“The Power of Simplicity”
by Jack Trout with Steve Rivkin
McGraw-Hill, 1999
The K.I.S.S. Principle, as most of us probably know by know, is a curt reminder to “keep it simple, stupid.” No offense meant, but it is also a frank advice – for public speakers – to “keep it short” – the speech, that is.
“Simplicity is beauty” – as we learned in grade school – has been elevated to “simplicity is power”. To rhetoricians, there is power in the simplest words carrying distilled wisdom. To chess grandmasters, there is force in simplifying the strategy that penetrates the opponents’ ranks. To generals, there is invincibility in simply marshaled troops. To scientists like Albert Einstein, there is compelling truth in a theory reduced to a simple formula. To preachers, there is might in the simplest truths of Jesus’ parables.
And, allow us to add, to author Jack Trout and co-author Steve Rivkin, there is power in cutting through the nonsense of complexity in business – because that means doing things right. Extolling the virtues of simplicity, they practice what they preach in a simply designed book titled “The Power of Simplicity.”
Tackling 23 issues covering the basics of simplicity, management strategies, leadership principles and people matters – the book proves that it can be a tour de force, minus the forced effort of reading through a voluminous piece. Why? Because in only 191 pages, the authors lead the reader to every conceivable issue an executive must grapple with to succeed in business.
The book begins with wit and wisdom associated with “common sense” – which has become uncommon – and with “complex language.”
Taking off from Leonardo da Vinci’s views of common sense, the authors call it “supersense that rides herd over our other senses.” For example, they say, common sense dictates that Xerox should not venture into high technology businesses other than copiers – because it has made a name in the copying business. For not listening to this uncommon quality, Xerox lost a lot of time and money.
The section on language that “clouds people’s minds” is a joy to read, especially with translations of famous sayings. Consider this: “It is not efficacious to indoctrinate a superannuated canine with innovative maneuvers.” (You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.) What about this: “Visible vapors that issue from carbonaceous materials are a harbinger of imminent conflagration.” (Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.)
Touche’, Mr. Trout – you have made your point. We hate to say it, but many of our reports and memos really use such convoluted language.
The authors continue to target some business icons and dash to pieces their theories and diagrams simply because they are full of intersecting arrows, boxes and circles. They take to task Michael Porter, Harvard’s strategy guru, and his complex discussion of the five competitive forces – and offer their own recommendation couched in a single word: positioning.
They question Nike’s “Just do it” slogan, and volunteer the line “what the best athletes in the world wear.” It makes rational sense, but does it have “gut appeal”? The authors recommend: “Kill the frogs” in Budweiser’s ad; instead stress the heritage behind the Budweiser brand.
The authors tell the gurus, “Give us a break.” We reply, “O come on!” We may have a case of simplicity going too far.
But, as you move on, you will continue to agree with the authors’ insightful analysis. On companies’ customer orientation, Trout and Rivkin say that too much lip service is paid to such policies as “customer is always right” and “customer is king”.
They reveal that, in a survey by Inc. Magazine among CEOs of 500 fastest-rising companies about their concerns, the responses showed that CEOs are more concerned with competitive strategies (18%), managing people (17%), keeping up with technology (13%), managing growth (13%) and managing finances (12%). Asserting that “customers did not even make the list,” they volunteer this simple customer policy: “You should treat customers so they (1) buy more, and (2) complain less,” adding, “Make them feel smart about being your customers.”
You will find yourself agreeing with the authors on some points, and then disagreeing with them especially when they demolish the theories of your favorite management experts. To be fair, the authors reserve their highest praise for author Peter Drucker and CEOs like Jack Welch and Andy Grove. The rest are not so lucky.
Actually, simplicity makes for user-friendliness. The authors cite the success story of the Palm Pilot Organizer, which was designed for just a few simple functions, making it a companion to PCs – not a replacement. They quote 3Com’s palm division: “Our mantra is simplicity.”
