Demming: “Our society must urgently navigate potholes of life… We need a deep, systemic redesign”

Forty years ago, while I was pregnant, I fell into a pothole. Fortunately, the fall did not terminate my pregnancy, but I still have the scar on my foot as a reminder.

Forty years later our country continues to be haunted by potholes, despite owning the Pitch Lake and producing bitumen for many years. What can we learn from our failure to manage potholes throughout our country?

Trinidad and Tobago has more than its fair share of potholes.
(Copyright Holts Auto)

Life is not a perfectly paved road and potholes will show up at various times.  We continuously must choose how to react to the potholes.

Do we continue to walk around them, or find long-term solutions to repair them? Do we ignore the potholes, and allow them to get wider and deeper?

Do we use the excuse: “life is not perfect” to avoid expending any effort to correct issues that affect us?

Like many systemic problems, such as crime and corruption, it is difficult to navigate around them. A re-design of our systems and processes is needed to prevent the crime and corruption from becoming more deeply entrenched.

In other instances, do we engage in quick temporary repairs at the risk of the reappearance of the pothole?

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley (right) and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
(Copyright Newsday)

There is no single fix and every time I walk or drive around a pothole, I ask the question: “Why do we tolerate this level of incompetence?”

Is it that many of us live in our little bubbles and are not aware of the extent to which this ignoring of potholes is undermining the foundation of our society?  Or are we so afraid of change that we prefer to live with this proliferation of potholes rather than to alter the way we do business?

Our society is at a stage where we must urgently navigate the potholes of life. We are no longer able to steer around the potholes or create temporary, inefficient, or even harmful fixes for our problems.

We need a deep, systemic redesign to be able to create a non-destructive future for our children and grandchildren. For example, we need leadership that is courageous enough to tackle both white-collar crime and gun violence.

Bribery has long plagued Trinidad and Tobago’s public sector.
(Copyright Canadian Business)

We need leaders who are strong enough to transform customer service amongst our public servants. We need leaders with the ability to communicate effectively but still be empathetic. We need leaders who will provide us with a vision of the future that we can all embrace.

A look around the globe and you will see Trinis excelling in various fields. Undoubtedly, we are gifted with intelligent people, and the necessary resources are available. What is missing is the leadership to make new decisions and choices that are in the national interest.

It is time for Trinidad and Tobago to embrace new ways of doing things. By actively embracing new behaviours, we will demonstrate that we have the audacity to help our country live up to its potential.

Peter Minshall’s 2016 Carnival creation: The Dying Swan—Ras Nijinsky in Drag.
(Courtesy Maria Nunes/ Wired868)

Potholes will turn up at every turn to challenge our self-belief and whenever they turn up, it is an opportunity to redesign our roads and make life smoother.

More from Wired868
Noble: Killing our young—T&T youth’s mental health challenges are everyone’s problem!

This week, we witnessed the funeral of Ezekiel Paria, who was shot while riding a bicycle in his village. It Read more

Noble: The demonisation of the black woman; and its impact on our society

“The race rises as its women rise. They are the true standard of its elevation. “We are trying to produce Read more

Noble: Will we condemn our children to lives of crime? There is another way

“The lie of a pipe dream is what gives life to the whole misbegotten mad lot of us, drunk or Read more

Dear Editor: The late BC Pires embodied the spirit of the Calypso Tent

“[…] Truth be told, BC embodied the spirit of the Calypso Tent more than the Newsroom. He was a hybrid, Read more

Dear Editor: Jada Pinkett Smith is an example of toxic femininity

“Jada Pinkett Smith is toxic… This woman brazenly admitted to infidelity […] and now is opening up about her obvious Read more

Indra Persad Milowe: “My art brings to life many of my childhood memories…”

“[…] Our teacher pinned our small flags on our blouses and we had to hold hands with each other. We then walked Read more

About Dennise Demming

Dennise Demming grew up in East Dry River, Port of Spain and has more than 30 years experience as a communication strategist, political commentator and event planner. She has 15 years experience lecturing business communications at UWI and is the co-licensee for TEDxPortofSpain. Dennise is a member of the HOPE political party.

Check Also

Vaneisa: Perhaps we should replace, not reform, our Constitution

I suggested that people might not be offering their views on constitutional reform because they …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.