All good things must end....

A bold assumption in the title there anyway but T.S. Eliot did write -

"What we call the beginning is often the end

And to make an end is to make a beginning.

The end is where we start from."

And off I am - to try to concentrate on a few things for the rest of the year. So there will be no more posts on the blog. I have enjoyed very much meeting a lot of interesting people, sharing ideas and discussing new things. I stop blogging wiser and more informed through my interaction with the regular readersof this blog.

If you need any information or have any questions regarding my posts - you can email me (bhutanese.blogger@googlemail.com) or leave a comment here. I should be able to get them and respond  to your queries accordingly.

Enjoy the rest of 2010

Smart things you can do...

I had to share this -  from The Daily Beast -

25 ways to get Smarter in 2010

Our websites and online experience

As a consumer of information online, the quality of a website is particularly important to me. While many websites I visit provide a very good experience, there are few that I don't look forward to.

I mean websites like this, this and this. Well, our Government websites are no different. Have a look at this and this. Many are quite similar to each other and I am beginning to realise that all are based on a single template. You will often find broken links and essay like posts.

Many people now read news and seek information online. An organisation can easily engage customers/partners and in some cases develop businesses. A website also communicates the culture and the identity of an organisation and is a good way of differentiate itself from the rest. So it should be as clean, user-friendly, easy-to-navigate and current as possible and be a platform to attract people to your organisation rather than treating it like some unwanted appendage.

Whenever I have to browse some of these sites, I find it difficult to believe that we recently held a conference of 225 ICT "leaders and specialists". I hope my online experience will improve soon.

3 Idiots and a Book

If you haven't seen the movie "Three Idiots" yet - Go and see it. I recommend it not because the smart guy is Phunsukh Wangdu but because of the following reasons -

1. It takes a dig at our current system of education - pedantic and characterised by rote learning. It makes the point that education need to teach somthing new and practical, and encourage original thinking beyond what is in the books.
2. It illustrates the importance of recognising ones own strengths and talents, developing them and finally having the will to go for what one wants in life. One could try to develop ones weaknesses but do not trust them to take one as far as ones strengths could do. To take an analogy from football -  it would be wrong for a goal keeper to train as a striker because that is his weakness. 
   
3. And finally there is the pursuit of excellence- an important standard that one can set for oneself. A key message I took was if one pursued excellence - success, fame and riches will follow.

I learnt these messages from an excellent book - Ayn Rand's Fountainhead - I read many years ago. The protagonist, an architect, Howard Roark doesn't compromise his pursuit of excellence and love for modern architecture and rebels against the establishment of traditional architecture.

And by the way - this book is a recommended read.

Businesses and responding to new policies

In order to accelerate our economic development, the Government is making new policies and also altering/updating existing policies. These have worried the people, especially those in businesses, as recent discussions around the proposed removal of the minimum tarriff for tourists and also the 100% FDI investments in the hospitality sector (4/5 starred hotels) illustrate.

These apprehensions are understandable.

According to a recent McKinsey survey (requires sign-up), Government's actions and specifically passing laws and policies hugely impact the economic value of businesses. Of course, as the survey confirms, many other actions like improving infrastructure and giving access to capital positively affect businesses.

To allay any fears and uncertainties, it is important that our Government engages the businesses, listen to them and give them opportunities to voice their concerns. In addition to the above, a transparent and inclusive process  of engagement would clearly communicate the rationale for and the benefits of such changes. I think we haven't been particularly good at it. Executive orders and announcements may have its uses and are easily understood within the bureaucratic set up but don't tell the business people much.

The responsibility to work together also lies as much with the businesses. It helps very little to keep resisting change and being defensive. If the proposed policies doesn't promise to translate into real benefits for the economy, the onus is on them to prove it. Just because new policies might require them to be more competitive or change to operate in a new way doesn't mean that these are bad. Further, it would also be expedient  for our businesses to evaluate what such changes will mean to them in terms of their strategy, operational models and sustainability.

CDG - What's happening?

We still don't know the legality of the Constituency Development Grants (CDG).  Almost two years on and after spending close to Nu. 14m, it still remains unapproved by the National Council, unagreed to by the Opposition, deemed unconstitutional by the Election Commision and largely seen suspiciously by the public.

