In yoga, aparigraha is the theory of non-attachment.
“Let your concern be with the action alone, and never with the fruits of action. Do not let the results of your action be your motive. ~Krishna (Bhagavad Gita)
Whew, this is a tough one. If I’m going to put some effort in, I want results. I mean, there are things to achieve: goals, targets, objectives…GSD. I have more or less operated under Yoda’s philosophy: “Do or do not; there is no try”
The issue is, Yoda’s approach is a completely binary setup.
One of my clients recently came to face to face with this issue. They had set a huge financial growth target for themselves (calling it a BHAG; Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal) - they worked hard to get everyone aligned behind the goal, set up financial rewards for achievement, talked about the targets at every meeting, measured, counted and analyzed every step of the way, and they made AMAZING progress. They grew in so many ways but missed their BHAG.
The leadership team was devastated; employees were demoralized and the entire culture sort of sagged.
They were operating under Yoda’s philosophy, and under the strictest definition, they did not “do.”
The thing is, along the way, they grew stronger as a team, made huge strides toward their goals, improved customer satisfaction, and grew their bottom line.
But, because they had such a strong attachment to the BHAG they had set for themselves, there was a sense of defeat.
So, how to resolve? In this case, we are working on picking up the pieces to move forward, but it made me think about non-attachment as a starting place.
How different would this situation have been if there was more than just a financial growth target? What if they were less concerned with one specific outcome, but also considered this period of growth as an opportunity to transform the way they work together, serve customers, and grow?
Our guest on the podcast this week, Joshua Izenberg, had just such a revelation. Josh is a documentary filmmaker and he shared with Sherry and me that after unsuccessfully trying the “LA scene” he had to leave, let go of all expectations, and just make a film he liked with some friends.
He has found a lot more success and happiness by practicing non-attachment and has just released a new film with the #newyorker, EcoHack!
Please listen in to hear Josh’s perfectly imperfect journey. You can check it out here, or wherever you listen to podcasts: https://lnkd.in/g9kfHi5A
