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This is the original transcript of Maharaji's comments on the fourth day of a training session that took place in Arundel, England, in 1999. The transcript was written by Chuck Nathan, and the only edits that have been done are the replacement of attendees' names with initials, and obvious spelling corrections.
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M COMMENTS
UK SESSION #1
7/26/99
8:45am
Blue and red are two of the worst colors for video. We should have black pens only.
I arranged the whiteboard at an angle like that to face the camera so the camera can project it and neither camera's vision nor people's vision is compromised.
Academic training:
Survival training
Press type situation simulations
Whole sense of the team operations
Driver training
Development of checklists
This was W's forte - Avis became official carrier for EV - he had people eating out of his hand - In Europe this surfaced in a another training - people were reluctant to have that aggressive approach -- this place isn't air-conditioned.
9am
You were sitting in the back row B. Fix it B, fix it.
Well that means that nobody can fine you. If you violate, we'll take it down and during the break you can go get your envelope. That's such a cleaner way of doing it. Now we know you aren't dying or something. With P everyone was wondering what's going on? Is she OK?
We have some extra blindfolds. We'll get you one.
You shouldn't do that. Your dentist will tell you. You won't be able to drink cold drinks. You'll have to get crowns. And then it bulges and exposes the nerve.
Are we all settled? Everyone sitting comfortable places?
So we have a homework assignment that I hope you've done.
How was this homework assignment for you? What kind of time did you spend on it? What kind of processes do you run across doing it?
I would like to point out one thing. I read your letter D. At first I looked at it and saw your concern and it's a legitimate concern. Everyone has that, some anchor holding them back. His is that he is not a fast thinker. He said that. Two, language problem. Inexperience. Everybody has a little devil that got its hand up our ass holding us back. And that's exactly what we have to get rid of. No one is assuming in this training that you are too dumb to see the obvious. Here's a fellow who does this professionally. He comes into this situation and he feels held back from doing it. A little ghost in the closet. The issue is what it's doing to us.
Regarding your situation, I'm sure somehow it will be OK. The kind of unconsciousness that existed long ago isn't there. There are channels where you can scream and things can be taken care of. It's like a cyclic thing. But it will be taken care of only if you put the best foot forward. But if you don't put the best foot forward, then it's like this person doesn't really bring anything. But if you put the best foot forward, then you can help.
The first time the criteria is not K and how long you have had it. But what do you bring as a strength. So if you have had K for a really long time or short time it's irrelevant. Because that's not the criteria. The criteria is what are you going to bring to this? What are you going to provide? Being a good PWK is fine. Go home. And when there is an intent, a good intent and a will and an understanding that perseverance is not a problem, and push ahead in the right direction, then press ahead.
In Nepal I took a walk and saw these guys working.
L, C, another guy. They looked fried. Run down, fried. I went up to them and asked them if they had had any food. They said no. Nobody offered you any food? No. So I went into my kitchen and had some food made and fed them.
Now if somebody had been concerned, not in a humanitarian way, but seeing that they were doing an important job and they need to be supported, it makes a big difference. When are we going to have that kind of clear consciousness?
There are ghosts holding us back. We have to move ahead. What lies ahead is exciting. I shared part of the vision yesterday. With a good base of people and understanding, it can be wonderful. Yes we have a press situation that's a mess. But that can change. First time in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, there was finally an article that wasn't head bashing. There was a team that worked on it. It had an effect.
Even sky is not the limit. Right now, mini challenges like wait 5 seconds. Would you say that that's a mini challenge? Compared to the challenges of building halls, running these halls, building K centers, to eventually get to a 24 hour telecast. Would you say waiting 5 seconds before the last proposal is a mini challenge? But we're having a hard time with it.
A test is given in schools every day, colleges. It's timed. Now how many of you in school and took your watch and put it on the table? Because you knew you had to turn in that paper in that time parameter. Or you looked up on the clock on the wall. Some time the time would go too fast, sometimes too slow. After how many tests did you finally figured out how to take multiple choice tests. You mark the ones you're sure of. Then you work on the ones you're not sure of. And then you take your best guess for the ones you can't figure out.
When you make a multiple-choice test it's hard to come up with the three wrong answers. They have proven time and time again that you can pass by not having any information.
But you arrange yourself for the test because it's important. So we create some rules. We accept them. If we see other people breaking them we go shh shh shh. But when it comes to us, it doesn't matter. Don't shoo me. That's not taking ownership, that's not taking responsibility. So really it's a very complex but very simple issue.
What we're about to begin with, this is not fun. So from J over is one group and that's the other group. How many people in this group? 35 people in this group and there must be 36 there, right?
