Thursday, June 14, 2007

Japan design concepts

Interesting design concepts of Japan:
  1. Heisei - The peacefull mind
  2. Kaizen - Striving for perfection
  3. Kanso - Getting more with less
  4. Kessaku - Creating masterpieces
  5. Makoto - Building sincerity into products
  6. Meisho / Deshi - Master / Apprentice approach
  7. Mono-no-Aware - Things that touch the heart
  8. Mushin - The power of the empty mind
  9. Myo - The ultimate quality of beauty
  10. Shibui - Eliminating the unessential
  11. Shizenbi - Nature's standard of beauty
  12. Zen - Recognizing reality
Source:
Boye Lafayette De Mente
Tuttle
ISBN: 978-080483749-1

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Autobiography in five short chapters

Autobiography in five short chapters
by Portia Nelson

I
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

II
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place
but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V
I walk down another street.

Friday, June 8, 2007

One stick, two stick

Story:
One stick, two stick: the way of the old African kings

An old man is dying. He calls his people to his side. He gives a short, sturdy stick to each of his many offspring, wives and relatives. "Break the stick," he instructs them. With some effort, they all snap their sticks in half.

"This is how it is when a soul is alone and without anyone. They can be easily broken."

The old man next gives each of his kin another stick, and says, 'This is how I would like you to live after I pass. Tie your sticks together in bundles of twos and threes." He waits quietly as his family ties the sticks together. There are many bundles, some of two sticks, some of three sticks. "Now, break these bundles in half."

No one can break the sticks when there are two or more in a bundle. The old man smiles. 'We are strong when we stand with another soul. When we are with others, we cannot be broken."

Moral of story:
In our aloneness we are broken and in our standing with others we cannot be broken.

Source:
What dying people want
David Kuhl
Pg xxviii
PublicAffairs
ISBN: 1-58648197-5

Grieving

5 stages of grief
  1. Denial
  2. Anger
  3. Bargaining
  4. Depression
  5. Acceptance
Source:
On grief and grieving
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, David Kessler
Pg 7
Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 0743263448

Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Desire and fear

What is desire and fear?

Sense from:
Eckhart Tolle
Page 58 -59
New World Library
ISBN: 157731400X

Most people's lives are run by desire and fear.
Desire is the need to add something to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All fear is the fear of losing something and thereby becoming diminished and being less.

These two movements obscure the fact that Being cannot be given or taken away. Being in its fullness is already within you, Now.

Friday, June 1, 2007

World Cafe questions

Questions for all seasons

Here are generative questions that we and other colleagues have found usefull to stimulate new knowledge and creative thinking in a wide variety of situations around the World. Look at these questions to jump-start your own creative thinking about the most appropriate ones for your specific situation.

Questions for focusing collective attention:
What question, if answered, could make the greatest difference to the future of the
situation we're exploring here?
What's important to you about this situation and why do you care?
What draws you / us to this inquiry?
What's our intention here? What's the deeper purpose - the "big why" - that is worthy of our best effort?
What opportunities can we see in this situation?
What do we know so far / still need to learn about this situation?
What are the dilemmas / opportunities in this situation?
What assumptions do we need to test or challenge in thinking about this situation?
What would someone who had a very different set of beliefs than we do say about this situation?

Questions for connecting ideas and finding deeper insight:
What's taking shape here? What are we hearing underneath the variety of opinions being expressed? What is in the center of our listening?
What's emerging that is new for you? What connections are you making?
What have you heard that had real meaning for you? What surprised you? What puzzled or challenged you? What question would you like to ask now?
What is missing from the picture so far? What are we not seeing? Where do we need more clarity?
What has been your major learning or insight so far?
What's the next level of thinking we need to address?
If there was one thing that hasn't yet been said but is needed in order to reach a deeper level of understanding / clarity, what would that be?

Questions that create forward movement:
What would it take to create change on this issue?
What could happen that would enable you / us to feel fully engaged and energized in this situation?
What's possible here and who cares about it?
What needs our immediate attention going forward?
If our success was completely guaranteed, what bold steps might we choose?
How can we support each other in taking the next steps? What unique contribution can we each make?
What challenges might corne our way and how might we meet them?
What conversation if begun today, could ripple out in a way that created new possibilities for the future of [ our situation. . . ]?
What seed might we plant together today that could make the most difference to the future of [ our situation. . . ]?

Source:
Juanita Brown, David Isaacs, World Cafe Community
Pg 173
Berrett-Koehler
ISBN: 9781576752586