In the mid 1990s, I began a more rigorous and purposeful search for wisdom. My search led me in two different directions. One direction was the research being done in the areas of human effectiveness, happiness and fulfillment. I will discuss this research in another post. The other was looking at the words and work of a handful of renowned experts who were still making contributions in their 70s, 80s and 90s. I wanted to learn from people with real experiential wisdom.
My criteria for the list was three fold:
1) exceptional professional contribution in an area of interest to me.
2) age 70 or older
3) availability of writing or interviews where the person discussed both their career and "living their life".
Some of the people on my short list are:
Shinichi Suzuki creator of the Suzuki method of talent education and the Suzuki School in Matsumoto, Japan
Margaret Mead, ground-breaking Anthropologist
W. Edwards Deming, Statistician and Quality Management expert
R. Buckminster Fuller, Architect and designer
Joseph Campbell, Teacher and Mythologist
Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Founder of the Sisters of Mercy
While I will not discuss my entire list nor even everyone I've just mentioned above in this blog, I will continue to incorporate these elders into both my sense of wisdom and the wisdom in this blog on a regular basis.
In exploring options for music lessons for my children, I went from superficial to deep knowledge of Dr. Shin-ichi Suzuki. While Dr. Suzuki (now deceased) is best known for his impact on music education, his work encompassed a new view of education, a new definition of talent and a deep compassion for children and their potential. He developed a parent-child-teacher model that is hard work for the parent, but defines supportive roles for everyone involved in a child's education, that is often lacking in our education system.
Dr. Suzuki's definition of talent was remarkable along two different planes of thought. First was his perspective that talent (the ability to produce a proper and beautiful result) was not something you were "born" with but rather it was something that could be nurtured and developed.
Whether the arts, athletics or academic performance we all too often confuse what is easy to master by a specific individual with talent and what is difficult to master by an individual with lack of talent. This was part of how Dr. Suzuki developed a system which created "world class" musicians at remarkably young ages.
The second plane of thought that was enlightening was the areas to which talent education could be applied and therefore expanded what was considered to be "talent". Dr. Suzuki specifically defined character as a talent which could be nurtured and developed.
His methods not only address learning the correct way to do something but also the way to unlearn incorrect methods or behaviors. When it comes to character development, unlearning improper behavior is often the thorny sticking point. In the United States there is a huge difference between knowing what is "right" or "wrong" and rigorously applying that understanding to our own behavior. It is easy to do the "right" thing when there are no adverse consequences to doing so.
A person, who handles things well in a supportive environment, may or may not possess fine character. That which is most needed by our society though is people who do the "right" thing when it is difficult to do so. Many business and political leaders in the past decade or so have squandered their opportunity to make a difference and their reputations due to failures in their character rather than in their intellect or abilities.
South Carolina Governor, Mark Sanford and New York Governor, Elliot Spitzer both damaged their reputations and families when they seemingly had incredible opportunities to impact the future of their respective states and the possibly the nation. Whether adultery, tax evasion or accepting bribes many of our leaders have failed to develop character in the ways that they have developed other skills and talents.
The Legacy Path, choosing and creating your personal legacy, does not require perfection, but it does require acknowledging ones mistakes and learning from them. One must not distance themselves from the negative feedback or the consequences of their failures. The roots of learning and developing character come from making small mistakes and correcting them no matter how embarrassing or painful. The talent of character comes from daily practice of values within a spiritual path guided by a set of beliefs.
There is a Jesuit motto that I often use; "repetitio est mater estudiorum" or "repetition is the mother of learning". I have added my own corollary to this; "Suffering is the Father of Learning". The real question for us becomes not, will we develop character, but rather how much pain must we endure before we practice the restraint that character demands.
The exercise of restraint to facilitate more powerful and more meaningful action, the acknowledgement of one’s mistakes and failures based on an internal compass that is more sensitive than societies accepted norms and the ability to accept failure with humility and forgiveness and try again without forgetting are key parts of developing the talent of character.
As Dr. Suzuki often said when the musical talents of his students received applause and recognition. The goal of education in my school is not to produce fine musicians but rather fine human beings. Imagine how much greater the impact upon our organizations, institutions and society when those who are highly skilled in performance ability are also highly skilled in personal character.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
The Call of the Wild and Recreation
For whatever reason, I have been spending a lot of time studying both the book and film, "Into The Wild". This is the story of a bright, college educated (Emory University) and relatively privileged young man who died at the age of 24 of starvation in the Alaskan bush near Denali National Park. Christopher McCandless (the young man) was an idealist and had rejected his family and disappeared into the vastness of the American west after his graduation from college.
He spent two years travelling as a "foot tramp", working odd jobs and camping mostly on the fringe of small cities and towns. He made occasional treks into the wilderness prior to his "Alaskan adventure" but did not really do any serious long-term ventures in the wilderness. Although it depicts him kayaking in the Grand Canyon in the movie, if you read the book (Jon Krakauer), you will find that his travels were in an aluminum canoe in the flat lower stretches of the Colorado river and eventually in the Gulf of California.
