“… there’s a fine line between not thinking enough and thinking too much. Elegance is all about learning how to walk that line on a more consistent basis.” These words from Mathew May’s conclusion to Pursuit of Elegance (2009) reflect a simplicity similar to the four elements he proposes as central to elegance – symmetry, seduction, subtraction, and sustainability.
May defines elegance as creativity or innovation that is done in as simple a way as possible – or, as the Japanese say, through shibumi or “effortless effectiveness.” This type of creativity usually emerges from a creative burst of insight that is stimulated by time away from a problem or enough distance from its subjective content to see it in a fundamentally different way. This elegance, captured in the artist’s language, is like being “kissed by the muse.”
The intriguing paradox of elegance is that it is often more about what’s not there than what is. The momentary pause in a great piece of music. The void in an architectural masterpiece. The absence of a conclusion in a book or movie. These moments of absence take us to another place because the pause serves as a catalyst for seeing something in a different way. When we begin to see in a different way, we see things that were hidden beneath the veneer of the first impression and these may actually be the most beautiful of all.
What is beauty? May proposes that what we view as beautiful is the symmetry of what we view or experience. He substantiates this assertion by citing numerous examples where patterns are repeated,, sometimes in obvious and other times unobvious ways. Obvious patterned symmetry is seen in butterflies, snowflakes, and literary palindromes. But hidden symmetries can also be observed in Jackson Pollock “splatter” painting, self-organizing traffic intersections, or shortcuts across grassy meadows. Sometimes we can’t see the symmetry until we withdraw and view it from a greater distance or when we come closer to the detail of what we are viewing. Regardless of whether it is obvious or not, found in infinity or miniature, it is the symmetry that draws us to observe or gaze in wonder.
The second element of elegance is seduction – generally manifest in things that are mysterious and elusive. May cites the Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa as one example. There are much larger paintings, more complex subject matter, and more interesting uses of color in other paintings. However, it is the elusive expression on her face that draws so many to her portrait. We are seduced by the question of whether she is smiling or stoic, where her gaze is fixed, and any number of other questions. In a more contemporary example, the public was seduced by Steve Jobs’ first revelation of the iphone. Following the introduction, there was five months of silence before it was released. The seduction of the public created a landslide of interest and sales. In both cases, seduction is achieved by revealing some information, coupled with clues to entice us further, and then time/space to formulate a response.
Subtraction focuses on what is not there or is not to be done. In an age of overwhelming commercial appeals, our excess as consumers frequently creates a profusion of clutter. Homes in the U.S.A. in particular have grown to sizes far beyond the real needs of their inhabitants. Sarah Susanka, creator of home architectural plans revealed in The Not So Big House, epitomizes the idea of subtraction in a big house era. In Susanka’s designs, spaces are eliminated that are not used regularly. In her houses, all spaces are used and are frequently open to others, using only ceiling heights and visual difference to define the functions of space. These designs were achieved by subtracting out the on average 30% of home space that goes unused in most homes. And, in the place of subtracted space, a simple elegance, functionality, and quietude emerges.
The final element of elegance is sustainability. Sustainability, in fact, is the summative element because symmetry, seduction, and subtraction can actually provide the pathway to more ingenious and judicious use of many things. When there is an absence of resources, our creativity increases. PlayPumps International is an example that demonstrates the point of scarcity sometimes being the origin of simple solutions. Trevor Field was on a fishing trip to the eastern “Wild Coast” of Africa when he saw women waiting for days to gather water for their families. His concern for these local conditions, coupled with later seeing the display of a merry-go-round that pumped water in South Africa, caused Field to license the idea to begin production of pumps to create self-sustaining water systems powered by children’s play. One thousand pumps were in place in 2009 and another 4,000 planned by 2010. The PlayPump would never have happened unless there had been an absence of water and no electrical source coupled with the observation of someone called to make a difference by his own conscience.
To think of elegance as resulting in less expense and reduced use of resources seems counter-intuitive. However, May provides ample examples that symmetry, seduction, and subtraction just may allow us to have a richer, fuller, and more sustainable life.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Museum of Islamic Art (Qatar) and Ibn Tulun Mosque (Cairo)
Diane and I had a wonderful time during our Eid Al Fitr trip to Egypt. This was a life-long dream for both of us and we were not disappointed. There are so many things about which I could comment that it's hard to determine where to start. Until I reflect a bit more, enjoy the Picassa album of Egyptian pictures posted on my "Pursuing Leadership" blog.
