H@RD TRUTHS BY GHK LALL – Putting heads together for a better Guyana

Nov 24, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – Two heads are better than one.  Where the reservoir of the thinking of a nation is narrowed to one head, [along with other heads that are committed to thinking identically], I admit that some value could be had, but much more could be lost.  Or, to put in another way, when all men think alike, then no one thinks at all.  Now, since Guyanese at many levels are now culturally inclined like never before to mimic American expressions, attitudes, and ways, I do my part and deliver what suits the occasion. I give the four-eyes principle. Consider it a Thanksgiving Week gift.

The four-eyes principle is about risk management, and then some more.  It could be about bringing minds together to reap the benefits of collective experience (pluses and minuses), and collective wisdom, regardless of how tenuous the latter may be.  I am a strong believer that to get to a desired state of management by consensus, there first must be the trials of management by conflict.  When challenges and roadblocks in the way are not shrunk from, but bring about engagement(s), then breakthroughs could come about. When hotly disputed issues are sifted through vigorously, the result that comes from such refinements are usually on the upside.  When issues are ventilated honestly, the company is put in a better position, better equipped to deal with any eventuality.  The same applies to a country with all of its myriad of circumstances, and when handled right through many hands and many eyes, the people are better for what results. Though neither fool-proof or absolute, I believe it is worth a try.  I have been there, and lived through what comes from the blending of minds.  After the storms of conversation, a calm road could be ahead; one that is also progressive.

Where am I going with all this?  How does this apply here?  What could all of this mean for a place like Guyana groping for strength and sagacity in many areas?  There is an urgent need for proper and robust oil management.  Governance credibility could use a massive facelift.  Systems and practices that are subjected to constant rigor (enhancement) is a must. Neutralizing the Venezuelan crisis has to rank as the highest priority. Discovering and settling for that combination of activities that balances prudence with a controlled appetite for risk must be part of the leadership mindset. Last, in this snapshot of components, is knowing when to be aggressive and when to be defensive, and that which has as its primary objective the maximizing of returns from what is in hand, by how such is put to work.  Who and what do we have that could lead us to the starting gate for achieving movement of standing in these areas?

Here we have the presence of four men.  Two are older than me, one is a handful of years younger, the last could be a son. All four have held (or hold) the mantle of head of state in this country.  No matter how limited, or questionable they are individually, none of them older or younger should be seen as so far gone, so off the beaten track, and so out of it, that they have nothing to offer that could help Guyana. Not a party and its constituency, but a country and its circle of citizenry.  It is my unmoving position, that political elders (and there is a fifth one) are a repository of extensive sums of attributes that have the potential for untold positives for this country.  I make room for biases, I acknowledge their histories, some stormy and less than endearing.  But this is a Guyanese reality that should be explored and utilised in an authentic fashion.  We lament the need for capacity.  I point to what is in hand politically, and no matter how flawed, in its collective it has to be better than a maverick roaming the plains alone.  The territory is tough, even tortured.  It is also treacherous. A trio or quartet of ‘ole heads’ as part of a team of navigators can only aid to a better way.  After all, I read somewhere that ‘mistakes are the nursery of new ideas.’  By God! We have had our share of mistakes; yet there is this sturdy resistance to any new idea.  It is a self-destructive fear that just would not let go.

Our assets are finite and of a depleting nature.  Our human assets have been through a gauntlet of fire, which should have resulted in some burnishing, however minimal.  Human assets are not eternal.  It would be the height of governance and national wisdom, therefore, to seek to obtain the best from this dormant but vital presence that could contribute so much to Guyanese.  Oh! One more thing: what could be more of ‘One Guyana’ than that, especially when there is reconciliation with one’s own. The latter could be taken literally and then more adventurously. Happy Thanksgiving and Black Friday shopping to all, including our American brethren. This is personal, has nothing to do with business.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• GHK Lall, Guyana, H@rd Truths, management, navigators

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