Think Big was an interventionist state economic strategy sponsored by the New Zealand Prime Minister Robert Muldoon (1975-1984) and his New Zealand National Party government in the early 1980s. The Think Big schemes saw the government borrow heavily overseas, running up a large external deficit, and using the funds for large-scale industrial projects. Petrochemical and energy related projects figured prominently, designed to utilize New Zealand's abundant natural gas to produce ammonia, urea fertilizer, methanol and petrol.
The National Cabinet Minister Allan Highet coined the "Think Big" label in a speech to a National Party conference in 1977. Economist Brian Easton also used the term "think big" in describing economic strategies.
HISTORY:
In the late 1970s New Zealand's economy was suffering from the aftermath of the 1973 energy crisis and the loss of its biggest export market upon Britain's entry to the European Economic Community, and from rampant inflation.
In 1978 New Zealand faced a further crisis in oil-supply. OPEC continued to raise the price of oil. Then in 1979 the Iranian Revolution paralysed that country's oil-industry and 5.7 million barrels (910,000 m3) of oil per day were withdrawn from world supply.
In 1978 Bill Birch became the Minister of Energy. He looked to the substantial reserves of natural gas under Taranaki and off its coast as an opportunity to bring life to the ailing economy.
In 1979 the oil crisis worsened. During the first half of 1979 OPEC raised oil prices from US$12 a barrel to US$19 a barrel. The New Zealand government banned weekend sales of petrol. On 30 July 1979, the government introduced carless days, where private motorists had to choose one day of the week, on which they could not drive their motor vehicle. Heavy fines were imposed for motorists who were caught driving on their nominated carless day.
The increases in oil prices substantially worsened the country's already precarious terms of trade. The cost of oil loomed as the major component of the New Zealand balance of payments deficit. Muldoon's administration intended the Think Big projects to reduce New Zealand's reliance on imports, especially oil, and thus improve the balance of payments.
PROJECTS:
The core Think Big projects included the construction of the Mobil synthetic-petrol plant at Motunui, the complementary expansion of the oil refinery at Marsden Point near Whangarei, and the building of a stand-alone plant at Waitara to produce methanol for export. Motunui converted natural gas from the off-shore Maui field to methanol, which it then converted to petrol on-site. Declining oil prices rendered this process uneconomic and New Zealand abandoned the manufacture of synthetic petrol.
The construction of the Clyde Dam on the Clutha River formed part of a scheme to generate electricity for smelting aluminium. Construction of a proposed smelter at Aramoana on Otago Harbour never happened — largely because of resistance on environmental grounds.
LIST OF PROJECTS
An electric EF class locomotive on the electrified section of the NIMT.
methanol plant at Waitara
ammonia/urea plant at Kapuni
synthetic-petrol plant at Motunui
expansion of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery
expansion of the New Zealand Steel plant at Glenbrook
electrification of the North Island Main Trunk Railway between Te Rapa and Palmerston North
a third reduction line at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, near Bluff
the Clyde Dam on the Clutha River.
MEASURING OUTCOME
No definitive study has addressed the issue as to whether Think Big brought positive economic benefit to New Zealand or whether it simply raised the country's debt levels. Opinions differ — the cost to taxpayers remains unknown, and no comparison of cost to results obtained has appeared. Some commentators believe the schemes delivered net benefits to the private sector only. Some[attribution needed] see the Synfuels and other projects as a way in which foreign multinationals had the opportunity to establish themselves in the then highly-regulated New Zealand market.
Little doubt remains that the New Zealand economy reaped substantial benefits from economic activity during the construction period, but the basic justification for the projects, a permanently higher oil-price, did not happen. Oil prices subsequently dropped in real terms.
Think Big did have a large positive impact on New Zealand's exports, and saved large quantities of commodity-imports through its process of import substitution. The industrial projects such as Tiwai Point continue to generate very sizable profits (for their largely overseas owners) that arguably cumulatively have outweighed the actual cost of implementing the Think Big projects. Power generated from the Clyde Dam, the expansion of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery (claimed[attribution needed] as having one of the most powerful catalytic crackers in the world), and the methanol produced at Waitara all provide examples of continuing positive benefits to the economy decades after the completion of the projects. New Zealand's balance-of-payments problem in the late 1980s would have loomed much more significantly if New Zealand had not had the benefits to its external accounts arising from Think Big.
Approval of Think Big, at least during and soon after the time of its implementation, tended to rely on party affiliations (with National Party supporters backing the projects, while Labour Party supporters opposed them). But Think Big no longer serves as an issue in New Zealand politics. Even much of the National Party subsequently came to perceive that Think Big sank New Zealand into huge debt without any significant return, accompanied by a generational repudiation of Muldoon's entire legacy.
More recent economic thought suggests that the policies of Think Big may have had no effect on the balance of payments at all. It is now believed that under a floating exchange rate, the balance of payments is directly linked to the equilbrium of savings and investment through Net Capital Outflow.
