THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Stepping out of the Makati Stock Exchange at 5:30pm (if I leave early) is an experience in itself. The sidewalk is packed with people, busses, and Jeepneys too. The streets are filled with public transportation – including taxis. There simply is no capacity to deal with traffic. At Fraser Place, stepping out at 5:30 to go somewhere will result in a reality check from the security guards: you’re better off going back upstairs until 8:30pm when traffic dies, and you have a chance at getting a cab.

Walking home during rush hour is electrifying. There’s so much energy on the street. One of the things you would immediately notice about the sheer volume of cars is that traffic is constantly flowing, which brings me to the first thing we can learn from developing countries – how to deal with traffic.

There’s a lot of irony in this one, particularly because traffic here is so disorderly. Nobody recommends driving in this city because most of the roads do not have lines on them. Traffic flows like water, with cars packed so closely next to each other, and no “order” to the flow. Stop signs are pretty much ignored and everyone goes through the intersection by missing each other. It’s a lot like India, or the Champs de Lycee or Arc du Triomphe in Paris. Recently, there have even been some articles published about the efficiency gained by chaos (when it comes to traffic). Even through all this disorder, people instinctively avoid each other, and are acutely aware of just how much room they have between their car and the bicycle rider, pedestrian, or car in the next lane. It’s fascinating how it works, and although we could learn from it, there’s no way the west could ever implement this…. It’s something that is inherent in the culture.

The second thing we the developed world could learn from the Philippines is related to waste. When you visit a restaurant, you get one napkin to eat your food with. Initially, it’s a huge inconvenience, but you learn to make it last. Portions are small here as well. My first day here, I ordered the largest Pizza Hut pizza, which the lady quoted as being able to feed 6-8 people. I ate almost three quarters of it by myself in one sitting. Portions are smaller here, and rightfully so. If you order a sandwich from Subway, they wrap it in half the paper used in the US. Just imagine the savings (both financial and otherwise) that could be generated by reducing waste. You never really think about it until you experience it. Think about how much resources you really need, and then measure what you actually use. If you extrapolate that to a month, half a year, or even a full year, you’ll be amazed at your personal impact to the world around you.

All right, I’m really tired from thinking a lot today. Between calls to people in Copenhagen, the UK, Hong Kong, and a lunch date with an exec, I’m spent. The project just got incredibly complex, and there are new discoveries that have completely reshaped our understanding…. Not to mention organizational politics beginning to be apparent. As a result of this, I had to cancel my trip to Singapore this weekend, and will be working instead. Ah yes, the glamorous side of consulting…

Parting thought, this is cool:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/09/11/kamen.water.slingshot/index.html#cnnSTCText