The Shibumi Strategy E-Book

Matthew E. May

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 138

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

Gold Medal Winner, Business Fable, 2012 Axiom Business Book Awards A personal leadership fable on applying principles of Zen to work & life choices. The Shibumi Strategy is a little book about a big breakthrough. It tells the story of a hardworking family man who finds himself in crisis when his company closes. Through his struggle, and guidance from unlikely sources, he learns subtle lessons in the form of "personal zen" principles, coming to understand that it is often the involuntary challenge, the setbacks, that harbor the power to transform. When approached as an opportunity -- no easy task when simple survival is the first order of business--unforeseen trials can sometimes result in an altogether new lease on life. * Shows how "personal leadership" can lead to real (and not always easy) breakthroughs * Includes key lessons on commitment, preparation, struggle, breakthrough, and transformation * Is based on Shibumi, a Japanese word without literal definition that describes the height of personal excellence, elegant performance, and effortless effectiveness. For those struggling with personal breakthroughs, The Shubimi Strategy offers a new way to face work and life challenges for balanced solutions.

Leseprobe

contents

Introduction

The Fable

The Commitment

The Preparation

The Struggle

The Breakthrough

The Transformation

The Practicum

Note to Reader

Reflections on Shibumi

Kata for Practice

Genchi genbutsu

Hoshin

Kaizen

Hansei

Notes and References

Glossary

Reading and Resources

About the Author

Praise for The Shibumi Strategy

“This is a treasure of a book, and just the kind of uplifting medicine that’s needed right now. It’s about something that in the west we don’t even have a name for, and yet it holds the key to finding our way in challenging times. When you know how to look at the events of your life, everything is there to show you what you can’t see on your own, and offer you opportunities that you normally walk right by. No matter your life circumstances, this is the kind of book that can (and almost certainly will) change your life.”

—Sarah Susanka, author, The Not So Big Life and The Not So Big House series

“The Shibumi Strategy is a simple but affecting tale—a must-read for anyone looking to make sense of breakthrough change at work and in life.”

—Ori Brafman, coauthor, Click: The Magic of Instant Connections

“What an exquisite story! Matt May deftly weaves ancient wisdom with modern realities, revealing how each of us can embrace the struggle inherent in any meaningful breakthrough—and use it to transform our own potential in work and life.”

—Sally Hogshead, author, Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation

“The Shibumi Strategy tells a touching story with a universally resonant message you’ll want to keep close to your heart and share with others.”

—Maddy Dychtwald, author, Influence: How Women’s Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better

“This exceptional book is a game-changer. Read it. Apply it (fast). And step into your next level.”

—Robin Sharma, author, The Leader Who Had No Title and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

Copyright © 2011 by Matthew E. May. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Imprint

989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax [phone], or on the Web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax [phone], or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax [phone].

Jossey-Bass also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

May, Matthew E.

The shibumi strategy : a powerful way to create meaningful change / Matthew E. May.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-470-76950-8 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-470-89214-5 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-89215-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-0-470-89216-9 (ebk)

1. Commitment (Psychology) 2. Zen Buddhism. I. Title.

BF619.M39 2010

158—dc22

2010025176

To Deva, Kendal, Koreen, and Morgan, may the spirit of shibumi always inhabit heart, mind, body, and soul.

To my father, who taught me at an early age that “all things change, and we must change with them.”

Though a thousand times a thousand men are conquered by one in battle, the one who conquers himself is truly the master of battle.

–GAUTAMA BUDDHA

the shibumi strategy

introduction

There are times in life when if fortunate we experience a moment of utter clarity. We feel wide awake and connected and balanced: everything makes sense, we know exactly who we are, what we want, and why we’re here. In that moment, be it one blink or a thousand, our effectiveness is maximal. And yet our actions seem minimal, effortless even, and the experience is consummately satisfying.

These are breakthrough moments.

There is an ineffable quality to these experiences. Some have tried to define and describe them using English terms—such as zone and flow—that are inadequate to capture the essence of the moment, mostly because they simply compare the feeling to something known yet ultimately inferior, or express merely some part of the whole.

These are moments of shibumi.

Shibumi is a Japanese word, the meaning of which is reserved for just these kinds of experiences. With roots in the Zen aesthetic ideals of art, architecture, and gardening, it is used in a wide variety of contexts, and has come to denote those things that exhibit in paradox and all at once the very best of everything and nothing: Elegant simplicity. Effortless effectiveness. Understated excellence. Beautiful imperfection.

James Michener referred to shibumi in his 1968 novel Iberia, writing that it can’t be translated and has no explanation. Soetsu Yanagi in his 1972 book The Unknown Craftsman talked about shibumi in the context of art, writing that a true work of art is one whose intentionally imperfect beauty makes an artist of the viewer. The author Trevanian (the nom de plume of Dr. Rodney William Whitaker) wrote in his 1979 best-selling novel Shibumi, “Shibumi has to do with great refinement underlying commonplace appearances.”

Sometimes these moments of shibumi register in our consciousness. Yet when they do, we don’t really search for an explanation, think about a deeper meaning, learn from them, or even give thought to how we might extend the experience.

What if we are constantly being sent signals and offered opportunities, but because we are so involved in our mad rush to survive the day, we simply don’t receive them? What if we’re stuck, asleep at the wheel, and we just don’t know it, because our conventional ways of thinking, rigidly structured routines, and solidly set minds block us from discovering what the universe is calling us to do?

And what if there was a way for us to actually engineer some sort of personal process that lets us break through those barriers and discover how to live a life in pursuit of shibumi?

One way to answer these questions is to examine more closely the events that direct us this way and that, treat them as learning moments in order to draw lessons from them, and then think about the kinds of steps to take and connections to make—in our work, in our personal lives—that might precipitate a breakthrough and put us on the path in pursuit of shibumi.

Perhaps this simple fable helps shed some light. While it is purely a work of fiction, the story is an amalgam of real experiences, some relayed to me over the years by friends and family, others of my own (I became familiar with the various concepts supporting the pursuit of shibumi over the course of an eight-year engagement with a Japanese company). And although the events are fictional, the philosophies, principles, and practices revealed in the story are quite real, grounded in both ancient Eastern philosophy and current Western neuroscience.

With any luck, it will touch a universal chord while enabling you to find your own uniquely personal interpretation.