6 hints for postgraduates

Complete text of the Graduation Speech at Next International Business School (20th October 2020) by José Ochoa, PhD.

• An honest disciple, in his eagerness for perfection, went to the modest house of a yogi and knocked at the door. —“ Who is it," asked the yogi. —“It is me, -respected teacher-. I have come to receive spiritual instruction.” —“You are not mature enough," replied the yogi without opening the door— “Retreat for a year to a cave and meditate. Meditate without rest. Then come back.” At the beginning, the disciple was discouraged, but he was a true seeker; one of those who do not give up and searches for the truth even at the risk of his life, so he obeyed the yogi. He looked for a cave and for a year he immersed himself in deep meditation. He learned to be with himself, he exercised in the being. By the monsoon rains the disciple knew that a year had passed, and he headed for the master's house. He knocked at the door. —“Who is it," asked the yogi. —“It is you," replied the disciple. —“If so," —said the master-, "come in. Beyond mind and thought is the being, and in the being all beings.”

'I am you'. With this attitude I accepted the invitation from the president of Next International Business School, Dr. Manuel Campo Vidal, to be the patron of this year's class. My humbleness and gratitude to this house, Next, and of course thanks to all of you, our students, who are graduating today.

Look at yourselves in this joyful moment of success, like the general who, after a tough campaign, enters in triumph through the streets of Rome, full of citizens who cheer and acclaim him. He marches in his chariot, pulled by four horses, held firmly by the charioteer. And at his side, on the chariot, there is a servant holding a laurel crown over his head, the symbol of that triumph. Made of laurel. He is being laureate, like you. Where did you think the word came from? He is being laureate, but this servant has another function. While he receives all this glory, the servant says to his ear: —“Hominem te esse memento.” ‘Remember that you are a human.’

It’s a moment that can make you fall into arrogance at this great joy of triumph. And there is someone there, in the Roman tradition, reminding him: —“Do not forget that you are human.” Let me therefore play today this role of the servant who whispers in your ear, and I will whisper 6 hints as a recommendation, as a closing of your experience with us.

Clue num. 1

The first is the humility of the Hindu tale. ‘In the being are all beings.’ That consciousness of species, to which Dr. Campo Vidal called on, that you are going to have to deploy continuously; both in moments when you are working as a team and when you are selecting someone to hire in your organization or your entrepreneurship, as well as when you are negotiating with a supplier. Never forget that you are dealing with a human (even if there is a lot of technology in between).

Clue num. 2

Do everything with passion. In the 7 years I spent at the New Agency EFE, I did a lot of things and one of my last bosses told me one day: —“How lucky you are, José, that you always do what you like”. Well, it is not exactly like that. I like everything I do and that, in good part, is my merit. I mean, find in everything you do a passion for what you are doing.

It's good to have a purpose. However, I’m going to warn you a little bit about this social pressure to have a purpose. Well, if you have one, great! Use it as a compass. Think with it. If the purpose is too sublime, too generic, too ODS (Sustainable Development Goal)... let's see, be realistic: you are not going to achieve it. Moreover, the world is changed more by small things than by big purposes of pompous phrases. But, well, if you have it, I respect it: keep it! If not, I would advise you to select some values. Values that could guide you: fairness, freedom, commitment, solidarity. Your values. Choose a few ones and let yourself be carried away by them, more than by that final goal, because we do not know what that final goal will be, and along the way you may find many surprises and many opportunities. Let yourself flow, let yourself be attracted by that magnetism of activities in which you find passion for doing things.

Clue num. 3

• Anansi, the spider of the Ashanti tradition, in Ghana and many other West African countries, Anansi knows almost everything about almost everyone. Almost! But Anansi wants to know everything. So one day he convinces the sun god to put all the wisdom of the world into a clay pot, and so the spider gets all the knowledge, with the request, of course, to share it. Back home, Anansi looks deep into the pot and sees things he had never seen before, hears sounds he didn't know about. Everything is too good to give it away, as he had promised. And he decides to hide it at the top of the leafiest tree. Anansi climbs the tree holding the pot with his front legs. And the climb is hard... ‘I wish I had nine limbs!’ he thinks. (Almost like some of you, when you had to deliver some assignment during the Master’s program). Seeing him, his youngest daughter says, —“Father, it would be easier if you tied that pot to your back. Then you would free all your limbs for climbing.” Anansi understands that she is right, but he is annoyed when a young girl gives him advice; to him, who possesses in that pot all the wisdom of the world. And he gets so angry that he throws the pot on the ground. All the wisdom of the world comes out of the pot and spreads out. Now, no one has all the wisdom, but everyone has some wisdom. That is why knowledge is everywhere and you can hear it from storytellers all over the world. 

