In this post, we will talk about the importance and the need to be flexible and able to adapt to different situations, in business and any area, as a matter of fact.

1. +
The importance of
being like water for
business leadership
By David Kiger
Courtesy of mmphotography.it at flickr.com

2. + It is very easy to have misconceptions about what leadership
is all about. One of them, quite popular, has to do with
believing that leaders are people who blindly think and act in
terms of "do what you set out to do." Any experienced leader
in the business world will know that such an attitude is a
mistake that can easily lead an organization to a resounding
failure. "Do what you set out to do" is a principle, not a rule,
and there are deep differences between both concepts. While
a rule is an imperative that must be fulfilled, in particular,
related to certain circumstances, principles adapt to any
situation. Rules are fixed, the principles are flexible.
A good leader knows that what doesn't bend, breaks.
In this post, I will talk about the importance and the need to be
flexible and able to adapt to different situations, in business
and any area, as a matter of fact.

3. + Related: 4 Leadership techniques you should implement in
your organization, by David Kiger
One of the quotes for which Bruce Lee is remembered is this
one: “You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you
pour water into a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour
water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour
water into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and
it can crash. Become like my friend.”
Originally, Bruce Lee said that sentence in a movie, but he
then repeated it in a wonderful interview that can be useful to
any leader as a motivational speech. "Be like water" is a fairly
old principle, derived from Taoism, and then applied to
different aspects of Chinese, Korean and Japanese cultures
(from calligraphy to architecture, martial arts, gastronomy

4. + and military strategies.) Water, one of the essential elements
of life - needed for virtually any human activity - can also be
one of the most destructive (a tsunami, a storm on the high
seas, the Titanic iceberg, the Flood, etc.) It is so for a simple
reason: the adaptability of water, its lack of resistance to
change and the constant movement of its cycles. "Be like
water" means "learn from the power of water," but also, "learn
from the modesty of its behavior."
How can this be applied in the business world?
Well, Kaizen (which has been widely used in business) is, of
course, a derivative of the basic principles of Taoism as well.
Recall that Japanese culture has been widely influenced by
China for centuries, and one of its great influences was
Buddhism mixed with the Tao teachings that came to Japan
during the Nara era.

5. + In Kaizen philosophy, the action of change and continuous
improvement, gradual and orderly are goals in themselves.
Adopting Kaizen is to assume the culture of continuous
improvement, which focuses on the elimination of waste and
wasteful production systems. It is a continuous challenge to
improve standards. Implementing Kaizen in a company involves
understanding that a one-thousand-mile journey begins with a
single step. That is to say: every process of permanent change
begins with a single decision and must be progressive in time,
without reversing. This method is also used in psychology to
achieve goals. For example, a person wishing to learn to speak
Russian should study this language for a long time and stay in touch
with it constantly. The same happens for those who want to learn to
play a complicated piece of Chopin. The first day, it will be surely
difficult, but after enough practice, you will make it look
outstandingly easy for the enthusiastic public.

6. + Now, achieving goals involves more than doing a little every
day without giving up. It is important to know the nature of life
- constant change - and know how to act accordingly. A leader
who is blocked from an unfamiliar situation may actually be
just a specialist in his field … not a leader, really. A leader
must know what to do in the different circumstances that arise
daily in the organizational world. For this reason, Kaizen
insists on planning, but not obsessing with planning, because
the theory will never completely correspond to the practice.
That is why it is important to focus on the present moment,
even if you are moving in some direction. The natural chaotic
elements of the universe and life will bring changes that will
bring the need to adapt if we want to always be victorious.

7. + Therefore, because plans always have imperfections, it is
important to adjust everything permanently. That's why you
can always do something to be better. "Nothing is perfect,
nothing is complete, everything is to be done," that is Kaizen.
So it's time for you to change your idea about leadership. Be
like water and you will get far in time, for water is a symbol of
permanence. Be like a rock and you will break sooner or later.
The rigidness of a rock is a symbol of transience.