Timing the Peak: Timley Action

Whilst away this week in the island of Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, it really hit upon me that principles are universal; if you see something with an eternal principle in play, you will be able to see it anywhere you go, in anything you see. Many people today are all about making an impact, making ones presence known, etc. However, it is often the case that people who have such mentality, with very little substance underneath, will quickly fade. Their legacies will not really touch people, they may have a great temporary effect on people, and cause somewhat of a craze, but if we analyse the factors are play here, around acting at the right time, we will see that our i) ability to act and ii) the need for action are two different factors that need to be continually monitored and aligned with more and more consciousness.

The Phi Phi Waves

The beaches of Koh Phi Phi, which includes many of those used in shooting the film The Beach, are very serene, and those areas that are secluded, like corridors almost, have very calm waves. One morning, however, after a electric storm with thunder and lightning, the waves were a lot stronger. After looking at the way the waves wash up the shells, and stones on the sand, it was interesting to see how far each of the waves come. I then began to try to predict which waves would come furthest into the shore. It was very interesting; those waves which seemed to have most power, go up very high, and with a lot of force from afar, would very often simply blend into the rest of the water before coming anywhere near the shore. Whereas often, the waves that would go furthest, would peak just about 10 meters before the shore, and then go a further distance. Immediately the parallel could be drawn. There are those people who are all about making their presence known to everyone, particularly the seniors, and who actually have much less to show for when it comes to the delivery of results. Whereas, often the quieter individuals, are doing what they need to in the background, speaking to the right people, at the right times, for the right things, and not necessarily expecting an immediate return or increase in profile, who rise to a more lasting prominence; they peak at the right time. It is absolutely not that we need to be very calculated, or have some ulterior motive to talk to senior people, but actually the opposite; to be gracious, and to value their time. Cultures across the world and across people are different, and to really apply this principle intelligently, sensitivity to this is critical. I once asked a monk what it means to use ones intelligence. He replied, it means to be sensitive. So this is also applicable in this context; we must learn to not be the noisy vessel, and use our intelligence to interact with people in a very noble, and yet focused way.

Conditioning the Shins

I was speaking with a member of my Muay Thai Centre who was training for quite a big fight in Bangkok. He said that he was working on conditioning his shins; or making them more resilient to high impact contact. When I asked more about the timing around such conditioning, he said it really was an art, and the timing and nature of such conditioning was critical to its success. He said if you begin conditioning too early then it will be too much to sustain, and if of course you start too late, it may not be enough to handle or make the impact needed. It was all a question of timing and extent. Similar to the waves, if the energy is invested early, it will fizzle. There was a clear parallel between all these lessons. In the corporate world we need to be very conscious that it is more often than not, a marathon not a sprint, and therefore we should really try to use our intelligence to map out and chart the two things i) our ability to act, and ii) the need to act. These two are often different, but often times, because of whatever reason, if we are able to act, we act. This is acting on impulse, and we often then peak early. If we however try to align our actions with the need to act, this will be far more effective, and allow a lot more preservation for the marathon that lies ahead.

Discipline: Too Hard, or too Soft?

How we react as leaders and managers, to the behaviour of those who work for us in the corporate world has a large parallel with how discipline is enforced in a country. The balance between being too strict, and being too light is very important in ensuring a healthy productivity and attainment of results, and morale. There are some enlightening conclusions coming from looking at human behaviour, historical trends, and what ancient wisdom has to offer in this field. When these things are all consciously meditated on, deeply internalized, and lived, they will give rise to conscious action towards others, which will in tern give rise to more effective management of the people who work for you as a leader.

