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Money matters: Some like it soft
Graham Macdonald
MBMG International Ltd.
As regular readers of this column know, most of the talk this
year, even reaching the fabled world of the London dinner party set, has been
about the surge in the ‘hard’ commodity prices such as copper, aluminium, gold
and oil. This has been driven by Chinese and, to a lesser extent, Indian demand.
However, not much attention has been paid to the area of ‘soft’ commodities,
which is why we have decided to focus this week’s article on this overlooked
area.
So what is a soft commodity? Broadly speaking, if it is grown rather than mined
it can fit this category, with major examples including coffee, sugar, wheat,
and rice, but also extending out to orange juice and pork bellies. Hard
commodities have risen strongly over the past few years, but the same cannot be
said of many of the soft commodities, yet ostensibly the driving forces behind
them should be much the same. Strong demand from China, India and other parts of
Asia, coupled with limited supply, have created for us contrarians a possibly
more compelling investment opportunity. Indeed, there is an additional argument
favouring the ‘softs’, as unlike metals which are highly cyclical, many
agricultural products have a steady demand regardless of the position of the
business cycle – we always have to eat, but we do not have to build
continuously.
If we a take a snapshot view and look at rice as an example, approximately 90%
of the world’s consumption comes from Asia and the population growth there is
putting a strain on rice supplies. Although the rice price has performed well,
it has lagged the metals, but the demand is stable and increasing.
For those looking for the next China play, rice may be the best bet. More
broadly speaking, emerging economies may need metals such as copper to create
their infrastructures but they will need more food to feed the newly-urban
populations using them. One interesting dynamic of the food chain is that as
people’s wages increase, their diets improve (although, you can argue based on
the increasing levels of Western obesity there is a tipping point). People move
from eating plain rice and vegetables, to adding chicken and pork before
attaining the middle class obesity path of processed and convenience foods with
sugar loaded fizzy drinks.
That is an awful lot of soft commodity demand, particularly if you think that,
according to the United Nations, the urban population of China will more than
double to over 800m by 2020. According to the Earth Policy Institute, the
Chinese consume under 300kg of grain each a year. The Americans get through well
over 900kg each, thanks to their meat, milk and egg-rich diet (chickens and cows
eat a great deal of corn and soya). Then look at the amount of meat the two
nations eat. The Americans devour 276kg of it each every year. If the Chinese
were to do the same, their total meat consumption would go up from 64m tones a
year to 181m tonnes. That’s the equivalent of four fifths of current global meat
consumption. Something similar can be said of pretty much any commodity you can
think of from coffee (the Germans consume 50 times more per head than the
Chinese) to sugar and orange juice. These enormous discrepancies can’t possibly
last.
As well as the food argument to drive prices higher, there is another even more
compelling case to be made for the demand for alternative energy sources.
Farmers grow soy, sugar, corn, palm oil and even coconuts, not just for eating
but as the basis for bio-ethanol and bio-diesel too. The most immediate and
obvious way to take advantage of high oil prices is to look to invest in
substitutes, particularly ethanol which is already replacing gasoline in use.
With no ethanol funds available, access is by investing in its chief component
in many parts of the world, sugar. This is because about 60% of the world’s
ethanol production coming from sugar.
Not rocket science, nor is it original thought as the sugar/ethanol play is not
a new story. However, while crude oil prices have topped $77 a barrel at the
time of writing, sugar prices have dropped substantially since early 2006,
creating in our minds a pricing anomaly and an investment opportunity. Global
demand has exceeded supply for 3 years on the trot. Historically, the price of
sugar has been driven by supply side shortages, but perhaps this time it will be
demand driven. If that is the case, then we are entering a new era where the
super-cycle argument maybe justified and new highs attained.
