Values

I was invited as Chairman of the Sports Council to attend the blessing of the Maltese athletes chosen by the Malta Olympic Committee to participate in the forthcoming Games of the Small States of Europe in Monaco coming June. The ceremony was attended and said by the new Archbishop of the Catholic Church of Malta. He spoke about values, sport and business, amongst other things, and I would like to share some thoughts that struck me.

Good values are always good, because good is good anyway. Whether they emanate from crede, families, corporations or societies, values are what direct people. Values do not change irrespective of the circumstances. The Archbishop reflected that if we had to really be values-driven, in whatever we do, then personal attitudes in competition, whether in sport or in business would be probably more correct and ethical. Many times a competive strategy would include beating the players in the market or sport arena by playing the rules to your favour. This may breed bad feelings that hurt or offend competitors. If on the other hand we compete against ourselves always directed by our values, then any improvement warrants celebration. Winners are winners for what they do, whilst losers are losers for what they did not do. So I believe that as long as one does, one is always a winner and should celebrate and be celebrated. This is very evident in the traditional martial arts of Japan (Budo). All that we do is directed towards searching and perfecting oneself. Interacting this in shiai (practice with correct attitude), will serve as an exchange between the contestants, each giving their best for the other to learn from that very best, irrespective of who wins or loses. The students of the art bow to each other vowing this promise to each other. Declaration of the winner on that particular occasion will still take you back to the line in the training hall (dojo), where you are equal to the others. Values inherent in the traditional martial arts of Japan, as with the values referred to by the Archbishop in his talk, may have been put aside in the competitive arena, both in sports and in business.

Imagine if all the players in business had to be guided by good principles and values. I think that the world would be a much more pleasant place to be in. Some business persons 'shelve' their values by convenience, under the excuse that business rules are different. As I said, right is right and wrong is wrong. If that person portrays himself as a righteous person, then would it not be hypocracy if he had to tuck away the values of life in a business deal? I like to ask a simple question. If there was an opprtunity to make a million dollars, what would you do. The quickest reply would probably be, "I would grab that opptunity with the quickest agility possible". To my mind, a values-based answer would be more like, "I would in the least time possible assess whether that opportunity fits into my perception of correctness... if yes I would go for it with all my might and energy!"

From my experience, people who reply in the first phraseology more often than not, result to be persons with low morality in fiscal, commercial and personal behaviour. They would evade taxes, skin a person given the opportunity in business and show traits of selfishness in their personal relationships. The other breed of persons who answer in the second way, I normally find them more correct and comfortable to live with.

Time brings change... only if you make the change

Came across some reading about change and thought of sharing this adage with you. Many say that time brings about change and that people change with time. But is it really time that brings about the change, or is the people. Pondering about this riddle leads me to conclude that change depends on the extent people want to change. For example in the classical martial arts, people endeavour to dig deeper and endeavour to gain more understanding without changing the tradition, culture, spirit and technique of the art. Is this right or wrong? Others have retained the moves and Japanese terminology, but changed the art into a competitive sport. The attitude and also techniques have been remodelled so as to accommodate spectators' expectations. Athletes still bow to each other before contesting for the podium, but many times, this is just a formality. The contest is an exhibition of the athletes' skill to perform within the furthest limits of the rules, as with any other competitive sport. This is fine, but different to the classical or traditional art, when students of it were practicing for life, not for competition the results of which are just a snapshot of one particular moment, and which are confined within the perimeter of the rules of the game. Is time that changed the martial arts, in this case, or is it the people. It could be argued that time rendered the study of martial arts for defence and for life less important, and people's quality of adapting to change, preserved an otherwise close-to-extinction art by modifying it into a sport with specific competition rules. But considering on the other side of the argument that there are still people like myself, who are fascinated by the culture, the spirit and the tradition of the martial arts of Japan, and who therefore preserved them for future generations, as they were. Research and practice are directed towards deeper understanding and self-perfection, rather than to develop into something new. It is very much like heritage groups who organise re-enactments as faithful as possible to how historic events actually happened. I think many people are still fascinated by this anyway.

As the Jack Daniels commercial says, 'Some things never change... Jack Daniels is one of them!' This is a typical example of how this entity built a reputation for itself and perhaps made it its competitive advantage. Lesson is that even if the Darwinian Theory on change and adaptation holds true, and in business, we are taught how to carry out external and internal analysis and reviews to come up with the SWOT analysis and then to chisell the corporate strategy, certain entities choose to stick to tradition. Needless to say, they do this only because their market analysis reveals that the market is still receptive and responsive to their product or service, even if sticking staunchly to tradition and refusing change.

So I am inclined to conclude that people make changes because of time and depending on what they percieve needs change. I am a person with a generous appetite for change, but I would not change the traditional values and methods of classical karate just to adapt to today's world. Reason is that I am passionate about the the origin of the legacy that was handed down to us by masters of the art who dedicated their lives to the study of the art.

Empty your cup

I remember an old adage told in the martial arts community that went about a person who was so set in his system of fighting, and also so convinced that his way was probably the best. He went on a journey to discuss his style with a grand master and the old sage quickly understood that this martial artist was so set that it was futile to discuss anything. This person only listened to himself. So the old sage invited the visitor to have tea. And so they did. The old sage started pouring tea into the cup of the visitor, until it was overflowing. And he continued to pour tea looking at the visitor in the eye. The visitor anxiously started to wipe the mess and told the sage "Master the cup is full... it cannot hold any more tea!" And the sage then apologised, emptied the cup, and again poured but this time enough tea that the cup could hold. The master asked the visitor "Why did the cup overflow wasting all that good tea?" The visitor understood that this question had an obvious answer, and therefore searched hard for the true question behind the question. The sage explained. As much as the cup that was so full could not take any more tea, so is that person who is so full of himself, thinking he knows all, that inhibits him to learn and acquire new knowledge. As Confucius said, “He who knows not and knows not he knows not: he is a fool - shun him. He who knows not and knows he knows not: he is simple - teach him. He who knows and knows not he knows: he is asleep - wake him. He who knows and knows he knows: he is wise - follow him.”

