I posted an item a few days ago from Michael Wolff that was what he calls the ki-work manifesto … in response to some words from Tom Peters about the ongoing “revolution in the work place.
One of the yahoo group members asked Michael for some clarification about what “ki” and “ki-work” mean.
Here’s his response:
The ‘ki’ in ki work comes from the Japanese word which translates very much
the same as the Chinese Chi.
My experience of it is through the Japanes martial art: aikido. This is
literally: the way of harmonising ki.
Unlike most martial arts, aikido is non-competitive. Its point is to empower
and bring inner peace to practitioners, not to vanquish an enemy. Its
method is to connect with an attacker, not to counterattack. Where there are
opposing points of view, the objective is to find the point of common truth.
The word ‘ki’ is often described as universal energy. In a network or
relationship sense, it is the energetic connection between two or more
parties. In that respect, ki can also be described as relationship.
In ki work, the meaning is extended a bit further to mean ‘trusted
relationship’. When people are relating virtually, ie online, it is almost
impossible to relate competitively. Collaborative, peer-to-peer
relationships seem to work best. So working relationships that are primarily
virtual and therefore need to be collaborative in order to be successful are
served best, as in aikido, by practising the ‘way of harmonising ki’.
As in aikido, after continued practise, the art of collaborative
relationship becomes transformative for participants and therefore a path
towards self-actualisation. Self-actualisation is often considered as a
process for becoming authentic. A requrement for the development of deep
relationship includes an element of self-knowledge and authenticity.
So in that sense, ki work is the structure that supports the process of
self-actualisation through work. In contrast, organisational structures that
primarily support competitive relationships, such as command and control,
are not conducive to self-actualising practises, and therefore ultimately
unfulfilling. It is difficult to have a deep sense of who one is when
continually playing the role prescribed by one’s position in the
organisation.
With ki work, the understanding of ‘deep support’ is one where the
relationship between, say, a supplier and a customer is fully reciprocal.
Neither party serves the other, but both parties engage in a process that
builds trusted relationship. In that sense, both parties support each other.
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