Sugar Price Falls - Oil Price Rises
 So
far so good, so why don’t pension funds and private clients alike sell their
bonds and equities and pile into soft commodities as the case is most
compelling? The simple answer is risk, investors simply cannot swallow
(apologies for the cheap pun) 50% moves up or down in a matter of months as
mysterious sounding securities such as pork-bellies futures gyrate wildly.
Given this perception, most investors will be quick to decide that such a market
is far too risky or complex to be a part of their portfolios. However, after a
closer look at the entire asset class and currently available investment
options, we think this aversion may be undeserved. Rather, the inclusion of
commodities in a diversified portfolio can provide the benefits of reduced
volatility and enhanced return, with the added benefit of a hedge against the
negative effects of inflation.
 An
investment in commodities represents a stake in the productive capability of the
world economy: thus, commodities represent an investment in tangible assets.
Equally, the change in the prices of commodities also has the distinction of
moving in an uncorrelated direction with the prices of most other financial
instruments. The movement of equity prices are often subject to investor
expectations of future dividend payments, whereas the movement of commodity
prices reflect supply and demand expectations of physical goods.
The problem comes in how to access soft commodities as there are very few
accessible funds or even ETFs available to private investors. One could invest
directly in companies involved in the production, but that would only add to the
inherent risk, although those that have been in Miton Optimal funds for sometime
now, will know the success of investing in the UK listed Tea Plantations
Investment Trust. Thankfully and unusually, a new development in the fund
management industry, Structured Products, has come to the rescue.
Investment banks such as Barclays Capital and BNP Paribas are able to use a
basket of options to replicate the movements of the underlying commodity prices
as well as often providing capital guarantees and package these as Structure
Products which are in effect quasi-funds. One specific example, which we used
successfully last year (albeit in the hard commodity environment) in our Global
Portfolio was the purchase of a product linked to Aluminium, Copper and Crude
that provided 130% upside and full capital protection. MitonOptimal is currently
working with several investment banks to create a similar, appropriate vehicle
to gain exposure to soft commodities of our choice – people interested in this
concept can contact MBMG International. We are confident that the long term
reward from investment in this area outweighs the potential disappointment.
Hopefully, by continuing to think outside the box and by continually broadening
not only the areas we invest in, but the products we use, we can continue to
deliver above average, positive, long term returns.
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The above data and research was compiled from sources believed to be
reliable. However, neither MBMG International Ltd nor its officers can accept
any liability for any errors or omissions in the above article nor bear any
responsibility for any losses achieved as a result of any actions taken or not
taken as a consequence of reading the above article. For more information please
contact Graham Macdonald on [email protected]
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Snap Shots: A photo essay of Thailand
by Harry Flashman
 You
all have relatives ‘back home’ who want to see what Thailand is “really”
like. This is a difficult task to complete from a photographic point of
view, as there are just so many unique and photographically interesting
subjects in this country.
There is also another problem - after you have been here for a while,
you become so used to the country and Thai life, you fail to “see” the
uniqueness any more. This week we will try and correct that!
Our Wats (temples) are classic examples. We have seen so many, we don’t
see them any more, yet the first time tourists to Thailand go mad when
they see the temples.
Thailand is actually a photographer’s paradise. The ambient light levels
are high, shadows are strong and images are also powerful if you use
light and shadow to your advantage. The ideal venue to use all these
aspects is in your local Wat.
Here is how to take that great Wat shot – only it isn’t one shot. It is
impossible to show a Wat with one snap. It requires a series. One of the
reasons for this is the fact that a Wat is a microcosm of Thai society.
People eat there, live there, learn there and go there after they die.
So really you are trying to show not only the grandeur of the
architecture, but the fact that the Wat has its own life going on within
its boundaries. It is the center of all village life.
Here is how I would approach the subject, and remember we are looking
for production quality shots here. The preparation is to go there the
day before your shooting day to see how the sun shines on the buildings.
