where his skills are appreciated and paid what it is due. This work does not exist in the Philippines. It exists somewhere else.
Whatever it is that we celebrate now is not sustainable if we are biased towards having an education system that is designed for pure profit as the way moving forward. Because, by design, that education system will become more exclusive in every annual iteration. The costs will always increase as it is driven by the double-edge sword called inflation. So to meet the profit numbers, for profit-educators will increase tuition fees or they cut on cost by putting the implementation of learning management systems on steroids.
All of these is fair in love and war if the Philippines actually have a robust welfare system that softens the blows of these systemic sways but we do not have. These system will breed anger. Disenfranchisement. Or faith in God :- )
One can argue that one does not need to have a college degree to play in these economic wind. For one, a person can put up a street food cart in front of the tall buildings where BPOs congregate or put up a laundry shop for the modern vampires. But if we accept this, then we should also shut our mouths when the foreign press writes editorials and stories that we are a land of domestic managers. Always taking. Never making. Never creating. Never developing.
This, I think, is the reason why unemployment remains the same even if the GDP numbers grew. The hypothesis of trickling down will only happen if the channel where the economic gains should flow or pass has been laid out. And that channel is called inclusive quality education.
I sure that the programs the Cabinet put forward has more short-term gain flavor than long-term. That's what happens when politics eats, swallows and spits out what is best in us.
"... why think like mere men?"
Thursday
Another America? Another G20?
Home. With no professional engagement for the day due to the Black Nazarene procession in the City of Manila, I am in my house husband clothes. I just fed my little girl, Yanna. She's asleep. And my mind wanders to a talk I will give in 12 days. A "sustainability" talk.
As I draw the slides, offline, of my presentation, there's this nagging question of 'Can the world, I mean its resources, build another America, in economic size, out of the Philippines? Out of Sri Lanka? How about Myanmar? East Timor-Leste?'
I mean, our current economic giants became giants with the help of world's natural resources which were consumed and will never be replenished again. The green house gases in our atmosphere were due to their economic drive and rise. Can Mother Nature still nurse the developing country to become a developed country?
And by developed country, do we mean that the developing countries have to look and smell like New York? Paris? So, should we invest in nuclear power plants?
What do we mean by a developed country? Will it still mean in the semblance of USA? of Japan? of UK? of EU? Or will it mean differently moving forward?
Will becoming a developed country still be the gold standard of any country's aspiration even if that level of development is not sustainable?
Is it, development, still the central question? Or is it - sustainability?
It has been over two years since I got immersed to the idea, a fact, that all our business processes, manufacturing or service, results to two things. One, is the desired result. The product, wealth. The other one, emissions - waste.
Yanna is awake now. Play time :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
As I draw the slides, offline, of my presentation, there's this nagging question of 'Can the world, I mean its resources, build another America, in economic size, out of the Philippines? Out of Sri Lanka? How about Myanmar? East Timor-Leste?'
I mean, our current economic giants became giants with the help of world's natural resources which were consumed and will never be replenished again. The green house gases in our atmosphere were due to their economic drive and rise. Can Mother Nature still nurse the developing country to become a developed country?
And by developed country, do we mean that the developing countries have to look and smell like New York? Paris? So, should we invest in nuclear power plants?
What do we mean by a developed country? Will it still mean in the semblance of USA? of Japan? of UK? of EU? Or will it mean differently moving forward?
Will becoming a developed country still be the gold standard of any country's aspiration even if that level of development is not sustainable?
Is it, development, still the central question? Or is it - sustainability?
It has been over two years since I got immersed to the idea, a fact, that all our business processes, manufacturing or service, results to two things. One, is the desired result. The product, wealth. The other one, emissions - waste.
Yanna is awake now. Play time :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Monday
The Three "Muskeeters"
I put on the hat of a Student-Faculty Adviser (SFA) every enrollment. I have been doing this for almost a decade now. One of the primary objective of an SFA is to advise the students if the courses they plan to take for the upcoming term are the apt ones considering their individual academic performance last term. It's to ensure that they have a better chance of getting through the hurdle.