One Extreme: Zero-tolerance

In the early formation of the Mongolian Empire, there were three tribes who joined forces. They were only in the hundreds by number, however within a very short period, conquered thousands. There was a trio of warlords from each of these three tribes who formed a close group who collectively made decisions regarding the next place they would attack, how they would govern, set rules, award punishment etc. They set a number of clear rules i.e. how the rank and file operate and whose orders must be followed. This system clearly worked and there wasn’t an issue with it, until something unexpected was encountered. At this time, a decision needed to be taken on how to manage that kind of newly encountered behaviour. The tribes had conquered a new territory, and in their barbaric celebrations, one of the warriors raped a woman of the conquered party. This news came out to the masses, and there were mixed opinions amongst the public. Some said anything should go as they were conquered, however others morally disagreed and thought a punishment should be meted out. This matter was then escalated to the trio of warlords, and they too had a mixed opinion. They debated. One said that if they set a hard punishment, they would need to be fair and identify such cases very diligently, which would create a burden and reduce their power. Another said that it should be punished to some extent in some appropriate manner. However, the strongest of the trio took the final decision in his own hands, and beheaded the person in front of all of the public. That was to be the rule; zero tolerance, and it sent a very robust message to all those who may have considered such an act. In corporate organisations we also see that making an example out of an incident does sometimes act as a strong factor to dissuade people from misbehaving. In countries like Dubai and Singapore, the crime rates are extremely low, and the punishments for crime are very severe. This is clearly one extreme, of setting a very high standard, and enforcing it rigidly as possible.

The Other Extreme: Over-tolerance

In Britain, the riots of 2012 some argue could have been contained better if powerful measures were enforced early. Britain was said by some to have been overly-tolerant of bad behaviour. A country which previously ruled most of the World, which has some of the most economic and political power at the world level, was bought to a state of nation-wide trauma, by a few groups of youths with a some home-made weapons; quite simply unacceptable. Some argue that making an example out of the first few cases would have been enough of a deterrent for some of the latter cases that ensued. The decision of making clear the consequences of bad behaviour was not taken, and as a result global reputational damage, what to speak of innocent people suffering, was what came to pass. The crime rate in the 1970’s through to the 1990’s in New York City was amongst the highest in inner cities in the world. Mayor Gulianni stepped in and enfored a zero tolerance policy in New York, which resulted in New York becoming a safer place by ten times, compared to the past. The book Freakonimics later argued that the reduction of crime was actually attributed to a reduction in the number of single parent families in New York; which has always had a very strong correlation with rates of crime independent of which country in the world, and especially in the US. So, was it Gulianni’s zero tolerance policy, or the reduction in single parents? Or both? If we look at the crime rates in some of the African countries, they are far higher than in the Western countries, however their police forces are given complete sanction to shoot on site, and in that sense, can be regarded more similar to the US police albeit with different types of internal governance, which may have a role to play also. The Mexican police force make heavy use of weapons and shoot on site, and yet the homicide rate in Mexico is continually extremely high. So it isn’t necessary that simply by imposing a severe punishment, discipline and good behaviour will be automatically attained. It depends on many factors. What is the nature of people being governed? What is the nature of the people who are governing? These are some of the considerations. In the corporate context, simply by setting hard deadlines, and imposing strict sanctions on under-performance, will not necessarily incentivize all people to really be creative and create value. It is more complex than that, and there is something missing from all the above systems.

The Missing Factor: Understanding

Discipline must be there; how it is attained is delicate, complex, and must be given attention. What is missing in all of the above systems and why have none of the rulers found a perfect balance? The great sage Bhishmadeva, concluded on this aspect of leadership very simple point, which if understood, and applied, can give a huge benefit to us. He said, “A leader must understand their subjects as a mother understands her child.” If we do not understand the people that work for us, what drives them, what motivates them, what can be used to discipline them, as individuals, then we will not be able to manage them; it is quite simple. However, modern management styles are fortunately moving towards this paradigm, with the emphasis on Emotional Quotient as opposed to purely Intelligence Quotient for example. Even then, this teaching of Bhishmadeva is extremely profound and takes the concept of management to the next level. There is surely work most of us need to do in this regard. Being sensitive of the environment we are in, if we begin to take the appropriate measures to apply this teaching, things will be very progressive, because we are all individuals, and it is refreshing to i) understand others, and ii) be understood. Bhishmadeva is coming from the perspective of a highly personalistic leadership style, which is closer to modern management than many of the styles we have seen in the decades that have gone by of command and control, and therefore we will certainly see great results if we try to apply this.

