Pono and the Why of Right

I coach Caroline. She hasn't been the first one to say something to me in a few of my holiday conversations with those in our Ho'ohana Community who read these pages and work to weave value-based actions in their work.

"Pono will be our value for January? Finally Rosa!"

Time flies, and I can't quite believe it took me this long to write about Pono either. But I know myself well enough to clearly understand why.
(Dwayne, it's a bit eerie that you just reminded me of your writing this two nights ago: "You may also remember that this is just the way I think about Managing With Aloha - it's about why we manage, so much more than how we manage.")

Pono is the Hawaiian value of rightness, balance, and integrity.

I've been at this juncture before. Pono is a value I revere, and it is one I have to arrive at having worked intentionally on the journey. It was no surprise to me that Pono ended up being the last chapter of my book. The order of the others got shuffled a bit, but not Pono. It's place in my mana'o (my thoughts, beliefs and convictions) has always been set.

Four other Januaries have come and gone since I first wrote my chapter on Pono for Managing with Aloha in the late summer months of 2003. In three of them, our value was   Kalā hiki ola, the dawning of a new day. Once, I took a stretch and our value was Ho'omau, that of perseverance, specifically the nuance of causing the good in your life to continue. Both make sense, sure. Both were easier.

Pono, in comparison is demanding. Expectant. Pono is the ultimate test of value alignment. Brutally black and white at times, and without compromise. That's the way integrity and rightness is. That's the way they should be.

The reward however, is profound. The reward is something I have teased myself with unrelentingly ever since August, explaining it to you (and to myself) as Ma‘alahi , the contentment within simplicity and ease. Back in 2003, those were the first two words I had written for Pono. Oh no, not simplicity and ease. Not rightness. Not balance. The two words were "Ah, contentment."

Our value for the month of January 2008, is presented in Chapter 18 of Managing with Aloha;

Pono Rightness and Balance. The feeling of contentment when all is good and all is right. ~ Pono is rightness and balance. ~ When you are Pono, you have a feeling of contentment, wherein all is good and all is right. ~ Pono teaches the attitude of positivity. Life itself excites you. ~ Those who are Pono are optimistic and full of hope. All they see in their future is that things can only get better. ~ Keep your life in balance. Do what is right. Take notice of your staff, your peers, your leadership team and your family, and ask yourself if Pono and the feeling of contentment is what you see. It should be familiar to you, and easy to recognize.

In some ways I am a creature of habit, and you can be sure that we will move on to another value of the month in February, however I suspect that Pono will stay with us too, perhaps for this whole year through. There is so much here, and it is time.

As I read through my own chapter again earlier today, I marked fourteen different things we could talk about. Reading it a second time, I found three more. I shall plan to take them one at a time, and we shall see where Pono leads us. Pono leads, and we follow. We'll get there.

Another great Hawaiian word is “pono.” Pono is what is correct, right, agreed upon. I asked a group of folks at a national park in Hawaii about “consensus.” One of the native Hawaiian people talked instead about pono. Here’s what she said:

“People from other places talk about consensus, but that’s not quite the way we do it. Others think consensus is agreement. But pono is different. We might have a decision before us, so we get together. We talk story for awhile, eat something together, enjoy being together, then someone might say — ‘You know that thing we were talking about the other day, it’s pono with me.’”

She was saying something very important and often overlooked, that “agreement” alone isn’t the issue. It’s “getting there,” which is the product of thoughtful reflection and integration of ideas and directions, time to consider alone and time to consider in a group. Do we give ourselves time for this? Often not. We are too concerned about the power dynamics, who is for and against, rather than the simple act of listening and internalizing.

In my work, I’ve sometimes talked about pono in fast-paced, competitive environments, and the reaction seems to be one of envy: why couldn’t we do things that way? And, of course, we can.
~ Shared by Dan Oestreich at Don Blohowiak's Self∞Development Network

Yes, I have been here before. This time, I am tremendously grateful you will follow Pono with me.

As Dwayne says, we start our year with why, not how. That alone, feels Pono.

Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou, Happy New Year.
This January, Value your Month, and Value your Life, right here with us on Managing with Aloha Coaching. Let’s Ho‘ohana,
~ Rosa Say

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First time here? Welcome! Thank you for starting 2008 with us!

You may want to read this article too: The How-To Read and Use Managing with Aloha Coaching

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Comments

[Reg Adkins]

Pono ..........wow
Now THAT is a Elemental Truth.

[Rosa Say]

I think so too Reg, and we'll talk more about that as the month unfolds :)
Mahalo nui for stopping by, and for sharing some of your January 1st with us!

[Carry Bomhof]

nice article! loved reading it.

[Rosa Say]

Mahalo nui Carry, thank you for the visit! Your comment has brightened my morning considerably :)