So what has to happen, in this group, has to choose 31 people form this group. It's exactly the opposite of firing. Only 31 people from this group. So now you have a criteria, right? So what this group has to do is figure out a way, take all the criteria and boil them down and use that criteria to hire 31 people form this group. And have no specific service. Have no specific service and no specific job. B is not a mechanic. K is not French. Isn't that what your job is?
And you get to hire 31 people. Of course they're probably going to reverse that. The answer might be right here.
How long would you like for this exercise? Five minutes? Yesterday you had 10 minutes without any criteria and today you have criteria, so you just need 5 minutes, right? Isn't that Australian logic?
In Australia they used to give one large bottle of beer to all the employees. The unions were so strong. If you go out on your break, and a drop of water falls on your cigarette, then … That's why God put that country so far away.
(Group 1 fails to hire 31 people)
My watch says the time is up. Should be easy for you, right? You must have sat there and identified all the assholes on that side. So you have ten minutes to accomplish the task.
(Group 2 hires 9 people and runs out of time)
Explain to me how the applied the three criteria that you decided upon. He doesn't even see his strengths. He doesn't even know what he'll bring. Do you know that? He doesn't see it. Here's a guy who says I don't want to fly an airplane. You say I know you can.
Would you consider one of the criteria being does the person want to do this or not? You're doing this exercise extremely arbitrarily. You came up with the criteria and you're not even applying the criteria. And I know what you're going to do? You're going to go to 31 and stop. The last 4 people automatically will not get hired.
I think the sanest thing was said by her yesterday. I wouldn't hire any of you. So what have we got here? Methodology isn't the problem. It can always be devised. You don't have to be a genius to work out methodology. It's the basis on which all this will function. That the people that you hire will truly bring strength. Did you develop criteria that would ensure that? Did you agree on what those criteria should be? Did you leave it three people who are by the way weakest in English to devise the criteria?
And you see, you abdicated the responsibility to three people, Whatever they do is fine. I don't have a problem abdicating to three people. But why didn't you establish the criteria first. And they came up with 3 criteria that could never be assessed.
But people, if this is how we're going to operate, forget it. If this is how we operate, the vision is dead before it's born. Yes?
Eliminate 5 people by number by where they are seated, right? That's what we did yesterday. Where were you yesterday? Yesterday we had to fire 5 people.
Abdication is sweet. You sit back and don't worry about it. For five minutes you went absolutely nowhere. Around and around in circles. People are still not digesting their own proposals. Proposals are being made that are not viable. It's still this thing of I want to say something smart. Would this group hire or fire Sushi? Why? They don't think you are participating.
Why not say I haven't said anything in the last half hour with I'm here, I'm with you and I like the process that's happening. I understand. I don't understand. I'm having a hard time keeping up with what's happening. I'm not having a problem. These are all indications to the team that we're operating OK.
They could put all the gauges for engines where the engines are. Why are they in the cockpit? So you want to know what's happening with each person. And if everything is OK, if your engine is running OK, it's important to know that. On the G3, gauges are green if DODK, yellow if not OK, red if danger.
Criteria we're coming up with are disgusting. You're not even asking the fundamental question, do you want to do this? In a very subtle way, it's like, let's get this over with. Your goal wasn't to finish the task. It was to let the ten minutes expire. Do you agree with that? Over with becomes the task. How many of you think that is exactly the attitude when an event is put up? Let's just get it over with? Do you think that's dangerous? That's the mentality we have in this room. Let's not put up an event. Let's get it over with. Even though so much energy has been put into registration, let's get it over with. The event over with. Security over with.
You could have done this in ten minutes. Had you started with criteria. Methodology is not a problem. Who doesn't want to do this? Ten people raise their hands. Boom, they're out.
The Mier space station. The story is Mier; it goes back several years. Russia had developed a very comprehensive space program. OK the American won the race but we need to continue doing our research. Mier was started but a lot of compromises were made. Oxygen systems shut down. Fires erupted. But somehow, whoever was there had a real will to go on. They had a team and took cardboard and made a model and they told the astronauts how to fix the oxygen problem. Air conditioners broke down and they created their own. A real will. The will was clear. And the damn thing kept on going and kept on going.
Mier became the most incredible launching pad for all these countries to gain real experience in space, India, France, America, everybody. It gave launch to incredible things. Flawed, but it went on and on and on. At one point it was given the name ugly butterfly. So methodology. Intent is another thing. When intent is clear, methodology will be simple to devise. Necessity is the mother of creation. How many of you felt a necessity to fire five people? Genuinely? (Five people raise their hands)
How do you clean up a tangled bush in the jungle? Do you untangle everything? No, you take a machete and chop, chop, chop and you clear it out.
Until you feel a necessity, how is this mess going to be cleaned up? Yeah we're doing exercises and yeah it's safe, but it's very real. I think it's time for a break.
You know what has to be done. Don't just sit there on your ass. Do it.