Last week, well, I had a moment. A heart to heart talk with students, the three musketeers :- )
I am glad that they asked the right question. The only question that really needs to be answered. Not the fear-laden request of "May I know who teaches that course at that time?" or the shortcut-tainted, "Sir, may I be included in that class?"
No. These three young lad asked, "Would you advise Sir if we should continue our studies in Mapua?"
Now, that's a question!
I asked them why they are considering a reboot of sorts of their young life. One shared that he was surprise to see that his parents have already invested close to PhP 600,000 ($15,000) and, at best, he still has two more years to go.
So, I asked, "Before I answer your question, I'd like to know what did you get out of the money invested? I mean, aside from getting a passing grade?"
To this, a moment of silence then a pained smirk was the visual reply I got.
To this I said, "To continue your studies in a different institution is always an option. You always have that. But before you consider that, I think, it is better to ask - what do you want out of your life? A change in the environment will help, but if what you got here is not what you wanted, I hope you know what you want before you decide to transfer. Because if that is not yet pat down, clear, there's a possibility that we might find ourselves in the same situation. The only difference is that we are older. Why not consider stopping for awhile. You know, to think things over."
They stared. Took it all in.
Our 1-hour conversation took a lot of turns as they weigh on their next move.
With education showing its business colors even more prominently, students like the "three musketeers" will continue to pay until they hit the academic residency wall. They will continue to grind it out and hold on to an idea that being a graduate of Mapua will be enough to wash away all the years of confusion and of verbal abused they heard, hopefully not listened to.
My hope is that as they muddle through and soldier on, they get to know themselves better. Because that's more important than all the classes they took and passed.
"... why think like mere men?"
Last week, well, I had a moment. A heart to heart talk with students, the three musketeers :- )
I am glad that they asked the right question. The only question that really needs to be answered. Not the fear-laden request of "May I know who teaches that course at that time?" or the shortcut-tainted, "Sir, may I be included in that class?"
No. These three young lad asked, "Would you advise Sir if we should continue our studies in Mapua?"
Now, that's a question!
I asked them why they are considering a reboot of sorts of their young life. One shared that he was surprise to see that his parents have already invested close to PhP 600,000 ($15,000) and, at best, he still has two more years to go.
So, I asked, "Before I answer your question, I'd like to know what did you get out of the money invested? I mean, aside from getting a passing grade?"
To this, a moment of silence then a pained smirk was the visual reply I got.
To this I said, "To continue your studies in a different institution is always an option. You always have that. But before you consider that, I think, it is better to ask - what do you want out of your life? A change in the environment will help, but if what you got here is not what you wanted, I hope you know what you want before you decide to transfer. Because if that is not yet pat down, clear, there's a possibility that we might find ourselves in the same situation. The only difference is that we are older. Why not consider stopping for awhile. You know, to think things over."
They stared. Took it all in.
Our 1-hour conversation took a lot of turns as they weigh on their next move.
With education showing its business colors even more prominently, students like the "three musketeers" will continue to pay until they hit the academic residency wall. They will continue to grind it out and hold on to an idea that being a graduate of Mapua will be enough to wash away all the years of confusion and of verbal abused they heard, hopefully not listened to.
My hope is that as they muddle through and soldier on, they get to know themselves better. Because that's more important than all the classes they took and passed.
"... why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
So it begins...
The year 2013 was filled with milestones for me.
Becoming a Dad is right there on the top. This "new" role made me realize that we truly communicate without even speaking. Yanna, our 1-year old, does not even speak but she knows and understands. Funny. Heartwarming stuff. Everyday. Let's not get started :- )
Imaj, the boutique talent agency I help out in as their operation's think-tank, had to leap loops. Loops that were made by the hands of the taxman and the ever evolving and still very dynamic Advertising industry. Our liquidity almost turned into a drought. I had to dig deep and get creative on how to manage cash flows. A Van Horne text got me started on the taxman's challenge. While the concept and practice of Service Quality helped on the other.