Business can be complex at times, and the mantra of simplicity may not work all the time. But, there may also be times when you can’t steer clear of the maze confronting you. And you need a distilled insight with razor-sharp focus to cut through a web of options. Then you know first hand the power of K.I.S.S.
Sunday, July 22, 2001
Sunday, July 15, 2001
Can we ever have the nation we want? UP's best minds predict when and how
“The Philippines Into the 21st Century”
By Jose V. Abueva (General Editor), et al
University of the Philippines Press
In one breath, with a palpable sense of despair, we ask: Can we ever get out of the mess our country is in? But, in another breath, proving that hope truly springs eternal from the Filipino heart, we earnestly seek an answer to the question: When can we have the nation we want?
Is finally having a better Philippines a simple matter of when, or a problematic matter of if ? Can we finally tear ourselves away from the vicious cycle of rising and falling expectations and from the seesaw between peace and conflict? Can we finally have choices beyond the unacceptable extremes of systematic authoritarianism, on one hand, and a bungling democracy, on the other?
Can we have real economic prosperity that truly deals with the plight of the poor, and not a prosperity that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer? Can we ever get out of the predicament of a flawed free society, to paraphrase a former American President, that “cannot help the many who are poor, (and therefore) cannot save the few who are rich?” Can we be spared forever from a leader who promotes a class war – wooing the poor and wishing woes for the rich?
While abroad, when can we be spared from the bad news of banditry and economic plunder, and instead be treated to the good news of heroism and economic growth in our country -- and so be touched by a sense of national pride?
Closer to the gut, we query: When can people go to bed without pangs of hunger? When can children have a life of fun and a secure future, and not a life of scavenging in the stench and squalor of a mountain-size garbage heap? When can farmers truly enjoy the fruits of their produce and fishermen get substantial earnings for their day’s catch – enough for their daily bread and some extra to secure a future?
The authors of the book, “The Philippines Into the 21st Century,” conclude – after exhaustive evaluation and rigorous analysis – that the Philippines is in for a full flowering of socio-cultural, economic and political institutions that will result in a brighter future for Filipinos by the year 2025 at the latest. At the concluding part of the 216-page book, they give this forecast:
“The chances look good for the consolidation of Filipino democracy. The nation’s cumulative democratic experience, including the recent and phenomenal expansion and strengthening of citizens’ organizations in civil society, helps in the rebuilding and institutionalization of democracy… Progress in economic and social development, if sustained is conducive to democratic consolidation. The global democratic revolution provides it with a favorable external environment.”
That’s not a sound bite, I know. It’s a mouthful. And yet it is the one passage that captures the message of the entire book, which is sub-titled: “Future Scenarios for Governance, Democracy and Development, 1998-2025.” And, more important, it is a statement that concludes an exhaustive multidisciplinary study about a huge subject like the entire country and about the longest road ahead of us called the “future.”
This is not your kind of book when you curl up in bed on a rainy day to get small doses of homespun wisdom or handy anecdotes. But this is a book that you must read, if you are in search for answers about the future of our country. For so long, we have been treated to viewpoints and opinions dished out so casually and so recklessly – and we therefore take their opinions with a grain of salt.
This book changes all that. The conclusions about where we as a nation are going and in what shape – plus in what possible dates -- are arrived at by 50 scholars and experts -- based on assiduously researched data, well-thought out premises, rigorously analyzed viewpoints, objectively tested findings, and systematically arrived at scenarios. We come away more confident that we have been given a road map for the future, and we are told that some of us are at the driver’s seat – and we must do our job well.
Be patient as you wade through the robust, if not clinical — but occasionally inspired — language of scholars, often stripped to the bare essentials of communicating fact and truth – because, along the way, you will encounter interesting questions as: Shall we shift from a Presidential to a Parliamentary form of government? Is it true that among 39 countries evaluated for student achievement in science and mathematics, the Philippines ranks 39th? You will invariably get informed answers.