THREE WAYS TO THINK BIG AND START SMALL:
Get in the Right Frame of Mind
Entrepreneurship is a marathon not a sprint. It’s easy to succumb to the feeling of urgency to do everything now. But burnout and entrepreneurial fatigue can mean sabotage for your business as well as your personal life. Prioritize longevity and keep one eye on the horizon. Think about what pace you need to set now to maintain your stamina and enthusiasm for years to come.
Establishing good habits and resisting bad ones go a long way to preventing burnout. I have several strategies for staying refreshed: setting and sticking to my work/life boundaries; making space for creative thinking time; and taking vacations. When I don’t practice these habits, I feel compromised and overwhelmed. When I do, I am optimistic, creative and energized.
Don’t Be Afraid to Experiment
Think about the big questions that drive your business. What challenges are you trying to solve? What changes are you going to make to your industry? How will you know when you’ve succeeded? While these questions can help to keep the big picture in mind and your mission in focus, they don’t exactly inspire a neat step-by-process. And the truth is that there may be multiple, viable alternatives instead of one clear “right” answer.
Instead of pre-determining a hypothetical outcome, get clarity by experimenting with various strategies. Experimentation will help you get more information, test the market, and build momentum for the big master plan. It will also help you get products into the marketplace faster and help you resist the inclination to be a perfectionist. For example you can test retail concepts with a pop-up store, improve products with focus groups, and test services with pilot participants. Consider the biggest question facing your business and what experiments might yield the necessary data.
Brush Up on Your History Lessons
What businesses or entrepreneurs to you look to for inspiration. Its important to identify businesses you want to be like when you grow up. But remember, these entrepreneurial superheros had beginnings too. Do some research to find out their early days were like. Learn from their lessons and take note of their milestones and decisions points. Seeing their journey helps to demystify the process and makes your business heroes human. It’s helpful to know that all business heroes had doubts and doubters of their own.
It’s also important to dismantle your own myths of the overnight success. For example, few people realize that Hanky Panky, the famed lingerie company, had already been in business for 27 years before they scored the front-page Wall Street Journal article that made them a household name. Instead of focusing on their impressive brand recognition or their significant market share, see what insight you can glean from Hanky Panky’s recent decision to build a robust e-commerce site after being exclusively wholesale or their recent introduction of several new product lines. What can your business learn from this example and the examples of the giants in your industry?
Keeping your focus on building long term momentum, establishing good habits and taking small steps can help build momentum that will take you closer to your business goals.
THE POWER OF THINKING BIG:
We've been conditioned to think small, simplify, not to be greedy, and to overall expect less and demand less from life. We’ve been taught that we should be happy and thankful with what we have and that there are many others less fortunate than ourselves.
I read somewhere that, as an experiment, someone put two adverts in a newspaper. They were for the same job, doing the same work with the same hours, but one of them offered to pay a salary many times the other. Guess what? About ten times more people applied for the lower paid job! People think small. And that's one of the reasons they fail.
Most people are afraid of thinking big, they're scared to be successful, scared to be rich. For most people, being rich is a pleasant dream, but they're comfortable with the dream - it's nice and it makes them feel good. But truly successful and wealthy people take it to the next level - they are committed to being rich, to being successful, and they're prepared to keep on keeping on until the dream becomes reality.
You can have anything you want - ask for it, choose it, be committed to it. Start thinking big. Ask for MORE. Life is like that - by its very nature it grows, it evolves, it seeks to be more than it is, it acquires. That's not a bad thing. The bad thing is that we've been taught to be small and to accept less. The tragedy of many people's lives is that they think there's not enough to go round and they mustn't take more than their fair share. But there is enough - enough money and enough success and enough of everything - the universe never runs out, it just keeps on making more and more. What a pity we don't ask for it! The more you get, the more you can inspire others, you more you can share, the more you can contribute to everyone around you, the more you can enrich the world.
Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God; your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us, it is in everyone, and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
WHAT DOES IT REALLY MEAN TO THINK BIG?
If you have something valuable in mind, a service to offer, an idea to develop, or even your own raw talent to use, then you owe it to yourself – and to others – to increase its scope. Why settle for anything less than the full potential of what you can do with it?
But, as I discovered, thinking big needs:
Vision. To think big, you need to see big.
Courage. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Thick skin. If what you have in mind is at all worth doing, then others will express doubts about it along the way.
The fact is, when you have a strong enough vision, the courage takes care of itself. When you can see, hear, and feel your vision, then you simply have to pursue it, however crazy it might seem to others.
7 TIPS TO THINK BIG
If you suspect you've been thinking too small, here are seven tips to help you think bigger.
1) Remember everything starts small
Rome wasn't built in a day; in fact, it started as a few hillside hamlets. Actually, the whole human race was once half a dozen scattered tribes in Africa. Microsoft began as a backroom business. Richard Branson started his empire using a public phone box as his office.
Everything starts out small. If we are to believe the astrophysicists, then everything around us – the whole Universe – originated from a form smaller than you can possibly imagine. So it doesn't matter where you are at present because from small beginnings come great things.
