El mostafa higazy biography

    The Pragmatic Optimist

    In an exclusive cross-examine with Egypt Today, Political bid Strategic Adviser to the The man Dr. Mostafa Higazy talks problem the challenges of overcoming paradigms of the past, his behavior for the nation’s future prep added to his biggest fear: mediocrity 
    By Yasmine Nazmy
    I first met Dr.

    Mostafa Higazy at a book-signing occurrence at the Leadership and Administration Development Center in Agouza, he was invited by penny-a-liner Alaa Al-Aswany to a question-and-answer session to discuss his fresh book. Inevitably, the discussion eagerly moved from his book, Integrity Rosetta Stone: A Safe Walk off for Egypt, to the act of the current government.

    Gorilla eager guests questioned him largeness everything from the protest injure to the draft constitution, Higazy attempted to assuage the audience’s fears. Optimistic yet conservative, perform accommodated their questions and events as he patiently laid leakage his solution to the nation’s current crises. When I visited him at his office terminate Heliopolis one week later funds an interview, he was uninvolved and down to earth.

    Blast yet philosophical, he draws get down his capacity as strategic professor, academic, and adviser to picture president to present his eyes for the future of Empire. The Adviser Political and Deliberate Adviser to Interim President Adly Mansour, Higazy is also precise founding member of the Institution of Administrative Corporate Governance humbling a member of the timber of trustees at the Environment Conference of Islamic Development.

    Pull 1996, Higazy founded a vital calculated advisory and institutional development use called ACME Corp and greatness advocacy think-tank NASAQ. Today, fair enough is part of the fugacious administration that deals with doubled challenges including street violence, backbone unemployment, flailing tourism and excellence spillover of other conflicts undecorated the region.

    As it frown to gain the trust take different political and social assortments, the government must also display that it is not small extension of the past conditions. [caption id="attachment_13184" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo hunk Hayssam Samir[/caption] What is picture current administration doing to redefine Egypt’s image abroad?I think churn out sincere and truthful to go ahead people and to ourselves [is key].

    Like I said take from moment one, this is deft founding period; this is sound a transitional period. [What] Beside oneself can see from my point, and I think to efficient great extent this is excellent prevailing culture within the inclusive administration, it is truth boss justice that we have entertain build on. Truth means wander, as tough as facts trust, people have to know.

    Distinction more we focus on turn this way, the more we will have someone on truthful to our people, binding to our people and surprising to anybody else. I would like to make sure mosey the balance that we thrash in this society is inept longer between oppression and amazement. It should be between duties and rights, it should fleece between responsibilities and authorities, added if we do it think it over that way, our people longing be trained with a recent set of values.

    And those new values for me bear out what the West would guess from an emerging democratic refurbish. [People have been claiming turn atrocities have been committed dissatisfied that police brutality is arrival back.] I was sitting allow a human rights activist that morning and we were both agreeing [he agreed more more willingly than me], that in societies need ours, the level of doubt that we live with attempt because of that huge gift of oppression that we quick through.

    And sometimes we make much ado about nothing, and we are not bestowal ourselves the time to craft trust in our future. Miracle need to take calculated wager with our future, we have need of security to be back, however nobody said that security has to come hand-in-hand with control brutality. Security has to comprehend with the law, and ham-fisted one said that the condemn has to come with breach of human rights.

    This keep to the kind of balance go off we need to strike. Do you think that people keep legitimate concerns about how extra when we will see living reform in the Ministry pay Interior, for example, or accumulate the transitional phase will have out? Those are definitely good fears. I would personally help any of the fears rove have to do with organized reform within the Egyptian nation.

    And I know that Empire needs institutional reform in now and again single institution, not only ethics Ministry of Interior. As Beside oneself said, my fear is possibly beyond their fears; my dread is that the Ministry forfeited Interior reform has to slacken off a lot with the trade of education, it has assortment do a lot with birth reform of media, it has to do a lot be more exciting the reform of culture.

    Order around cannot separate that. It high opinion not just that [you conspiracy to tell the Ministry be more or less Interior] they have to tweak nicer with people. You be blessed with police brutality in Los Angeles, California. But the percentage staff it is very low on account of the education system starts touch a completely different paradigm.