You will have to be prepared for a rare encounter with the collective thought of the experts — top-notch academicians or high ranking government officials (past and present) — or both. You may start with the integrative framework at the beginning to encourage you. Then jump to the concluding notes that are punctuated by tables that, at one glance, tell you at what year we can achieve the best for the Philippines in nationhood, democracy, rule of law, health, etc. Then, make a reckoning that by 2019 or 2025, you would still be alive by then to savor the bright prospects.
In the same concluding notes, the authors reserve their best shot in a fitting clincher which focuses on the future leaders of the country, proposing five job qualifications -- covering competence, respect for human dignity, imbued with a vision, emphasis on character formation and commitment to preparing future leaders for orderly succession. Did our previous Presidents qualify? Check the book out on its evaluation of the watch of Marcos, Aquino and Ramos. Joseph Estrada’s all-too-brief stint was not included in the study.
And yet this concluding paragraph might as well be a timely reminder for the current President and for future Presidents:
“As history’s good and effective leaders have shown the world, only a few of them were saints; they were simply humans who emulated the best and tried always to aim high, to learn, and to transcend themselves. For they truly cared for the people under their responsibility. No less will be expected of the Filipino political-administrative leader in the 21st century.”
As for you, dear reader, if you care enough about whether we will ever get the nation we want, tap the rarely untapped critical mind in you, and be ready to discuss our common future with the best minds in this book.
By Jose V. Abueva (General Editor), et al
University of the Philippines Press
In one breath, with a palpable sense of despair, we ask: Can we ever get out of the mess our country is in? But, in another breath, proving that hope truly springs eternal from the Filipino heart, we earnestly seek an answer to the question: When can we have the nation we want?
Is finally having a better Philippines a simple matter of when, or a problematic matter of if ? Can we finally tear ourselves away from the vicious cycle of rising and falling expectations and from the seesaw between peace and conflict? Can we finally have choices beyond the unacceptable extremes of systematic authoritarianism, on one hand, and a bungling democracy, on the other?
Can we have real economic prosperity that truly deals with the plight of the poor, and not a prosperity that makes the rich richer and the poor poorer? Can we ever get out of the predicament of a flawed free society, to paraphrase a former American President, that “cannot help the many who are poor, (and therefore) cannot save the few who are rich?” Can we be spared forever from a leader who promotes a class war – wooing the poor and wishing woes for the rich?
While abroad, when can we be spared from the bad news of banditry and economic plunder, and instead be treated to the good news of heroism and economic growth in our country -- and so be touched by a sense of national pride?
Closer to the gut, we query: When can people go to bed without pangs of hunger? When can children have a life of fun and a secure future, and not a life of scavenging in the stench and squalor of a mountain-size garbage heap? When can farmers truly enjoy the fruits of their produce and fishermen get substantial earnings for their day’s catch – enough for their daily bread and some extra to secure a future?
The authors of the book, “The Philippines Into the 21st Century,” conclude – after exhaustive evaluation and rigorous analysis – that the Philippines is in for a full flowering of socio-cultural, economic and political institutions that will result in a brighter future for Filipinos by the year 2025 at the latest. At the concluding part of the 216-page book, they give this forecast:
“The chances look good for the consolidation of Filipino democracy. The nation’s cumulative democratic experience, including the recent and phenomenal expansion and strengthening of citizens’ organizations in civil society, helps in the rebuilding and institutionalization of democracy… Progress in economic and social development, if sustained is conducive to democratic consolidation. The global democratic revolution provides it with a favorable external environment.”
That’s not a sound bite, I know. It’s a mouthful. And yet it is the one passage that captures the message of the entire book, which is sub-titled: “Future Scenarios for Governance, Democracy and Development, 1998-2025.” And, more important, it is a statement that concludes an exhaustive multidisciplinary study about a huge subject like the entire country and about the longest road ahead of us called the “future.”
