Daily Times

Even Steve Jobs made a mistake in his assessment of Segway, a two-wheeler electronic machine on which the driver stands upright to commute from one place to another. Invented by Dean Kamen who was known as America’s Batman for his innovation and entrepreneurship, it is a fascinating device, no doubt about it. Soundless, smooth and easy to maneuver, just watching it is a lot of fun. You may have also noticed security guards of some shopping malls in the US riding Segway in the mall corridors during their duty hours.

Anyway, mesmerised by its drive, the founder of Apple thought the new device might transform the world of transportation. It would push people away from their old ways and compel them to buy Segway for their intracity drive, where both space and pollution remain a big problem. Thus he offered Kamen to invest both money and time in its development, but Segway never emerged as an alternative means even after more than 10 years, what to talk about revolutionising the local transportation. And its developers have to date lost millions of dollars on the project.

Why did Jobs fail to correctly predict the future of Segway? As Adam Grant mentions in his book Originals, it happened because Jobs got too passionate about a product that lay out of the domain of his expertise. His discipline was personal computers and software development in which he was a legend, but outside his field, his intuition, for which he was known for, was as good as mine or yours.

That means that if we have to assess the brilliance of Jobs, in order to be fair, we have to assess him within his domain and not outside, a mistake that we all make very frequently. In other words, if we have to evaluate a lawyer, we have to inquire about his expertise in the matters related to courts, jurisprudence and constitution. For a physician, it would be his empathy towards his patients, his diagnostic approach and the treatment plan, not his driving capabilities. Similarly, if an army has to be evaluated, it has to be done on its military record, not on its administrative prowess, its interest in real estate development or training a cricket team. I think you already know after the last two cricket matches, all public displays of salutes and push-ups have disappeared.

At the same time, if we have to comment on a politician we have to look at his career in politics and question if his involvement in politics makes political institutions weaker or stronger. We cannot and must not while evaluating his politics discuss his talent as a cricketer, a hockey player, a businessman, a spiritual leader or a philanthropist. And the reason for doing that would be the same: domain specificity. So if I have to assess Mian Nawaz Sharif as a politician I will ask if his presence in politics brings stability in the democratic process or jeopardises it, or if his administration helps enforce the law and order or ignores it. If it were a real question posed to me, the answer would be yes to both the options. In early 1990s, the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) destabilised more than it stabilised the system. However, ever since Sharif was thrown out of power by General Pervez Musharraf, it appears as if he has learnt not to play with fire, and has led the party to strengthen the constitution. Having said that, PML-N’s role remains negative in transferring power to the grassroots level through local bodies.

After the new chain of agitation against corruption has begun from Peshawar since last week, the second one in less than three years, most people are asking about the role of Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaf (PTI) and Imran Khan in strengthening the system. The answer to that is even more difficult.

In his political career, the former cricket captain, has indeed motivated thousands of young individuals to become passionate about Pakistani politics again. Disenchanted by the way their country was being run, the youth had grown increasingly indifferent about the affairs of the state. But Khan reassured them that with their support he would be able to change the direction of the country. He sounded confident just like Jobs did while riding the Segway; however, that confidence did not translate into action in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the last three years. Shrouded with scandals, Pervez Khattak-led administration at best has performed average. Sure, it is not as bad as Qaim Ali Shah’s slumbering government in Sindh, yet when its performance is pitted against the party’s own tall claims, it seems like it is inching towards progress at a snail pace instead of leaping for a resounding change.

Why do we see a discrepancy in Imran Khan’s words and actions? My theory, again, is that it is domain inexperience. He may be a legendary cricketer and philanthropist, but as a politician I am not too sure about his capabilities. His supporters, as diehard fans as they are of his personality, must also make this differentiation. The research is very clear that experts in one domain perform like an average person outside their field. Khan may sound honest and sincere, but listening closely, you get the feeling that he understands his weakness too. That is why he keeps bringing up cricket analogies while talking about politics and his challenges in building the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital while discussing how a new Pakistan would be created.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com