Sometimes we struggle through a tasteless coffee till its last sip. Then we find sugar lying at the bottom unused.
That's LIFE: (My Haiku on it...)
Why blame others for the hell !!
It's sweet but not stirred well..!!!
That's the dilemma of a teacher or a coach or a guru: Students forget that they themselves are the sugar. Students forget that even 'the knowledge' is sugar. They forget to 'stir' it (as also to 'stir' themselves) well!
Above message received on social media reminded me of a student of Kaizen who bumped into me on a flight.
To my question, how was Kaizen journey-to-excellence going on in his company, his response was: "Well back to 'business as usual', 'full of fire-fighting, blaming-naming', 'no time to breath', etc."
Like most do typically on leaving school, he seemed to have forgotten 'teachings' of the Kaizen-school. That the Kaizen journey itself is to get rid of such ills so that it 'helps' to take 'full-breaths'. Kaizen journey is to get people aligned towards this thought.
It's human tendency to have divergent desires and get defocused by their changing thoughts and desires. They keep dragging themselves towards the undesired: typically in a corporate setting towards individual goals. However it's the role of the leadership team to help individuals to find leads for their 'desires' in the goals of the mutual interest, towards the very purpose of its existence. It's their prime role to keep them aligned towards achieving them.
It's a compulsion by market-forces. It's a compulsion to keep improving continuously to perform at higher levels marching towards excellence while serving the stakeholders; ultimately the society and the environment. In absence of this, the daily (unmeaningful) grind is sure to make you gasp for breath every moment and perish one day.
My friend, the leader himself, had forgotten the role of leadership taught in Kaizen-school: One, that of enabling all stakeholders to make improvements. Two, that of forcing 'crying' people in particular (the ones not having 'desire' to do so) to 'get off the way'.
His leadership team had also forgotten to keep itself updated on newer ways and means to do so in order to adopt to changing environment.
External coaches in Kaizen-school can show the what-why-how way and walk them by holding hands only a little far. Beyond that it is the role of internal leadership team to perform the corporate-parenting of passionately walking the shown way and taking their stakeholders along.
It was evident in his 'off the school' response that his company had forgotten it's responsibility of mastering the art and science of 'making the coffee'.
Their leadership team had forgotten it's role of being a learner, of keeping their knowledge warming. They had forgotten to keep their knowledge-of-sugar stirring.
Also read a few relevant blogposts hereunder:
WOW Work-Culture: By Telling or Selling
Suggestions On-Sale, None-To-Buy
In-a-problem? No-problem-dwell-a-while
Ridiculous Poison-culture versus Maverick Kaizen-culture
Can-changing-thoughts-change-a-nation
Taken-For-Granted ? You Deserve It !!
In-big-problem? Wear-hats-to-solve-it!
Do you exercise your choice meaningfully
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