This is not your kind of book when you curl up in bed on a rainy day to get small doses of homespun wisdom or handy anecdotes. But this is a book that you must read, if you are in search for answers about the future of our country. For so long, we have been treated to viewpoints and opinions dished out so casually and so recklessly – and we therefore take their opinions with a grain of salt.
This book changes all that. The conclusions about where we as a nation are going and in what shape – plus in what possible dates -- are arrived at by 50 scholars and experts -- based on assiduously researched data, well-thought out premises, rigorously analyzed viewpoints, objectively tested findings, and systematically arrived at scenarios. We come away more confident that we have been given a road map for the future, and we are told that some of us are at the driver’s seat – and we must do our job well.
Be patient as you wade through the robust, if not clinical — but occasionally inspired — language of scholars, often stripped to the bare essentials of communicating fact and truth – because, along the way, you will encounter interesting questions as: Shall we shift from a Presidential to a Parliamentary form of government? Is it true that among 39 countries evaluated for student achievement in science and mathematics, the Philippines ranks 39th? You will invariably get informed answers.
You will have to be prepared for a rare encounter with the collective thought of the experts — top-notch academicians or high ranking government officials (past and present) — or both. You may start with the integrative framework at the beginning to encourage you. Then jump to the concluding notes that are punctuated by tables that, at one glance, tell you at what year we can achieve the best for the Philippines in nationhood, democracy, rule of law, health, etc. Then, make a reckoning that by 2019 or 2025, you would still be alive by then to savor the bright prospects.
In the same concluding notes, the authors reserve their best shot in a fitting clincher which focuses on the future leaders of the country, proposing five job qualifications -- covering competence, respect for human dignity, imbued with a vision, emphasis on character formation and commitment to preparing future leaders for orderly succession. Did our previous Presidents qualify? Check the book out on its evaluation of the watch of Marcos, Aquino and Ramos. Joseph Estrada’s all-too-brief stint was not included in the study.
And yet this concluding paragraph might as well be a timely reminder for the current President and for future Presidents:
“As history’s good and effective leaders have shown the world, only a few of them were saints; they were simply humans who emulated the best and tried always to aim high, to learn, and to transcend themselves. For they truly cared for the people under their responsibility. No less will be expected of the Filipino political-administrative leader in the 21st century.”
As for you, dear reader, if you care enough about whether we will ever get the nation we want, tap the rarely untapped critical mind in you, and be ready to discuss our common future with the best minds in this book.
Sunday, July 08, 2001
Eloquence: Not a monopoly of the high and the mighty
“In Our Own Words”
By Senator Robert Torricelli
and Andrew Carroll
Washington Square Press, 2000
Extraordinary thoughts and eloquent words are not a monopoly of the famous and the powerful. Unforgettable statements and speeches also come from the lips of ordinary people – if not more so – because these are spontaneous, are authentic expressions from life in the raw, or are surprisingly illuminating cutting through layers of formality or falsehood.
Who can forget Emma Lim, the cool and collected witness at the impeachment trial of the former President. Initially looking like a frightened chick under the shadow of a so-called legal eagle preparing his menacing claws and flamboyantly displaying his verbal tricks to trap her, Ms. Lim countered with words that are now part of the Philippines’ famous sayings: “Iniinom po ang iced tea, your Honor, hindi po kinakain.” It was an unintended repartee that left the famous law professor dumbfounded. The credibility of the witness was established by whether tea is drunk or eaten!
Or, three decades ago, a television personality – probably unaware that he was subjecting a favorite Martial Law slogan to ridicule – said: “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan,” a parody of the much-hyped “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan. The comedian was thrown behind bars, but his words rang out, because it exposed the sheer hypocrisy behind the new society battlecry.
Many books of quotations and speeches include in their anthologies pieces only from the rich, famous, infamous and the powerful. And most of these are politicians, statesmen, celebrities, infamous gangsters – but never words from those we usually call “ordinary people.”
