How often do we come up with blocks in our organizational journey – customers who insist they are right, superiors who care to delegate, or is it abdicate, system changeover which work marvelously for everyone, except me, and subordinates who insist they walk that extra mile, and then get paid over time for it.

All in a day’s work you mumble to yourself, and keep moving, oops, plodding along. Well how about trying some Haiku?  The magnificent seventeen. Cognition and emotion. A form of Japanese Zen poetry of seventeen syllables set in three lines of five-seven-five syllables, which functions as a powerful catalyst. Catalyst for what you wonder…well, find out what’s stopping you from reaching those profits with passion, which translates into making money and having meaning in what you do.

To gain and keep your competitive edge, Haiku! Don’t brush away or asphyxiate on the word Japanese poetry. It’s a great way to get organizational movement and momentum. My research, with over one hundred people in various managerial capacities has shown that using this concise form of inner exploration leads to startling truths. In the repertoire of responses the following emerged: charting new strategic directions, helping one see life anew, healing those unseen psychological wounds, and giving one the strength to move forward with a spring in one’s step and a sparkle in the eye. Haiku served to illuminate those psychological processes that enable people to function positively, with energy and well-being. These are themes which psychologists Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania, and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, of Claremont Graduate University, would call Positive Psychology.

Haiku has as its essence an issue that one is dealing with which must be expressed with brevity in exactly seventeen syllables. The imagery of nature is used, and the final line generally has a twist, a bit of satire and provokes thought. For example:

A colored flower. Organizational whiteness… Come diversity.

Bitterness spreads quick Sour faces, salty tongues. I have some sugar.

A sleeping giant The boulder rests. Inertia, Moved by the earthquake.

The fire of men Despite the contempt of men, Will explode fiercely.

Where does one start?

1. When an issue is not moving forward, and there is a deadlock.
2. When change is being introduced
3. When a project gets stuck
4. As a review mechanism

It is best to do this in a group. Try asking people to sit quietly for a few minutes and then focus on one major issue which is of concern to them. This must be expressed through the rigor of just seventeen syllables. Some people will find that this cryptic form of poetry flows from them; others will feel that they need more time. Gentle insistence on experimentation facilitates and unloosens people. Discuss the haiku, explore it, and analyze it. Be charmed by it. Honor it!

What results can one expect?

Based on my research findings, I have found three main effects:

1. Thanatos Effect This constitutes those responses which are the ones where “cutting” decisions need to be made. They relate to an aspect which, if not amputated, or cut off, can result in the organization going into its death throes, or the individual becoming deadened in the organization. If such cutting-edge decisions are made with speed and preciseness, then there is an increase in the energy field of the individual, and the organization.

For example: Weathering a storm. The gales come in very often… Jump the ship right now.

[The organizational strategy was flawed and they were hanging in for too long. This little haiku served as a catalyst to change direction, especially as it was a strand that ran through many of the haiku composed in a particular organization.]

2. Eureka Effect Here, one finds the “ah-aha” experience. Individuals delight in their   compositions, and laugh at their results. Sometimes this helps to solve hidden problems, and renew interpersonal relationships.

For example: Just forget the past, Life is full of choices made… You know your own heart!

3.  Limbo Effect If individuals have lived with organizational fear for a long time, this is where they will be suspended, and their poetry gets paralyzed.  These are often people who have been hit in the past for swimming up-stream; hence their words will not be forthcoming. They need to be nurtured and gently persuaded to do a number of versions of their thoughts. Convince them that what they write will be held in confidence, and that it is their choice to share. However, once they are reassured, for some individuals, it is like a dam bursting through. If the insights from such people can be acted on in the organization, much pent-up energy will be released, and there will be buoyancy in their departments.

For example: Why open my mouth? Thought sharing for ridicule… Come September rain!

Do a double take with Haiku. Astonish yourself! The organization will applaud.

Edwina Pio, Ph.D. blends the intricacies of Management, Psychology and Spirituality in her teaching, writing and consultancy work on Organizational and Personal Transformation. She travels to Europe, India, the U.S.A. and New Zealand, where she enjoys leading people to the threshold of their minds. Currently she lives in New Zealand, where she teaches Management at the Auckland University of Technology.