One of the highlights of our trip was an off-script surprise - one we pursued on our last day in Cairo and without the help of a tour guide. Yes, we braved the traffic congestion of Cairo to seek out the Ibn Tulun Mosque in the Islamic section. The reason - to see what inspired I.M. Pei to create the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, the last public/monumental architectural creation of one of the great creative geniuses of the 20th century.
The Ibn Tulun Mosque was built in the 9th century and is the oldest continuously operating Mosque in Egypt. No wonder Pei was mesmerized by the openness, balance, and void of this beautiful place. The Pei design captures the feel of the interior courtyard of the Mosque with the Ablution Fountain in the middle. To see how closely these buildings resemble each other, first look at the exterior image of Ibn Tulun to the right:
Now look at the exterior of the Museum of Islamic Art below:
The interior of Ibn Tulun is composed of receding geometric shapes rising to the top of the Ablution Fountain:
The interior of the Museum of Islamic Art uses the same approach with the geometric shapes turning inside one another, rising into an almost infinite space:
It is fascinating to me how literal Pei was in using Ibn Tulun Mosque as his inspiration for what some believe may be his finest culturally-derived piece of architecture. As you can see by these pictures, the insides and outsides of both MIA and Ibn Tulun reflect a serene beauty that is seldom matched elsewhere.
One of the highlights of our trip was an off-script surprise - one we pursued on our last day in Cairo and without the help of a tour guide. Yes, we braved the traffic congestion of Cairo to seek out the Ibn Tulun Mosque in the Islamic section. The reason - to see what inspired I.M. Pei to create the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar, the last public/monumental architectural creation of one of the great creative geniuses of the 20th century.
The Ibn Tulun Mosque was built in the 9th century and is the oldest continuously operating Mosque in Egypt. No wonder Pei was mesmerized by the openness, balance, and void of this beautiful place. The Pei design captures the feel of the interior courtyard of the Mosque with the Ablution Fountain in the middle. To see how closely these buildings resemble each other, first look at the exterior image of Ibn Tulun to the right:
Now look at the exterior of the Museum of Islamic Art below:
The interior of Ibn Tulun is composed of receding geometric shapes rising to the top of the Ablution Fountain:
The interior of the Museum of Islamic Art uses the same approach with the geometric shapes turning inside one another, rising into an almost infinite space:
It is fascinating to me how literal Pei was in using Ibn Tulun Mosque as his inspiration for what some believe may be his finest culturally-derived piece of architecture. As you can see by these pictures, the insides and outsides of both MIA and Ibn Tulun reflect a serene beauty that is seldom matched elsewhere.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Reality test of global leadership
Andrew J. Bacevich's The Limits of Power: the End of American Exceptionalism describes the causes and intoxicating impact of America's emergence as the one dominant world force in the last half of the 20th century. While the book speaks of foreign policy and elected political leaders, the seduction of presumed importance is equally possible in all sorts of leadership environments - business, education, arts and others.
Quoting Rheinhold Neibuhr's Beyond Tragedy (1937), "One of the most pathetic aspects of human history is that every civilization expresses itself most pretentiously, compounds its partial and universal values most convincingly, and claims immortality for its finite existence at the very moment when the decay which leads to death has already begun." What a stunning statement and how tragic - Egypt, Rome, Austria, Britain ... The problem wasn't that these civilizations had lost their power but that their power had become so vast that their social fabric disintegrated from within as innovation, creativity, and outward-looking engagement declined. Each of these civilizations were still expanding at the time they began to die. The vulnerability was the presumption that other peoples, civilizations, and forms of life seemed not to add any value beyond what their own culture provided.
