Cultural Insights and Phenomena

The Exponential Art of Kaizen

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Reading Time: 9 minutes When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.  Jacob A. Riis How are post-war industries rebuilt? Can worldwide poverty be reduced? Can couples divorce rates be predicted?   The answer to such dramatic questions …

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Shoshin, the Zen Concept that Applies to Companies, Science and Personal Development

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Reading Time: 7 minutes “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s, there are few.”  Zen master Shunryo Suzuki  In Zen Buddhism, “shoshin” translates as the “beginner’s mind”, where “sho” means beginning or origin, and “shin” means spirit, soul, or attitude.  A beginner’s mind is different from being a beginner. Shoshin is about having the attitude and mindset of a novice who learns a new practice for the first time, especially after reaching expert levels in our fields.    In the beginner’s mind, there is a lack of preconceptions, a willingness to learn, to ask and try, …

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The Magical Wimmelbooks: Word-building and World-building in One Book Type

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Reading Time: 2 minutes One of my happiest childhood moments was when I got lost in books. After having a child, children’s books made me feel like I was reborn as a child, too. One of the most requested books in our household is In the Town All Year Round by Sussane Berner Rotraut. This was my first exposure to wimmelbooks, a special form of picture books with hidden objects. Dozens of small everyday scenes are represented within one image. Every page has something new to discover, adding …

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