So, is there a possibility that CDG will be revoked in March when the Gewog Tshogdes (GTs) are asked if they want it or not? I don't think so. As our MPs intended and wanted, gewogs now see that CDG enables them to take up initiatives (not in the plans) like the boat trips, rebuilding lhakhangs, orchards and farms. Any development is important to our rural communities but we need to ask ourselves a few questions - 

• Why are such initiatives, if important, left out of the plans in the first place? Is CDG the only way to address it?
  
• How does these disparate initiatives fit into the portfolio of activities that the Government has planned? What about dependencies and interactions with the planned projects?
  
• How would the Government ensure that the CDG hasn't been will not be used to build an MP's political capital? Does this promise equality of opportunity for every political aspirant? This has serious implications on how Bhutanese democracy develops.
  

These are also the questions that our MPs should reflect upon. Let us hope that our MPs see beyond their own self-interests and soon realise their mandate is to work for their constituents.

Any plans for 2010?

It is still the first week of 2010 - so not very late for putting this post out.

If you haven't decided yet - two interesting posts on what you could do in 2010

• From Tom Peters the "uber-guru" of management - New Years 2010  
• From Harvard Business Review - How will you make a difference in 2010?

As for me - I will strive to -

• Learn something new - may be a language, an instrument or something totally unrelated to my work.
• Read all the books in my list and a few more when they are published.
• Keep sharing ideas and interact more with the many interesting people I meet through this blog and my work.

It's not me!

I know the ID number of many individuals who share my name. Don't be surprised! Many people might also  know yours. This is quite normal here.

Our personal information like the date of birth, ID number, salary and our financial standing often gets divulged when we interact with many organisations (government and private) in the process of seeking their services. This mostly happens with no ill intent albiet carelessly. However there are risks as we have seen with some cases in the past where people have used stolen information to commit fraud.

And this risk (of  our identity being stolen)will always remain unless something is done about it as soon as possible.

There is not much an individual can do. I can either refuse to give my information and not use a lot of services or give my information and pray that some guy somewhere will not misuse it.

However, there are many things our Government and organisations like the banks can do -

• Formulate a data protection law applicable to all organisations or in the absence of such a law - organisations should proactively develop and adopt policies which articulate how the information of their customers and employees are managed and used.
• Develop processes and adopt systems which ensure the safety and protection of  such information.
• Allow only people of highest integrity to handle such information.

These measures will come at some costs - but benefits far outweigh them. One of the immediate benefits is that customers trust you and want to do business with you.

More pay hikes...

So allowances for the ACC in order to "attract and retain quality staff". Sounds very familiar and kind of MP-ish!

As if good talent is not important in other Government agencies!. Rewarding talent is important but it is often very difficult to work out who makes the most contribution in the delivery of public services especially in our system where all the civil servants are managed by the RCSC. Such an approach, which selectively (even if deserved) recognises a particular profession/organisation, conveys a negative message to the other professionals and risks unintended consequences.

In this specific case - I wonder if pay is the sole reason why people do not join or resign from ACC. This surely deserves some additional analysis in the light of our society being small and close-knit.

And as to the pay hikes and allowances - it is becoming more like the Hydra from the Greek mythology who grew two heads when one was cut off. I won't be surprised if other professionals soon follow this trend (of needing to attract and retain talent).

At this rate we might need a Hercules to rescue us.

The Year that was .....

2009 was an eventful year. I list ten things that  stand out for me. You will not necessarily agree with me and if you have others that stand out - let me know in your comments

1. Disasters on a scale never seen before. Earthquakes, floods, landslides, windstorms and fires cost us millions in damages to roads, buildings and other infrastructures. Sadly, many lost their lives and thousands of families everything they had. Everybody (including donor agencies and friends of Bhutan outside) came together to help people rebuild their lives.

