Thinking of transformation and the Harpy Eagle

Apr 06, 2022 Letters

---

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – Today, we are at the beginning of an exciting journey to transform Guyana’s economy and society to the next level for a future that must be stable, peaceful, safe and economically secure.

It will not be easy to achieve the next level in our uncertain and precarious world.

No one must be left behind. To avoid any unconscious and unintentional bias, every single Guyanese must have the opportunity to make a difference. This means that in every neighbourhood, community, school, hospital, factory, farm, office and sports facility, universal human rights (equal justice, equal opportunity and equal dignity without discrimination) must be respected and enforced to meet the interests of all Guyanese citizens (women, men, youth and children; and the ethnic communities, the workers, the farmers, the differently-abled, the unemployed, the marginalized and the hungry).

Our strength must be the equal inclusion of everyone in our diverse nation. No one person nor any political party or ethnic community has all the knowledge, capabilities and experiences that are required to find the best solutions for transforming complex challenges and problems into opportunities.

Successfully reaching the next level will require new thinking because, many times, the ways we think about changing a problem is the problem. Albert Einstein, the great scientist and humanitarian, advised that, “you cannot solve a problem with the same type of thinking that is creating it” and “the measure of intelligence is the ability to change”.

Therefore, next level thinking requires that every single Guyanese must be given an opportunity to exercise their right to study, understand and question the purposes (solutions or ends) to be achieved. We must be able to begin with those ends in mind and then work backwards by asking what are the first things that must be done and how they will be efficiently implemented.

It is very encouraging and inspirational to see that the nation’s leader, President Irfaan Ali, in a speech to launch the new Master’s Degree in Strategic Development Studies at the University of Guyana, focused on the absolute need to change our thinking when we are analyzing the dynamics of the current global, regional and national situations. He emphasized that there has to be new thinking to develop ideas and create a vision for mobilizing all Guyanese in the transformation of the whole country.

President Ali pointed out that all citizens have a shared responsibility to create national policies to change challenges and threats into opportunities. He is acknowledging that hard work, determination and good intentions by his government will not be sufficient. Successfully transforming Guyana is not the sole responsibility of the government. All political parties and civil society organizations are equally responsible.

Consequently, that means we have to keep asking questions. Do the government, civil society and all Guyanese have the type of thinking that will create new designs and plans for successfully reaching the next level with a high and rising standard of living for every single Guyanese? Do we think about including different points of view that may all be true? Do we think of and approach things from different angles so that we can see the connections and patterns, and not ignore or dismiss potentially successful solutions for creating wealth and, at the same time, ensuring social justice? While we should not ignore lessons from our history, are we always thinking about problems from the past that sidetrack us from solving the most important problems today and in the near future? How will the government and civil society mobilize Guyanese to participate in the redesign, reorganization and implementation of innovative solutions for the next level?

Each of us should follow the great Mahatma Gandhi and “be the change we want to see because the world will change when we change the way we think about doing things.” The great Michael Jackson similarly advised that “if you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change”.

The transformation of Guyana is bigger than each of us. Instead of blind allegiance or blind criticism or going around in circles, I am trying to improve my thinking during conversations and debates, and when I am writing letters on the challenges and problems in Guyana. It is not that the PPP/C, PNCR, other political parties and civil society organizations are always failing the Guyanese people. They sometimes fail and sometimes succeed. Also, it is not that they never listen to the people. Rather, we all need to do better and try harder at listening because we all have flaws. Many times, our intentions are good but the approach and methods are bad and they lead to disappointing results. All of us know that life has a way of disregarding our best intentions.

Each of us wants respect for what we are proposing, but before we can get that respect, we first have to respect what others are trying to do. There is a period of time between when we read or hear another person’s position and when we respond. That time gives us an opportunity to do next level thinking by ‘walking in the other person’s shoes’ and by trying to understand their point of view before we give our response. Of course, each of us is free to choose how we respond to any issue.

I avoid demonizing any individual, any group of people, any political party or any government and I include praise, acknowledgement and appreciation where it is due. Consequently, to the best of my ability, I try to explore the strengths, weaknesses and mistakes, the opportunities and the threats of a situation. When offering ideas and proposals on next level transformation, I have to do better at making them specific, measurable, achievable and relevant with realistic timelines.

When I am discussing or writing about problems and challenges, I think of Harpy Eagles (the animal) because they help me to see holistically the big picture and the details of a problem or a challenge.

Before going after an objective (the prey), Harpy Eagles look at the big picture [the rainforest, the weather (rain and winds), the savannahs, the mountains and the rivers] and, at the same time, they look at the details [the trees and the types and movements of animals].

These giant birds ‘stay on task’ by continuously monitoring, evaluating and recalling previous experiences. They focus on listening, differentiating and filtering the sounds of animals so that they are not easily distracted from their objective (a prey) or overwhelmed by too much information. They are aware of the dynamics between the big picture and the details and they understand that the rainforest (big picture) affects the trees and animals (details), and at the same time, the trees and animals (details) affect the rainforest (big picture). Finally, Harpy Eagles visualize the approach they will take and then they manoeuvre above, below and around the rainforest treetops, thereby ‘moving between the raindrops’ with agility to minimize risks and threats.

In other words, I have learnt that one must have open-minded and harmonized perspectives of the big picture (for example, the health sector) and the details (for example, the particular problems and challenges of diseases, the human and physical resources in the health sector and the links with other sectors), and how they affect each other. This helps me to visualize, in a flexible and balanced way, how to adjust my approach to a problem.

As an example, if I was to focus only on the big picture (the very positive developments in the health sector), I will miss the urgent need to address many critical details such as the stunted growth of children in some hinterland communities and the high death rate of women giving birth in some rural areas.  On the other hand, if I look only at those problems (details), then I will not be able to visualize how the big picture (the broad positive developments in the health sector) could help to address those problems in specific geographical areas. To successfully transform to the next level, the big picture counts and the details matter.

Yours sincerely,

Geoffrey Da Silva

---

---