Many times, we resist change because change seems too big. Change is easier to accept, and to practice, when it’s small. This is the secret power of Kaizen.

Originally a Japanese management concept designed to improve business practices, Kaizen is a process aimed at reducing or eliminating unnecessary physical and mental work. It encourages people to create and perform experiments as part of their daily work lives in order to become aware of and eliminate waste in their jobs. The ultimate goal of Kaizen is to accomplish more by doing less.

Every once in a while I like to take beginning improv classes – a great way to explore and develop responsiveness, helps me with not over-thinking, and also a great way to play and have fun. (If you are in San Francisco, check out Bay Area Theater Sports

I once arrived at a class in San Francisco; the teacher entered and announced with much enthusiasm, “Today we are going to do improvised Shakespeare.” I could feel my body tighten; a touch of dread setting in. I turned to the teacher and said that I didn’t have a good deal of experience with Shakespeare, hoping she would change the topic. Instead, she looked at me and responded with an even more enthusiastic, “Great!”

I had lunch yesterday with Kaz Tanahashi, a world renowned calligrapher and translator, and friend. And also one of the most content, happy, and productive people I know. Kaz travels throughout the world teaching calligraphy and leading Zen retreats. He told me that upon returning from his travels someone recently asked him, “What’s your favorite city?” What a strange question, he thought. If he named a favorite city, then, when traveling to a city he didn’t name, he wondered if he would enjoy this city less. He answered by saying, “There are things I like about all the cities I visit.”

Of course, we are assessing, discerning, and “picking and choosing” all the time. We have to. At the same time, what Kaz is suggesting is that we not fall into the trap of measuring, of reducing the value of our experience by pitting a “favorite” against something that doesn’t qualify as a favorite.

Sometimes I’m amazed how many things can go wrong all at once. On a large scale there are recent devastating earthquakes, wars and violence, poverty, homelessness, and climate change. And then there is my life: After having lunch at a restaurant some time ago, as I returned to my car, I noticed that there appeared to be very little air in one of my front tires. When I arrived at the local gas station, I found two nails in the tire; two very different types of nails, less than half an inch apart from one another. At home I discovered that the furnace in my house wasn’t working. It made a very bad sound, providing me with images of a pending large explosion. When the PG&E repair man arrived, he got the furnace working, and then pointed out some rotting, broken boards on the small deck on the side of our house leading to the furnace. The bank called to tell me my account was overdrawn – I had made a mistake.

“Even while I’m working, I’m always resting.”

Last week I was interviewed by Joy Maulitz of KWMR Radio: Homegrown Radio in West Marin. Joy told me a story that I hadn’t heard before about Suzuki Roshi, founding Abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center.

The story is about when Suzuki Roshi was moving lots of large rocks and boulders around Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center, to build walls and to create a rock garden. Suzuki Roshi was in his 50’s and is just over five-feet tall. He was working with a group of healthy, young, men mostly in their 20’s. Someone approached them and noticed that the young men were panting and sweaty, while Suzuki Roshi, who apparently had done as much or more work than the others, was breathing normally, and barely sweating at all. When asked about this contrast, Suzuki Roshi replied, “Even while I’m working, I’m always resting.”

We are nearly always making choices about what to do, what not to do, and how to spend our time. I realize that in very difficult financial times, this might not always be the case. Even, and perhaps especially in difficult times, clarifying and expanding our view of what is most important, what really matters, is even more crucial.

I find that I’m regularly applying three questions to my work:
- Does my work have impact?
- Is my work financially sustainable?
- Is my work fulfilling?

Question #1: Does my work have impact? What I mean by this is does my work have positive impact. Since I do coaching, seminars, and leadership development, for me this means that I’m helping people by clarifying communication, building competency, increasing confidence – that my client’s businesses or organizations can be more effective. Are individuals and teams more able to be fulfilled and effective? This also means that I work for organizations that have a positive mission.

A quote from the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
“Competencies come in clusters. For top performance a person must master a mix of competencies, not just one or two David McClelland found that stars are not just talented in initiative or influence -- they have strengths across the board, including competencies from each of the five emotional intelligence areas: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy ad social skills.

Only when they reach a critical mass from the full spectrum do they emerge as outstanding -- something akin to a chemical reaction achieving the moment of catalysis. McClelland call this critical mass the “tipping point”.

Beautiful poem, Finding What You Didn’t Lose by John Fox. More info about his work can be found here: Poetic Medicine

Finding What You Didn't Lose

When someone deeply listens to you
it is like holding out a dented cup
you've had since childhood
and watching it fill up with
cold, fresh water.
When it balances on top of the brim,
you are understood.
When it overflows and touches your skin,
you are loved.
When someone deeply listens to you,
the room where you stay
starts a new life
and the place where you wrote
your first poem
begins to glow in your mind's eye.
It is as if gold has been discovered!
When someone deeply listens to you,
your bare feet are on the earth
and a beloved land that seemed distant
is now at home within you.

~ John Fox ~

This poem reminds me something written by Rumi, the 13th century Sufi poet:
Why do you search
For a loaf of bread?
When there is an
Enormous bakery

I’m in San Diego for a Social Venture Network Conference. SVN is a group of dynamic and inspiring business and non-profit leaders dedicated to creating social change through business. I first joined SVN about fourteen year ago, when I was CEO of Brush Dance publishing, and I’m now a member of the Board of Directors.

I believe that the purpose of business is fundamentally to provide goods or services that meet people’s needs. This is true of more than 99% of all businesses in existence. Businesses that exist merely to provide wealth for the owners, without providing value to customers do exist, but are extremely rare. Of course all businesses need to be profitable in order to be sustainable (just as all non-profits must find a way to be financially sustainable.

Here is a brief description of SVN:
Social Venture Network inspires a community of business and social leaders to build a just economy and sustainable planet.

Transitions
I’ve been enjoying reading the book Transitions by William Bridges, written more than 25 years ago.

Bridges presents a simple and useful framework to see that our life transitions consist of three parts: 1) the ending; 2) the neutral zone; and 3) new beginning.

When we look closely, we are often in transition; sometimes in seemingly insignificant ways; sometimes in more major or profound ways. Getting out of bed this morning, signaled the end of sleep – for me, a fairly significant ending. I love (and need) my sleep. This is an interesting transition, worth paying attention to. As my night ends, what is my state of mind? As I get out of bed and set my foot on the floor, am a grateful, or grumpy; rushed or at ease; do I even notice?