That’s why this book, “In Our Own Words” – subtitled “Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century” – is a refreshing exception and truly a treasure. A collection of 150 speeches, the book at times present speeches in pairs. For example, in the celebrated case of sexual harassment against Judge Clarence Thomas, the book features both the Judge’s defense and the chronology of Anita Hill detailing the advances of the accused.
The vision of the future of 11-year old Samantha Smith’s follows a great speech of United Nations Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick excoriating the Soviet Union for shooting down a passenger plane. A rare collection is the tandem of versions of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s apology for his “improper relationship” with Monica Lewinsky – the first is the original draft, the second is the speech Clinton ultimately read. You will note the hazards of spontaneity and the extreme caution of Clinton’s masters of double talk.
The watchers of Hillary Rodham-Clinton -- erstwhile U.S. First Lady, now Senator – will now be convinced that this feisty lady had the guts even early in life when, in 1969, she took issue with the commencement speaker, a Senator from Massachusetts, on the themes of integrity, trust and respect. One’s admiration for Hillary’s mind and courage will increase as one reads her extemporaneous speech.
This collection captures the varied moods of every decade. For example, on the same year Hillary rebuked the commencement speaker, the first man landed on the moon and we have the pre-landing Christmas message from the crew members of Apollo 8 using a generous quotation from the Genesis account of the Creation, probably better appreciating the “good Earth” vis-à-vis the crater-punctuated Moon.
The book, spanning ten decades, does not only give the reader the extraordinary speeches of ruler and ruled, victor and victim, hero and heel – but it also gives one the events taking place all at the same time within a decade. One, therefore, gets the feeling of an ever active globe – while a scientific discovery is announced in America, a revolution is taking place in South America, a dictator emerges in Africa, and a people are being bombarded everywhere.
What makes the book’s account extraordinary is that its views of history in the making are taken from the varied vantage points of the speakers. You finish the book with the impression that truly man’s capability for mercy or cruelty is boundless; and that the human thirst for justice is matched by the inhuman drive for exploitation.
We also know that in the midst of advancing technologies, the human spirit continues to assert itself – and so still has “dominion over all the world.”
The words of Tom Brokaw conclude this amazing book, delivered before the graduating class in 1999, waxing nostalgic about a time gone by, and summoning a new generation of leaders to confront the problems and opportunities offered by the then coming millennium. He mentions two lessons in history:
“The short lesson: technology is not enough, not even when it comes with a generous package of stock options, sabbaticals, and leased time on a private plane.
“The long lesson? It is not enough to wire the world if you short-circuit the soul.” In this book, one learns more about this soul when one listens to the voicesof the mighty and the lesser mortals upheld by the Almighty.
By Senator Robert Torricelli
and Andrew Carroll
Washington Square Press, 2000
Extraordinary thoughts and eloquent words are not a monopoly of the famous and the powerful. Unforgettable statements and speeches also come from the lips of ordinary people – if not more so – because these are spontaneous, are authentic expressions from life in the raw, or are surprisingly illuminating cutting through layers of formality or falsehood.
Who can forget Emma Lim, the cool and collected witness at the impeachment trial of the former President. Initially looking like a frightened chick under the shadow of a so-called legal eagle preparing his menacing claws and flamboyantly displaying his verbal tricks to trap her, Ms. Lim countered with words that are now part of the Philippines’ famous sayings: “Iniinom po ang iced tea, your Honor, hindi po kinakain.” It was an unintended repartee that left the famous law professor dumbfounded. The credibility of the witness was established by whether tea is drunk or eaten!
Or, three decades ago, a television personality – probably unaware that he was subjecting a favorite Martial Law slogan to ridicule – said: “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, bisikleta ang kailangan,” a parody of the much-hyped “Sa ikauunlad ng bayan, disiplina ang kailangan. The comedian was thrown behind bars, but his words rang out, because it exposed the sheer hypocrisy behind the new society battlecry.