(Break)
10:25am
I have to tell you that technically tomorrow is the last day with me. And we are nowhere near where we need to be. A lot of people are relying in clocks, this aid, that aid, facilitator, instead of relying on the rules. There's a reason why we're not where we need to be. Until you realize I've got what I need, that survival book.
Guy gets on a liferaft. Typical scenario: someone will come and save me. It doesn't happen. One day, two days, three days go by. Fortunately for this person he took responsibility and set himself up to survive. Went on for a month plus. First the attitude is something will happen and it will be OK. That's what's happening here. Somebody will help me. Until you realize you have what you need (pointing to the rules). In the survival book, he didn't get anything extras. He just had to start using what he had. He inverted the canopy and started catching rainwater. What was a hindrance became what he needed to survive. At first he'd feel the sharks underneath the raft. They were interested. Fish would start coming to the raft. He'd shoo them away. Then he settled down. A whole colony settled under his raft. He was able to catch them and eat them. It dawned on him that he had to take responsibility. Now you're not taking ownership. You're goal oriented. Lollygag around, wasting time. Everything you need has been given. You have the understanding. First day you thought something specific would be given. Now you know that's not going to happen. A lot has happened. A lot has been let go of. I never thought I was like this. When you get out of this room, you stop following the rules. You get a break and fart off.
That's why you have succeeded in so few exercises. Your not taking the rules with you out there. So you know what's going to happen to you, right? You do, don't you? You're going to be out of this training. Another group is coming. Other groups will be trained. Other groups will look at you and say sorry, bye bye.
You want that? Because that's what's going to happen, right? There's obviously going to be an emergence of a greater number of people who are willing to follow the rules, to be more conscious, to bring a greater strength. They will be the ones that will funnel up. They're going to look at you and say fuck off.
The advantage here is if you can apply yourselves, you can all be cream and float to the top. It's up to you. It's really up to you.
(V asks team to decide how much time to strategize)
Do you want to amend that time? Yesterday you took the 15 minutes and brain farted for 9 minutes and 55 seconds. What if you don't have that time? Is time your friend or your enemy? So do you really want to drag it out? Is it a precious commodity to you or unprecious? So if you buy a AMFM radio for $5, same exact model, year, etc. that being sold at another sop for $200, which would you buy? Why? Time has nothing to do with intent. When the intent is unclear, when the objective of being here is unclear, 15 minutes is never enough. When the intent is clear, 1 minute is too long.
(Team decides on 5 minutes)
(V gives instructions)
(Puzzle exercise)
Everybody done? (one group finished) Amazing things happened. Proud? Why?
When you screw up, the whole team screws up. You had quite a few things that your team didn't do. Let me first of all remind you that these puzzles are for age 3-7. So the fact that it took you over 15 minutes shows you are deficient in gray matter. One group actually decided to take the whole puzzle from table to table. The risk factor they were taking, enormous. For two pieces they were risking the whole puzzle. Ultimately even if one person went to each table, one person could bring all the correct pieces to all the correct group. All of a sudden you have two people going around. A lot of common sense got thrown out because of goal orientation. I love this one because people actually feel proud of getting this done. Then I remind them this is for age 3-7. Little brats that shit in their pants.
The more people involved in putting a puzzle together, the worse it is. Because a puzzle is oriented one way. The person on the right, left of you, see a different picture. So what did you do right? I think you made an attempt to follow the rules. It's not clear to you where you were supposed to go. These are things we've done again and again. Should only take 5 seconds to do that. To number off. There's no newness any more. Yes a little difference here, there. How you need to be, to function, that's the same. But it's not becoming a habit.
These are trivial matters. They should not be taken care of.
Let me say something here.
Say we are here (stick figure inside a square) We have come and we want to learn something. I think everybody thinks of that as being here (square in upper left corner). I'll rise. Learn is putting things in perspective. I get off on tangents, assumptions, ideas. Somehow I'm brought back on track. You go for gulfstream training - it's got all these systems - but it doesn't defy nature - everything works because nature allows it - those units that function like ordinary things work, for example a hand pump, a hydraulic pump, much be really sophisticated - a lot of those pumps aren't any different from a hand pump - someone explains oh it works like this and a light goes off and I say Oh I know that. The thing isn't to get here, the thing is to get back on track. That might be here or here or here. This is the wrong picture. In your complicated ways of thinking, you have forgotten common sense. These rules are nothing but common sense.
So that's what you have to get back to, is common sense. So the training isn't to push you up as you might picture in your head. It's to put you on track. And where is the track? Is depends on where you are. If the track is to the left of you, where do you need to move? Left. If the track is to the right of you, where do you need to move? Right. 5 second rule, 10 second rule, confidentiality, all these rules are common sense rules. The task that was given to you was fucking easy. How many of you have caught on that these exercises are quite simple. But they seem quite difficult. That is because the common sense is gone. The rules get thrown out the window. This isn't hard. But this is the typical reaction we have that it has to be hard. This is our Jewish/Catholic/Protestant/Muslim/Italian/French/Indian upbringing. It must be difficult. But it isn't.