Value Maximised Interaction: Red pill or Blue pill?

Our lives are certainly busy, with many competing demands and different aspects of our livelihood that we have to ensure are being taken care of. Work life balance as many refer to it, is emphasised increasingly in the competitive environments we work in, and as this competition increases in the contracting financial markets we are seeing, this area is one that we should perhaps view from a few different perspectives as there are measures we can all take to ensure we have a better balance. If we address the right areas, with the right amount of attention, we will find the challenge of balance will significantly ease.

Art of 8 Limbs

Muay Thai is referred to as the “Art of 8 Limbs” as it uses the fists, elbows, knees, and feet to strike. The Thais created the art as Thailand was under heavy pressure from foreign armies, and needed a domestic method of defence as well as military forms. Using these 8 limbs were the most effective way according to the Thai’s of replacing the use of weapons. One piece of research concluded that the knee of a expert Muay Thai fighter has the same force as a 30 mph car hitting you. The elbows can move far quicker than the knees, and can strike the face, having the potential to cause great damage. Muay Thai has taken great influence from the Ramayana, and there are at least half a dozen advanced, and highly impactful moves named after Hanuman, the empowered monkey servant of Lord Rama. The moves are based on particular stories of Hanumanji and representations of the story. It’s hardly a surprise that Hanuman in many illustrations has a knee high up. Hanuman was extremely composed and mentally grounded. In Muay Thai, the training involves being extremely loose, preserving all one’s energies, and using them only at the critical points of contact. If in using the elbow for example, one uses all their “force” in the swing, the impact will be much reduced. The more exertion, the less effective. It would seem a contradiction. To exert surely means more impact. But here we’re saying the less exertion the more impact. The logic is very clear. If you imagine you have a finite amount of energy, and use it up in the swing, then you have less left for the impact, whereas if you minimise the energy loss in the swing, and concentrate it just on the point of contact, it will hit with more impact, and more likely with more precision as one can be agile as to where it lands when there is less exertion in the swing also. If one doesn’t know this, they will end up very tired, and ineffective. This is the condition of most people in the corporate world; they are fatigued, and actually ineffective; hence only a small number of people occupy leadership positions and most fail to enter that tier.

Focussing our Time & Energies

We must be able to evaluate our interactions. What does that mean? Evaluate contains the word value. What value are we getting from our interactions? In one day last week, I met the CEO of the bank, CFO, and CRO, and within a few hours left a positive impression on them through a few presentations and updates I’d prepared for. This was a high value interaction. On another day, I spent a very long day trying to make up for some miscommunications in delegation in the neighbouring regions due to cultural and language differences etc. The only outcome this achieved, was simply to not be told off for getting it very wrong! Whilst a critical outcome, it wasn’t as progressive as the first interaction. How “value yielding” are the interactions you are having? How much of your energy are your interactions consuming? These two simple questions will give you the answer to how successful you are and will be, and also how much of a work-life balance you have. Interactions are linked to people. Certain people will be like the swing, and certain people will be like the point of contact; if we use all our energy focussing on people who will not give value, and therefore have less energy left when it comes to the point of contact; this will lead to a gap between what you do achieve, and what you could have achieved. So choosing to focus our energy on sources that may drain us is akin to choosing the wrong pill. Of course, we should be respectful to all people and never forget that they are emotional beings as this in one sense is far more important than all our possible success, it is a core value which should not be compromised, but at a different level we should ensure we are gaining value from our interactions and being focussed in them, in the right way. If we simply do not evaluate where we’re spending our time, focussing our energies, there is little chance that we will be efficient with our time in working towards our end goals. However, if we get this right, we may be very surprised how quickly success comes.

Hearing: The Key to Improving

Improvement, and being happy with where we currently are, don’t go well together. An attitude of continually striving to maintain and increase our standard is what is needed to succeed. Improvement often comes as a result of an event, called feedback, which more often than not, will not be like music to our ears. How we evaluate, internalise, and act on feedback will, in part, determine whether we go on to succeed, or fail.