Many books of quotations and speeches include in their anthologies pieces only from the rich, famous, infamous and the powerful. And most of these are politicians, statesmen, celebrities, infamous gangsters – but never words from those we usually call “ordinary people.”
That’s why this book, “In Our Own Words” – subtitled “Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century” – is a refreshing exception and truly a treasure. A collection of 150 speeches, the book at times present speeches in pairs. For example, in the celebrated case of sexual harassment against Judge Clarence Thomas, the book features both the Judge’s defense and the chronology of Anita Hill detailing the advances of the accused.
The vision of the future of 11-year old Samantha Smith’s follows a great speech of United Nations Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick excoriating the Soviet Union for shooting down a passenger plane. A rare collection is the tandem of versions of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s apology for his “improper relationship” with Monica Lewinsky – the first is the original draft, the second is the speech Clinton ultimately read. You will note the hazards of spontaneity and the extreme caution of Clinton’s masters of double talk.
The watchers of Hillary Rodham-Clinton -- erstwhile U.S. First Lady, now Senator – will now be convinced that this feisty lady had the guts even early in life when, in 1969, she took issue with the commencement speaker, a Senator from Massachusetts, on the themes of integrity, trust and respect. One’s admiration for Hillary’s mind and courage will increase as one reads her extemporaneous speech.
This collection captures the varied moods of every decade. For example, on the same year Hillary rebuked the commencement speaker, the first man landed on the moon and we have the pre-landing Christmas message from the crew members of Apollo 8 using a generous quotation from the Genesis account of the Creation, probably better appreciating the “good Earth” vis-à-vis the crater-punctuated Moon.
The book, spanning ten decades, does not only give the reader the extraordinary speeches of ruler and ruled, victor and victim, hero and heel – but it also gives one the events taking place all at the same time within a decade. One, therefore, gets the feeling of an ever active globe – while a scientific discovery is announced in America, a revolution is taking place in South America, a dictator emerges in Africa, and a people are being bombarded everywhere.
What makes the book’s account extraordinary is that its views of history in the making are taken from the varied vantage points of the speakers. You finish the book with the impression that truly man’s capability for mercy or cruelty is boundless; and that the human thirst for justice is matched by the inhuman drive for exploitation.
We also know that in the midst of advancing technologies, the human spirit continues to assert itself – and so still has “dominion over all the world.”
The words of Tom Brokaw conclude this amazing book, delivered before the graduating class in 1999, waxing nostalgic about a time gone by, and summoning a new generation of leaders to confront the problems and opportunities offered by the then coming millennium. He mentions two lessons in history:
“The short lesson: technology is not enough, not even when it comes with a generous package of stock options, sabbaticals, and leased time on a private plane.
“The long lesson? It is not enough to wire the world if you short-circuit the soul.” In this book, one learns more about this soul when one listens to the voicesof the mighty and the lesser mortals upheld by the Almighty.
Sunday, July 01, 2001
Give your student, yourself an ‘A’ to unlock vast growth possibilities
“The Art of Possibility”
by Rosamund Stone Zander
& Benjamin Zander
Harvard Business School Press, 2001
We have had books on unleashing our individual or group creativity – like “Let Sparks Fly” (Executive Read, December 3, 2000), recommending “creative abrasion” in order to ignite the group’s creative fire, and “Six Thinking Hats” (Executive Read, February 18, 2001), which suggests liberating the thinking process from premature use of judgment that hinders the flow of creative juices.
The authors of these two books are serious and enthusiastic mentors cum authors on creativity and the thinking process, and have therefore applied scientific concepts on this very valuable human effort. Certainly, their views have been very useful to countless students and readers who have rediscovered the powers of an untrammeled brainstorming process, resulting in various workable concepts and ideas without fail.
From scientists, we thought, wouldn’t it be a good idea for a change to find out how artists themselves unlock their possibilities – be they poets, fictionists, painters or musicians? Lo and behold! We have such artists in the book titled “The Art of Possibility.” Co-authored by a husband-and-wife team – Rosamund and Benjamin Zander – the books ushers us into the lesser known but by no means magical world of the arts – landscape painting for wife and orchestra conducting for husband.