You understand what I'm saying here. Idea is to get back on track. If you think there's a particular destination you're trying to get to, it won't work. Is there any rule here that is not common sense?
Common sense. Judges get this. There's a law that's applicable. The judges have to look at what was the intent of the law. What was the purpose of the 5 second rule? So in counting off, do you think you have to digest, #1, #2, #3. The purpose of the 5 second rule is so that.... Do you know that most good speakers use the five second rule? Stop, allow people to digest. Comedians. Great comedians talking about what comedy is about. It's all about timing. You take the joke too long, it's no longer funny. When kids tell jokes they are never funny. Their imagination runs wild and they are watching a movie while they tell it and they get into all this detail. 10 seconds. Cut the crap. Say what we have got to say. This is how we can get your message across. This is also how you can get your message across to those English-impaired.
Conscious. Am I helping? Am I contributing? What am I about to do? What have I just done? What's happening? Where am I coming from? Where am I right now? Where am I going to? When you read a read a map, you look at where am I coming form, where am I now, where am I going to. These are the basics of navigation. Consciousness is navigation.
GPS systems in cars. What if a GPS only showed you where you are only? No you need all three elements That's the name of the game of consciousness. What are my mistakes so I can change? How do I need to change my way of thinking?
Respect. There are two ways to get something done. Fear or by respect. There is a statistical base which says that fear is not 100%. You don't get 100% results from fear. You can try to intimidate a person but they might not give in. But respect, you can expect 100% results with respect. So in a team, it becomes crucial, the grease to make things happen. If you slap someone, you've lost a friend. This slapping doesn't help. But respect does.
Confidentiality. We need the confidential to be whoever we are at any given moment and know that we're not going to be judged. It's not going to be broadcast that I had a brain fart. If I feel that it's going to be broadcast, I'd rather shut up, I'd rather not say anything. How many of you have gone into the bathroom and farted nice and loud and long knowing no one else will hear it. But in public you might be holding it or trying to make it silent. Confidentiality is important.
Honesty. Honesty to me is this physical law that needs to be present, it makes the oil surface on the top, it makes the ice drop to the bottom. In salt, even though it's denser than water, it won't freeze as quickly as fresh water so there can be a separation. Little laws that work. Hot air will rise, cold air sinks. Honesty is a law like that. If I'm not honest with myself, I'm completely fooling myself. So honesty, when I don't understand something, I have to say I don't understand. If I don't, I'm denying a very basic reality that I exist in. If I design an airplane with the wings backward, then I'm not being honest. I'm creating something that exists in a fantasy reality. On planet earth, I have to follow nature's laws. It has to be a wing to fly. Something that simply looks like a rock doesn't mean it's going to drop down. A rock is going to behave like a rock. In nature, honesty is required. You can't take a piece of styrafoam and expect it to behave like a rock. So this recognition of reality is called honesty. I'm acknowledging the rule to be this. I can do this. I can't do this. I need help with this. Honesty is letting what's happening inside, letting it be real. You have the possibility of presenting a different image on the outside. Because of this paradox you need honesty as correction filter to resolve the paradox.
Participate. It's like having the gauges in the cockpit not on the engines.
Unanimous. So that there's no possibility of bitching and complaining, people saying I wouldn't have done that. Unanimously you could have said, you put the puzzle together. In premiedom, it's exactly the opposite. I wouldn't have done it. Nobody asks me. They are all a bunch of assholes. Unanimity takes that all away. You're a part of it.
No brain farts. Need that. Without that rule, we'd be sunk.
No dark thoughts. Don't have a doubt. You don't need to have a doubt. Today you did it. You did it in four minutes, you walked out. Fifteen minutes were being asked for. That's a dark thought. Further time could have been saved.
When the time is announced, five minutes remaining, four minutes. Have you noticed how it's announced. It's announced as a negative, not a positive. It's announced as "you're fucked" It sends a panic through everybody. Instead of it being a sweet reality and a reminder it comes off as the famous last words of the doctor, bend over or this won't hurt.
All right? Get back on track. The common sense track. It's not a big deal.
Let's take a 15-minute break. The reason why you feel cold. The temp is set at the same setting, but it's cooler outside. There's only one place that accommodates for external temperature and that's at the residence in Malibu. Go get your sweater. We can take a 20-minute break.
What do you need? Take 15 then.
(Break)
12:00 noon
(V announces Scrambled Puzzle exercise.)
(The Team runs out of time)
Have you ever heard the expression "This is just one piece of the puzzle?" You have to have all the pieces to put the puzzle together.