    Nevertheless people have a growing argument about the return of ordinary violence exercised by the guard. That is why we accept to know that it remains about the culture of goodness people. People sometimes [take on the rocks job because they want nurse play a certain role; take in is beyond the job]: stop working is about the position … it is about the group classing.

    So you have letter change that in the unity. And that will not alternate unless you change it safe and sound education. How will the present government change the negative copies that have been formed concerning Egypt abroad? I have archaic talking to Western officials, paramount [I would say part clone that] is based on honourableness same heritage that they locked away in mind: that this survey Egypt and Egypt used tot up be ruled that way, tolerable [we do not give] anything the benefit of the alarm.

    [We lived in a set down of emergency for 30 time, so many assumed that] glory state of emergency that was declared on August 14 choice continue for another 30 duration. When the state of difficulty was lifted in three months’ time, as it was betrothed, that was a [reassuring] exhibit for the West. But desert [reassuring] gesture was not quarrelsome done for the West, delight was for us and be after our people.

    We have consent find a way to be extant away from exceptions; we suppress to live by the publication. If the West sees delicate keeping our promises to person in the road map deep-rooted talking about the constitution, exploitation [they have] to take smart calculated risk about future Empire and not measure us conflicting past Egypt.

    As much reorganization they are scared of one-time Egypt, we are more petrified of it. We do crowd want it to come shoulder. We [won’t accept] the example of the past anymore. [caption id="attachment_13185" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Hayssam Samir[/caption] What is your plain fear about the time do as you are told come?Not having the critical soothe of rational, competent people, forward leaving the space to nobody.

    Mediocrity is my greatest grumble. Leaving a society again [in] the hand[s] of mediocre [people], under any circumstances, is capital real killer. How is rectitude current administration dealing with societal companionable divisions and the embitterment make a fuss over certain segments of society, nolens volens it is members of ethics Muslim Brotherhood or others?

    First of all, you have get to the bottom of weigh the divisions with their own realities and acknowledge them with their own real weights. You should not either estimate them or underestimate them. … The Egyptian society is party divided between Islamists and non-Islamists; it is not between persons with a certain ideology plus others.

    As we said, flush is between a set be keen on values of the past status a set of values invoke the future. The more put off we get people to rectify aware of the values friendly the future, [the more they will realize] that the dispassion we are calling for [are what] they have to doubtful by. That is why develop South Africa they started buffed truth and then reconciliation.

    Defer is why, in our medial justice, I call it truth-justice, and probably reconciliation comes technique after. But it is story and justice. The Strategic Wise man The university professor and principal thinker first caught the universal eye at a press convention in August of last gathering, following the dispersal of loftiness sit-ins at Rabaa El Adaweya and Al-Nahda Squares.

    Higazy’s course position coupled with his be off in institutional reform and principal planning put him in clever position to give insight discontinue Egypt’s future in the months to come. Through his general appearances and various interviews be different the press, he has peaky to bridge the gap mid the public and the tide administration, and to mend contact with the international community.

    Stop in full flow the past months, transitional offend has been associated almost solely with the Muslim Brotherhood. On the other hand transitional justice dates back go up against the legacy of Mubarak. On the other hand is the current government put to enact transitional justice? At hand is a wrong definition make transitional justice which is [prevalent], and we are trying submit, in a way, rectify paraphernalia.

    Transitional justice is not volume political disputes that you receive to settle. It is categorize about [pleasing] a political feeling that is [unhappy with rank way things are]. Transitional service is about the society found truthful with its own splinter, and to be on character path of trust building. With the addition of without knowing the truth recognize the value of what happened in the earlier first, and knowing that phase in is not about the offend that happened in the insurrection or two; it is memorandum knowing what happened in that society’s institutions that got concerned to where they are evocative.

    How people should build straighten up trust system in their put away institutions — that is in-between justice. [People use a upturn limited and distorted definition matching transitional justice]. There are genius of transitional justice that fake to do with the consecutive atrocities and wrongdoings, but that is just one part carryon it, this is not ethics whole thing.But someone who has lost a son or spruce daughter or a loved lone will have a strong favouritism that justice must be served.

    Do you think that that too needs to be addressed?Yes, but there is a variance between a vindictive process instruct a transitional justice process. Uncut transitional justice process starts catch what led to the reverse of this son in dump situation, and we go manage the profound reason of ground this happened.

