Value
Amsterdam: Leica Q2
“We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.”
An unprepossessing doorway on Zeedjik and a promise of Japanese food.
Inside, a small room, seriously pared back, minimalist decor and a few clientele making the most of the views onto the canal. Could we wait? Their places would be free in just a few minutes and the bigger tables were booked.
I’m not always good at detecting underlying value; it’s easy to be distracted by the glossy bling of consumerism and skate across the glittering surfaces of excess. But there was none of that happening here.
After a few moments, we sat down at the window and, to the casual onlooker, nothing much happened. Yet the calm of the restaurant melded with the gentle, considerate presence of the staff and the wonder of the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, with its boats, passers-by, birds, buildings and an open skyscape all began to do their work on us. Though each individual component of our experience might have been unremarkable, an alchemic sense of ‘rightness’ arose in their combination.
We can easily become entrapped by the analysis and quantification of isolated parts of our effort and contribution. The stuff that is measurable. The hours worked, the commodity delivered, the transactions achieved, the profit made. Yet none of this can reflect the magic and rapture that is present in a deeper, more holistic sense of value.
In fact, the recognition of an individual part is only possible through the “coming to presence” of the whole. Henri Bortoft describes this ‘Goethean’ way of seeing the world, using our understanding of writing and text as an example. He says:
“We reach the meaning of the sentence through the meaning of the words, yet the meaning of the words in that sentence is determined by the meaning of the sentence as a whole.”
So we can understand the meaning of each word yet ‘miss each other’ when it comes to the ‘whole’ of what is being said. We can be easily seduced by the persuasive simplicity of analytical logic and progression, whereas meaning is holistic.
As we consider our organisational conversations and exchanges, the notion of holistic value, the special magic that some organisations offer that we never forget, can’t be reached through a simple analysis of transactions. What matters is the connections, the relationships, the ‘personal’ touches, treating each other with respect and love. As the C-suite anonymously wafts through our institutions and workplaces, we will instead remember the names of the people who graciously ask us about our day and if we need a cup of tea. And its because of our relationships with those people that we will return.
I was gazing through windows, people watching and idly photographing clouds as the food arrived.
Need I tell you about the food?
Just. Incredible.
In those circumstances, how could it have been anything else?
Notes:
Henri Bortoft brilliantly explains the paradoxical nature of ‘wholes’ in ‘The Wholeness of Nature ~ Goethe’s Way of Science.’ It’s a technical, academic read but delightfully mind-melting if you can spend some time with it. He continues the conversation on ‘a different approach to wholeness’ in ‘Taking Appearance Seriously ~ The Dynamic Way of Seeing in Goethe and European Thought’ which is also a compelling though serious read.
Fritjof Capra takes a good look at what it means to work with these ideas in his take on ‘Life and Leadership in Organisations’, a chapter in ‘The Hidden Connections ~ A Science for Sustainable Living’ which is a great read for leaders trying to unlock the full potential of their workplaces.
I’m afraid I can’t the credit for the notion of C-Suite ‘wafting’ - it was mentioned in a brilliantly funny about video about workplace hierarchy so popular it was removed from social media. Obviously, disrupting our conventional view of how or where real value accrues can be troublesome!