Slow!

A couple of months ago, in my first Muay Thai class, one of the instructors was putting my hand wrap on for me. He saw the rakhi, a string, on my right hand. English not being their first language, rather Thai, he gestured and asked what it was. I said it was for protection from my sister. I saw he had a white thread on his hand also. I asked him what it was. He folded his palms and said, “Buddha” and “Temple”. I said thank you after he put the wraps on and continued with the session. He was very warm and a gentleman. Being the first session, another trainer told me I was kicking wrong. He gestured, don’t whip, push, put your hip and back into it. Time and time again, he would repeat the same instructions, and I’d continue to struggle for at least 45 minutes. Toward the end it got marginally better, but then the session ended. In the next session, it was as difficult, he told me I was kicking wrong. I found this experience extremely frustrating. I had previously done karate; and my kicks were the most powerful part of my technique, by far. I didn’t need any special mentoring in kicking during karate, it was just natural, and here I was for at least a couple of sessions, making very little progress in this very area. For some reason, I didn’t like hearing him saying the kicks were wrong. In the next session, the instructor said, “Slow!!!” to try to get me to use less power and focus on technique. My muscles eventually began to become reconditioned to the new technique, which had more push, more of a lean back, more force, and less snap, less whip – which was the karate way that I’d become conditioned to from before. I removed power almost totally, and focussed on technique. The power could always be re-introduced once the technique was right. One day I came in a little early just to watch the other group training. I studied their technique more. After a few sessions, I was with the same instructor, and he was much happier. After training with a number of instructors, and getting various bits of feedback, which were all so useful, I felt better rounded. In a consequent session, whilst one trainer was on the pads, the trainer who tied my wraps in my first lesson was just watching, attentively. After a few minutes, the two trainers spoke to each other for a while, demonstrating techniques and focussing on specifics. They then told me to change a few things. I trusted them completely by now, and listened very carefully. I could also see how doing what they said to do would lead to improvement even before I did it. It was excellent – the more I listened, internalised, and applied, the more effective I was, and visibly so. We started doing some more spontaneous moves a few moments later whilst maintaining the technique, and they signalled very loudly “Good!” The agility in the legs, waist, and back was a lot better in a couple of weeks, and I began to put in 80% of power to good effect. Upper body and legs began to synchronise well, and I expressed my thanks to the instructors. I later came to know that the instructor who tied the wraps for me in my first session, was formerly a champion in his weight in Korea, and had fought in more than 260 fights, almost all of them being victories.

Listening and adapting

There were two instances of feedback in the above example; the first being in the first few weeks regarding how the kicks were wrong, and the latter being after some sessions from the two trainers. The attitude during the first was one of cloudedness and previous baggage, which creates layers between what is coming in, and you, who should be listening and applying. These layers are the talk of the mind, and can be severely detrimental in us picking up these gems of feedback and really improving. The layers are usually down to a sense of ego saying, I am right in what am doing, don’t try to tell me what to do, or how to do it. In the second instance of feedback however, there was acceptance of the trainers, trust in the trainers, a real desire to improve, and ultimately an openness to change the way I was doing things recognising that it was not right. The mind was clear, and there was very little between the words coming out of their mouth, and me incorporating these. The mind is the medium which can either position us to improve, or to continue and be ignorant to good advice. In the Bhagawad Gita, the ancient Indian scripture recited by Lord Krishna to Arjuna, essentially to prepare him for war, Lord Krishna says that the mind can be one’s worst enemy, or best of friends. How clear it is that this was the case for the Muay Thai technique, and it doesn’t take much to translate this example into the corporate context, or indeed the personal life context either. We need to be open to feedback about us, to accept that we may need to change. However, we must be careful what feedback we take on. The source of feedback must be authoritative, or well positioned at a minimum. It is ever so important to be able to trust the source of feedback, especially in an environment where others may be rewarded at your expense. So we must be bold, open to change, and yet careful when trying to learn how we can improve in our paths to success.