We could argue that humans naturally follow rituals that keep us busy. In an unusual way, rituals permeate daily life and business practices in modern Japan. The main religions in Japan - Confucianism, Buddhism, and Shintoism - are all ones in which the rituals are more important than absolute rules. When doing business in Japan, process, manners, and how you work on something is more important than the final results. What 15 indisputable, though, is that finding flow in a “ritualistic workplace” is much easier than in one in which we are continually stressed out trying to achieve unclear goals set by our bosses. Rituals give us clear rules and objectives, which help us enter a state of flow. When we have only a big goal in front of us, we might feel lost or overwhelmed by it; rituals help us by giving us the process, the substeps, on the path to achieving a goal. When confronted with a big goal, try to break it down into parts and then attack each part one by one.
Focus on enjoying your daily rituals, using them 85 tools to enter a state of flow.
How do rituals influence business practices in modern Japan?