While Bacevich's book is a critique of America's current political and military role in the world, there are many other warnings that can be drawn from its pages. The danger of superiority is that it limits our ability to understand how others view us and it may even obscure our ability to see ourselves in a realistic light. A warning of the political predicament in which the U.S.A. now finds itself was foretold in 1979 by then President Jimmy Carter who, while addressing the energy crisis of the day, said, "In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption." Carter's words were countered by his political opponents who won the Whitehouse by promising that the U.S.A. had not yet reached its zenith and would go on to greater heights. The credit-based spending of the following two and one-half decades fulfilled the "greater heights" with the biggest Bull market of all time and the near collapse of the world economy in the Great Recession of 2007-08.
Carter's warning was avoided not only by his political detractors but by the American people themselves. And with the end of the Cold War and the shock of 9-11-01, asserting superiority over others through military and economic means seemed even logical. The only problem was that the domination allowed for ever-increasing military expenditures and a belief that the U.S.A. had a right and responsibility to protect its interests no matter how far from its own shores. Indeed, the Bush doctrine after 9-11-01 reflected an urgency that "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands." While reflecting the frontier spirit of the U.S.A. in its founding, this view also encouraged an imperial agency around the world that we now know spread U.S.A. resources too thin and compromised its credibility around the globe. And as the resources dwindled, advocates such as Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld pushed to "Make American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists," (Washington Post, 2007) thus justifying even more expenditures.
While the critique of U.S.A. foreign policy is central in The Limits of Power, the most frightening assertion was that a nation's citizens can actually encourage their government to ignore fundamental social and economic issues by being obsessed with their own desires for comfort and luxury. The broader reality check then is if leaders, whether governmental or otherwise, might sometimes have to choose the more difficult path of challenging the wishes of peers and followers rather than perpetuating a notion of grandeur that is destructive to themselves and others.
Quoting Rheinhold Neibuhr's Beyond Tragedy (1937), "One of the most pathetic aspects of human history is that every civilization expresses itself most pretentiously, compounds its partial and universal values most convincingly, and claims immortality for its finite existence at the very moment when the decay which leads to death has already begun." What a stunning statement and how tragic - Egypt, Rome, Austria, Britain ... The problem wasn't that these civilizations had lost their power but that their power had become so vast that their social fabric disintegrated from within as innovation, creativity, and outward-looking engagement declined. Each of these civilizations were still expanding at the time they began to die. The vulnerability was the presumption that other peoples, civilizations, and forms of life seemed not to add any value beyond what their own culture provided.
While Bacevich's book is a critique of America's current political and military role in the world, there are many other warnings that can be drawn from its pages. The danger of superiority is that it limits our ability to understand how others view us and it may even obscure our ability to see ourselves in a realistic light. A warning of the political predicament in which the U.S.A. now finds itself was foretold in 1979 by then President Jimmy Carter who, while addressing the energy crisis of the day, said, "In a nation that was proud of hard work, strong families, close-knit communities, and our faith in God, too many of us now tend to worship self-indulgence and consumption." Carter's words were countered by his political opponents who won the Whitehouse by promising that the U.S.A. had not yet reached its zenith and would go on to greater heights. The credit-based spending of the following two and one-half decades fulfilled the "greater heights" with the biggest Bull market of all time and the near collapse of the world economy in the Great Recession of 2007-08.
Carter's warning was avoided not only by his political detractors but by the American people themselves. And with the end of the Cold War and the shock of 9-11-01, asserting superiority over others through military and economic means seemed even logical. The only problem was that the domination allowed for ever-increasing military expenditures and a belief that the U.S.A. had a right and responsibility to protect its interests no matter how far from its own shores. Indeed, the Bush doctrine after 9-11-01 reflected an urgency that "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands." While reflecting the frontier spirit of the U.S.A. in its founding, this view also encouraged an imperial agency around the world that we now know spread U.S.A. resources too thin and compromised its credibility around the globe. And as the resources dwindled, advocates such as Wolfowitz and Rumsfeld pushed to "Make American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists," (Washington Post, 2007) thus justifying even more expenditures.
While the critique of U.S.A. foreign policy is central in The Limits of Power, the most frightening assertion was that a nation's citizens can actually encourage their government to ignore fundamental social and economic issues by being obsessed with their own desires for comfort and luxury. The broader reality check then is if leaders, whether governmental or otherwise, might sometimes have to choose the more difficult path of challenging the wishes of peers and followers rather than perpetuating a notion of grandeur that is destructive to themselves and others.
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