First of all, the book begins and ends with artists. It starts off with a poem by Emily Dickinson which begins: “I dwell in Possibility” and ends on page 197 with a quote from noted author William James which runs: “I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big successes. I am for those tiny, invisible loving human forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which, if given time, will rend the hardest monuments of human pride.”
The intention of the writers is to deliver the central truth that every individual, even the most ordinary one, is a marvelous creation – and, if only we can unlock their possibilities, such creation will emerge in dazzling reality. All through the book, a great quote from Michelangelo provides the underlying theme about the marvel that is the human person. The authors say: “Michelangelo is often quoted as having said that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within.”
The authors discuss the heartwarming results of their daring experiment to give an “A” to every student at the very start of a music class. Taking off from the point of the magnificent painter of the Sistine Chapel, they dared walk the path where angels fear to thread, saying: “If we were to apply this (Michelangelo’s) visionary concept to education, it would be pointless to compare one child to another. Instead, all the energy would be focused on chipping away at the stone, getting rid of whatever is in the way of each child’s developing skills, mastery and self-expression.”
An A, according to the authors, can be given to anyone in any walk of life – to a waitress, to your employer, to your mother-in-law, to the members of the opposite team, and to the other drivers in traffic (!?) When you give an A, you find yourself speaking to people not from a place of measuring how they stack up against your standards, but from a place of respect that gives them room to realize themselves.
“Your eye is on the statue within the roughness of the uncut stone,” they say with unmistakable lyricism, reminiscent of the beautiful tale of Pygmalion and Galatea – or “My Fair Lady” in modern garb.
This revolutionary concept – surprise! – succeeded in the most exacting environments the musicians found themselves in – the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the New England Conservatory of Music. Every musician played with passion, intensity and perfection – driven by the conviction that they were all A students.
More to the point, the book is telling its readers to move from “survival thinking” and “scarcity thinking” – a legacy from Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory – to the “universe of possibility.”
For example, the authors point out: “On the whole , you are more likely to extend your business and have a fulfilled life if you have the attitude that there are always new customers out there waiting to be enrolled rather than that money, customers, and ideas are in short supply.”
You will say that the authors, artists that they are, view the world with pink spectacles and are thus not oriented to the harsh realities of life. And yet you also know that many more leaders and thinkers are saying this – from Jesus Christ who says, “Take my yoke ... because it is easy” to Brian Tracy who points out that “the true leader radiates the confidence that all difficulties can be overcome and all goals can be attained.”
The authors also contend that many standards have all been “invented” – and, therefore, if these standards hinder our realization of possibilities, we should “invent” something else. They are actually recommending overhauling our view of limitations and possibilities. If they are a bit too optimistic, that’s because they have found success in every endeavor and experiment.
Those who take themselves too seriously are also told to lighten up. “When you are oriented to abundance, you care less about being in control, and you take more risks. You give away short-term profits in pursuit of a bigger dream; you may take a long view without being able to predict the outcome. In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.” That sounds like a crescendo in a symphony.
But, perhaps, there is really much to learn from Ben the orchestra conductor and Roz the painter. They know a lot more about harmony and color. It’s time we viewed our lives as a beautiful symphony.
by Rosamund Stone Zander
& Benjamin Zander
Harvard Business School Press, 2001
We have had books on unleashing our individual or group creativity – like “Let Sparks Fly” (Executive Read, December 3, 2000), recommending “creative abrasion” in order to ignite the group’s creative fire, and “Six Thinking Hats” (Executive Read, February 18, 2001), which suggests liberating the thinking process from premature use of judgment that hinders the flow of creative juices.
