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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Stay in the Pocket

I just spent some exacting but enjoyable days playing guitar for the recording of a new CD from the very talented Dan Zimmerman (Dan Zimmerman), with the equally gifted Daniel Smith (Danielson) at the production helm (powered by the incredible musicianship of Adrian Valosin, Wayne-O Taussig and Matt Zimmerman). Exacting in the sense that we recorded 19 new original songs live in 3 days, requiring a zen-like approach, being sufficiently in the moment without over-trying, yet as close as possible to that state of flow and effortless concentration in order to play a perfect take each time. This of course is a state that you cannot consciously find, it has to happen; all the harder when you're under the scrutiny of musicians of the caliber of those I had the good fortune to be with.

Daniel had some great advice for me, the gist of which was:

  • Stay behind the beat - in the pocket - don't get excited and drive the pace by having the guitar part being ahead
  • Use less notes, "I can't get my head round all those extra notes, they detract from the melody you're trying to convey"
  • Roll off that distortion on the guitar and don't use it too much, get more contrast in the sounds. You get more impact from less overdrive, the cleaner sound is more powerful ("I'd rather have AC/DC than eighties hair metal")

Funny how the the principles of impact are the same, in music, martial arts or life in general. We have always to stay in the pocket by not rushing, being happy in the moment, allowing serendipity to work, while having the clarity of mind to anticipate upcoming changes.

Less is more - economy of movement, of effort, is the cornerstone of graceful impact. In my professional life, I see the effects of overly-complicated processes and people seeking the complex contributing to the inefficiency of the pharmaceutical industry. Being as clear as possible on purpose (fitness and purpose)--of work, the song we're playing, or whatever we're undertaking--and stripping out everything that doesn't contribute is vital.

Impact is contrast; in karate it's the contrast between action and no-action, typified by the sudden switch from a seemingly relaxed state to an overwhelming attack. Contrast is what adds magic to life, between sweet and sour, beauty and sadness, tension and release. Power is not generated by turning up to 11, overdriving or layering on fancy effects. Power is generated by the connection (emotional or physical) between you and those you wish to have an impact upon. This is not necessarily enhanced by increasing intensity or volume, it has to come from staying in the pocket and connecting efficiently and effectively, using contrast and dynamics. Listen to the Meters demonstrate this so perfectly - turn this one up loud and enjoy:







Saturday, July 14, 2012

Fitness and Purpose

Continuing with the theme of integration (see Work/Life Balance? That's so Seventies!), I work in the Quality profession, contributing to the development of medicines by assuring compliance and integrity of clinical studies. Quality is often defined as "fitness for purpose" (see Wikipedia's Quality, first paragraph), the production of something in such a way that it meets its intended need.

The concepts of fitness and purpose are integral to the art of impact. They equate to building skills and then applying these to a challenge (see Requisite Variety ), the core elements for finding flow, impact and happiness.

Many of us spend a lot of time improving fitness, sweating at the gym, building muscles. This is a positive practice, but to realize the full benefits of any training, fitness must be connected to purpose - why are we investing time in fitness? What do we want to achieve? The reasons vary, it may be simply to look and feel better, to compete in a sports event, or to prevent illness or injury. Getting as clear as possible on purpose is the common denominator that allows us to improve the quality of our lives and break down work/life barriers. Purpose in the quality world is what the customer wants, it's the value added by our endeavors; any activity that does not add value should be examined and discontinued. This is also how to get strong impact, by removing all unnecessary motion in order to produce a clean, focused strike, unimpeded by useless motion. Purpose is what we are trying to achieve and how we intend to get there, it's the foundation that allows something meaningful to be built (see Just Like an Arrow). For example, purpose can be described a simple acronym like "SEAL": Service, Adventure, Entertainment, Learning. For me this is easy to remember and is powerful in laying the foundation for decisions and direction, always asking myself - does this provide  a service? Is there an adventure to be had? Will I be able to entertain or be entertained? Will I learn something? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then I will go with it (see Go With!) and follow whatever road opens up. This applies across the board; for example the point of going to gym for me is to get better at karate and to experience the thrill and flow of martial arts, it's always an adventure.

Building fitness and skills while being clear on purpose enables us to feel good, learn, make good decisions and use serendipity to our advantage, being quick in accepting or rejecting opportunities. It also helps make the best of bad times, realizing which parts of the negative experience benefit us, how they are in-line with our purpose, for example in allowing us to provide a service or learn something, albeit the painful way.

Purpose can also be thought of as a story--our storyline, what we are trying to achieve--and fitness is a means of getting there. We should think of lives from time-to-time as being the story in a book. So make it exciting, look back and enjoy the read so far while eagerly anticipating the next chapter.







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