Is Pono where Integrity goes?

I received an email about my Day One Essay for Pono, and the HCer (Ho'ohana Community member) who wrote asked,

"Is Pono where integrity goes Rosa? I will talk story with my staff about Pono this month, for I think it's a great value to kick off our year with, and I am thinking that I'd like to describe it as the value of balance, rightness, and integrity, where those three things will result in contentment for us both individually, and as a team when we openly talk with each other about what it will take to get there."

Those are the kind of deductions that make for great mantras in a workplace! Love it! What a terrific value formula to drive desired behavior with:

Balance + Rightness + Integrity = Contentment

“Forget mission statements; they’re long, boring, and irrelevant. No one can ever remember them — much less implement them. Instead, take your meaning and make a mantra out of it. This will set your entire team on the right course.”
~ Guy Kawasaki in Art of the Start

To answer our HCer's question, yes, I agree that Pono can correctly be called the value of personal integrity. I think of integrity as telling ourselves the truth, and acting in the way that feels right according to that that truth. Here is an MWA excerpt that sums it up in my mana'o (my thoughts, beliefs, convictions).

This is found on page 20, in Chapter One on Aloha:

Our values drive our beliefs, and often they give our thoughts clarity. When we are true to our beliefs, the decisions and choices we make come to us naturally and easily, especially when we have a goal or objective in mind. It is easier to act on that which you believe. I am a strong advocate for the writing of mission statements, as you will discover when we reach the chapter on ‘Imi ola (to seek life). Our mission defines our goals, and our goals drive our actions. And actions taken, true to clear beliefs that have been borne from good values, give us our integrity. Acting with integrity makes things right for us; it feeds our hunger to be intelligent, ethical and morally just.

It is human nature that we will often justify not doing certain things that we know, deep in our heart, mind, and soul, is the right thing to do. Our justifications - I'm too busy, this is not a good time, etc., serve as a kind of self-preservation instinct that we are still good people inside, there are just these extenuating circumstances out of our control.

For me, the truth-telling of personal integrity is a more diligent self-questioning: Are those circumstances really are out of my control or not? To be sure, this self-talk (and self-reckoning) is more difficult, but it is so necessary if you are to get to contentment! Acting with integrity can be difficult in the moment of those actions; it can be downright unpleasant. However in the long run — in that goodness within us we feed and nurture — we always emerge through that "light at the end of the tunnel."

To be content, your heart cannot ache, your mindfulness cannot be dismissed, your gut intuition cannot be dishonored, and your soul cannot be kept restless, all without what we usually refer to as "peace of mind."

Crystal Being Etched on Flickr by dlkinney:

Photo caption: This is a close-up of a crystal bowl receiving its markings. You can see how the markered lines are used to provide the worker with guidance as to the size and location of marks. The trick is to make the cuts deep, but not so deep as to reduce the structural integrity of the piece -- or cut all the way through. Like the glass blowers, the etching artists are paid for the number of pieces that pass quality inspection. A bowl like the one in his hand can take two to four hours to complete.

 

 

 

A very thoughtful and deliberate man, my dad used to tell us that you get peace of mind with just about anything you do from going the distance. Integrity is telling yourself the truth and "nothing but the truth" about what that distance is, and the role you need to play.

Then there is the action part, for as I like to say, wishing and hoping alone is not a very effective strategy. The part of the email that made me smile from ear to ear was the last phrase: "and as a team when we openly talk with each other about what it will take to get there."

Big mahalo for the email, and keep them coming HCers: Don't think I could have set myself up better than you did for an article about integrity!

Comments

[Dean Boyer]

Rosa,

I love the visual of the cut glass! This is often an accurate picture of the role of the teacher! Also, I love what you wrote about integrity. A recent post at our Teaching with Aloha site connects with your thoughts as well.

http://www.teachingwithaloha.org/blog/2007/12/the-integrity-a.html

~ Dean Boyer

[Rosa Say]

Thank you for sharing that link with us Dean ... "It is hard work to cultivate an environment where that kind of honesty can occur but it is essential if we are to protect one another."

It brought to mind something else my dad used to ask us kids to remember when he'd sit us all down after some incident to get the "straight scoop." As we looked at each other, and hesitantly chose our words in answering him, he'd say, "it is a lot easier to remember the truth about it than it is to keep your pretty lie straight, isn't it." We knew that signaled our last chance to come clean!

When there is an assault on your own integrity (as described in your TWA.org article) there is often a domino affect, where you end up assaulting and dishonoring the integrity of those around you too. Collaboration disintegrates into collusion.