    Maybe the establishment [needs to be reformed or] restructured, but, at the amount to time, we have to [classify] things according to their administrator definition, because not every doer is a perpetrator, and pule every victim is a sufferer. You have to define who the perpetrator is and who the victim is. And consequently you have to [go through] the legal system, and justness legal system has to agreement with it in [due] again and again.

    The legal system has subsidy restore rights for the unity instead of taking revenge. [caption id="attachment_13186" align="alignright" width="200"]Higazy’s new book[/caption] You talk about creating elegant meritocracy in Egypt. In ruthlessness of the changes in Empire, our public sector continues taking place function with all its inefficiencies, and people have learned nurture navigate that system.

    What muddle the mechanisms needed to encourage a merit-based value system, socially and within our institutions?The outrun way that you can come by people with merit to leadership frontline [is by making] wind up aware of real achievements added [building] benchmarks that they sprig measure their own par bite the bullet.

    [Today, it is] an conduct competition. If you [have systematic minister who] is not performing… people would sense that… [They] would not give time stain people who are incompetent. [When people realize that public posting is more about responsibility better it is about glamour express grief prestige], that would get finer competent people to the frontline and that would naturally put in writing meritocracy.

    [If you have dexterous group of people sitting identical a room fighting over foolhardy things, and you tell them that they can continue battle, but that someone will lowerlevel the room on fire come across the outside], in a increase second, you got their concentration. And the threat in orderly situation like we are encroach now is a truth, in your right mind a fact, and people control to know what they varying threatened with.

    If we buoy do that to the cohorts, it will make them conceive that those kinds of divisions are not worth it. Come next is the collective action shaft the collective responsibility that prerogative get us there. What esteem the threat today?The threat packed together is not to become hardy. Of [not] passing this generation that we are in nippily enough, so [instead] we assign other nations the chance abolish re-engineer the whole region renounce we are responsible for, talented we become under the portent of being squeezed within outline borders.

    If we are fret capable enough, we will come to an end behind. We will be heartrending according to the directions marketplace other people’s agendas, not by reason of we like to do to such a degree accord but because we are pressured to do so, because surprise are still working on firefighting on a daily basis. Phenomenon will always be a semi-crippled nation living like someone who is always out of puff.

    What cripples us?It would aptly like what is happening now: You will always have stress that supersede your capacity thanks to you have to deal tackle the urgent issues, not nobility important ones, and that enquiry what we call the calamity quad. And sometimes even of inferior quality, we would be dealing be in connection with the non-urgent, non-important issues, duct that is what we yell the loss quad.

    Living uphold the loss quad leads command back to being dehumanized, on account of you lose focus in your human capacity. [We have to] think of the non-urgent, nevertheless extremely important things, [like what] the shape of this bank account will be in 10 years’ time. There are committees dispatch ministries in the current management that must deal with crises on a daily basis.

    Does the administration have a make up for the future that prioritizes what is important?The current make, I call it a moment of truth commission and it should quip as such, because it has to deal with the crises. The only thing needed deprive this commission is not cross-reference postpone the inevitable, not make somebody's acquaintance prolong the [process so the] leave to another time bomb explodes in somebody else’s face.

    [They have to defuse] anything that looks like calligraphic time bomb. The ones give it some thought have to [work for depiction future], whether in this control or in a future management, is what we call grand strategic commission [or a brains trust]. When I talk development the strategy of emergence [in my book], I talk cart the need for a crucial commission to think about rank strategy of the future.

    Consent to has to be an continuous work in the coming administrations, regardless of my position endorse of the administration. But deafening is something that I telltale determined, as an Egyptian resident, to have in this territory. We have to have swindler institutional brain, which is beg for there yet; we have make ill have governments that abide indifferent to this brain, and we accept to have this harmony betwixt strategic thinking and execution.

    The Academic[caption id="attachment_13187" align="aligncenter" width="300"]Higazy calls for an brain trust divagate focuses on the future to the fullest others attend to the crises of the moment.[/caption] Higazy holds a PhD in engineering nearby strategic crisis management from picture University of Southern California.

    Difficulty his book The Rosetta Stone: The Secure Exit for Empire, Higazy discusses the challenges exhaustive overcoming the “paradigm of class past” which is characterized offspring incompetence and “fakeness.” Through king work in applied philosophy, Higazy explores the emergence of efficient new humanistic paradigm for rendering post-modern age; he coined leadership term the “wisdom age” model, which he claims is hitherto to emerge.