2. 2009 will be remembered as the year during which our MPs hiked their pay twice within nine months  demonstrating total disregard and disrespect for the sentiments and feelings of the constituents. The second  revision leaves a very bad taste that it was executed discreetly and isn't in the agenda of the National Assembly. I wouldn't be exaggerating much if I posit that our MPs were plotting planning their pay hike while the whole country was involved in helping the fire and earthquake victims. Deserved or undeserved - they have still to prove that they are a capable group. Otherwise at this rate - they risk forfeiting the little remaining trust and respect people have for them.

3. 2009 is also the year where our Lyonchhoen has disappointed many of us. He is yet to convince me on CDG and now more than a month after the MPs pay revision, he has chosen to remain silent over this issue.  As the Prime Minister, the party leader and a leading Statesman we expect him to clarify and rationalise on this as for any other relevant issues his MPs hold sway over. Very passionately into GNH - it would seem but other key areas also need attention. And of course we will not forget "Constitution is not a stick" and that "threats to democracy are mainly from within" whatever he meant by these.

4. Also not easily forgotten are the constant wranglings between the NCs and the NAs making a farce of the parliamentary proceedings. In July it was the issue of  ministers not wanting to be questioned by the NCs and now it is about apportioning the blame for who mooted the issue of pay raise for the Parliamentarians - as if it would have some impact. The pay rise is almost forgotten. Our MPs must be happy about the forgetful and compassionate nature of the Bhutanese. Why not resolve to have some tough but meaningful conversations with our MPs in 2010 whenever we meet them?

5. And this year we saw our Government enlist the services of McKinsey & Co. to fire our economic growth. Although they have caused some surprises and even suspicion with their optimistic projections like 250k tourists a year and huge spendings on marketing, I maintain my confidence that these will result in some progress. They do not have the reputation for rigourous analysis and delivery for nothing.

6. 2009 brought home the point that we are neither disconnected nor shielded from the global trading system and that we are very much a part of globalisation. During the recent financial crisis and the recession that many Western nations experienced, we saw  our manufacturing and tourism industries face huge uncertainty as was our Government (regarding foreign grants and aids).

7. And of course amidst these talks of downturn globally and in Bhutan, 2009 was marked by plans of big ambitions projects. Plans for several hydroelectric projects, domestic airports, a world class university, a medical college and a regional IT hub have been mooted. They promise huge economic and social benefits but much depends on how we manage to deliver them.

8. The global downturn also provided a backdrop for economists all over the world rethink the ends of all our economic pursuits. GNH went global. There was the Sen-Stiglitgz Commision in France and many communities around the world have taken to measuring well-being as an indicator of human progress. Of course - we will also remember GNH's trip to Brazil where we learnt some valuable lessons in translating our GNH theory into action.I think the ensuing discussion informed more people than CBS had ever done in their past conferences.

9. Call it bureaucracy or whatever (I call it sloth) but in 2009 we saw how slow our Government has been in making policy decisions and also implementing initiatives. The pay raise for the civil servants took most part of 2008 until it was finalised in January 2009. The car tax saga has been going on for an excruciating 14 months  now (since Sept 2008). I am sure our car dealers benefited in the meanwhile.  Our Government is yet to publish the new FDI policy. For GNH to work and to see economic progress - we need to move a little faster.

10. Finally - 2009 saw the proliferation of blogs. There are blogs maintained by civil servants, students, teachers and many others including our Opposition Leader. I can confidently say that there is now a good ecosystem of Bhutanese bloggers who regularly write some insightful good articles, share ideas and experiences and provide value to each other. There is also twitter and facebook where people maintain their network and have some meaningful interactions.

Have a great new year tomorrow....

Flashback 2009 - Last post

At this time last year, I posted a list illustrating areas that our Government should focus in 2009. These were based on normal observations and were not a result of any rigorous analysis. 

The ten areas identified were - 

1. Unemployment - The current rate is 3.7% and is still increasing......

Rate is now 4%. Looks like it will be a few more years before unemployment rate starts reducing.

2. Education - The education sector has been riddled with many problems in 2008. Our seemingly 'trail and error' approach hasn't improved anything. There is a lot of work.

We now have impressive and ambitious plans for big projects (as large as 1bn) which are designed for the long term. What about immediate needs? We need some initiatives that will deliever improvements to the current students. The earlier we do something, the better for us.

