"Be deaf to my unpitied folly and all the gods go with you! Upon your sword sit laurel victory! And smooth success but strew'd before your feet!" Anthony and Cleopatra (Act I, Scene III)
This is a stupid question. Probably the reason why I feel so compelled to ask it. How do the masters in any field of human endeavor make the impossible look so effortless? A consistent trait of leadership in any craft, be it artists, engineers, boxers, parents, musicians, lovers or carpenters is the overwhelming sense of calm the true masters of their craft exude. When I watch them flow, working with such ease and elegance, a hungry confidence washes over me, the awe lifts the curtains on my naive belief that - "I could do that".
How do they do it? The answer is very simple. They know what they are doing. When they don't know, they don't waste precious fuel going round in circles, they stop and ask for directions. They act without fear of expectation. They are engaged in the work for its own sake. That is why their work has its own purity and is such a natural source of awe and inspiration.
"He hath rais’d the wall, and houses too. What impossible matter will he make easy next?" The Tempest (Act II, Scene I)
True experts take their time, enter the moment gracefully, patiently, seemingly effortlessly. Self appointed experts splash and drown in the noise of their own nonsense (taking in innocent by standers with them).
I spent today working at a large Japanese auto-manufacturer. I have spent a large chunk of my life in European and North American factories. The contrast is between success and failure is alarming. It continues to blow me away, how the accumulation of the smallest (seemingly insignificant) differences in values and behaviour can result in such a drastic difference in outcomes!
Not all Japanese firms get it, but the one I was working with today, does. They define the global standard. Whether it is the offices, car park, cafeteria, loading bay or the shop-floor, everyone glides along at a graceful pace. Suddenly you realize - they are all working at the same beat to the same destination. There is no panic. No screaming. No excuses. No blame. No shame.
These are ordinary people doing their honest little jobs with pride, dignity and an extra-ordinary obsession to succeed through each other.
Yes, I have seen them in a crisis mode, but that is exactly what it is, a temporary uncertainty, an unusual and unexpected difficulty that spurs immediate action to avoid a complete disaster. A mistake is made, the crisis arises, the team rallies, the disaster is averted, celebration and relief are followed by an honest autopsy. No blame, just learn, change and move on. In most other firms crisis is the norm, where on earth could they possibly find the time for this reflection and inquiry crap?
This company's competitors know what they do and how they do it (it is no secret) but they cannot replicate these masters. It looks easy, but it isn't. They have slowly, steadily and mercifully crippled their competition, forcing them to resort to mega-mergers and buy-outs, hemorrhage loyal employee's. Executives burn out and they are quickly replaced with new hope. The new band plays the same old tune. They have become the very thing they focus on. Failure.
"My bowels cannot hide her woes, but like a drunkard must I vomit them. Then give me leave, for losers will have leave to ease their stomachs with their bitter tongues" Titus Andronicus (Act III, Scene I)
"This ague-fit of fear is over-blown; an easy task it is to win our own" - Richard II (Act III, Scene II)
To 'win our own' is not the easiest task. We need to invest in ourselves. Define what should be done, bring in the right people, allow them to work with others, given the space and time to be true to themselves. We become whatever we focus on.
How hard can it be to do this? Well it is hard. It is virtually impossible for people who have not worked in this system to appreciate these so called "idealistic sentiments". Some say ignorance is bliss. I say it is a living hell.
"O! thou monster ignorance, how deformed dost thou look!"
Love's Labour's Lost (Act IV, Scene II)
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