To get the textures and colors you need the sun striking the walls at an
angle. Full shade or full sun is not the way. It’s back to using light
and shadow to show form. You will have to note what are the best times
of day to record the various architectural details. Also be prepared to
use a close up shot or two to highlight some of the small details. By
the way, always remember that a Wat is a place of religious worship and
significance, so do take your shoes off and be respectful.
Wats are inhabited by much more than the saffron robed monks. There are
teachers, nuns, novitiates, school children, street vendors and even
tourists. A very mixed bag. Try to take shots to show just why these
people are there in the Wat and its compound. This is where a “long
lens” (135 mm upwards) can be a help. You can get the image you want
without having to intrude into the person’s personal space. However,
remember that if there is any doubt as to whether your subject would
really want that photo taken, then ask permission first. It is my
experience that the vast majority of people will happily respond
positively to your request. Even when there is no common language, a
smile and a wave of the camera in their direction and an “OK?” is
generally all that is necessary.
Taking pictures inside a Wat is not as easy as the exterior shots. The
light levels are now very low and there is often the feeling that you
are intruding in someone else’s religious practices. Taking a flash
photograph really is an intrusion in my view. This is where the tripod
is the answer. Set the camera up on the tripod, compose the shot, set it
on Time Exposure and quietly get that shot of a lifetime. You will
probably need around 5-10 seconds at f5.6, but that is just a guide and
you should experiment. If you set the camera on Auto mode and turn off
the flash you will get better results.
By now you should have taken almost 100 shots on your local Wat.
Verticals, horizontals, close-ups and wide angle shots. Do not be afraid
to shoot pictures. It is the only way to improve and the only way to get
great shots. Just avoid taking the ‘same’ shot four times - one vertical
and one horizontal for each subject, but that is all.
Put your best shots into an album and you really have something to show
the ‘folks back home’!
Modern Medicine: Cultural differences and expectations
by Dr. Iain Corness, Consultant
I once worked in Spain, and noticed that every patient would
bring me a bottle of urine, which was always handed to me with great
reverence. It made no difference why they had come to see me – sore throats,
broken legs or unmentionable diseases. There was a bottle of pee!
I was perplexed, so I asked my boss why this was so. He told me that after
receiving the warm bottle I was expected to hold it up to the light, look
wise and say, “Orina bien”, which is roughly translated as “Your wee looks
fine,” and the consultation could go on from there.
This was the first time I had really been presented with cultural
differences and expectations. But if the doctor didn’t go through this
charade, the patient felt that the consultation was incomplete. Faith in the
doctor and his treatment were severely compromised.
So what on earth has a bottle of pee got to do with your being a patient in
Thailand? The answer is ‘everything’! Us expats have an unfortunate tendency
to think that we are living in an outpost of America, England, Australia or
anywhere. We have our expats clubs, we have expat-style restaurants
supplying English breakfasts, we have English language newspapers, and
German ones, and Scandinavian ones, so we are safely cocooned or insulated
from the culture of this country. And that is Thai culture, because this is
not the USA or the UK, this is Thailand!
Please take careful note of this. This is Amazing fact Number 1. Thailand is
a country with its own unique ways, including language, grammar, alphabet
and even health care delivery.
However, let us get back to cultural differences and expectations, and there
are many, even in the English speaking countries, who theoretically all have
the same ways of carrying out health care for their citizens. Is American
care different from British care or Australian care? Other than the fact
that Americans can’t spell! The answer is yes, there are great differences
in the way medical care is carried out. I am personally registered in the UK
and Australia and have also worked in Europe, so I have personal experience
to show that health care delivery has many different medical models.
So when looking dispassionately at the medical model in Thailand, we should
not judge this by our own cultural expectations or experiences. Thailand’s
medical model is again, like most things Thai, different! Here there is also
the duality of public treatment, mainly funded by the government, and
private treatment funded by the patient, but underwritten by the medical
insurers. This can be complicated, if not properly understood.