(M side comment to Chuck) What happened to your computer? You dropped it?
(Put in facilitator checklist)
Any ambiguity about the instructions? Do you hear them differently now?
That was the group of eight? They decided that maybe all the pieces were already here (within the group of eight)?
One thing I've noticed. You've locked onto conscious, 10 seconds,. But when it gets to no brain farts, I haven't heard much. And dark thoughts, I've heard nothing at all. So I think you need to examine that, to acknowledge when you make a brain fart. When you say someone else has a brain fart, you might be tweaking with the respect. If you're going to continue having brain farts, you can't possibly make a rule, we should deal with every proposal. That's not commonsensical.
Because you shouldn't have had one. Well look at it this way. If ever the group decides to hire people with the least amount of points, you'd get hired. I just pray they don't decide the other way.
What about this brain fart thing. They're coming and they're masking reality. A lot of dark thoughts are coming too. How many of you thought there was a trick in the last exercise? You were already told there were no tricks.
How many of you are concerned with time? But you are concerned the wrong way. You take too much of it for the wrong things, too little for the right things. Being aware of time should be productive, but for you it's anti-productive. You took a long time to strategize.
S had a brain fart. It just rolls, nice Southern Irish, it just rolls. He seconded a proposal. It's unnecessary. If you stay quiet, you are. This is the procedure that's established. You don't need to second it. There's no voting. You know how to vote, right?
If a proposal is made, you agree by staying quiet. If you agree and speak, it throws people. There are a lot of little things happening that are throwing you off. I want to add to that. I agree but I want to add to it. Sometimes that's OK, but most of the time, now where is the proposal is it?
But if people were to listen and it's a brain fart they can disagree and it will kill it. But people don't listen. And they get frustrated and angry. And then good proposals come and people don't hear it. You can't allow yourself to get angry, because then you lose respect, conscious, honest. Every time you get frustrated or angry, you break three rules automatically. And then you will brain fart. And brain fart will happen if you say something or not. So, once you get angry or frustrated, dark thoughts come. So look how many you will break… Respect, Conscious, Honesty, No brain farts, No dark thoughts.
You realize there is no order of these. These have the same stature. This is not the last rule. This is not last.
(V announces the Maze exercise.)
A BFG product right? What he's asked for is so simple. You could be finished by now.
(Privately to facilitator team in the marquee:)
One thing you could do would be to have a canvas and paint different colors on the canvas instead of using tiles. It would be a lot easier wouldn't it. With canvas you can roll it up and lay it down. (Put in facilitator checklist.)
MSJ (Ask Mahatma Ji)
In a training facility, we could have marble colored foyer with different colored panels. After they do this exercise, they'll avoid them.
Pretty exposed here. I would have thought you would have arranged one in here, one in the main room. Should have done this in separate rooms. (Put in facilitator checklist)
Very good recommendation from RJ: blow some whistles at random.
M idea for facilitator training (Put in facilitator checklist)
During facilitator training, give each facilitator a different rule to break. Then each facilitator takes turns observing the facilitator team and has to observe how many violations occur.
(In Marquee during Maze exercise:)
Somebody jumped from the side? That was never supposed to happen. Someone stepped out on the side and jumped tiles, that's 10 minutes. Lunch break. Be back at 2:30pm
(Lunch)
2:30pm
Well, you've got he's a bit stumped because you're not acting like normal human beings. At this stage in Miami things went flawlessly. You are not using one iota of common sense. What you're doing here and in the marquee are two different things. Whether you don't want to take it to heart or whether there's a competition, or we defy training, if that's your attitude, let's go home and forget about it.
That particular exercise is not a difficult exercise. It's an easy exercise.
First thing that had been decided here if you had listened to it was you were going to clarify the rules. So many of the groups started strategizing before they clarified the rules. Out of the blue somebody would say I don't understand. So where the fuck were you when it began?
The fact that you wait until people get into strategizing and then you ask for clarification. And why do the others start strategizing w/o checking if everyone understands.
This has nothing to do with the exercise.. This was something that you agreed upon. But you didn't do it. You guys really hate each other. I've never seen a group of people that hate each other so much. Sincere pure hate. And everybody has excepted themselves. I don't have hate. Then why isn't it happening?
I would really like an answer please. Otherwise, I'm ready to call it off. How can that work with a bunch of people who are totally undisciplined. The training is not about discipline. Go join the army. They'll discipline you.
Who the fuck are you talking about? What is this may be we? I'm not asking for analysis am I? When are you going to take responsibility for your own stupidity? What is this we bvus? What is this?
When are you going to take responsibility for your stupidity? Not we, I. Me. I. Not we are not trusting. I am not trusting. Not we are not participating. I am not participating. Not we are not following rules. I am not. Not we are not having brain farts. I am not.