3. Private Sector Development - I look forward to the new industrial policy and the assessment of the impact of the our FDIpolicy.... 

Some positive steps - A new FDI policy has been drafted but like many others, I wait to see it. The Enterprise Act is also being prepared. There will be more initiatives based on the recommendations of McKinsey.

4. Making GNH workable - We have a GNH commission, GNH conferences and a lot of talk. Come out with guidelines on how to integrate GNH in decision making processes by the Government and the Private sector.

A big reminder to our Lyonchhoen and ourselves from Brazil. We know we have just been talking. Let us not forget the lessons learnt and I hope we make some demonstrable progress in 2010.

5. Corporate Governance and Ethics code for public companies and corporations so that the directors and managers of a company act for the benefits of the shareholders. Such a code can also encourage transparency and ethical conduct in the operations of the corporations. What about insolvency and bankruptcy procedures? Who looks after the bankruptcy proceedings of a public company?

No significant changes in this area.

6. Building good infrastructure - Infrastructure is the key to economic development. The problems in the construction industry are not limited to procurement and should be looked in its entireity.

A huge set back after the earthquake, floods and the fires. As a developing country infrastructure is key to our development (or GNH as our Lyonchhoen would have put it) - Forget air travel and trams - let us do roads and bridges in 2010.

7. Why not explore new opportunities and diversify our sources of revenue? I can think of sustainably managing and using our forest resources.

Lots of initiatives after the recruitment of McKinsey. There should be more progress in the future as we start to operationalise some of the recommendations.

8. Development of local industries and SMEs - ...... The Government should support development of local industries and SMEs through technical and financial assistance. ........

Not many developments... and still more remain to be done.

9. Reduce Bureaucracy - I met some villagers who spend precious time and money (for accommodation) in Thimphu just to push a paper in some office. They often travel for several days.

We could do more...

10. Use IT effectively - ........

Need more focus in areas of IT security... and we could improve our efficiency in our use of technologies.

2009 is almost over. The same challenges remain for 2010.

And this is my last post -it was great writing on here.

Happy and a properous new year to everybody.

Tashi Delek

Climate Change - Last edition of readings

Weekend Links

• Chaos and uncertainty in Copenhagen (Belfer Centre)
• Unpredictable price of carbon (HBS blog)
• A meaningful deal on Copenhagen (BBC), Obama gets climate deal with India, China and SA (Reuters)
• Adapting to a warming world (HBS blog)
• Interesting and detailed posts on FT Energy Source blog (FT)
• Finally, everything from Copenhagen at the official website here

Previous Links - (I have backdated the posts to October since they include links only and can be accessed by clicking on the following)

• Climate Change series 3
• Climate Change series 2
• Climate Change series 1
  

Builders, Strategy, Success, etc. - Weekend Readings

• Wars are predictable (Scientific American)
• The personal side of economics (Harvard Gazette)
• Builders for the 21st century (HBS blog)
• Narrative to instill optimism (HBS blog)
• Value add by CEOs (FT)
• 21st century strategy in four words (HBS blog)
• Success in words (Tom Peters)
• For Civilization, it is Mises or Bust (Mises Institute)

Happy weekend!

Google Wave

I have a few invites left - and am happy to invite my regular readers. If you are interested, please email me. You will see my address at the profile bar.

Parliamentarians, Pay Increase and Value

All I have seen are just lame reasons for the discreet pay increase of our MPs. As for the talent argument - I say - bullshit - at least looking at the current stock of our MPs. I stand to be corrected on this anytime though.

Several discussions here, here and here, and we can that people are rightly and clearly unhappy. If this was a deserved raise, somebody should clarify why this is so.

There was an interesting publication in the UK about pay and societal value from the New Economics Foundation (They measure well-being and have participated in some of our GNH conferences). Though focused on the UK economy, this is relevant to the current discussions engendered by the unexpected pay increase of the Parliamentarians. Without further ado, here are the key findings -

While collecting salaries of between £500,000 and £10 million, leading City bankers destroy £7 of social value for every pound in value they generate.

For every £1 they are paid, childcare workers generate between £7 and £9.50 worth of benefits to society.

