Decades before Gladwell the scientific genius of Thomas Edison opined that greatness was achieved from "99 percent perspiration and 1 percent inspiration".

Yet in describing the Indonesian work culture or management ethic the terms and phrases "hard work", "relentless practice", "productivity driven teams", "multi-tasking" or "dint of effort" are seldom used.

Instead, some unmistakable signs of laziness, lethargy and responsibility shirking can often be noted - frontline staff offering excuses and pet responses ("tidak ada", "tidak bisa", "kurang tau", "tunggu sebantar", etc.) without finding customer solutions; officials basking in inaction behind a maze of rigid and outdated regulations; restive labor unions seeking one dimensional increases in wages without indexing these properly to productivity; employees appearing jaded even before work starts and then going through the motions glued to their desks; infrastructure projects (for example Jakarta's incomplete flood canals) that drag on for years; reactive regulators who always seem a dozen steps behind fraudsters (the Century Bank scam being the latest example of this sad but costly reality) and an academia beset with easy "cut and paste" approaches rather than the rigors of original thought and research.

In the recently concluded elections there was much talk about nation building but little or no mention about hard work. The former is a laudable goal but not attainable without the latter.

Some corporate chieftains and seminar intellectuals appear content with the 4 percent growth often boasting how this compares favorably with other recession-hit countries.

This might be the case but it is equally the point that 4 percent growth is anemic and sub-par for an economy with widening eco-nomic distortions, an unemployment crisis that cannot be brushed aside and overseas investors getting impatient with the reform tangled in jam karet.

Slackening standards raise the cost of production, create market distortions, make goods and services expensive and prevent corporate nimbleness that is so critical in a global marketplace defined by supply gluts, consumer choice and incessant pressure on revenues and margins.

In contrast, note how the timeless ethic of hard work is driving the engines of emerging markets growth. South Africa continues to surprise with its ability to construct world-class sporting facilities and infrastructure culminating next year when it hosts the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament, a feat achieved by few developed countries let alone developing ones.

Through two decades of transformational effort India turned its human resources into a global powerhouse for the information technology and outsourcing business and created a US$75 billion industry.

The Chinese and Vietnamese economic boom is largely worker productivity driven and has the potential to return to high single digit growth over the next decade.

The relentless pursuit of excellence of the Japanese was emulated by the Koreans and Taiwanese first and then by the Chinese and Vietnamese who are scaling new heights in manufacturing and agricultural productivity respectively.

For years, Indonesians returning from neighboring Singapore bring back stories about the efficiencies of government departments, airports, metro rail and medical facilities and the high education standards being adopted.

Yet the unmistaken truth behind all these impressive achievements of a city-state that rose from virtually nothing to one of the most developed and financially sound nations - several generations of hard work across a variety of sectors - is never stressed to the extent that it should be or seriously treated as worthy of emulation.

This is surprising because there are some notable examples of impressive hard work in the Indonesian history and culture. The world famous Borobudur temple is an astounding achievement in architecture, design and philosophical teaching but it was constructed over decades in the 7th and 8th centuries in a collaborative manner by Javanese artisans driven by unprecedented high standards.

It was also tireless effort put in by the nation's foremost freedom fighters such as Sukarno and Hatta that helped overthrow the yoke of Dutch colonialism.

The practice routines and discipline of badminton legends Rudy Hartono, Liem Swe King and Susi Susanti saw them dominate the sport and earn the respect of their rivals.

The histories of some of the country's famous companies such as Indofood, Astra, Lippo, Gobel, Kalbe, Ciputra and others are also replete with examples of exceptional hard work, especially by the first generation of entrepreneurs.

It is time for a hard work centered work ethic transformation. The hard work theme must get back into conversations. More importantly in must be incorporated with suitable weighting into competency matrices and performance indicators of companies.

This has four aspects - capacity of work (job scoping, task sizing and effort quantification), multi-tasking (simultaneous assignments and projects, pressure and change management), output quality (continuous and 360 degree improvement benchmarked against industry, international and stretch standards) and individual drive (energy, enthusiasm, initiatives and time bound self improvement). Such an ethic celebrates action not talk, execution not strategies, solutions not procedures and track record not spin.

Theodore Roosevelt, one of the architects of the 20th century work ethic that saw the US become the world's enduring superpower, counseled in 1899 about "a life of strenuous endeavor" without which "bolder and stronger peoples" would forge ahead.

The same applies in the cutthroat globalized corporate village in which Indonesia can only take its rightful place by adopting anew the timeless ethic of hard work.

The columnist is CEO of IndonesiaWISE, an international management consulting company. He can be contacted at amoltitus@IndonesiaWISE.com Insight appears on the second Wednesday of each month.

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