Building on Strengths

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In the previous blog problems were posited as starting points for reform. It has since been pointed out that reforms can also be built on strengths.

In American football, each team has a designated set of players for defence (when the other side has the ball) and another set of players for offence (when they have possession of the ball). There are strategies or plays for defence and for offence.

Similarly, there can be reforms to defend against undesirable conditions (such as flooding, inequality, deforestation, etc) and there can be reforms to further improve good conditions (which may include tourism, environmental management, etc). Thus, reform leaders may not only initiate reform to alleviate a community’s pain but also to build on a community’s strength.

A good example of this strategy is how the people of Bohol have built improvements on top of earlier improvements to promote the province as a tourist destination. Various political and civic leaders have exerted efforts to preserve the natural beauties of the province, which is the foundation of its tourism program. Municipalities established their own attractions - anything from a “hanging bridge” to a python with a witty handler (we miss the python). A civic organisation established a choir to serenade tourists on a river cruise. Roll-on roll-off wharfs were built to facilitate transport with Cebu and other islands. Vera Gesite and friends are making sure graduates of local schools have the necessary skills and knowledge to work in the tourism industry. And of course they built the international airport in Panglao.

A political mentor once taught me that, when addressing vulnerabilities, one should seek only to bring conditions up to a tolerable level, and no higher. For example, if the problem is flooding when it rains, reforms can be undertaken to a point where flooding can be tolerated - perhaps enough infrastructure is built to eliminate the flooding within minutes after the rains stop. One does not have to aspire to be the best city in the world for flood management.

Reforms to build on strengths, however, has no limits - other than what the community can’t tolerate. If the community is already strong in nature-based tourism, it can pursue more and more reforms in that direction, even until it is the best in the whole world. This strength can become the identity of the community, what it will be known for globally. It’s what people will always remember it for and be proud of.

Of course that is a political perspective. It really depends on the reform leader, how far he wants to take his/her reform. If he wants to make his flooded city into the best place in the entire world for flood management, then he will do so. And if he/she wants to build on his/her community’s strengths, he/she can also do so.

#Bohol #tourism #reform