The secret of Dubai: One word, one philosophy, astounding growth

“At the root of any new project is an idea,” Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai said in his book, ‘My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence.’   “And if we cannot find a fresh concept for a project,” he continued, “we will not implement it because it will fall short of […]

“At the root of any new project is an idea,” Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai said in his book, ‘My Vision: Challenges in the Race for Excellence.’   “And if we cannot find a fresh concept for a project,” he continued, “we will not implement it because it will fall short of what we have come to expect. We believe that the shortest way to the bright future we seek lies in a creative and pioneering approach.”
One word: ‘pioneer’, has become a philosophy that drives growth and expansion of Dubai and its six brothers – collectively called the United Arab Emirates.  
“There was a time Arabs were followers and their nations were subjugated,” Al Maktoum said of the scientific Arab history.  The appreciation of which shows that the progress in the UAE isn’t an accident, but built on a firm foundation of intense reflection and resolute conviction.  
“But when their luck changed,” he continued.  “They became prominent nations that prospered in trade, architecture, science, arts and industry.  Other nations looked to them and were inspired to follow their example.”  
And when did that luck change?  “The transformation occurred when Arab nations embraced the one word that summarizes the essence of our entire civilization: ‘pioneer’.  This concept filtered into every aspect of life – in peace, war, administration, science, architecture, trade, medicine, history, industry and diplomacy – becoming a philosophy that led the way.  The revolutionary spirit continued unabated, not for two decades or five centuries, but for more than 1,000 years, and created a historic view of the Islamic Arab civilization as pioneers of excellence.”
They didn’t however, do this to impress, but to self-preserve.  Al Maktoum agreed. “Arabs put their pioneering spirit to work not for the acclaim they would receive in history, but out of a basic need to survive, progress and prosper.”
Still, a pioneering nation must be built on something.  Even at that time, it wasn’t necessary to reinvent some wheels.  Thus, “Arabs embraced and developed several Roman administrative systems, including postage and currency, as a way to manage the affairs of the large populations and territory they had acquired.”  
When Arabs out of self-preservation and rational conscious thoughts of survival “invented the triangular-shaped lateen sail, they did so to allow their dhows [ships] to sail more efficiently, even in the absence of favourable winds.  As a result, Arab merchants were able to seize the initiative and ship their goods to the ports of the Old World faster than ships with rectangular sails.  In the process, they built substantial fortunes and created new job opportunities.”
Starting from 1971, when the seven emirates united to become a nation, the UAE deemed that the pioneering efforts of their fore fathers merit reexamination.  Now the UAE has exhumed that heritage.  Because of this word, this philosophy of being pioneers, the UAE has resolved to be the first, the best.  Al Maktoum believes, nobody remembers the person who came second – not even the person himself.
Accordingly, “at the root of any new project is an idea and if we cannot find a fresh concept for a project, we will not implement it because it will fall short of what we have come to expect.  We believe that the shortest way to the bright future we seek lies in a creative and pioneering approach.”
Al Maktoum and his people’s resolve to be pioneers is stubbornly unyielding.  Al Maktoum said, “’second-hand’ ideas are not for us here in the UAE.  We would far rather lead than follow.”
60 Minutes asked him in 2007: “Why do you want everything to be the biggest, the tallest?” Al Maktoum replied: “Why not? If you can have it Europe, why can’t we have it here?” 60 Minutes: “Most people would try and do all of these in a life time, not five years.” Al Maktoum: “I want my people to live better life now.  To go to the best school now.  To have the best health care now – not after 20 years.”
60 Minutes described him as a man always on the move, yet he doesn’t have bodyguards.  “Where is your security detail?” Al Maktoum: “I don’t have security.”
While taking his interviewer to the project site, he said, “We’ll get in this car.  This is my car.  I’ll drive.”  
It’s reported that he uses his cars as mobile offices.  “So you travel by yourself all the time?”  Al Maktoum: “Most of the times, I travel by myself, yes.”
As you can already tell, this is a continuation of the series begun last week.   I’ve two immediate projects now.  One, to continue the series and discuss which excellent developmental systems we should adopt from around the world e.g. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education from Singapore, healthcare system from Malaysia, etc.  You see, despite Al Maktoum’s pioneer stance, I’m very big with not reinventing the wheel. I advocate picking a working system from anywhere and using it.  Doing this has worked for us in some cases e.g. the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) -which we took from Chile – has worked in Nigeria with a few tweaks ever so slightly.
Two, I’ve been so impressed with Al Maktoum’s book that I desire all our leaders to read it – so that they could take inspiration from it.  The first few pages, for instance, are laden with stirring and quotable statements.  It’s a rousing narrative of a city which asserted itself from a relatively unimportant standing. But I know not all of our leaders have the time or the will to read the entire book, even though it’s a small one (of only 200 pages).   Thus, I’ve taken it upon myself to summarize different parts of the book in a predigested format, so that our leaders would take benefit from it.
Some of the summaries may not appear here.  So, if you’re interested in the summaries or you have a leader you want to share them with, please email me and I’ll send them to you as they become available – free of charge.