Few thoughts of the youngest commencement speaker.......

This speech was delivered during the commencement exercises of the UPgraduating class of 2003 by Mr.Butch Jimenez, the youngest commencementspeaker in the university's history. He once dreamed of doing so, and itcame true!!! :-) Students wished they had a pencil or paper to jot downnotes during the speech; some even wished they had a tape recorder. Somemembers of the faculty found his speech practical, refreshing, and funny!Butch Jimenez, head of PLDT's media and strategic communicationsdepartment, delivered this speech at the UP Diliman Class 2003 commencementexercises.------------------------------------------------------------------------By Butch Jimenez -

Better than being negativeAs college students, you're just about to set sail into the real world. Asyou prepare for the battleground of life, you'll hear many speeches, readtons of books and get miles of advice telling you to work hard, dream big,go out and do something for yourself, and have a vision.Not bad advice, really. In fact, following these nuggets of truth may justbring you to the top. But as I've lived my life over the years , I havecome to realize that it is great to dream big, have a vision, make a name,and work hard. But guess what: There's something better than that.So my message today simply asks the question, What's better than...?Let's start off with something really simple. What's better than a longspeech? No doubt, a short one. So, you guys are in luck because I do intendto keep this short. Now, let me take you through a very simple math exam.I'll rattle off a couple of equations, and you tell me what you observeabout them. Be mindful of the instructions. You are to tell me what youobserve about the equations. Here goes: 3+4=7, 9+2=11, 8+4=13, and 6+6=12.Tell me, what do you observe?Every time I conduct this test, more than 90 percent of the participantsimmediately say, 8+4 is NOT 13, it's 12!That's true and they are correct. But they could have also observed thatthe three other equations were right. That 3+4 is 7, that 9+2 is 11, andthat 6+6 is 12.What's my point? Many people immediately focus on the negative instead ofthe positive. Most of us focus on what's wrong with other people more thanwhat's right about them. Examine those four equations. Three were right andonly one was wrong. But what is the knee-jerk observation? The wrongequation.If 10 people you didn't know were to walk through that door, most of youwould describe those people by what's negative about them. He's fat. He'sbalding. Oh, the short one. Oh, the skinny girl. Ahhh, 'young pango. Etc.Get the point? It's always the negative we focus on and not the positive.You'll definitely experience this in the corporate world. You do a hundredgood things and one mistake-guess what? Chances are, your attention will becalled on that one mistake.So what's better than focusing on the negative? Believe me, its focusing onthe positive. And if this world could learn to focus on the positive morethan the negative, it would be a much nicer place to live in.Better than working hard We have always been told to work hard. Our parentssay that, our teachers say that, and our principal says that. But there'ssomething better than merely working hard. It's working SMART. It's takingtime to understand the situation, and coming out with an effective andefficient solution to get more done with less time and effort. As theJapanese say, "There's always a better way."One of the most memorable case studies I came across with as I studiedJapanese management at Sophia University in Tokyo was the case of the emptysoap box, which happened in one of Japan's biggest cosmetics companies. Thecompany received a complaint that a consumer had bought a box of soap thatwas empty. It immediately isolated the problem to the assembly line, whichtransported all the packaged boxes of soap to the delivery department. Forsome reason, one soap box went through the assembly line empty.Management tasked its engineers to solve the problem. Post-haste, theengineers worked hard to devise an X-ray machine with high-resolutionmonitors manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passedthrough the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they workedhard and they worked fast. But a rank-and-file employee that was posed thesame problem came out with another solution. He bought a strong industrialelectric fan and pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the fan on,and as each soap box passed the fan, it simply blew the empty boxes out ofthe line.Clearly, the engineers worked hard, but the rank-and-file employee workedsmart. So what's better than merely working hard? It's working smart.Having said that, it is still important to work hard. If you could combineboth working hard and working smart, you would possess a major factortoward success.Better than dreaming bigI will bet my next month's salary that many have encouraged you to dreambig. Maybe even to reach for the stars and aim high. I sure heard thatabout a million times right before I graduated from this university. So Idid. I did dream big. I did aim high. I did reach for the stars. No doubt,it works. In fact, the saying is true: "If you aim for nothing, that'sexactly what you'll hit: nothing." But there's something better thandreaming