IM Kata: Mindful Movement Though Our Work

Jeff Hutchings

est-selling books have been written about the art of “tidying up” and about Bachieving awareness and consciousness in the workplace. Ap- plications have been developed for practicing “mindful living.” And even science is coming onboard by telling us that vehicles to mental clarity are a means to a better work life. Self-care, which often includes breathing exercises, meditation, and mindfulness moments, is intended to clear our mental clutter and make us more patient, more perceptive, and less stressed. The mindfulness movement advances the idea of “being all there” as you engage with your daily work agenda. Many of the precepts and suggestions within the teachings on mindfully approaching life and its work are very relevant to information management (IM) devotees in our daily undertakings.

36 July/August 2018 Consider Karate Kata the three interwoven components of more about personal achievements Most who recognize the Japa- the ancient martial arts. and controlling emotions than about nese term kata will associate it with combat. One student said, “Karate a predefined set of movements in Karate > a Fighting Art keeps me grounded. I control my a martial arts demonstration, not Before a case is made for how breathing and my mind clears.” unlike a choreographed set of precise certain principles of the martial Karate then is a balance of the techniques. The term, though, arts can be applied to IM, there is a yin and the yang, the hard and the captures much more than that. Kata need to understand that karate, and soft principles that are relevant to is a way of doing, or a pattern of kata in particular, go way beyond everyday life and its work. behavior. It’s the foundation for such the common misconception of it undertakings as forms in the martial being simply a fighting art. Granted, Apply Kata to IM arts, the ritualistic tea ceremony, or a karate on the Okinawan Islands was Even though you now have meticulous flower arrangement. All taught as a means of self-protection some background information, these involve mindful engagement in the absence of hand weapons, IM practice as kata may on the with the meaningful and rewarding but it also was a vehicle to character surface seem to be a stretch, but a task at hand. refinement. more granular look could trigger or My practice in the martial arts The Bubishi, the authoritative reinforce ideas that we can upload started more than 25 years ago. I grew text on karate, says the martial arts into our IM routine. Kata, after all, up in a small town where extracur- is about clarity in a routine, ricular activities were limited, and uncomplicated approach, when I heard that shotokan karate precision, mindful engage- classes were offered in a neighbor- TheBubishi teaches ment, continuation (sanshin), ing town, I was elated. From then and the best use of energy and on, I went to class twice a week to that karate is a resources. learn more about the karate style In kata, whether it be a tea and to practice – through seemingly personal journey to ceremony or a karate perfor- endless repetitions – its techniques mance, nothing begins until and movements. Karate gave me the approach is carefully con- physical goals to work toward, and inner balance, to sidered. Thus, before you begin, it did wonders for my self-esteem give thought to the value to and adolescent anxiety. At age 47, I virtuous living, others in what you are doing, as am still a devoted practitioner and well as the value to yourself. Is teacher of the art. to cultivating your intention to demonstrate to others or to find an internal Study Shotokan for place of fulfillment after doing Self-Improvement human kindness something well? Shotokan is a traditional karate In my own karate practice, style, developed from various mar- and respect. for example, when I begin tial arts by Gichin Funakoshi in the are an inward journey to under- a new kata, I approach it slowly, mid to late 1800s. Karate do or “empty standing oneself: “See what is ensuring I understand all the move- hand way” was originally meant to hone unseeable” and “expect what is unex- ments, the correct tempo, and where and harden the body and to perfect pected” and “the human mind is one the most focus needs to be. Doing a destructive blocks and attacks, as well with heaven and earth.” The Bubishi kata well means having a thorough as refine a person’s character. At its core, teaches that karate is a personal understanding of it up front. shotokan embodies budo, a Japanese journey to inner balance, to virtuous In IM, a parallel practice may be term for martial disciplines where the living, to cultivating human kindness considering that effectively manag- ultimate goal is spiritual, ethical, and/ and respect. ing e-mail means your co-workers or moral self-improvement. Ancient-day monks used the get a quicker response from you and In the shotokan style, there are 26 martial arts not only as a means of you have easier and quicker access kata, or patterns, each having a par- conditioning their bodies for endless to your information. In such a case, ticular name and containing a series hours of meditation practice, but everyone is happier and less stressed. of combat techniques. These kata re- as a means to learning how to stay Upfront business considerations and quire the practitioner to study tempo, focused in their practice. Recently, in understanding your organization’s kime (or focused energy), posture, and one of my dojo’s classes for kids, the e-mail management requirements efficiency. Along withkihon (basics) pupils were asked what karate means at the outset translate to a better and kumite (sparring), kata is one of to them, and their responses were workflow.