When are you going to take personal responsibility for what's happening here. Each person is responsible when this team doesn't work.
What is this? I don't understand it.
All right, should we ask him to leave then. OK, then I'll leave. This is it. If you're not taking it seriously, what am I doing here? He's not the only one. I know all of you are not taking it seriously.
So they can fix it. They can continue the training. I'll go home. I don't need this. I really don't. I've got a lot of better things to do. I thought if I invested some time it would bear fruit some day. I had a schedule to do events and Knowledge Sessions in Africa and Mauritius. And this is what you give me. And on day four you tell me we're not taking it seriously.
I've talked about the vision. And then you're not taking it seriously? That's really great. I could have spent time giving K to a bunch of people in Africa that would take it seriously. But I've been spending time with a bunch of people that don't even take me seriously.
This is very very bad investment of my time. Cause I was really hoping that today would fly. We've already discussed so many things yesterday. OK, this is serious. Came down to firing and you never concluded that. Do you know that? I know you think you got away with it. You didn't get away with it.
This is very very strange. Why wouldn't you take it seriously? You think I'm spending morning to evening here and the world's waiting for me. To cancel events. It never happens unless it's serious. TO ME to cancel events and be here, how serious do you think I take this? And have you reciprocated even 1% for me. I don't understand it. I'm not stupid.
That's ended the conversation. If you're not going to take me seriously, that ends the conversation. You're not taking me, the rules, the facilitators, this opportunity seriously. End of conversation. What else is there to say.
What are we going to do about the last four days. There is no such thing as sorry in my book. It doesn't fix the last four days of my life. Cause if you're not taking me seriously and you've given me no indication that you will take it seriously. The last exercise was a child's exercise. Children play this game. And you couldn't do it in time.
The only thing you can do is fix four days of my life. They'll have been a waste. The team is nowhere close to where they're supposed to be. There's distrust in the rules, in the exercises. As soon as a facilitiator sees you pulling a trick, we'll do anything to sabotage you because you've gone in the wrong direction. One group got smart and said we'll leave little pieces of paper on the tiles. I was going to turn on the fan. Because you didn't need to. It wasn't necessary. How difficult was it to leave a trail behind. Then someone said let's mark the ones that are no good.
I'm sorry, This does not work for me. I sincerely think I should leave you in the hands of the facilitators and I should call it a day. Your attitude is let's get it over with and finish the next two days. It's like you're stuck in a pit and you say give me a hand and I say OK and you say I don't need help. This is bizarre.
Not a good way to spend it if this is the most important week of your life. If it's the most important week of your life there would be incredible care and concern that you put into this.
Did you know I do the most talking, the most standing up? More than these facilitators? And then it's not serious. So I don't think we have common ground. I'm serious. I'm really serious. I go back, I think about it. I review the notes. I review the notes from other conferences. I'm really serious about it. But if we don't have a common ground, it's not going to happen.
That's what I've been trying to do. But you've got to take it seriously. You want to play tricks, fine. Lay tricks on them, (the facilitators). They do this professionally. They're good at it. I like sincerity. I have never and will never penalize anybody for being ignorant. Stupidity I want to change. You want to play tricks, these are your people, not me.
I started that on day one. Do you know how much help I gave you on day one in that bar room over there? I told you about responsibility, about taking the ownership, all of these things.
What happens to my four days? I'm not an unconscious person. I want to spend every minute of my life doing what I want to do. What is the point of learning when you're not going to take it seriously. What's the point of learning a little when a large amount is being offered.
I just feel I can't continue on and you have been playing tricks and you haven't been taking it seriously. We don't have common ground. Common ground is you're into what I'm into. But we don't have common ground. You're not taking it seriously.
So you're going to have excuse me and I'll leave you in the capable hands of the facilitators. With me out of the way holding them back, they are going to love this.
I'm going to have to turn it over to them. We don't have common ground.
All of a sudden you decide you haven't been serious. Because you're not serious, I can't continue. I am not going to play this game.
I don't want to win at your cost. That's the wrong kind of winning. I'm not competing against you. I'm not trying to show how smart I am by showing
When they tell me this exercise has to be terminated
You want to win w/o me. I want to win with you, not w/o you. This is what I was trying to do, shape, mold, unfold, being extremely patient. If I had to repeat something, I had no qualms about repeating. We have no common ground.
What are you going to do with the past four days?
Technically tomorrow is supposed to be the last day with me.
Then why was the exercise forfeited. It's not good for your morale to keep having these exercises forfeited. We gave you this exercise for ages 3 to 7. That's a hands down winner. We could call hotel staff in here to do it.
Analogy I have wolves belong with the wolves. You have become wolves by saying this is a trick. So fine. You'll be happy to behave like wolves, won't you?