However, let us move on to Amazing fact Number 2. The language spoken by
Thai doctors is Thai. This is because they live and work in Thailand, which
was Amazing fact Number 1. Now the doctors at the Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital,
where I work, can speak English, but it is obviously not their first
language. Why should it be? The majority of the patients they treat are
Thai, not expats. However, because there can be language communication
problems when dealing with foreigners, this is but one of the reasons that a
consultation with a foreigner takes longer than it does with Thai people.
This is hardly an amazing fact, but time is money, even in medicine, so
longer consultations will cost more than short consultations. This is the
same as in other countries.
The cultural expectations of the majority (Thai) patients must always be
remembered (see Amazing Fact number 1). Thais still believe every word the
doctor says, do not appear with 200 print-outs from the internet, and do not
question the diagnosis or treatment in any way. Thai patients also have the
expectation that they will be given a big bag of tablets at the end. This is
to get their money’s worth from the consultation. The Thai doctor,
practicing in Thailand, does what he has been trained to do, to fulfill the
expectations of Thai patients. And this is why you get a big bag too.
We should never forget just where we have chosen to live, and not expect
that everything will be the same as “back home”.
(This is an excerpt from a talk given to the Pattaya City Expats Club
October 2006.)
 Heart to Heart with Hillary
Dear Hillary,
Congratulations on all the different items you have covered in the last few
weeks. The people out there certainly want to use you as their resource
pool. I do wonder a bit that these people know so little that they ask an
Agony Aunt for help about their electric massagers, or maybe their (sic)
just lazy. Any half ways decent electrician in the US could have told him
how to get around the problem, and don’t believe all that rigmarole about
other cycle differences, they work just fine with a step down tranny. Keep
up the good work Hills, you’re always worth a laugh.
Kenny
Dear Kenny,
You really should learn the differences between “there”, “their” and
“they’re” my Petal, but as I presume you are American, I shall ignore it
this once. Americans seem to believe that Agony Aunts are on this planet to
correct their (correct way to use the word, Petal) spelling, even when
they’re (they are) looking for someone to read a book there (meaning a
place).
Now, about you and your cycles and this step down tranny of yours. What do
you mean? Is this a transvestite dwarf or what? You worry me, Kenny, you
really do!
Dear Hillary,
This is a serious question, so I hope you will indulge me with a serious
answer. My Thai girlfriend is pushing me into buying a house out in Nakon
Nowhere, for her parents to live in. The cost isn’t all that much, and
although I like this girl a lot, we have only been an item for the last four
months. We are living in my condo in Jomtien, and I have already been
getting strong hints about us getting a house as well. I have looked into
this and it seems there is no way I can get title to this house up country,
and I suppose no way down here either if I want to do what the little lady
wants. What do you suggest? I am an American retiree.
The Homebuyer
Dear Homebuyer,
I may as well become a real estate consultant as well as everything else,
and it would be less dangerous than being an electrician I suppose, and I am
equally as unqualified. Let me ask you this, my American retiree, if you
went to retire in Las Vegas, and you hooked up with a lady there, would you
be considering buying her parents a house in the Ozarks, after cohabitation
for four months? Somehow I think not! So why would you even consider the
proposition here? Now factor in the fact that as a retired foreigner with a
live-in girlfriend of four months (now there’s a deep and lasting
relationship) you are being pushed into house (and land) purchases. Open
your eyes, Petal. Open your eyes! This is a no brainer.
Dear Hillary,
I think you are talking through a hole in your hat when you tell all the
guys out here to look for a lady that doesn’t work in a bar. I came out to
Thailand a month ago, got drunk like everyone does, but then I met a super
girl in the bar who looked after me. I wanted to help her because she told
me about her family’s circumstances. I had to go back as my holiday was
over, but I am going to support her with some money each month, so that she
doesn’t have to work in the bar any more. As I have a well paid job as a
sales executive, this will not be difficult for me, and all I have asked is
that she go back to her village in the north and wait for my next trip (I
come over every six months) and stay away from the bar. That’s not too much
to ask in return for financial support for her and her parents, is it? She
has agreed, and I’m looking forward to the next five months going quickly.