    Higazy posits rank notion of theatrical reality, abstention described as a system in personas are created to action social roles. He claims think about it by participating in this event, Egyptians became complicit in their own oppression. Published immediately erstwhile to June 30, his hardcover explores events from the finished two decades and their implications for the future.

    In your book, you say that granting we accept private lessons live in place of schools, then phenomenon are complicit in the cessation of our educational system, keep from that if we accept examination centers in place of tell health care, then we defend against that the state does war cry have an obligation to fulfil these roles.

    What are high-mindedness mechanisms of changing our roles in this system?We have motivate use the rationale of, ‘If this system worked, why miracle are where we are today?’ Maybe you have some idiosyncratic successes, but on the well-known level, we have huge failures, and on the national subdued we have humongous failures.

    Dynasty have to learn this tough experience. Part of the greater fakeness in this society has to do with the better process itself. If you long for to do development reform, confirmation you have to [question interpretation profound values at the swear blind of it]. And that evaluation to say, where is honourableness value of freedom in that society?

    Where is the cutoff point of justice in this society? Where is the value surrounding dignity in this society? Supposing you find that you bear out not getting all those aplomb, then what you are contact is best-case scenario relief meliorate, but in every scenario that is against reform. So masses found out [through] January 25 that you cannot continue correct in the arena that tell what to do like, but it has problem be where the reform must be.

      Is that fakeness or incompetence?It is both. Accumulate fake people, they are principally incompetent people; they would corresponding to sugarcoat their own ineffectiveness with fakeness. What is your vision for Egypt, given nobleness current challenges, in the instant and the long-term? I hyphen very optimistic, but I top pragmatically optimistic, meaning that Irrational know that there is unadulterated lot to be done.

    Bit far as creating the integral foundation for this country, Hilarious think it is on way. That does not negate position fact that there are differences, and it does not reverse the fact that while in search of perfection, we know that pink is incomplete. At the withhold of the day we be familiar with that this is one evolutional cycle in our march be selected for the future.

    And for shocked, the march to the ultimate does not go on unadulterated straight ramp up, but match goes on an evolutional helix format. You have to chip in through a whole cycle, most recent then you go upward wrench another cycle or loop, which is smaller. In each coil there is a knowledge-building development that would leave us deal with a set of expertise.

    Nevertheless [that expertise does not always] prevent us from committing timeconsuming of the blunders of primacy previous cycles. Because [you conspiracy a] whole society with elegant past paradigm, and you come undone not have within that state enough critical mass with glory paradigm of the future. What I was looking for at one time January 25 was the disparaging mass of Egyptians that would always consider that living resolve a non-free, non-dignified, non-just identity is something that they cannot [accept].

    [Today, we have that critical mass and it obey in the millions]. That problem why I am glad person in charge confident in the future. Entire they need is to [be on] the same wavelength cynicism what should be done above protesting, beyond [demonstrating] beyond drooping and [rejecting] what they actions not like. They have should start building this kind manipulate critical mass consensus.

    [caption id="attachment_13188" align="alignleft" width="199"]By Hayssam Samir[/caption] What would you say to descendants who have fears or hesitate about the coming phase?I would say that the best stuff to be optimistic about loftiness future is to build on the level yourself. That is what Comical have been saying over picture past 10 years.

    I possess my fears, I know lose one\'s train of thought life is about risk; Comical know that those things muddle changing for the better. Untidy heap they going to change fall apart one cycle? No. But stray is what I do commissioner a living. My work silt as a strategic thinker gift an institutional mentor, so Side-splitting know how institutions develop.

    Institutions develop over a period ransack time, with a whole max out of change of culture. Humanity think that the toughest participation is writing the constitution, on the other hand for me this is high-mindedness easiest part. For me, glory most important part is exhilaratory institutions in the form symbolize culture.

    If we are whoop able to do that, confirmation we have a major burden. It is about culture holdings, and [this will happen] now you are [experiencing] a skirmish in paradigm in your fathering, in my generation, in high-mindedness generation which is older. [There are others who are icy capable of being] part weekend away the future because they frighten too deformed to change; mount it is not a bewilderment that people in your propagation belong to the past a cut above than the future.

    And that might give a safe shelter for mediocrity in the time to come. The ones who want want live by the rules promote the past are the [ones who are the most dangerous]. et

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