I know that in my life if somebody gives me what I've been given. If it's 1% of what I've been given, I'd take that person very seriously. Extremely seriously.
Well, I guess it's one of those things. Master comes, says what he says. His great little students fuck it all up. This wouldn't be the first time, right? There's a precedent for this repeated in history. This the first time there's been an attempt to change that. But it seems to be predestined. Seems impossible to break that mold.
I know that all of you are guilty of not taking this seriously. We've blown 80% of my time out the window. That doesn't work for me. The thing is, I know you don't take it seriously. While they were setting up the exercise, you were all talking about your deficiencies. I thought it would be no problem. On that particular exercise, I help everyone. Do you know the language problem is nothing compared to the Indian conference. There were people who only understood English or Hindi or their language.
In Miami there were people there who spoke Spanish only from Mexico, South America.
I don't know what excuse you have. There were people from Quebec. Who didn't speak much English at all.
In fact, I would say those of you from French background here speak better than the people in Miami.
When people follow rules, I give them the next several tiles free. When you don't follow the rules, I can't. I have been on your side all along. I can't continue to take the same posture that I have because it's not happening.
What is being asked is neither unrealistic nor impossible. It has been demonstrated that it does happen. Language is not an issue. Ignorance is not an issue. Stupidity is always an issue.
Do you know in this universe there is no school that will fix stupidity? You can be brought from darkness into light but there is no cure for stupidity? When people who are not stupid decide to act stupid, I really have a problem.
But obviously that's what you've chosen.
Like I said, I'm not stupid. I'm not going to sit. I am one person in this training, I have not been waiting for the end day. I'm not waiting for this to get over, I'm not. I like to work hard. They all work hard. You all work hard. But we don't have common ground. But for you it's a nice joke.
Well, that's all very nice. But I would only stay if you were going to take me seriously. I can't give you a test and see if you're serious. There is no test for sincerity.
If one of you doesn't take me seriously, it's not going to work. You'll see this team go flat on it's face again and again and again.
I have already told you what displeases me. It's not your mistakes. It's when you do those things on purpose. When you know what rule you should be following and you don't follow it.
Someone asked Ram what pleases you. He said, not the cleverness of my students. That does not please me. The student who follows my direction. He's the one or she's the one that pleases me. All you've demonstrated is our cleverness and it's blown up in your face left and right.
The first two days you farted off. I don't mind. That's part of the training. Third day. By the fourth day, if people take me seriously, they fly. That's what I've seen training after training after training.
It's not a good situation. These rules might seem all new to you. But this should be the code of conduct of a PWK. This should be the code of conduct for a human being.
Well, let's take a 15-minute break.
(Break)
(M talking to facilitator team during the break)
Discussion of firing exercise
Discussion of team turning the corner and clearing the air and I will not judge you
It would be good for the group to divide up on the telephone, using a totally different medium of communication. (M gave example of toy in India where you could set up a phone network with several kids being able to talk and listen to each other). People firing phones at one another. They would see that there need to be protocols. Even if they didn't work out the protocols, they could do that later.
G is now working with us. He's going to set up computer classes on different softwares. G could help set something up on CompuServe and First Class Client.
People could be briefed on the pitfalls of the internet, safety in communication.
A or you could brief people on legal stuff, what not to say.
The last day of the conference can't become too specific at the end.
3:35pm
Close that (door).
What I'm going to do. I'm going to keep my eyes peeled as usual. If I see you not taking it seriously, I'll leave. So it's up to you. Now what we need to do, will the back row move back foot, foot and half back?
So we've been here for a few days. Some of you know each other, even before this team. Some of you have come here and are part of this team.
Things might have happened that were obnoxious. This will be our opportunity for what I call clearing the air. So we'll divide in half and what will happen is, a person will come to you, you stay seated and say whatever it is their grievance is. You don't have to say yes, you don't have to say no. May be somebody said something or slapped somebody on the wrist. It has to be done with respect, no malintent. Whatever you've got sitting inside, you can let them know. Once this side is finished, this side will approach this side. And then it will be within each side.
You look them in the eye. You say whatever it is. Then you go to another person and say a grievance to another person or you go back and sit down.
He doesn't respond to it. He just listens to it. Once I'm finished I go sit down.
When you guys are finished talking to this group, then this group goes and talks to this group.
Facilitators are not included. But you should have the opportunity to talk to that person. That's not an issue.
I hope I don't have to tell you to breathe as well. Then after that maybe a person wants to say something back to me. Like I didn't mean that or I'm sorry or I didn't know.
There may be people here that you have to queue up for. Then stay seated and go to that person when they are available.
Once everyone is seated.
Please people, don't sit there and waste time. All of a sudden, just towards the end, they get up and decide to talk to someone.
I'll give you a minute. Look over there.
You don't kill them; you just talk to them, OK?