He read Thoreau and Jack London amongst others, who both championed the wilderness and man's experience of it. Thoreau's approach was based upon his direct experience and philosophical, whereas Jack London wrote romantically about Alaska while living a sedentary life in California. I will write again about Chris McCandless and my take on the lessons to be learned from his life stance and misfortunate accidental death but in this blog, I want to elaborate about wilderness.
Why does this story grasp me? I have always loved the wilderness and the "west". I used to imagine living in remote Canada or Alaska when I was a teenager in suburban Buffalo, NY. My first camping trip to Allegany State Park in 1969 with my boy scout troop was a transformative experience for me. I worked five summers at Camp Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee and attended the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as way to live and work in the outdoors. My first job after college was in the Adirondacks where I lived for almost six years. Most of my time in real wilderness occurred in the Adirondacks where I hiked, camped, skied and snowshoed. As my economic circumstances improved, I began to travel out west when I could. I have driven and spent time outdoors through out the Rocky Mountain West, Desert Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
The wilderness is both incredibly beautiful and life threatening at the same time. I remember being awake at night in my tent in Yellowstone in the early fall of 1997 and listening to large animals (Elk in rut mostly) moving through the campground at night. This was my first night of camping where all that separated myself from a Grizzly bear was a thin fabric. There was both joy and fear and living in the moment. When you are listening for Grizzlies your mind is cleared of lots of the usual garbage that takes up its time.
In Steven Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Covey lays out the demands upon our time (and mental energy) on a grid that looks at importance versus urgency. In the quadrant where importance is high and urgency is low, you will find both "relationship building" and "recreation". Covey goes on to describe what he means by recreation and talks about the renewing or refreshing properties of real recreation. I believe that spending time in the wilderness is powerful because of its ability to leave us refreshed or renewed.
In the wilderness, whether it's a desert sky or mountain vista, it is easy to see the world without humanity and modernity. It is easier to see and experience the more elemental or basic needs of living. It is easier to shed, if even for a moment or two, the mental conceptions and burdens that we and others with our compliance have placed upon ourselves.
When you have been working hard at creating and it seems to be getting harder to make progress, it is often time for renewal or recreation.
My friend and business associate Evan Smith, used to regularly remind our clients of Abe Lincoln's wisdom on tree cutting; When you find that the cutting is getting tougher, it is time to stop and sharpen the saw. Do you take time to sharpen the saw?
He spent two years travelling as a "foot tramp", working odd jobs and camping mostly on the fringe of small cities and towns. He made occasional treks into the wilderness prior to his "Alaskan adventure" but did not really do any serious long-term ventures in the wilderness. Although it depicts him kayaking in the Grand Canyon in the movie, if you read the book (Jon Krakauer), you will find that his travels were in an aluminum canoe in the flat lower stretches of the Colorado river and eventually in the Gulf of California.
He read Thoreau and Jack London amongst others, who both championed the wilderness and man's experience of it. Thoreau's approach was based upon his direct experience and philosophical, whereas Jack London wrote romantically about Alaska while living a sedentary life in California. I will write again about Chris McCandless and my take on the lessons to be learned from his life stance and misfortunate accidental death but in this blog, I want to elaborate about wilderness.
Why does this story grasp me? I have always loved the wilderness and the "west". I used to imagine living in remote Canada or Alaska when I was a teenager in suburban Buffalo, NY. My first camping trip to Allegany State Park in 1969 with my boy scout troop was a transformative experience for me. I worked five summers at Camp Ti-Wa-Ya-Ee and attended the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry as way to live and work in the outdoors. My first job after college was in the Adirondacks where I lived for almost six years. Most of my time in real wilderness occurred in the Adirondacks where I hiked, camped, skied and snowshoed. As my economic circumstances improved, I began to travel out west when I could. I have driven and spent time outdoors through out the Rocky Mountain West, Desert Southwest and Pacific Northwest.
The wilderness is both incredibly beautiful and life threatening at the same time. I remember being awake at night in my tent in Yellowstone in the early fall of 1997 and listening to large animals (Elk in rut mostly) moving through the campground at night. This was my first night of camping where all that separated myself from a Grizzly bear was a thin fabric. There was both joy and fear and living in the moment. When you are listening for Grizzlies your mind is cleared of lots of the usual garbage that takes up its time.
In Steven Covey's book, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People", Covey lays out the demands upon our time (and mental energy) on a grid that looks at importance versus urgency. In the quadrant where importance is high and urgency is low, you will find both "relationship building" and "recreation". Covey goes on to describe what he means by recreation and talks about the renewing or refreshing properties of real recreation. I believe that spending time in the wilderness is powerful because of its ability to leave us refreshed or renewed.
In the wilderness, whether it's a desert sky or mountain vista, it is easy to see the world without humanity and modernity. It is easier to see and experience the more elemental or basic needs of living. It is easier to shed, if even for a moment or two, the mental conceptions and burdens that we and others with our compliance have placed upon ourselves.
When you have been working hard at creating and it seems to be getting harder to make progress, it is often time for renewal or recreation.
My friend and business associate Evan Smith, used to regularly remind our clients of Abe Lincoln's wisdom on tree cutting; When you find that the cutting is getting tougher, it is time to stop and sharpen the saw. Do you take time to sharpen the saw?
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