big. Believe me, I got shocked myself. And I learned it from thebiggest dreamer of all time, Walt Disney.When it comes to dreaming big, Walt is the man. No bigger dreams werefulfilled than his. Every leadership book describes him as the ultimatedreamer. In fact, the principle of dreaming and achieving is the coremessage of the Disney hit song, "When You Wish Upon a Star". "When you wishupon a star, makes no difference who you are; anything your heart desireswill come to you. If your heart is in your dream, no request is tooextreme. When you wish upon a star, as dreamers do," as Jiminy Cricketsang. But is that what he preached in the Disney company? Dream?Imagineering. Well, not exactly. Kinda, but not quite. The problem withdreaming is if that's all you do, you'll really get nowhere. In fact, youmay just fall asleep and never wake up. The secret to Disney's success isnot just dreaming, it's IMAGINEERING. You won't find this word in adictionary. It's purely a Disney word. Those who engage in imagineeringare! called imagineers. The word combines the words "imagination" and"engineering."In the book "Imagineers," Disney 's CEO, Michael Eisner, claims that"imagineers turn impossible dreams into real magic." Walt Disney explainedthere is really no secret to their approach. They just keep movingforward-opening new doors and doing new things, because they are curious.And it is this curiosity that leads them down new paths. They always dream,explore and experiment. In short, imagineering is the blending of creativeimagination and technical know-how.Eisner expounds on this thought by saying that "Not only are imaginerscurious, they are courageous, outrageous, and their creativity iscontagious." The big difference with imagineers is that they dream and thenthey DO! So don't just be a dreamer, be an imagineer. You must have allbeen given a lecture at one time or another about the importance of havinga vision. Even lea dership expert John Maxwell says that an indispensablequality of a leader is to have a vision. The Bible also makes it very clearthat "Without vision, people perish." So no doubt about it, having a visionis important to success.But surprise! There's something more potent than a vision. It's a CAUSE. Ifall you're doing is trying to reach your vision and you're pitted againstsomeone fighting for a cause, chances are you'll lose. The Vietnam War is aclassic example. Literally with sticks and stones, the Viet Cong beat theheavily armed US Army to surrender, primarily because the US had a visionto win the war, but the Vietnamese were fighting for a cause.In the realm of business, many leaders have visions of making their companyNo.1, or grabbing market share, or forever increasing profits. Nothingreally wrong with that vision, but take the example of Sony founder AkioMorita. He did not just have a vision to build the biggest electronicscompany in the world. In his biography, "Made in Japan," he reveals thatthe real reason he set up Sony was to help rebuild his country, which hadjust been battered by war. He had a cause he was fighting for. His visionto be an electronics giant was secondary.What's the difference bet ween a vision and a cause? Here's what sets themapart... No one is willing to die for a vision. People will die for acause. You possess a vision. A cause possesses you. A vision lies in yourhands. A cause lies in your heart. A vision involves sacrifice. A causeinvolves the ultimate sacrifice. Just a word of caution. You must have theright vision, and you must be fighting for the right cause. In the end,right will always win out. It may take time, and it may take long. But ifyou have the right vision and are fighting for the right cause, you willprevail. If not, no matter how sincere you are, if you are not fighting forwhat is right, you will ultimately fail.Two final quotesAllow me to end with two quotes that I have lived by ever since I steppedout of UP. The first comes from the Bible, which says, "To whom much isgiven, much is required." Having been given the opportunity to study in UP,no doubt, much has been given to you in terms of an excellent education.Don't forget that in return, much is now required of you to use thateducation not just for yourself, but for others. And as you move up andstart reaching the pinnacle of success, even more will be required of youto look at the welfare of others, of society and of the country. Though Ihave often dreamed of addressing any graduating class of UP Diliman, Inever really thought it would happen. This brings me to the second quote Ihave held close to my heart as I traverse the destiny God has laid out forme."There is no destination beyond reach of one who walks with God." Mystanding in front of you today, as the youngest commencement speaker ofthis esteemed university in 92 years, is proof of how true that quote is.A final review:* What's better than focusing on the negative? Focus on the positive.* What's better than working hard? It's working smart.* What's better than dreaming? Imagineering.* What's better than doing something for yourself? Doing something for yourcountry.* What's better than a vision? A cause.* What's better than a long speech? Definitely, a short one.Thank you and congratulations, UP Diliman graduating class of 2003.Excellence is not a destination; it is a continuous journey that neverends."