I had to study a lot in 2013 because I had to facilitate a lot of learning on top of the Mapua load. The learning sessions varied in content, in context and in its students. Some, were held in board rooms. Some, in training rooms. Some, where to 20-somethings. Others, to employees a few months away to retirement. Some companies had to train or else they close shop. While others, had the luxury of the long view. The interactions and the back and forth in all of these are the real pearls.
Going to the gym became a habit because if I had not trained for a three straight days, I will feel that I need to go back to the gym.
I think the Omnipotent One stretched me in 2013.
Now that 2014 just begun, I wonder what this year holds. For one, I will be joining the "life begins at 40" club :- )
May we all have a meaningful and joy-filled 2014 :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Becoming a Dad is right there on the top. This "new" role made me realize that we truly communicate without even speaking. Yanna, our 1-year old, does not even speak but she knows and understands. Funny. Heartwarming stuff. Everyday. Let's not get started :- )
Imaj, the boutique talent agency I help out in as their operation's think-tank, had to leap loops. Loops that were made by the hands of the taxman and the ever evolving and still very dynamic Advertising industry. Our liquidity almost turned into a drought. I had to dig deep and get creative on how to manage cash flows. A Van Horne text got me started on the taxman's challenge. While the concept and practice of Service Quality helped on the other.
I had to study a lot in 2013 because I had to facilitate a lot of learning on top of the Mapua load. The learning sessions varied in content, in context and in its students. Some, were held in board rooms. Some, in training rooms. Some, where to 20-somethings. Others, to employees a few months away to retirement. Some companies had to train or else they close shop. While others, had the luxury of the long view. The interactions and the back and forth in all of these are the real pearls.
Going to the gym became a habit because if I had not trained for a three straight days, I will feel that I need to go back to the gym.
I think the Omnipotent One stretched me in 2013.
Now that 2014 just begun, I wonder what this year holds. For one, I will be joining the "life begins at 40" club :- )
May we all have a meaningful and joy-filled 2014 :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Saturday
Laker fan :- )
Now that they are not the favorites to win the title, it dawned on me that I am a Laker fan.
It was easy to root for them when Magic was dishing no-look passes in the 80's and I was mimicking how they played when I was playing barangay liga-type basketball when I was a tween. Or when Kobe and Shaq had a doze of Zen and were stamping fear into the hearts of their opponents in the early 2000s. Or when a Zen-ed Kobe had Gasol, Bynum and Odom. It was easy.
Now, well one can hope things won't be that bad. But I don't think it will be that bad. Kobe is still Kobe. Chance always exists. With Nash and Gasol, hmmm, I am smiling now :- )
But what draws me deeper into this team more than the casual observer who sees "Ws-Ls", is that they are an organization who lorded over a former world that's shifting towards faster. A world where pace and athleticism seems to be dialed in and stuck at 28 years old. When cap room is very punitive. And when one can not simply spend to get to contender status. Now, it has to be built.
Over the last two years, where the trophy went to the Heat, I rooted for teams that actually lost. No, I am not Lebron-hater. I think Pat Riley's Heat took a page or two from his old Showtime Lakers. (Miami to me is the Showtime Lakers of the East.) Its just that I am drawn to how an organization can built a team to become what is now known as Durant-Westbrook Thunder or Duncan-Ginobli-Parker Spurs.
I am now more interested in the process, when in the past it was simply about the results. Or better yet, I am now more interested on the process that brings an organization to the result they want :- )
So, for 2013-2014 season I will be glued to everything purple and gold. Not because they are favored to win the championship. But because they (players, coaches and executives) will absolutely struggle and honestly look for ways to win every single game.
"... why think like mere men?"
It was easy to root for them when Magic was dishing no-look passes in the 80's and I was mimicking how they played when I was playing barangay liga-type basketball when I was a tween. Or when Kobe and Shaq had a doze of Zen and were stamping fear into the hearts of their opponents in the early 2000s. Or when a Zen-ed Kobe had Gasol, Bynum and Odom. It was easy.