For a salary of between £50,000 and £12 million, top advertising executives destroy £11 of value for every pound in value they generate.

We estimated, however, that for every £1 hospital cleaners are paid, over £10 in social value is generated.

For a salary of between £75,000 and £200,000 tax accountants destroy £47 of value for every pound in value they generate.

Our model projects that for every £1 of value spent on wages, £12 of value will be generated. (for waste reclycling workers)

So, bankers, accountants and top adverstising executives destroy value while child-care workers, hospital workers and waste reclycling workers add a huge amount of value (as high as 12 folds) to the society. As they note that their calculations may not be precise, it does a make a point about pay and value. If you have time do at least read the executive summary.

May be we should subject our our pay and value system to similar critical analysis. Any takers!

A visual analysis of Lyonchhoen's recent speeches

Keynote address at the 5th GNH International Conference in Brazil

And the opening address at the workshop on "Educating for GNH"

These wonderful images were generated using resources here.

Pay, Flat World, Attracting Tenants, etc - Readings

• Does your office need an intervention? (Harvard Business)
• Pay and Contribution (A 44 page report from the New Economics Foundation). If this is too long - read this discussion(FT)
• Is the world really flat (Robert Salomon)
• 10 ways to attract good tenants (Donald Trump blog)

Trump, Ego, CSR... - Weekend readings

• Wise leaders just know enough  - (Harvard Business)
• Making the most of CSR - (McKinsey Quarterly - will require signup but recommended)
• Appreciate - it is a good tool (tompeters)
• 20 Questions - Donald Trump (FT)
• Keeping your ego in check (Harvard Business)

Why our Lyonpos, MPs and Leaders should try Twitter?

I hate communication which are verbose and full of jargon. To make matters worse they rarely answer the questions asked and even confuse the listeners. And this exactly seems to be what our Lyonpos, MPs and leaders within the Civil service and the private sector are doing -

To a question on FDI asked by the Opposition Leader to Lyonpo Khandu,  he writes:

"Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk’s reply was long. He talked the House through the history of FDI in Bhutan, economic growth, economic policies, employment, tourism, foreign currency, domestic airports, helicopter services, seasonal tourists, conference centers, infrastructure, credit cards, TAB, tourist visas, and hotels. He even mentioned McKinsey and Brazil!"

Not clear if he was satisfied with the response -

In another post he summarises the response of our finance minister to a question posed by another MP as

" The Finance Minister’s response was long and detailed, but confirmed that the MP was correct in asserting that, “…till date not much has been delivered.” 

Here the DHI Chairman completely misses the question - 

He says “The assembly members should know that we are functioning within the legal framework and they should understand the position of the royal charter,”

From the chairman of an organisation which looks to improve governance and performances of many of our corporations, this looks lame.

There are many such instances - I was once chided and ridiculed for asking a question during a gathering by a senior official. Of course I didn't get any answer. We can also attribute the failure of embedding GNH within our society partly to our inability in communicating it in a way that our people can understand.

There is clearly a need for our leaders to communicate effectively and in this - I find the rule based on which Twitter works very useful - "Deliver value (your messages) using no more than 140 characters".  It is very challenging but I have found remembering this one very useful.

There you go - Honourable Lyonpos, MPs and leaders - If you need to discipline your responses - try twitter. You will also get to know how popular you are or how much value you offer through your messages by the number of followers you have.

Bold and Wrong - Salary Increases for our Parliamentarians

Now this is bold!

Not the Opposition Leader's update but the salary increase for our Parliamentarians especially at a time when:

• The Government rely heavily on foreign aid to fund our development activities
• Our national debt is close to 60% of our GDP
• Many families have lost much of what they have in the recent disasters and are still rebuilding their lives
  
• The Lyonnchoen talks of a change in our "consciousness and lifestyle" from one of "greed, materialism and consumerist fallacy" to that of GNH
  
• The unemployment is at an all time high of 4%
• The Government talks of transparency, efficiency, cost reduction and service to the people

For all of the above and for want of a rational justification, this is wrong. I hope this is a mistake.

By the way - this isn't even in the agenda for this session of the National Assembly.