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Hi August,
I read your article and loved it. But I have a question. How can an organization seek perfection without structure and dedication to perfecting that structure?
Tony
Dear Tony,
I never disagreed with your emphasis on structure. I am doing just that for a hot new start-up in New York right now. What I think you don’t understand are some lines from a movie called Hearts of Darkness where Francis Ford Coppola is directing Dennis Hopper.
Coppola says, “Dennis, you don’t know your lines.”
Hopper says, “But Francis, you told us to forget our lines.”
Coppola “Yes Dennis, but you learn your lines first. THEN YOU FORGET THEM.”
Most people don’t want to go to the trouble of learning their lines. They don’t want the work and constraint of structure. But there does come a time when structure must be transcended. This is most true concerning the intellect. Einstein wrote extensively of the genius that only starts where the intellect ends, as did Kierkegaard. (For the record, I am not anti intellectual. We must push the intellect to the brink and then let go of it.) All in all I have to laugh at your criticism. Most people who know me in business and otherwise think I am a fanatic for structure!
What do I do?
Today, notice the short cuts you tend to take and why you take them. Then ask yourself if you could learn anything from these missed experiences. Avoid these short cuts that keep you from learning lessons and gaining valuable experiences and “mental toughness.”
Don’t figure it out, find out:
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Evaluate your motives. What are you working so hard for? Listen as Turak tells us what’s really wrong with America…the bigger picture behind our economic woes.
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Learn the essential stages of every path to transformation. Read how Turak struggles through golf lessons one step at a time, only to find that the same stages apply to life.
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Commit to something and stick to it. Read how two experiences in college led Turak to risk everything and accept an invitation to transformation.
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Admit that without a change of heart, we are all in a “race to nowhere.” Watch this video about how children are reacting to culture’s definition of success.
What are some of the things that you avoid doing that could be determined short cuts? What do you think you’re missing out on by doing this?