I recently received the following story in an email from one of the Yahoo! groups I am part of! The email did not say who wrote this narrative, but after reading it, and witnessing the harried life of those, whom I see every day in my practice, I thought it was worth sharing. I have made minor changes to the grammar.
Enjoy!
It’s been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes two years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It’s a rule!
Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense
of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to possess a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish.
They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold many meetings, and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.
- Sweden has 2 million inhabitants
- Stockholm has 500,000 people
- Volvo, Escania, Ericsson, Electrolux, are some of its renowned companies. Volvo even supplies to NASA.
The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the
hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2,000 employees arrive in their car to work).
The first day, I didn’t say anything, neither the second or third days. One morning I asked him, “Do you have a fixed parking space? I’ve noticed we
park far from the entrance even when there are no other cars in the lot.” He replied, “Since we’re here early we’ll have time to walk, don’t you
think that those get in late will need a place closer to the door?”
Imagine my face.
Nowadays, there’s a movement in Europe named Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is against its counterpart, Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.
Basically, the movement questions the sense of “hurry” and “craziness”
generated by globalization, fuelled by the desire of “having in quantity”
(life status) versus “having with quality,” “life quality,” or the “quality
of being”.
French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British. Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity going up by 20%. This slow attitude has come to the notice of the USA, the pupils of the fast and “do it now” brigade.
This no-rush attitude doesn’t represent doing less or having a lower
productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality,
productivity, perfection, with attention to detail, and with less stress. It means re-establishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the “now,” present, and concrete, versus the “global,” undefined and illusory.
It means taking humans’ essential values, the simplicity of living. It
stands for a less coercive work environment, more happy, lighter, and more productive work place where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It’s time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality with no-rush that will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence.
In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there’s a scene where Al Pacino asks a
girl to dance and she replies, “I can’t, my boyfriend will be here any
minute now.” To which Al Pacino responds, “A life is lived in an instant.”
Then they dance the tango!
Many of us live our lives running behind time, but we only catch up when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious to live for the future that they forget to live the present,
which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout
the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in what each one of
us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said,
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
Congratulations for reading this email till the end of this message. There
are many who will have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this “Globalized” world, where we have more important and pressing things to do!
Swarna Podila
That was a very thoughtful post, Dilip. Enjoyed reading it.
I was left speechless at the parking spot scenario, while the Slow Food movement made me feel ashamed of myself! Yes, there are a lot of meaningful things that have disappeared completely from our lives such as hand-written thank-you notes! Establish a relation, connect with others, listen to what others want to talk about – you will be drawn closer to your goals/objectives without much effort.
Thanks for sharing this, Dilip!
Ravishankar
Thanks for sharing this ‘reflective’ article. In the movie ‘Kungfu Panda,’ Oogway says Po “….You are too concerned about what was and what will be. There is a beautiful saying: Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”