Now, well one can hope things won't be that bad. But I don't think it will be that bad. Kobe is still Kobe. Chance always exists. With Nash and Gasol, hmmm, I am smiling now :- )
But what draws me deeper into this team more than the casual observer who sees "Ws-Ls", is that they are an organization who lorded over a former world that's shifting towards faster. A world where pace and athleticism seems to be dialed in and stuck at 28 years old. When cap room is very punitive. And when one can not simply spend to get to contender status. Now, it has to be built.
Over the last two years, where the trophy went to the Heat, I rooted for teams that actually lost. No, I am not Lebron-hater. I think Pat Riley's Heat took a page or two from his old Showtime Lakers. (Miami to me is the Showtime Lakers of the East.) Its just that I am drawn to how an organization can built a team to become what is now known as Durant-Westbrook Thunder or Duncan-Ginobli-Parker Spurs.
I am now more interested in the process, when in the past it was simply about the results. Or better yet, I am now more interested on the process that brings an organization to the result they want :- )
So, for 2013-2014 season I will be glued to everything purple and gold. Not because they are favored to win the championship. But because they (players, coaches and executives) will absolutely struggle and honestly look for ways to win every single game.
"... why think like mere men?"
Wednesday
Not Yet
Two weeks ago, I wrote down the grades of my students. Almost half, got what the school states as "Failed", 5.
That term, "Failed" never sat well with me as the apt description of what transpired over the past 10 weeks, an academic term for us. More so now that the framework we use is OBE.
A "5" is more like a "not yet".
Why?
I have seen enough, meaning statistically confident, to conclude that a student who got named as someone who failed can turn around and be the next revelation. If that is so, did he really fail or did it take longer than usual? Was the "failed" event really a failure or the means towards improvement?
Taken in another way, and this time using our vernacular - a "5" is hilaw pa. Hindi pa hinog.
"... why think like mere men?"
That term, "Failed" never sat well with me as the apt description of what transpired over the past 10 weeks, an academic term for us. More so now that the framework we use is OBE.
A "5" is more like a "not yet".
Why?
I have seen enough, meaning statistically confident, to conclude that a student who got named as someone who failed can turn around and be the next revelation. If that is so, did he really fail or did it take longer than usual? Was the "failed" event really a failure or the means towards improvement?
Taken in another way, and this time using our vernacular - a "5" is hilaw pa. Hindi pa hinog.
"... why think like mere men?"
Monday
On jeepneys and Philippine education
Outcomes-based education, OBE. A lovely idea. I am glad that I am part of its contextualized execution in the Philippines. But this is not about that. This is about the business side of it.
And it starts with a Filipino icon - the jeepney.
The jeepney is part of the Philippine cultural heritage. Riding in it is part of being a Filipino and the Philippine experience. Just ask the recent visitor we had - Vin Diesel :- )
But if one is to judge it in terms of efficiency and carbon footprint, I think we would feel differently about it.
The idea that a driver has to reach a certain amount, boundary, before he earns his keep drives the one behind the wheel to behave according to his local optima, yung kita niya, rather than system optima, yung bilis ng paghatid ng pasahero. And one can't blame him too for all this fracas, the Philippine transport system is built around a franchise model. Meaning, it is a business opportunity that serves a society's needs. Though it serves society, it is still a business, thus profit-driven.
This also help in explaining why jeepney operators does not feel "motivated" to properly maintain (or simply meet the minimum requirement) his cash cow, the jeepney itself . Why would he if the price for the service is controlled? His only option, is to keep operations cost low so that he squeaks some profit. Thus the prevalence of poorly maintained jeepney abound. Have you seen Manong driver pump the brakes a few times before one feels the jeep decelerate?