You can find a good girl in the bars more easily than all the stuck up
university students that you want us all to look for.
Sam Super Sales
Dear Sam Super Sales,
You have hit the nail on the head, my Petal when you wrote “work in a bar”.
For these girls it is indeed “work” and it is their only source of income
each month. For them to give up this income for a promise of money each
month coming from overseas is indeed a great leap of faith. Would you give
up your “well paid job as a sales executive” to sit at home and read books
and wait for someone you just met to send you money from abroad? I think you
would be bored by the second month and by then you would be spending your
time down at your local pub with your mates. Correct? And yet you think you
have the right to tell your bar girl to stop her well paid job as a sex
executive, wait for money from you, don’t go back to the bar even socially,
and all because of a verbal promise from some besotted buffoon she met in
the bar three weeks ago. One of you needs your head examined, and I do not
believe it is her.
A Female Perspective: I dreamed last night…
with Sharona Watson
Dreams are funny things. Just by closing your eyes, they take you to another
world, where either the most magically wonderful things can happen, or the
very worst nightmares can come true. When my heads hits my two enormous
pillows (I’m very particular) and reading my book has closed my eyes for me,
I sink down into a universe where anything goes. I seem to feel very tired
by the end of the day which I suppose is a good thing; it must mean that I’m
living life to the full. Perhaps my dreams are coming true all around me all
the time? Or maybe it’s just a case of my aching back and the stress of
living with Andrew Watson which wears me out? Whether or not this is true,
there’s no doubt that when my sleep is very, very deep (I do know that
dreaming doesn’t happen in really deep sleep – I’m talking figuratively)
I do have the most vivid dreams.
 “Last
night I dreamed I got on the boat to heaven.”
Sometimes, all the things that are happening around me in my life seem to
jumble themselves up and mix with things from the past and who knows;
perhaps the future as well? I tried reading Sigmund Freud’s theory on dreams
but didn’t get very far, but the basic notion that in dreams your
sub-conscious is given a chance to air itself seems to make sense. The brain
is whirring around at such a pace all day that it probably takes in more
than we can deal with; I imagine there’s a kind of storage space where all
our thoughts and feelings are collected. It’s a bit like looking after a
house. Some rooms are organised and arranged tidily, others are all over the
place. Some ideas and feelings are in the wrong cupboard and others haven’t
been touched in years. In dreams, all the doors open and the contents of the
brain just fly around, making crazy links with one another. They seem to
want to organise themselves and be understood; the whole shape and pattern
of life needs to make sense of them and will do, if you allow the
complicated collection of emotions and memories the time and space to find
their pattern and place in relation to one another.
Then one night, your dreams come to claim you and all those fears, desires
and passions are unleashed. Yes, they can get a bit ‘saucy’ at times, just
as they can be truly horrifying, but it’s not what’s in dreams that interest
me so much as why they are there.
A long time ago, I took a course in meditation called “Silver Mind Control”
which helps me understand what my mind and body require. At home, we have
quite a lot of (constructive) arguments about meditation. Andy says it’s a
form a prayer whereas I instinctively try and avoid any reference to God or
Gods. I suppose the common ground is that we both believe that a period of
very quiet personal time is very important, both as individuals and in a
relationship. However, if it’s about emptying your mind, then I wonder why
Andy bothers sometimes!
One of the wonderful things about living in Thailand is that I have had a
chance to get to know about Buddhism a bit more. I think it’s true that so
much of our personal suffering comes down to desire, so if you can release
yourself from desire and recognise the sensation when it comes to you, then
at the very least you have a chance of dealing with it. Whereas, if for
instance, you were not aware that desire was behind your personal suffering
or unhappiness, then you wouldn’t have any reason to change, would you?