The third clue is given by this African folk tale: although today is an important milestone in your achievements, I repeat what Dr. Campo Vidal said: it is not a final station, it is a first stage of many. Perhaps the next source of knowledge will be unexpected... a child, the person you least expect. And then, we must not act with the arrogance that the Roman general was warned about. Remember that everyone has some wisdom from which you can benefit. Listen.

Clue num. 4

And on that journey that begins today walk along it by asking yourself questions. Question everything. It's an uncomfortable act of courage.

And sometimes it's not easy to ask yourself questions, because it generates that uneasy mood; in yourself and in others.

I have had the opportunity to live with several indigenous nationalities from the upper Amazon, particularly Ecuadorian, and to work with the elders to try to understand, with an anthropological approach, the way of knowledge they use, which is not the scientific thinking in which I have been trained as a Research Doctor.

Walking with an elderly Siona, a nationality in the Aguarico River basin (northeastern Ecuador), the elderly Simón asked me: —“José, why when I drink ayahuasca do I see visions?” And he was asking me! The answer was in neuroscience.

And I tried to explain him the reasons for that connection the substance, which produced an altered state of consciousness, allows him to connect with the unconscious in a way that we can hardly imagine. But the most difficult thing was not to explain neuroscience to him. The most difficult thing was to do it with respect for the dignity of his cultural identity. And I remember it as a very interesting challenge. So, look further. Have the courage of Simón, the Siona, to ask himself, in his old age, about something he's supposed to be the master of. And he had the courage to ask himself about it. Look beyond the news, see the news otherwise, see them as negative film. What does a story not say, what does it say between the lines, what interests are behind it, who does it affect and in what way and to what extent it affects anyone. Question the media, think inside out. The other day I was wondering why in order to see this screen with my presbyopia I have to wear glasses. Listen. I'm going to tell those people who make this: Why isn't this the glasses? Why doesn't this device measure my distance and project it to my eyes?

Turn things upside down, think inside out, question yourselves in reverse. That's going to be a great look. A key insight for innovation. 

Clue num. 5

When you have an answer to those questions, don't settle for just anything. The fallacy, the traps of thought are widespread; so demand rigor in logic, don't be satisfied. We have almost become used to the fact that almost every discourse is embedded in a fallacious narrative. Cultivate critical thinking. Moreover, we live in a world of fast food content, easy recipes, reflections with a twittering size, and a instagramic shallowness. This is not enough. For issues of depth, go to the sources, go deeper. And if the document is 250 pages long, please, read the 250 pages. I know that it doesn’t fit in a twit, but the knowledge can be there. Explore it, don't conform. 

Clue num. 6

Don't run away from complexity. I was telling you that we live in complex, uncertain times. A world of systems with components that are interwoven. For example, have you heard about the food of the future? Surely you have heard some news, in the last few years, saying that we will end up eating insects. Well, I have already eaten insects, OK? (The grasshoppers in Mexico [chapulines] are an interesting nutrient). But, have we asked ourselves what it means in a complex world that almost 8 billion humans end up eating insects? What does that mean for the rest of nature? What does it mean for the beings in the plant kingdom? What does it mean for food security, when we actually use pesticides and insecticides? Then, if are going to eat them... how can we guarantee that these insects will feed us and not intoxicate us? Do anyone realize that anything is in a very complex environment? Be careful, because it can happen to us like with biodiesel, which we were trying to reduce emissions and it turns out that we have generated deforestation of the tropical rainforests to grow oil palms, and we have raised the price of basic foods like corn, generating food insecurity, the inability to provide food for millions of people, because we are not thinking in a complex way. And if you tell me that the food of the future is going to be algae, well, I’ll tell you the same thing:

Depopulate the sea, after the fish? Depopulate it from algae too? And what will the fish eat from? And where will all the species that live in the reefs stay? Think in an integrated way. 

Wrap up

Let's wrap up after this tour through 4 continents. I invite you to maintain an attitude of respect for the dignity of others, to undertake each task with passion, to never stop walking the path of learning, to ask questions, to cultivate critical thinking, and not to give up on complexity. Me, on behalf of Next, I wish you exciting experiences, some remarkable achievements, and lots of happiness, like the one you are feeling now. 

Congratulations!

You can watch the entire discourse in Youtube with English subtitles-

https://youtu.be/vz3O2fmvS9E