To further aggravate the situation is the fact that there's two polar opposite systems that try to exists as one. From the operator's perspective, it is a low cost business. But from the man behind the wheel it must be customer driven. Customer driven? Yes. Because the jeep has to stop where one wants to alight and it will stop where one wants to be picked up. This dynamic drives the need for traffic management. Two ideas being forced to co-exist will result to an enforcement challenge, actually - a nightmare . Just ask the MMDA and the respective cities' local traffic enforcement units. Of which by the way, also drives a lot of vile things to happen :- )
Now, imagine that this same concept was also used in our nation's education system. How many of the current schools that operate are profit driven even if their respective charters do stipulate non-profit? And if we compare the number of public schools vis-a-vis the private schools, what ratio are we going to come up with?
Privatizing education makes (made) sense and it has solve a problem much like the jeepney system or the franchise model of transportation system. The jeepney was a brillian solution after World War II. It solved the problem of transportation infrastructure by recycling surplus US jeeps and gave immediate employment to Filipinos after the war. Now that the situation has changed, the once brilliant solution that was massively embraced is turning out to be the reason why we now have this massively huge mess.
What happens now if we get the same result from further privatizing, a brilliant solution to the state's limited resources, our education system relentlessly? Would it look like and feel like our jeepney transportation system in a decade? Do our government bureaucrats in MMDA have the same headaches in DepEd or CHED when it comes to enforcement or regulatory functions?
Would OBE be simply a shiny new jeepney in this situation? Though shiny and new, a jeepney still?
I wonder.
But, let me do my part and do that report :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
And it starts with a Filipino icon - the jeepney.
The jeepney is part of the Philippine cultural heritage. Riding in it is part of being a Filipino and the Philippine experience. Just ask the recent visitor we had - Vin Diesel :- )
But if one is to judge it in terms of efficiency and carbon footprint, I think we would feel differently about it.
The idea that a driver has to reach a certain amount, boundary, before he earns his keep drives the one behind the wheel to behave according to his local optima, yung kita niya, rather than system optima, yung bilis ng paghatid ng pasahero. And one can't blame him too for all this fracas, the Philippine transport system is built around a franchise model. Meaning, it is a business opportunity that serves a society's needs. Though it serves society, it is still a business, thus profit-driven.
This also help in explaining why jeepney operators does not feel "motivated" to properly maintain (or simply meet the minimum requirement) his cash cow, the jeepney itself . Why would he if the price for the service is controlled? His only option, is to keep operations cost low so that he squeaks some profit. Thus the prevalence of poorly maintained jeepney abound. Have you seen Manong driver pump the brakes a few times before one feels the jeep decelerate?
To further aggravate the situation is the fact that there's two polar opposite systems that try to exists as one. From the operator's perspective, it is a low cost business. But from the man behind the wheel it must be customer driven. Customer driven? Yes. Because the jeep has to stop where one wants to alight and it will stop where one wants to be picked up. This dynamic drives the need for traffic management. Two ideas being forced to co-exist will result to an enforcement challenge, actually - a nightmare . Just ask the MMDA and the respective cities' local traffic enforcement units. Of which by the way, also drives a lot of vile things to happen :- )
Now, imagine that this same concept was also used in our nation's education system. How many of the current schools that operate are profit driven even if their respective charters do stipulate non-profit? And if we compare the number of public schools vis-a-vis the private schools, what ratio are we going to come up with?
Privatizing education makes (made) sense and it has solve a problem much like the jeepney system or the franchise model of transportation system. The jeepney was a brillian solution after World War II. It solved the problem of transportation infrastructure by recycling surplus US jeeps and gave immediate employment to Filipinos after the war. Now that the situation has changed, the once brilliant solution that was massively embraced is turning out to be the reason why we now have this massively huge mess.
What happens now if we get the same result from further privatizing, a brilliant solution to the state's limited resources, our education system relentlessly? Would it look like and feel like our jeepney transportation system in a decade? Do our government bureaucrats in MMDA have the same headaches in DepEd or CHED when it comes to enforcement or regulatory functions?
Would OBE be simply a shiny new jeepney in this situation? Though shiny and new, a jeepney still?
I wonder.
But, let me do my part and do that report :- )
"... why think like mere men?"