Has to be done with respect, no malintent. You're clearing the air. This is not an exercise. This is real. This is not for revenge. This is an opportunity to get it out of our chest. And the other person who may have not even known, somebody says something to us, and we don't even know we've hurt that person.
3:48pm
Clearing the air starts
When you come up to the person, don't crouch down, stand up, make eye contact. Don't respond to the person. Don't shake your head. Don't nod. This is not a therapy session. Whatever somebody has in their bag.
4:05pm
There comes a time when we have our differences, our problems, whatever we have. As human beings we go around and judge everyone all day long. Yet somehow even though most of us succumb to that nature, there's an opportunity to rise above that and to take something very, very seriously. And one thing we can offer somebody who we want to work with, is that we will not judge them. And to be able to say that from the deepest, most sincere place inside of you. Not something superficial, but very very real. Be able to look in the other person's eye and mean it. That can be an incredible bridge. Really come from a very very sincere place.
So what we're going to do starting from H. Look the person from the eye. Not a two way conversation. This is a declaration that you are making. Say "I will not judge you." That's it. You have to mean it and it has to come from a very deep place.
OK. There's one more element that remains. What you're about to do, you have to take it in the right light. There are certain people when given a freedom they take it the right way, and some people in the wrong way. What you're about to do now is to be productive, not destructive. Now you have to tell yourself, you will not judge yourself. But that doesn't give you license to make mistakes Hopefully it will give us a fresh start to cut all those chains, holding us back. So will you please tell yourself, "I will not judge me." And mean it.
OK. Well, that's that part of it. How do you all feel? A little lighter?
Lets take a 15-minute break and we'll resume. Could you please move the chairs back to where they were?
(Break)
5:27pm
(V announces the Maze exercise)
Who has done this before? You can participate but you can't talk and you can't point.
Anything else you need to resolve? Who doesn't know anymore what number they are?
Who needs clarification?
Don't think. If you start thinking you're... All the exercises are based on common sense. When you see a snake, you back up. That's common sense. You don't need to see what gender it is?
Any language problems where you didn't understand the instructions?
The thing it is. It's so fucking simple. It's not that hard. What's hard is when you start going into dark thoughts and brain farts.
35 rule violations, mostly:
5 seconds
unanimous
respect - talking on top of each other
(Maze exercise)
6:52pm
How was it for you? You realize there are some dynamics involved here. One, you need a team. So it's imperative the team be a team. And the rule of not talking on top of each other becomes imperative. And the responsibilities have to be taken care of. Most probably, it's a controlled mistake. So far, the whistle has been an enemy. But now the whistle Is helping us. When the whistle blows, you have just discovered the tile that you should not step on. That's not a mistake.
This is much more akin to what happens in real life. You have to take risks. But all risks should be reversible. If the risks are reversible, then there are no consequences. But if it's not reversible, then there are consequences.
Group #4, did incredibly well. They followed the rules. They finished first, which is not the point of the exercise. They impressed the shit out of V. So rules work. And how important are they? Whenever you start breaking the rules, things start breaking down. Got it on tape. Then group #2, in same marquee, not good, not so good. Not following rules. Not having clear strategies. No unanimity. What I observed. In one group I observed that there was a system that was working but then there was a proposal to change it. Overall, I hope you saw some demonstration that teamwork it works. And if you follow the rules, how smoothly things go. I really want you to see group #4 in action. You get by group #4 and you actually felt good.
But your weakness is not your problem. Is weighing 350 pounds a problem? Problem isn't being color blind so far you stay out of the way and be helped by the team. So far those women were standing by the side of the road, no problem. So far those other 15 strong men are standing by the side of the road, no problem. Let those first 15 strong men push the bus and put their body eight into it.
With a team, if you stutter, it's not a problem. But don't be the negotiator with the hall or the press liaison. If you stutter, you stutter.
It's not so difficult. If you can get from here to where the marquees are. But everybody stopped. Throw too many numbers and it's no good. Am I eighth or am I four?
So all in all, not too bad.
Oh absolutely, you wasted four days. But we'll see if you can keep it up. I feel a little hopeful now. I think you've taken the corner. If you have sincerely taken the corner, then good. We'll find out.
I don't know about patient. I feel you took a turn. I hope you think so. Then you gotta stay with it. I'm not going to give you any homework. Don't drink too much. Enjoy yourselves. Relax. Have a good night.
Tomorrow if I were you, I'd be extremely careful. There will be a lot of exercises, a lot of opportunity for breaking the rules. Tomorrow will be a really good day or the worst. Don't make a U-turn. Good night. 9am. Do you want to start at 9:30am. Don't answer a question with a question. I'm asking what you want? Don't you want to be quality time? Take that extra half an hour, sleep in a little bit. 9:30am it is then.
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