DEVELOPING A RESILIENT PRACTICE OFF THE MAT: PART II

Author: Başak Çevik

Relevant Service: Strategy Development and Implementation

Contact: basak.cevik

Developing a Resilient Practice Off The Mat

Part II: Bruce Lee Way of Resilience at Work

 October 4th,  2017

How to develop a resilient practice off the mat? In Part I, we discovered that a good amount of stress can actually be helpful to our business since it creates a healthy environment for improvement and growth. For Part II, we will go deeper into the techniques to become resilient in a conventional manner: Bruce Way.

 In my personal yoga practice (My discipline is Shadow Yoga, which is a kind of Hatha Yoga inspired by martial arts), Bruce Lee is an inspiring figure. Bruce Lee way of a resilient practice is not only making us think about business problems but also it helps to understand and to take action.

The four take away lessons from Bruce Lee's training are:

1. Split your sessions into smaller chunks so you can better focus on improving skill.

2. Strength train, but keep your main focus on your art. Look to find the simplest exercises you can and milk the most you can from them.

3. Don't neglect roadwork and other endurance work as these form a key role in overall fitness, health, and body composition.

4. Targeted abdominal work links the whole thing together and allows better power production as well as forming a protective shield during fighting. 

How I interpret Bruce Way in business terms:

1. Think big, execute incrementally and proceed with smaller steps in a manner of experimentation so that you are able to see and learn what is working and what is not in the beginning, not in the end. Does it sound you familiar? This is called Agile Methodology in business terms. Agile is being used in very big structures so as to move and solve the problems faster with the help of the dynamic structure of small businesses.

2. Strength train but keep the focus on your core business because this is where your strength and differentiation point comes from. We call it positioning-unique selling proposition in terms of business. Without a well-stated positioning, the sustainable growth never comes.

3. Do not neglect roadwork and other endurance work in business as they serve to overall stamina, agility and integrity of your company. Just keep on with awareness. No effort is useless as long as it is given with awareness-in short term or long term.

4. Abdominal work is crucial in eastern martial arts and yoga. Chinese says Dantien, Japanese says Hara and in my discipline -Shadow Yoga- we say kanda to the same abdominal area (six cm down from the navel): The source of energy is supposed to be created there. The Japanese says hara-kiri to the action of ending life which is happenning at the Hara. Special emphasize is done in all disciplines to that area as it is the bed of the resilience of the mind, body and the soul. So in business terms beware of where hara (life source) of your company is, it is to know what sources, which people are really essential for your existence and sustainability. And keep these sources healthy and resilient to overcome the sudden shocks.

These are Bruce Lee way of being resilient and my interpretations. They give us another perspective of resilience in VUCA environment and in business life. So the resilience kit from yoga aspect is yet to come. Expect Part III of the series: "Secret to true resilience" soon!

Click here to read Part I.

References

https://goo.gl/efgJDu