So the lesson is 'empty your cup' and you will be open to new knowledge. My teachers in karate, business and life, who have really inspired me, have always had this common quality. They give all they have, withholding nothing to remain above the rest. It seems that this 'emptying of the cup' makes space for newer knowledge and development. And as much as I try hard to be like them, they always remain a few notches above me!

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Decisive, focussed and swift

Today there has been published my official exit from the accounting firm I was a partner with for the past seventeen years. I mentioned in a previous blog that as with martial arts, in business and in life's decisions, timing is of essence. I would like to add here that with timing, it is also decisiveness that makes a decision effective. Indecision will only erode on time and miss out on opportunities. In karate we learn about kyo, or dead-time. It is when an opportunity comes into focus and very temporarily, in your mind, it lays still. Your reaction to that should be immediate and decisive. In martial arts it becomes somewhat different to taking a business decision in that the mind has to connect to the body and the body should respond with the least time delay. In business it is the mind that takes the decision and coordinates the action necessary to effect that decision.

In iaido, the art of drawing the sword, the draw and cut have to be decisive, focussed and swift. Only then can one cut clean through the makiwara. True that the katana or Japanese sword, is made with an impressive degree of craftsmanship and the blade is amazingly sharp. But that is just not enough to cut swiftly through the makiwara made of a bamboo core and packed tightly in straw. It is untiring practice, honing of skills, and the unification of the mind and body, decision with the action, that will exhibit the beauty of the clean cut. Quite analogous to business acumen, I think.

Hence the new name of my business consulting firm - KATANA Consulting

Philosophers at the cafe'

Thought of sharing some postulations of two gentlemen I coincidently met at the cafe' yesterday. Whilst casually chatting with the owner of the cafe' on this bright sunny morning under the cool canopy of South East cafe' at the quaint fishing village of Marsaxlokk in Malta, this person butted into our conversation, philosophising about life. How short or long life is, and relative to what. Anyway, one thought leads to another and we found we were contemplating about what sport and karate means to me, especially when they found out that apart from being much into karate, I am also chairman of the national governing body of sport in Malta. There was a whole metamorphosis of arguments and deliberations. We found ourselves talking about sport, competition and shogai karate, meaning life-long practice of karate. I have done my fair part in competitive karate, but I must admit that my passion is in the classical study of karate. Sport karate is very much finite by its very nature due to the epitome of results in competition. Unfortunately, the term karate seems to have been in recent years strongly associated with competition, and hence sport. Karate is an old system of self defence transformed into an educational system with contests, or shiai, done only to test oneself. There was only an observer and it was the practitioners in the contest that knew who had won and who had lost. The observer was there just as a witness. One has to remember that karate was practiced with a certain degree of diligence that brought with it respect for punches, strikes, kicks and smashes. These were practiced endlessly to build confidence that the only difference between life and death in combat, was a karate technique expressed at the right time and distance. At that time karate was known as karate-jitsu. That is why in a contest, an attacking person knew when he won as much as the other person receiving the attack without defending properly himself, knew that he lost. Sport karate has to some extent lost this respect for oneanother and for the nobility of the art and science in the techniques itself. As with any any other type of competition, the aim of the athlete is to strain her performance to the limit of competition rules and the skill effort directed more at achieving the result under the rules of the game. Here lies the essence of the difference between sport karate and shogai karate.

But needless to say, perceptions differ and I think that the age of people leads them to look at things differently. However, I think that whilst it is entertaining to compete in sport karate, it would be a pity if the art that was developed and used by humanity to defend itself against assailants, be forgotten. To me, it is this that fascinates me. I wonder what frame of mind did warriors have when practicing for their life.

Timing is of essence

Yesterday was a day that put me into some serious reflection of events that happened to me in business in the last several months. Without going into much detail, with the help of a dear friend, junior to me by several years, but with qualities of special focus, Jakob Kegel, I started to contemplate that I needed to reconsider my position at my place of work. We were trying to transform an organisation, but that transformation was not fully subscribed to by key persons. My objective was to build the organisation further to a point that made it more durable and also to a point that would have made it saleable, so as to maximise the value to its owners. Anyway, hard as Jakob and myself tried, we understood that we had come to a flat plain. This is where timing became of essence!

As we learn in martial arts practice and study, our focus should be on opportunity. But knowing there is opportunity is only the first step. Knowing without doing is only a means to an end. The end is when we are capable of knowing and doing. Although I have been studying martial arts of over thirty years, it seems that this essential quality that I can ably apply in the dojo, just did not occur to me in my business environment. Jakob is not a martial artist, even if he is a person with a vast array of knowledge and interests. Yet it was he who enlightened me to apply what I knew - that my time was up and it was time to move on. My channels were then open and on the 1st March I made a swift cut. There was the opportunity. The value of the organisation was at its best height in the circumstances and therefore it was time to sell.

I say yesterday was a day that put me into so much reflection, because yesterday I closed the deal. Martial arts of Japan were skillfully transformed in the Meiji transformation period, into an educational system. This is one subtle lesson. Timing...

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Thoughts on Karate-do will feature my understanding and experience in the study and practice of the art and science of Japanese karate-do. This has been my passion and my life. Stay connected.