2) Think bigger by enlisting others
Okay, Rome wasn't built in a day; neither was it built by just one person. The biggest thinkers get other people to dream their dreams and enact their plans for them.
Thinking big means taking yourself out of the picture, at least to some extent. Trying to do everything on your own will keep things small.
Not every home computer was sold over the counter by Bill Gates. Henry Ford certainly didn't make and sell all his own cars personally. And J.K. Rowling didn't publicise, print, and bind the 400 million plus Harry Potter books that have sold.
To think big, you need to see yourself as a small part of a greater whole. Enlist people who are better than you at certain aspects of what you are developing. If you're not the most organized person, don't just lament the fact; find someone who is über-methodical.
Big thinkers know their personal limitations. Gather people around you who can do what you can't to ensure your dream grows.
3) Think big by focussing on future regrets
Every day I think about the words of the writer Sydney Smith:
"A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort."
It's a cliché to say: "We regret not the things we did do, but the things we didn't." But unless you see how far you can take something, you'll never know how far it could have gone. You'll always be wondering.
If you have big plans (or even not so big ones), just close your eyes – right now. Yes, right now! And strongly imagine not having even tried; never even having attempted properly and looking back in ten years' time and wondering: "What if…"
4) Feel it your human duty to think big
When something is potentially a real service to mankind, then it is a human duty to think and act big. I'm thinking mass immunization, clean drinking water, and decent education. But even if what you have to offer isn't Nobel Peace Prize material, it still pays to think big. When I started out as a hypnotherapist, I worked locally with people. Now, with my various websites, I find I can help people with anxiety, depression, and other difficulties all over the world. If local people appreciate what you do, then it's likely you'll have an international audience, too. This leads naturally to…
5) Now, more than ever, is big-thinking time
Mass communication and the huge proliferation of internet use over the last decade means that a global market or audience has never been easier. Now it's natural to think globally rather than just locally. The internet is made to facilitate big thinking. Whatever you are aiming at, the effects can be magnified and reproduced worldwide. So the question is: "Why on Earth not think big?" But thinking big is also a habit you can develop:
6) Create big thoughts
Unless you can clearly conceive great things for your enterprise, you won't get there. Become used to sitting down and envisaging in great detail exactly what your goal is. How your ideas will look, sound, and feel once they are realized. How will lives be changed? What will people say about your global phenomena? What will you be doing day-to-day and how will it all hang together? Who will be working on it? What exactly will they be doing? Roger Elliott, his wife Lyndsay Swinton, and I sat down before we began our business and planned out exactly how we wanted it to look in one year, five years, and beyond. We linked fantasy to practical goal planning, and all I can say is that we under-estimated how far we could take our business.
So to really get things moving, do the following exercise…
7) Use the "time machine exercise"
A warning: There is a danger of getting so taken up with fantasies of success that by the time it actually comes to taking the first steps, all the momentum is lost. If you spend hours strongly imagining having won the lottery, eventually the thought of actually having to go buy your ticket seems almost mundane.
So visualize all the steps needed to complete your dreams. You can do this exercise with another person.
Make believe you have reached the stage where your dream has "gone big." (Or let me help you with this part by clicking on the free audio below)
Now get the other person to question you as to how exactly you arrived at where you are now (in make-believe land).
Your friend needs to be relentless, almost as if trying to catch you out. "What was your very first step to becoming this successful? How did you get the initial money? Who helped you? What are their names? What happened next? What colour is the door of your international office? How much is the rent there?"
Your job is to be as convincing as possible in your answers. Pretty soon you'll find it start to feel amazingly real to you. Your friend's job is to ask as many practical questions as possible. This links fantasy to practicality in a very powerful way.
As you reply, get your friend to write down all the steps, put them in chronological order, and number them. He can also ask "negative questions" like: "What was the hardest thing about all this? What have you had to sacrifice?" (TV watching? PlayStation?) But also: "What does it feel like now?" and: "What's the best thing about having realized your dream in this way? Describe your typical day now."
Now close your eyes whilst your friend talks you slowly through each step that you have drawn up together. Strongly imagine, as if seeing yourself in a movie, completing all the steps that you had envisaged during the "fantasy interrogation." Once you have done this, it will become much more likely that you will begin to actualize the real steps toward creating your ultimate goal, rather than just endlessly fantasizing about life once you've arrived.
Thinking big is one way of fulfilling your potential, but if you're an aspiring Hitler or Genghis Khan, disregard all of the above and go retire in Eastbourne.
MAGIC OF THINKING BIG:
The Magic of Thinking Big gives you useful methods, not empty promises. Dr. Schwartz presents a carefully designed program for getting the most out of your job, your marriage and family life, and your community. He proves that you don't need to be an intellectual or have innate talent to attain great success and satisfaction, but you do need to learn and understand the hab...more
Regards,
Jagriti Srivastava [B.Tech ]
Web Developer / Blog Master
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