Purposive Drift

That moment of Zen

If you feel that you're buried in management crap that is getting in the way of you doing your work, why not secretly send your managers this article from Fast Company - a miracle might happen and some of them might feel that moment of zen:

"'People who join Toyota from other companies, it's a big shift for them," says John Shook, a faculty member at the University of Michigan, a former Toyota manufacturing employee and a widely regarded consultant on how to use Toyota's ideas at other companies. "They kind of don't get it for a while.' They do what all American managers do--they keep trying to make their management objectives. 'They're moving forward, they're improving, and they're looking for a plateau. As long as you're looking for that plateau,it seems like a constant struggle. It's difficult. If you're looking for a plateau, you're going to be frustrated. There is no 'solution.''

'Once you realize that it's the process itself--that you're not seeking a plateau--you can relax. Doing the task and doing the task better become one and the same thing," Shook says. "This is what it means to come to work.'"