Practice makes perfect

Practice makes perfect or, as the French proverb says, forging makes a blacksmith

Do you remember the Karate Kid movies with Sensei Miyagi and Daniel, the boy who had just moved into town?

The new teenager in town and at school, Daniel, falls in love with a girl not knowing that she is an ex-girlfriend to the toughest guy around. The guy also happens to be a lot better at karate than Daniel. This becomes a big problem that haunts his days, both at school and in his spare time. As soon as the guy and his friends see Daniel, they beat him up.

Problems can open up windows of opportunity, what Daniel least expects is that the problem with the tough guys paves the way for a chance to learn karate from a real Japanese sensei. Sensei Miyagi sees an unexplored deshi (pupil). Deshi Daniel starts off awakening his inner creativity by pruning, shaping and taking care of a bonsai tree.

Sensei Miyagi: We make sacred pact. I promise teach karate to you, you promise learn. I say, you do, no questions.

Focus, concentrate and control! Afterwards, he gets to learn the special breathing technique which helps focus, and he learns to coordinate this with basic movements in a certain pattern. At first, Daniel goes through task by task with a cheerful mood and lots of energy, but the lack of further encouragement and understanding for the purposes of the tasks creates a frustration in him. He has an outburst and does not want to continue. Sensei Miyagi shows the purpose of every movement and that is when the penny drops for his deshi. When the breathing technique and the coordinated and reflexive movements have become ingrained, that is when the real karate training begins.

The right attitude and approach, what sensei Miyagi did was to first get his deshi to believe in himself (self-confidence, creativity), build perseverance without encouragement, and only let the deshi know if the task has been completed or needs to be revised. He was an authority from the very start, with clear instructions. If it was necessary he would repeat the instructions, then evaluate and approve.

Values and respect for the individual! What surprises me is that sensei Miyagi did not tell Daniel the purposes of the tasks connected to his karate training. Wouldn’t that have been just as challenging and educational for his deshi?! We know that the overall purpose of the training was to win the karate competition, so that Daniel’s new love’s ex-boyfriend would leave him alone. Sensei Miyagi is fascinatingly firm when it comes to his values, to only teach karate to win this competition, and that it should never be used in future competitions or for the purpose of violence. This is the main theme in all three movies. You should know what you are doing and what you are getting yourself into!

Sensei Miyagi: Walk on road, hm? Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later get squish just like grape. Here, karate, same thing. Either you karate do “yes” or karate do “no.” You karate do “guess so”, just like grape. Understand?

What does this have to do with our daily work as leaders, fellow workers or colleagues?

Sensei Miyagi: You trust the quality of what you know, not quantity.

• It is not the amount of knowledge or experience that is important, but the quality of it. How do you evaluate individuals’ abilities and competence?
• That there is always a clear understanding of the task, its realization and the expected outcome. How do you ensure that the individual understands the task? Do you follow-up during the work-process for any possible adjustments?
• When the task is visualized it is easier to take in and process. It is also easier to learn tasks which are more diffuse and vague. How do you visualize the task for those who are supposed to carry it out?
• Start off easy and advance the task during constant observation, also make room for reflections and evaluations. When you as a leader put up time frames for a task, you are creating the conditions for the realization, reflection and follow-up. You are also present and ready to step in if necessary.
• Repeating the task will make it easier for it to sink in, “practice makes perfect”, right? Does having a driver’s license mean that you can handle all future traffic events? Are you going to repeat, evaluate and adjust?
• Awakening the creativity in individuals that later get to use it during their work-process does not mean that it is permitted to always play and putter. Do you create scenarios at bigger evaluations, or do you test the task from different angles and feel your way through it?
• Planning and preparation is important, but do not be so firm that there is no room for flexibility at deviations, flow-variations or peak seasons etc. This so that possible measures can be taken immediately instead of being put on hold, taking time, resources and, worst case scenario, being forgotten. How does your planning and preparation look like, is there room for flexibility?
• Values, principles both in everyday life and business is something we all agree is important. How do you act, are they just pretty writings on the wall or on paper? Do you stand and live by your written values in your everyday work-life? What do clients, suppliers and partners see? What does the community see? What does value-based leadership look like at the attractive companies and employers who are at the top of the “new generation” list?

Reflecting upon this, I have come to the conclusion that *we, all too rarely, slow down or even stop to look and see what is going on in our surroundings. We are too busy focusing on producing, delivering the fastest we can and preferably as many things/tasks as possible at the same time. *If you strongly believe in something you should hold your ground, but you should at the same time be open to changes, improvements and new areas of development. *The leader observes, is available, follows up, steps in when something goes wrong or when individuals can’t do it on their own. *Use the right skill at the right time, at the right place and on the right things.

Written by Leyla Is