Sunday
nudges
Though we can't always see it at the time,
if we look upon events with some perspective,
we see things always happen for our best interests.
We are always being guided in a way
better than we know ourselves.
if we look upon events with some perspective,
we see things always happen for our best interests.
We are always being guided in a way
better than we know ourselves.
Indian Author, Spiritual Teacher
Thursday
"Rage against the dying light..."
It was the 10th week. It was customary and by-design, a documentary festival for all the courses I facilitate. The image is one of those "romantic" scenes I, a professor, have been given the privilege to experience. To be part of.
I recently taught Business Process Outsourcing, Food Service Management, Retail Management, Marketing Principles, Engineering Management Practices and Service Quality this past 3rd term at an ABET-accredited school - Mapua Institute of Technology.These courses are part of the core courses of an academic program called Service Engineering and Management.
I sat. Watched. Studied. Learned. And then, graded.
I saw more than 100 of 8-minute+ documentary films on the various service institutions in the Philippines. More than half of the work, really felt and looked like, in a bad way, student projects. I third, done with passion. And a few, transcendent gems. Gems that have raised the bar for how a documentary like this should look, sound and feel.
Over the course of five years, I have met, probably, over a thousand managers since I started requiring students to produce documentaries like these. I have seen how managers of bangketa restaurants and how managers of big corporations share similar challenges. Differing only in degree of scope. All aspire for better profits and all talked about providing better service and quality. The "how" the only creative difference.
But the most innovative solution I have encountered in solving a business situation and it is even more fascinating because this is a solution, for a queuing situation, did not come from a highly-paid manager in Makati or in Bonifacio Global City who owns a graduate degree. It came from a street hawk who runs a very popular eatery. His solution, slow it down. It was genius, because sales are still increasing and customers keep on coming back :- )
This cyclical 10-week experience also helped in concluding a hypothesis.
I have noticed that those who produce quality outputs are the Students and not those who only paid the tuition fees, the Enrolleds.
My experience over a decade has allowed me to decipher early, between, who are Students, thus needs to be given a different challenge so that they can be better, great and those who are Enrolleds who simply wants to stay the same, thus needs a different voice to challenge them. The voice called Hard Reality.
The objective of this "rage against the dying light" is to engage the students and challenge them to articulate in an obvious visual form what they got from the learning sessions. Another objective is that of a communal learning session, for a student work is seen by fellow students. This approach has its own disadvantages but, I think, its distinct advantage that outweighs its disadvantages is the fact that the student work is not only limited to the eyes of the professor. But its value, no matter how small, has been multiplied.
In behalf of the the future Service Engineering and Management students, we would like to thank Ms. Cabral, Mr. Caguiat, Mr. de Ocampo, Ms. Casino and Mr. Adrid for showing how documentaries under Sir Fants should be done.
And as a personal note, thank you for "raging against the dying light.."
"... why think like mere men."
"The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers."
American Author and Psychiatrist
Wednesday
Tuesday
On Indie films and Outcomes-based Education :- )
This will be denied. I think.
Or it would be put on a narrative that it was taken out of context. But I heard it as clear as Yanna's cry asking for milk. To this person, Outcomes-based Education (OBE) is about doing EVERYTHING so that the student will make the cut. Will pass.
Really? That is OBE?
I do not know if that is the true intent of OBE but that interpretation says more about the speaker's logic bubble and heart rather than OBE itself.
Let me be clear on this. I am not against OBE. I am all for it. In fact, it is a page taken out from the Field-book of my other passion of being an Organization Development Practitioner :- )
I will even venture a more daring interpretation by saying, that if we take out all the esoteric and high-sounding terms, OBE's dynamic at its core is similar to a film director's shouting, "Lights! Camera! Action! Cut! Good take! That's a wrap!"
But if we fail to protect a good idea, OBE, from the elements of this world, like a good project manager will do putting on his "protecting-the-plan-hat", it will not be a stretch if we will see a new level of abuse or an "on-steroids" version of an innocence-shattering overstepping on the Teacher and Student relationship on our hands in a few years.
