Finding Space: Using Japenese Concept of Ma to get Better Things Done.

The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. – Michael Porter.

The modern world is full of the idea of doing. You gotta hustle. You gotta outwork everyone. You can rest when you die. It is only the hardest of workers that succeed and you want to succeed, don’t you?

But is this really true?

The comedian has many tricks to sell a joke. They weave a story with callbacks and misdirects, but they also can tell the joke without even doing the punchline. We, the audience, fill in the gaps and that self-awareness that we get the joke is the funny part.

We fill the silence with the information.

in 1910, The Russian film theorist and filmmaker Lev Kuleshov asked “What made cinema a distinct art, separate from photography, literature or theatre?”

To answer this question in a series of cinematic demonstrations, he would cut back and forth from a man and three different images. The different images would create a distinct emotional response in the viewer.

The Kuleshov Effect showed that film was the interplay between the two images. The space between the images is what the viewer uses to understand the connection between them and give them meaning.

There is a common expression in sports where it feels like time is slowing down. You are in such control of your body and experience that everything feels easy. There are bodies moving all around you but you feel like you have all the time in the world.

You can see within the spaces, between the moments.

Ma Moments, Ma Rewards

There is a Japanese concept of Ma, it is the pause in time, the emptiness in space. It is seen as the fundamental time and space which is needed for life to grow.

We often think of boundaries as lines, being put into a box. The idea of Ma is not a box but a void. The literal translation is “space between”. It exists between objects, thoughts, and time.

The idea is contemplative. It doesn’t rush.

So how does this help you be a better leader?

Taking Space

We are in a frantic rush to finish things, but the first question shouldn’t be how to do something, it should be what should we do?

The idea of Ma from a personal perspective is about purpose. It is a place to create meaning for people.

The work should reflect and enable your team to grow that meaning by aligning the work with your purpose so that they understand that they are being of value.

Breathing

There is also the space to let things breathe and grow. To play with ideas. To entertain other approaches and frameworks of how to describe the challenges you face at work.

You don’t have to rush in and choose the first thing that pops into your head. Other people might have great ideas.

This can give you and your team time the space to make things easier to understand for you and your clients. To be more deliberate and thoughtful with your next actions.

What Not To Do

Looking at the moments between moments can allow you and the team to think more philosophically about your work.

It is as important to think about what to do as it is to think about what not to do.

Take your time to search within these spaces so that you can do less better in the future.