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Careful consideration of the kata the margin for error. A well-docu- the technique and impedes power aspect – of why you do your IM mented, well-enforced method to generation, thus adding nothing of work and of its fundamental value handle incoming personal informa- value. – may give you a little more vigor in tion, for example, will mean records We can use the same philosophy that you’ll believe you conduct IM stored in the correct place, named in our records management storage best practices for a reason, not simply properly, and with the appropriate systems: keep it concise and simple. because they are required. access assigned. On the other hand, Don’t aim to capture more than the an ad lib process will be open to in- necessary metadata for each digital Remove What’s Not Required consistencies and, possibly, breaches. record type. Similarly, don’t bury An essential component of a martial This concept in the workplace is records in a deep hierarchy of digital arts kata performance is the removal illustrated by giving new employees storage folders that makes it unnec- of everything that isn’t critical to the sound advice on IM routines, thus essarily time-consuming to put in routine. Anything extra, even a subtle bringing them into an already-prov- and get out records. Using proper movement, is considered waste and is en process and mitigating newcomer naming conventions and a high-level disallowed. For example, when I was errors. A great example can be found folder structure enables users to find, learning black belt katas, I would retrieve, and return the records telegraph my next move with a they need more easily. Remem- slight change in my expression be- ber, organized clutter is still fore I delivered a technique such as Karate then is a clutter! a mae geri keage (front snap kick). My sensei (instructor) would say balance of the yin Seek ‘Continued Awareness’ “Keep your face out of this!” The An additional concept of thinking is that habits stick, and kata we can use to blanket IM the more we do something, the and the yang, practice is zanshin, which is an harder it is to eliminate it later. intriguing Japanese term for Relating this concept to our IM the hard and the remaining mindful, or having practices is a little more obvious: continued awareness. In essence, it As soon as information is not soft principles is a state of relaxed alertness. In needed to meet business or IM kata, the idea is to move through requirements, it should go! the tempo of the movements Movement in kata is about effi- that are relevant with alertness, always antic- ciency – that is, the best usage of ipating the next move; effort energy. In the ancient art of flower to everyday life and energy use are steady and arranging, for example, nothing consistent. is added that isn’t crucial to the and its work. As IM practitioners and their arrangement: more isn’t better. In IM, in our provincial records center in work have become more prominent hanging on to unneeded, transitory Newfoundland and Labrador, where in the digital age, they have more ac- records translates to cluttered storage employees have a well-defined countability for accurately and quickly locations, more costly storage, and more process for accepting, borrowing, and handling information. Learning to time and resources to find needed in- transferring records. From the arrival stay in a state of relaxed alertness is a formation. Poor habits like keeping to the subsequent disposal of records, superb way to deal with IM hiccups copies of e-mails or paper records “just the routine is clear, which mini- and challenging trends. Being better in case” seem harmless enough until mizes errors and makes the process able to look ahead to new technolo- something like an access-to-informa- user-friendly. Records request forms gies and methodologies may take the tion request comes in. solicit and contain only the bare surprise out of new workplace soft- minimum information, and they are ware or incoming legislation: you can Cultivate Routines handled and stored efficiently. embrace the coming change or move. Another kata practice concept Often in a martial arts dojo (train- Remaining alert, of course, is pri- that is applicable to IM is that rou- ing hall), you’ll hear “Just kata!” This marily the function of how we take tines work. means to eliminate the fluff and keep care of ourselves, inside and outside A world-renowned karate sensei it simple. A martial artist then moves the workplace. Our organization, for once said, “One kata, 100,000 times.” through the movements in a kata instance, has a wealth of knowledge- He was emphasizing that practice in a concise, energy efficient, and able IM professionals who have ac- produces permanence. Following and effective way. A common example in cess to up-to-date resources that help repeating a well-thought out routine karate that defies kata is pulling your when things get overwhelming or enhances its efficiency and reduces hand back before a punch; this slows when there is uncertainty. Awareness

38 July/August 2018 in this sense is when we recognize we could use a hand and we reach out for the same. Kata consistently improves when you are open to suggestions and other approaches. Take Breaks to Breathe Discussing zanshin, or mindful- The Value of Membership ness, in the workday for IM practitioners may seem over the top, but it in ARMA International can be beneficial to any workplace. Martial artists and others can effec- Here’s a sample of the benefits available to members of tively manage their stress levels with ARMA International – all at no cost! consistent, mindful breathing as well as deliberate breaks from their tasks. Taking time throughout the day to rise, move around, and pay attention to your breathing is not idealistic at all. With the health consequences of sitting too long now being likened IN DEPTH to those of smoking, such actions are Professional Resources crucial to overall well-being. for Problem Solving Just as kata class starts with moku- so (a brief period of meditation or ARMA iNDEPTH turning inward), the workday can be Each bi-monthly e-newsletter features a deep dive into an industry hot interspersed with reflective breaks to topic and includes such resources as book excerpts, web seminars, job allow your eyes and mind to empty. aids, and articles. It’s all free to professional members. Zanshin is about pacing yourself, which in turn allows you to handle your IM workload comfortably. Kata then, not unlike your IM practice, is mindful movement through predefined and structured sequences while maintaining mental attention to them. It is efficiency that is born out of keeping things ARMAMENTORSHIP simple. In the end, you will appre- ciate and be content with a self-re- ARMA Mentorship Program warding process. E Fueled by the great success of the pilot program at the 2016 confer- ence, ARMA launched an ongoing mentorship program for its members. Check out http://discoverarma.org/mentorship for all the details.

About the Author: Jeff Hutchings is an information management MASTERS professional with the government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Bringing the Experts to You Canada, a published author, blogger at http://www.nlshotokankarate.com/, iMasters and a nidan (2nd degree) shotokan In this bimonthly series of live, virtual roundtables, we “bring the experts karate practitioner who trains and to you!” Attendeesi are encouraged to text-chat with the expert facilita- teaches at the Power Karate Acade- tors and each other. Find more information at http://discoverarma.org/. my in Mount Pearl, NL.

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