In this Issue:
Wash Your Bowl - increase productivity
Facilitating meetings, coaching, advising - ZBA services
Passion, Skill, Economic Engine
Practice of Patience
Upcoming Workshops
Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration; The Book
"Wash Your Bowls" - Increase productivity; connect more deeply
There is a famous dialogue from ancient Chinese Zen literature in which the student says to the teacher, "I'm here. Please teach me." The teacher responds, "Have you eaten your breakfast?" When the student affirms that she has, the teacher says, "Then wash your bowls."
Hidden within this seemingly cryptic dialogue are many simple and useful lessons that we can apply to our work and our lives. The message is that meaning and connection are right in front of us, in the midst everyday and basic activities. We each have the ability to bring mundane activities alive - by being attentive, curious and open. How often do we hold back from being truly alive and present, waiting for just the right situation, job, or relationship? How often are we doing one thing without paying attention, only as a means to get to the real work? If only things were different, then we would engage... Once we do this unimportant thing, then we will get to the real activities...
Our work, and the mundane activities of our work lives, can be an expression of our innermost wishes, dreams and intentions; a way to connect with our true calling and a way to help others open to new possibilities; right in the midst of emails, phone conversations, and meetings. Being engaged, bringing our surroundings alive, increases our capacity, productivity, and creativity.
There is a wonderful line from a David Whyte poem:
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn
Anyone or anything
That does not bring you alive
Is too small for you.
This doesn't mean that we should reject things and people that don't bring us alive. It is up to us to look within ourselves and to bring our work and our lives alive. Please, wash your bowls.
Planning and Facilitating Staff and Board Retreats; Coaching; Advisor to Entrepreneurs
A Retreat Can Be A Business Tool - Unlock the power of your team - Let ZBA Associates help plan and facilitate your Staff or Board Retreat.
Coaching Is a Way to Build Competency and Live a More Integrated Life - Bring your work and your relationships alive; have real, engaging and productive conversations, for you and your management teams.
Entrepreneurs need guidance and an informed, experienced perspective - ZBA Associates acts as an advisor and strategist to entrepreneurs.
Passion, Skills, Economic Engine
In his best-selling book Good To Great Jim Collins describes three circles in evaluating what distinguishes good companies from great companies, that can be useful when applied to entrepreneurs and small businesses: 1) What are you passionate about?; 2) What are you best at?; and 3) What is your economic engine?
Collins argues that the intersection of these three criteria make up the sweet spot of a great company's focus. In order for a business to be great, it needs to keep these three criteria always in mind.
In my consulting practice, particularly with start-up companies, entrepreneurs often have the passion and the skills. The missing piece, and often the most difficult to be completely honest about is the economic engine. What need is the business fulfilling? How much cash will it take to get the business off the ground? What are the cash flow requirements? What are the distribution challenges and competitive challenges?
Whether you work for a company, are a coach, consultant or entrepreneur, these three criteria can provide a useful lens or an everyday reminder.
The Practice of Patience
It takes great patience to build a business, to build a team, to develop as a human being. Zen practice describes three kinds of patience that can be applied to our work lives:
- Acceptance of difficulty - Is it possible to face difficulties at work directly? What about appreciating and learning from the messy and repetitive problems.
- Not acting hastily - This can be a real challenge in the fast-paced and constantly changing business environment - knowing when to move quickly, when to slow down. Even quick decisions don't need to be made with haste.
- Accepting what is true - This can mean being brutally honest about our work, our businesses, our people, financial situation, or our competition - an essential practice at work.
Recognizing, facing, and owning what is difficult can be a challenge, a transformation, and a gift.
Upcoming Workshops
Company Time, A Retreat For Business People
Saturday, September 17th, With Norman Fischer
How can we bring the spirit of honesty, integrity and clarify from our spiritual practice into our workplace?
10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Green Gulch Farm
Cost: $85
Call 415 383-3134 to register
Meaning and Connection: Integrating Life, Work, and Relationships
Saturday, October 1, With Pamela Weiss
Exploring what matters through cultivating Wisdom, Compassion, and Presence. A day of quiet, communication skills, movement, and some improv explorations.
10 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Green Gulch Farm
Cost $125
Call 415 383 3134 to register
Z.B.A. Zen of Business Administration: How Zen Practice Can Transform Your Work and Your Life
This book, released in February 2005 by New World Library, is available at your local bookstore or on Amazon. "I love this book. It is profoundly simple. It is understandable and accessible - a profound way to integrate life and work."
- Eileen Fisher, president of Eileen Fisher, Inc.