Yusuf Mansur

Based on the positive responses to my column of last week, “Jordan as a creative economy”, I decided to follow up with another article on the topic. This time, the focus is on how to do it.

In order for Jordan to become a creative economy, a good starting point is to remove not one but 10,000 small obstacles that have filled the system with monkey wrenches and creativity detractors. The mechanism I suggest below is simple, costless and involves all.

The framework needed for instilling a creativity-oriented mindset can borrow from the competitiveness model of Michael Porter who placed significant emphasis on value added in the model. His saying that it does not matter whether one makes a potato chip or a computer chip, but how it is made, should be the point of departure for making a creative economy. Innovation and sophisticated content in everything is what makes an industry creative.

The so-called Porter diamond is about increasing sophistication everywhere and creating both competition and cooperation among the economic agents (anyone who partakes in the purchase or sale of goods and services). The diamond is a four-corner model, with each corner having in it one of the following determinants: supply, demand, firm rivalry and competition, and supporting and related industries. The strength of the diamond lies not only in the level of sophistication of each of its components but also in the linkages that exist among the corners.

The role of government in the competitiveness model is to establish a modern, stable institutional and legislative environment that is conducive to enhancing creativity and competitiveness. Thus, the government provides a national framework, ensures the modernity of legislation and institutions, makes sophisticated infrastructure available, gives detailed information and creates a level-playing field - fair chances for all to participate in economic activities everywhere.

Let’s start with an example of a policy that needs to be changed in Jordanian universities. For promotion purposes, Jordanian universities do not recognise research conducted by a scholar that is based on her dissertation work. Yes, after spending years of training under the tutelage of the best minds in the world, and conducting research in top institutional and mind-changing environments, with a wealth of resources and distillation of all that is new and advanced, one has to discard his research and start afresh in Jordan if one is to be promoted.

The strength of a dissertation is a ticket for employment in the West; it dictates the path of research (creative value added) chosen by the scholar and the type of research the person will follow in order to create new knowledge.

In Jordan, a young graduate from a top university in the US has to throw all this way and start new research, which can never be as good as his research under the guidance of the best specialists and most creative minds in the field.

The reason this silly rule is applied? The dissertation was already used to gain the title of assistant professor, so parts of or research that is based on it cannot be used again to gain a promotion to the rank of associate professor.

Noble laureates, Paul Samuelson, Gerard Debreu, Joseph Stiglitz among others, would have never received a Noble Prize, years later, for their dissertations and life’s work had US universities applied a similar rule; and none would have seriously contributed to knowledge.

The folly of this rule is obvious while, alas, to many in the management of academia it is justified. The upshot of it is that Jordanian researchers hardly ever publish in world-class journals or make a name for themselves and the country.

This is one wrong that should be chucked. And it is just an example. There are, I believe, 9,999 other rules like it. We can determine them collectively. We can, through a social network, invite statements from people to share and explore online, and then present them to officials, jumpstarting the work towards change.

Now to the starting point: we set up a social network encouraging contributions in Arabic and English. I found Ning to be an easy and free platform that seems to be perfect for such a network, so I registered http://urdunmubdi3.ning.com/ to be the online location for the 10,000 steps towards a creative Jordan. Here we can contribute what we all believe should be changed in policy and thinking in order to progress towards a creative economy.

Contributions can be classified according to the four sides of the diamond by a panel of bloggers - there are some very smart bloggers out there who have been observing the economy for some time now. The contributions can be commented upon by anyone and then voted upon. They are then ranked according to their significance and urgency by anyone interested in participating, and once the 10,000 changes are compiled, we can present them to policy makers as a blueprint for a creative Jordan.

A community-driven campaign can grow like wildfire through the energy and passion of everyone, spreading the spirit of change and activism so that a creative Jordan becomes a mind style, a lifestyle and an achievable goal.

This may be the quickest way to engage people in a movement that promotes creativity. Once we hit the 10,000 suggestions, we will know that we have started our journey towards a creative economy. Implementation belongs to all, policy makers and those of us who care enough to make it happen alike. All of Jordan.

The time to start the change should have been decades ago, but to start now, and start we must, would be better than never. It is not too late.

Questions and comments can be directed at: ymansur@enconsult.com