A country without goals

What are the goals of the CNMI? What plans for achieving them does it have? Where can we read the plans to achieve those goals? Have we decided what course of action the CNMI must take to recover? What is our direction? Do we have one? Or is it that we don’t have any and are just drifting like a straw in an ocean? I am dumbfounded to see the CNMI without plans and goals. Frankly speaking, we are like blind mice lost and drifting wildly and aimlessly. Why don’t we make plans and then follow them?

All my life people preached at me “Goals! Set Goals! Make plans to reach those goals! Work your plans.” Repeatedly they told me that without plans and goals, I would flounder aimlessly around like a ship without a rudder. So I made goals and they have led me to various destinations successfully and, at times, not so successfully. But I always had a sense of direction. I learned early that without plans to achieve goals I would never achieve anything. As Earl Nightingale always said: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal!”

Today we are in a serious situation and yet we lack concrete plans with clearly defined goals to direct us. We cannot even agree on a simple matter as a budget. Agencies do not know how many people they have. They do not know how much money they are spending and the results of that spending. We have no plans for correcting the CUC. We keep slapping on bandages and call that a goal. We have no plans on how to cooperate with Federalization which will cause a major change in our lives. Various government agencies have no plans or goals. The administration has no goals or plans. What has happened to us? Why don’t we have plans and goals?

Instead of plans and goals, we are fed scare tactics about how federalization is going to destroy us. We will lose our tourists. Local government workers will be fired and replaced with statesiders. But where are the plans to cope with those problems? We hear that the new generators will fix our utility nightmare for the coming year and after that we will have a new set of operators who will miraculously correct over 25 years of misuse of power generation and distribution. But where is the plan? I could go on and on. But I am beginning to sound bitter.

How long are going to continue this stupidity? When will be wake up and see that the solutions are right before us? All we need to do is to sit down and start planning and setting goals. Making plans is the first step to achieving goals. We have the intelligence but do we have the desire to make them? Once plans are made we must carry them out.

In the past we have made plans but in a few months they were either forgotten or discarded by a new administration without replacing or modifying them. For example, we receive huge sums of CIP money yearly from the United States. Where are the plans for utilizing that money? We could have used that to resolve the power crisis. After so many years we are still suffering from insufficient non-drinking water to our homes. Where are the plans for solving this eternal problem?

As a result previous attempts to carry out plans have been wasted including the money spent on them. What a sad commentary on our ability to control our destiny. And some of us still wonder why the U.S. is stepping in to help us by taking over some of our responsibilities. Instead of making plans and goals to achieve a harmonious and profitable relationship, we become confrontational like children rebelling against their parents’ guidance. We have really botched up running our government.

If we want to know where we will be a few years down the road, we need roadmaps. We must know who will lead us in the correct direction. We must know why we are going in that direction. We must know when we will arrive at the goal. We must know what we must do to succeed. And lastly how are we going to achieve our goals. But one more ingredient is needed if our plans are to succeed. We must have constant monitoring which allows for adjustment and correction as we advance towards our goals. Monitoring forces the plans to go ahead and drive towards the goal.

Imagine a businessman going to the bank requesting a loan for a new venture or to borrow more money for his existing business. The first question the bank or any lender will ask is “May I see your business plan?” If he doesn’t have a strong one, guess what?

That’s right no loan. And the reason for the refusal is that the lender sees little chance for success without a plan and goal. How can the CNMI with about 70,000 populations, plus or minus, spending millions of dollars yearly and trying to promote a wholesome and prosperous life for its citizens, succeed without any plans and goals? It boggles my mind. Is it any wonder we are lost?

Ask any government department head to see his plans and goals for his agency. Ask some Legislators for their plans and goals for being in office. Ask the Administration where its plans and goals are for the Commonwealth. Let me know the replies you receive. I would really like to see them also.

I am reminded of the planning that went into rebuilding Japan after the Second World War. I lived there from 1958 until 1974 and participated in some of their development plans. I was engaged in helping several companies bring American technology to Japan. I worked with several large corporations and was part of their planning and goal setting departments. The Japanese had no natural resources but lots of determination with plans and goals. As a result look at how prosperous Japan is now.

I am reminded of Singapore who in 1959 was one of the poorest nations in the world after England cut ties with it. But with strong plans and goals coupled with determination from its leaders and people, it now stands among the leading wealthiest nations in the world, yet has a small land area and a small population. Korea has also done a super job in becoming strong and prosperous even after two wars. If those nations and other nations did it and are still doing it today, why can’t we?

No individual or nation will ever succeed without a plan. If we stick to the plan—use it correctly and with determination, it will take us to a successful goal. Let’s do it now before we sink further! A successful life must be a planned one with definite goals.

A successful nation must also have plans and goals. Remember: “Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal!”

Do we have an alternative?