I had a great conversation once with a mystic (Andy dismisses these people
as ‘Hocus-Pocus’ - I hope he’s not serious) about linking up in dreams with
another person. Actually, I suspect my husband believes this is possible,
seeing as we were once apart for eight years and yet we seemed to dream of
each other. It was something ‘beyond our control’, which provokes quite
exciting ideas and possibilities. If there was or is a way to get inside
your dream and control what happens, wouldn’t that be incredible? This
mystic told me that if you want to achieve this, then before you go to
sleep, you should ‘book out’ a dream like you might rent out a DVD at a
store and then remind yourself to ‘look at your hand’ when you start
dreaming. ‘Looking at your hand’ is simply a conscious imposition of thought
and it’s like a key to unlock a door. When you are asleep, your
sub-conscious thinks it has taken over and you’re suddenly in a dream, you
consciously look at your hand and ‘bang’! You’re in control of the destiny
of your dream and maybe (this is where it gets exciting) you’re also in
charge of your future.
It’s like looking around inside yourself, like you’re flying around inside
your own soul. This is something that shamans and witch doctors, priests and
wise-men have done down the ages, sometimes with the help of some kind of
hallucinogenic drug. Anyone who has ever read the ‘Book of Revelations’ in
the Bible might think that someone had come up with all of this from looking
inside themselves in this way. I wouldn’t normally have read this particular
book of course, but it was thrust in front of me one day, so I did. It
reminds me of Nostradamus a bit as well. It freaks you out.
So just imagine if you could meet someone else in your sub-conscious and
have a conversation with them - a real one - in which you were both involved
and were both able to remember what the other had said in the morning. That
would mean that you could communicate with people across the world, maybe
even from the past and the future. Apparently Einstein’s ‘Theory of
Relativity’ means there’s no past present or future, after all. Incredible.
As I taught Andy, “It is the possibility of dreams coming true that makes
life interesting.”
Next week: Raffles
[email protected]
Learn to Live to Learn: Maslow - the man’s a genius
by Andrew Watson
There’s a beautiful simplicity to genius. That’s the material point. Whether
it’s Maradona’s magical mazy dribble against England in the soccer world cup
of 1986, a soliloquy from Shakespeare’s Hamlet or a Chopin Etude, genius -
that synthesis of intuition, inspiration and intelligence - is like a direct
line to the heart of humanity. Suddenly, everything is understandable,
everything makes sense and the universe in all its glorious infinite oneness
can be comprehended. That which had hitherto seemed like an impossibly
knotted mesh of wires is unexpectedly unravelled, sometimes in the blink of
an eye. The darkness of confusion and ignorance is at once bathed in the
illumination of enlightenment. Of course, there’s a state of mind involved;
belief in the ‘art of the possible’, faith in your own ability and
perseverance by the bucket load. The axiom ‘life is ninety percent
perspiration, ten percent inspiration,’ like all great legends, probably has
its roots in truth.
 Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs.
Dr. Abraham Maslow was - and is - one of the world’s most celebrated experts
on human behaviour and motivation, the ‘Father of Third Force Psychology’
(also known as ‘humanist psychology’); a science that recognizes and
develops the human capacity for compassion, creativity, ethics, love,
spirituality and other uniquely human traits. A perfect vehicle, you might
very well think, to transport us locally, regionally and globally. Having
explored and studied the relationship between human behaviour and working
environments, Maslow’s legacy extends into the realms of business and
management and most assuredly, into education.
He translated the science of the mind into the art of management - an
important interpretation first published in his visionary treatise
“Eupsychian Management”. Talk to managers of mettle and they’ll almost
invariably talk to you of Maslow. He is perhaps best known for generating
two liberating theories; firstly that of “self-actualization” - the freedom
to effectuate one’s ideas, try things out, make decisions and make mistakes.
