The Five Prerequisites for Continuous Improvement
Conrad Ho, Hong Kong, China, Jul. 15, 2015
Not long ago, a plump lady came to Conrad Ho for a consultation, and naturally the purpose was to reduce weight. It appeared that she had sufficient reasons for it because she was so fat that she could hardly walk, and her health had deteriorated to such an extent that reducing weight was not for reasons of mere beauty. I asked her, “If you become thin, and your health improves, what would you do? Is it because you are fat that you cannot do it or do it well, or you choose not to do it?” She hesitated. She never thought about how to use her thinner and healthier body. In other words, she did not have motivation to be so. I then asked her, “So you have the motivation to continue to be fat, and maybe have a fatter and fatter body?” She was stunned, tears swelling in her eyes. She tried to speak but stopped herself.
While waiting for her to gather her thoughts, I said, “About two years ago, there was a UK research on several obese middle-aged men and women who had tried every possible beautification and medical method to reduce weight without success. In a period of three months, (1) they needed to pro-actively record anything they ate or drank; (2) there was a video camera in every place they frequented such as every corner of their home (including the bathroom), their office, pubs they often visited to record in accurate details about most of their daily activities; (3) they had to gather their urine sample everyday. The first requirement was to let them know in subjective cognition what and how much they ate and drank. The second requirement was to gather as much data about their actual behaviour as possible. The third requirement was to facilitate the calculation of how much energy they ate and drank. The research found that if judging solely on the information from the first item, the energy input and output were actually balanced. However, the problem was that the information gathered from the second and third items showed they had unconsciously eaten a large quantity of snacks without their being aware of it.
By this time, tears were trickling down the face of the case subject like morning dew spreading over a spider web. In fact, she knew that she was eating uncontrollably but at the same time, she would not admit to it. When a case subject was in a state of imbalance, how could she have any energy to make improvement? How could she have any capacity to make improvement?
Qinesiology Casework Workshop includes the handling of 14 casework and five collective balancing. The themes of the latter include: (1) returning to the balance point; (2) remaining at the balance point; (3) walking on the balance point; (4) undertaking adventure (experiencing risks, not danger!) on the balance point; and (5) playing on the balance point. Personally, I think these five main themes are the prerequisites for continuous improvement. To improve, the first thing is to recognise the rooms for improvement. In terms of execution, creating improvement, one needs to go back, stay and walk on the balance point. To keep improving, one should undertake adventure and play on the balance point. On the one hand, there is an element of excitement; and on the other enjoyment during the process. Without these five things, one would improve slower and not as much, or simply would not be able to improve at all.
The situation is similar to learning to ride a bicycle. Although one wants to ride a long way, but one would fall down within a few moments. In the process of falling, what should the cyclist do? To jump down and roll off to avoid getting hurt, and then pick up the bicycle to ride again? Or to ignore the situation, ride with one’s might to get the bicycle go forward and then fall down with it at the end? Theoretically, we all know that the former is better. However, in reality, how many people continue to work hard despite of their injury or sickness and then die young because of heart attack or failure? How many parents see that their children are tired of learning but still increase pressure to urge them forward? How many people adopt patterns which focus on the short term details without simultaneously looking at the long term big picture?
The intention of the Qinesiology Casework Workshop is to: let participants understand and experience the five important principles for continuous improvement, which they can apply immediately to solve their own problems, and make progress in acquiring a full picture perspective (details + big picture).