Or should a situation, as alluded to in an 8-year old (bestselling) book called Freakonomics, happen first before we see?
I think, OBE is like the web. It is neither good or bad. It is a means to an end. But as secondary parents or as parents per se, do we allow our child to surf the net with wanton abandon? Or do we put safeguards to protect our child as they surf the net?
Life has allowed me a privilege to see how plays, films, teleseryes and TV commercials are done from the inside. From concept to the actual staging or shooting. Sometimes, we have to do a painful and time consuming re-casting because the actors does not have it or is a miscast for a role.
If we are to embrace the person's take on OBE, are we not using OBE as an excuse to produce mediocre and lugaw engineers?
What happens to our beloved Philippines then?
Will Hollywood prosper, with all its seedy side stories, if it allowed itself to ONLY crank out B-movie actors and actresses? And not de Niros or Pacinos?
I am not writing this so that we stop here. At a conclusion after a passionate treatise.
What's the use of a conclusion if it does not lead to an improvement?
So, this is how I will wrap things. I think there's a reason why the authorities are THE authorities. They have proven, in the past, that they are capable. It is truly a messy and confusing affair when one finds himself at the end of the universe. Though they may show their limitations, (But who has no limitations?) they are still good.
The ball is on their hands.
"... why think like mere men?"
Or it would be put on a narrative that it was taken out of context. But I heard it as clear as Yanna's cry asking for milk. To this person, Outcomes-based Education (OBE) is about doing EVERYTHING so that the student will make the cut. Will pass.
Really? That is OBE?
I do not know if that is the true intent of OBE but that interpretation says more about the speaker's logic bubble and heart rather than OBE itself.
Let me be clear on this. I am not against OBE. I am all for it. In fact, it is a page taken out from the Field-book of my other passion of being an Organization Development Practitioner :- )
I will even venture a more daring interpretation by saying, that if we take out all the esoteric and high-sounding terms, OBE's dynamic at its core is similar to a film director's shouting, "Lights! Camera! Action! Cut! Good take! That's a wrap!"
But if we fail to protect a good idea, OBE, from the elements of this world, like a good project manager will do putting on his "protecting-the-plan-hat", it will not be a stretch if we will see a new level of abuse or an "on-steroids" version of an innocence-shattering overstepping on the Teacher and Student relationship on our hands in a few years.
Or should a situation, as alluded to in an 8-year old (bestselling) book called Freakonomics, happen first before we see?
I think, OBE is like the web. It is neither good or bad. It is a means to an end. But as secondary parents or as parents per se, do we allow our child to surf the net with wanton abandon? Or do we put safeguards to protect our child as they surf the net?
Life has allowed me a privilege to see how plays, films, teleseryes and TV commercials are done from the inside. From concept to the actual staging or shooting. Sometimes, we have to do a painful and time consuming re-casting because the actors does not have it or is a miscast for a role.
If we are to embrace the person's take on OBE, are we not using OBE as an excuse to produce mediocre and lugaw engineers?
What happens to our beloved Philippines then?
Will Hollywood prosper, with all its seedy side stories, if it allowed itself to ONLY crank out B-movie actors and actresses? And not de Niros or Pacinos?
I am not writing this so that we stop here. At a conclusion after a passionate treatise.
What's the use of a conclusion if it does not lead to an improvement?
So, this is how I will wrap things. I think there's a reason why the authorities are THE authorities. They have proven, in the past, that they are capable. It is truly a messy and confusing affair when one finds himself at the end of the universe. Though they may show their limitations, (But who has no limitations?) they are still good.
The ball is on their hands.
"... why think like mere men?"
rest from within
"With a lot of wisdom comes a lot of heartache.
The greater your knowledge, the greater your pain."
~ Ecclesiastes 1:18
Monday
more than conquerors
By: Christian D. Larson
Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
Promise yourself to be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. Look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. Think only of the best, work only for the best, and expect only the best. Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. Give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others. Live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
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