Secondly, he wrote of “Synergy”, where what is beneficial for the individual
is beneficial for everyone; a utopian condition where individual success
should not occur at the expense of others and where organisational goals
align with personal goals. A place where everybody drinks champagne. The
relevance of such a philosophy to education is surely immediately obvious.
“Self-actualization” is the highest point of a pyramid that Maslow refers to
as a “Hierarchy of Needs”, which is essentially an existential table of
human priorities. He believed that there are certain basic conditions which
a person needs to achieve if they are to be able to function efficiently;
starting with the physiological. Take any part of the pyramid away, or
create instability or uncertainty within a section, and the balance and
shape of a person’s life is disrupted. Equally, in an organizational sense,
this is inefficient and ‘bad business’. In many respects, Maslow’s work
could be described as the ‘applications of common sense to everyday life’;
in acknowledging that the work environment and the individual are
essentially inseparable, Maslow is simply illuminating something that was
already there. Yet how often do we see dysfunctional organisations with a
prevailing culture of unilateral separatism, where self-seeking,
self-serving individualism is presented in a dangerous and inevitably
self-destructive, delusional deception, as ‘synergy’?
If I’ve got a problem with Maslow, then strange though it may read, it’s
with his belief that human beings actually aspire to become
self-actualizing. I’ve seen too many cynics trampling the precious ground of
education, too many back-stabbers usurping positions of responsibility
through skulduggery and too many examples of crass, indolent incompetence to
believe that many people in any kind of organisation are only too willing to
do the minimum amount for maximum return.
I have to be careful to be clear here; I (and indeed Maslow) am not
suggesting that ‘minimum amount for maximum reward’ is synonymous with
‘efficiency’. I’m talking about a level of engagement with a job. In schools
(and other organisations for that matter) I am always disturbed, if not a
little upset, by the resistance of people to ‘do more’. It’s a kind of
‘jobsworth’ approach to life that is inherently divisive and deconstructive.
Duty rosters at school are a good example; some teachers are quite willing
to vocalize their resentment at having to do any duties at all and will
simmer with resentment, if for whatever reason, they have to cover a
colleague’s duty - even if it’s only for a minute. Now that’s something for
which I have low tolerance.
The worst ‘manager’ (he devalued the word) I ever knew actually manufactured
a situation for himself, whereby he didn’t do any duties at all. He
preferred to spend his time drinking coffee. After all, it’s only children’s
lives at risk; so much for ‘in loco parentis’. It was a case of particularly
poor judgement. Maslow uncovers procedures, policies and mindsets that
inhibit creativity and innovation. Where fear reigns, he points out,
contrasting the psychodynamics of enlightened and authoritarian management,
enlightened management is not possible.
In mitigation, Maslow acknowledges that “there are many people in the world
for whom these [his] principles will fail, people who are too sick to
function in an enlightened world.” But that’s the point; if you have neither
the education, the experience nor the expertise to understand what Maslow’s
talking about, nor the willingness to learn about it, you’ll never truly
achieve self-actualisation.
It’s simple really; it’s like trying to bring an IBO Programme into a school
and neither understanding nor wanting to understand what the central
component ‘TOK’ (Theory of Knowledge) is all about. I mean, don’t even go
there! Or questioning the educational value of dealing with global politics
in an international school; don’t even go there! Building theory on a series
of assumptions, Maslow provides solutions to the problems. Nonetheless, I
must still question Maslow’s assumptions, such as “assume that the person is
courageous enough for enlightened process”. The thing about his assumptions
is that they are innocent and pure examples of a positive mental attitude.
The source of Maslow’s genius? Perhaps it could be summed up by Maslow’s
description of Aldous Huxley: “He could look at the world with wide eyes,
with unabashed innocence, awe, fascination - which is a kind of admission of
smallness, a form of humility - and then proceed calmly on the great tasks
he set for himself?” Beautifully simple.
Next week: Trucking with Drucker
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