First, forget bossing around / Letters

Date: Tue 06-Jul-1993
Paper Page: 7
Publication: Daily Nation

I HAVE BEEN STIRRED recently by the contributions to the Press of Mr. Maurice Foster and Mr. Tennyson Beckles as well as those of panelists Messrs. McClean, Blackman and McComie on CBC-TV on the proposed incomes policy and its link to productivity.

In his contribution, Mr. Foster proposed that planning by Government and the private sector must involve the setting of clearly defined goals or targets. The results of activities in pursuit of these goals would be monitored to determine how well the participants are performing.

He suggested that the sectors involved initially in this exercise should be tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and financial services. He has been encouraged by the widespread enthusiasm for his ideas but has lamented the lack of commitment by either Government or the private sector.

Mr. Beckles very briefly summarised the history of the relation between workers and employers on the one hand; and between the electorate and Government on the other. He cited the "rigid economic-socio-political division between capital and labour" as supporting a "repressive" system which was  unmotivating.

He regretted that successive Governments, instead of tackling this problem and impressing on the private sector the importance of developing "the capacity to be a net foreign exchange earner . . . cultivated a gift relationship" with the electorate.

He sees the way forward as a restructuring that would see the elimination of "restrictive management" and its replacement by more participative behaviour.

High among the priorities of the CBC panel appeared to be a rationalisation and restructuring of the sugar industry that would entail, among other things, greater worker participation to bring the industry back into control as a net contributor to the nation's economic and social income.

In my opinion, the distinguishing feature linking the contributions of all these concerned citizens is creativity. Their individual strategies may differ, but they have all challenged us to be more creative in attempting to improve the social and economic well-being of the nation.

If we accept the fact that creativity cannot be launched without thoughts or ideas, then we should not lightly discard any idea advanced for our betterment when our need appears compelling.

While necessity is still the forerunner of invention, and most of us are currently seeking cures to the symptoms crippling our well-being, it is a common human experience that ideas are scarcest when we most need them.

I know of no mortal who can fully engage his attention to a crisis and simultaneously generate, far less materialise, concepts for its resolution.

A concept need not be complex to be creative. We therefore must not allow the simplicity of any proposal to deceive us into ignoring it. The simplest concepts introduced as solutions are usually the most elusive, because we over-intellectualise them, thereby crowding out the subtle impulses that guide and inform our minds.

I do not wish to analyse the proposals of the contributors; that is best reserved for group consensus. However, a few observations are in order. With respect to Mr. Foster's proposals, while I believe that the need for detailed planning is sometimes overstressed by some management specialists, time and stationery should not be wasted on plans without targets.

Permit me a reference to sport. Without specific targets, marksmen may hit any object and may claim that what they struck, was indeed the agreed target. This type of confusion yields unreliable scores.

Unreliable scores or no scores results from not setting targets or from not gathering scores from set targets. Without dependable scores true performance cannot be checked. Thus the process of targeting and scoring, influences the interest, skill and effort the targeters bring to the game.

It is critically important that we be creative as well as constructive in this period of our history.

Far too many of us are preoccupied with apportioning blame. Indeed, Mr. Foster seems be challenging us to be constructive and creative; in so doing, he may have found a strategy for the mass motivation we need at this time. This well-intentioned and dauntless Barbadian deserves our encouragement and support.

The Beckles and Foster proposals are not incompatible, since a more participative, organisational culture will facilitate the setting of more attainable goals as well as the achievement of higher goals.

The instrument Mr. Beckles is recommending induces an unfortunate and fearful paralysis in the majority of Barbadian employers.

If this tool is carefully and skillfully used, the results could be astounding. Many employers might discover that while they lose the plays of authority, they will win the game of prosperity; cease to govern and begin to manage.

The CBC panelists should have no disagreement with either of these gentleman. For many years, all agriculture has been in dire need of new approaches; few seem to appreciate the opportunities this sector has been holding out to us. Agriculture is the best activity with which to start exercising our creativity.

Transmuting ideas and concepts into active accomplishment and self-satisfaction is our main purpose on this planet. This translates into: choosing it and getting it; wanting it and doing it.

I believe at least one per cent of Barbadians are keenly interested in applying new and simple concepts to old, crusted, persistent problems that most accept as unmanageable. In so doing, these devoted and selfless individuals will relish the satisfaction of finding solutions that bring far-reaching benefits to all.

Such persons should canvass the opinions of their associates and encourage those of similar conviction to form nuclei for promoting national development. An essential feature of these nuclei must be the withdrawing of their energies from the crisis syndrome and investing them into constructive thought that in turn will lead to productive activities that strike at causes.

We need to brush aside selfishness and become aware of our interdependence. The increasingly popular "each man breking fuh heself" mentality will not provide solutions, but will assuredly fuel fear and conflict which in turn will fire us to more agressive behaviour.

Through the emotional support of positive and enlightening groups, our fear will be diminished; the fear which so effectively inhibits and conceals our creative capabilities.


 -- JIMMY WARD