The authors of these two books are serious and enthusiastic mentors cum authors on creativity and the thinking process, and have therefore applied scientific concepts on this very valuable human effort. Certainly, their views have been very useful to countless students and readers who have rediscovered the powers of an untrammeled brainstorming process, resulting in various workable concepts and ideas without fail.
From scientists, we thought, wouldn’t it be a good idea for a change to find out how artists themselves unlock their possibilities – be they poets, fictionists, painters or musicians? Lo and behold! We have such artists in the book titled “The Art of Possibility.” Co-authored by a husband-and-wife team – Rosamund and Benjamin Zander – the books ushers us into the lesser known but by no means magical world of the arts – landscape painting for wife and orchestra conducting for husband.
First of all, the book begins and ends with artists. It starts off with a poem by Emily Dickinson which begins: “I dwell in Possibility” and ends on page 197 with a quote from noted author William James which runs: “I am done with great things and big plans, great institutions and big successes. I am for those tiny, invisible loving human forces that work from individual to individual, creeping through the crannies of the world like so many rootlets, or like the capillary oozing of water, yet which, if given time, will rend the hardest monuments of human pride.”
The intention of the writers is to deliver the central truth that every individual, even the most ordinary one, is a marvelous creation – and, if only we can unlock their possibilities, such creation will emerge in dazzling reality. All through the book, a great quote from Michelangelo provides the underlying theme about the marvel that is the human person. The authors say: “Michelangelo is often quoted as having said that inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within.”
The authors discuss the heartwarming results of their daring experiment to give an “A” to every student at the very start of a music class. Taking off from the point of the magnificent painter of the Sistine Chapel, they dared walk the path where angels fear to thread, saying: “If we were to apply this (Michelangelo’s) visionary concept to education, it would be pointless to compare one child to another. Instead, all the energy would be focused on chipping away at the stone, getting rid of whatever is in the way of each child’s developing skills, mastery and self-expression.”
An A, according to the authors, can be given to anyone in any walk of life – to a waitress, to your employer, to your mother-in-law, to the members of the opposite team, and to the other drivers in traffic (!?) When you give an A, you find yourself speaking to people not from a place of measuring how they stack up against your standards, but from a place of respect that gives them room to realize themselves.
“Your eye is on the statue within the roughness of the uncut stone,” they say with unmistakable lyricism, reminiscent of the beautiful tale of Pygmalion and Galatea – or “My Fair Lady” in modern garb.
This revolutionary concept – surprise! – succeeded in the most exacting environments the musicians found themselves in – the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the New England Conservatory of Music. Every musician played with passion, intensity and perfection – driven by the conviction that they were all A students.
More to the point, the book is telling its readers to move from “survival thinking” and “scarcity thinking” – a legacy from Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory – to the “universe of possibility.”
For example, the authors point out: “On the whole , you are more likely to extend your business and have a fulfilled life if you have the attitude that there are always new customers out there waiting to be enrolled rather than that money, customers, and ideas are in short supply.”
You will say that the authors, artists that they are, view the world with pink spectacles and are thus not oriented to the harsh realities of life. And yet you also know that many more leaders and thinkers are saying this – from Jesus Christ who says, “Take my yoke ... because it is easy” to Brian Tracy who points out that “the true leader radiates the confidence that all difficulties can be overcome and all goals can be attained.”
The authors also contend that many standards have all been “invented” – and, therefore, if these standards hinder our realization of possibilities, we should “invent” something else. They are actually recommending overhauling our view of limitations and possibilities. If they are a bit too optimistic, that’s because they have found success in every endeavor and experiment.
Those who take themselves too seriously are also told to lighten up. “When you are oriented to abundance, you care less about being in control, and you take more risks. You give away short-term profits in pursuit of a bigger dream; you may take a long view without being able to predict the outcome. In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold.” That sounds like a crescendo in a symphony.
But, perhaps, there is really much to learn from Ben the orchestra conductor and Roz the painter. They know a lot more about harmony and color. It’s time we viewed our lives as a beautiful symphony.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)