Michael Ray is the highest goal. The secret that keeps you going every minute

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ISBN: 978-5-91657-961-1
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Named the most creative person in Silicon Valley by Fast Company magazine, Michael Ray developed and taught the famous course “Creativity in Business” at Stanford for 25 years.

From the very beginning, Ray's course began to have a very strong effect on graduates. It was as if they had access to some secret source of energy and inspiration. Ray concluded that his classes helped students find their “highest purpose”—the power that gives real meaning your life that speaks to your deepest being.

With the help of this book, through practical exercises, stories and advice, Michael will help you find your highest purpose.

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This is the secret of all people who live creatively: it allows them to maintain inner balance and makes their life perfect and fulfilling.

We introduce listeners to people who have identified their highest goal. Among them are architects and artists, public figures and war heroes, academics, singers, composers and dancers, entrepreneurs and engineers, scientists, financiers, psychologists, politicians and monks. All of them achieved unprecedented success in their fields, made a name for themselves and made a fortune. Some founded new businesses or had enormous influence on the development of American and world culture. Others have radically changed the way we work and are constantly in touch with our course participants.

At meetings within the course “Personal Creativity in Business,” they willingly talk about what helped them reach the top, describe the creative process and their experiences; talk about their work and what they see as the purpose of their existence.

Despite the crisis or vicissitudes of love, they feel connected to something higher and realized - early in life or later - that this connection brings them closer to what they need. They are open to life and see it as an adventure. They are not stopped by media warnings, reports of the approaching end of the world, responsibilities to family or friends, or even their own mental problems.

They look at every life situation and their potential role in it from a higher position. There's no rush. Concentrate all your attention. And new opportunities open up for them. They depend on a kind of grace descending upon them - on the creative energy from this source.

This is the secret our book reveals: a higher goal is always waiting for you, beyond traditional definitions of success.

A fundamentally new model of success

When my Stanford colleagues and I developed the creative arts course, we viewed it as a complement to other business courses. If our students could reveal their creativity, this, we believed, would help them use the analytical knowledge gained from studying other disciplines.

But gradually it became clear to us that all business courses actually promote a lifestyle expressed by the unspoken assumption that financial success and its attendant benefits are the main goal of every person. The premise of our course was significantly different: we wanted students to understand their inner wisdom and power, their connection to all things on earth - a completely different kind of success. Without realizing it, we were offering not so much a methodological program and new ways of doing business, but a different perception of life.

Students who have unlocked their inner potential and identified a purpose for their existence have discovered that they can make a difference in the world. Graduates later told us how they built their lives based on this premise, how they went to achieve their goals using the knowledge gained through our course. Here are some examples.

Denise Brosseau built a career based on the insights she made about herself during her studies. She realized that she was essentially a mediator. Co-founding the Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs (FWF) shortly after graduating from Stanford in 1993, she changed the game by helping women entrepreneurs raise funds and build business networks. Thus, just one FWF conference brought $185 million in investments to 26 new enterprises created by women.

Jeff Skoll, who took the course in 1995, believes that it was there that he learned to see his inner world. He amassed an impressive fortune on eBay, becoming one of the five richest people in the United States under the age of 40. He then founded the Skoll Foundation with the “goal of providing investment, networking and recognition to entrepreneurs.”

Dominic Holder, dean of the Sloan program at London Business School, has excelled in more than just business. He is also known as a teacher of Buddhism. In one of latest books– “Mindfulness and Money: The Buddhist Path of Abundance” – he says that this course “opened the eyes of many students to spirituality in business.”

Michael Ray

Highest goal. The secret that keeps you going every minute

THE HIGHEST GOAL

The Secret That Sustains You in Every Moment

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published by permission of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part electronic version This book may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Legal support for the publishing house is provided by law firm"Vegas-Lex"

To my students and teachers:

May the flow of goodness never dry up

The real joy of life is to have a purpose, the importance of which you yourself understand... to be natural and strong, and not one of a bunch of neurasthenics and whiners complaining that life does not care about their happiness.

Bernard Shaw

Joy is the highest goal.

Chinese proverb

Preface

On a warm September evening in 1982, I was studying my class schedule for my second year of my MBA at Stanford. In addition to manufacturing strategy and corporate finance, there was a course called “Creativity in Business.” “This is an oxymoron,” flashed through my head. I added this course at the very end to somehow balance out the too dry analytical subjects.

And so at 15:20 I leisurely entered the classroom and sat down in an empty seat. While waiting for teachers Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers to begin the seminar, my classmates and I chatted with each other, talking about our summer job, exchanged views on the class schedule.

Nothing happened and we chatted some more. Still, the seminar did not begin.

Eventually we realized that Michael and Rochelle were already in the audience, looking at us and waiting for something. The noise gradually died down as each group of chattering students, one after another, found teachers patiently waiting for us to pay attention to them. Finally, Rochelle Myers, a petite woman in long flowing robes with a large silver medallion on her chest, stood up and said in a barely audible, almost whisper: “Today you are embarking on a ten-week journey in search of your inner essence.”

I immediately opened the general schedule to find a replacement course. My search was interrupted by Michael Ray, who offered us a meditation exercise. “Take a deep breath slowly,” Michael said. – Feel the energy arising in the toes of your right foot. Feel it move up your leg. Focus all your attention on your right leg. Don’t do anything, just feel your right leg...” It seemed to me that I had made a big mistake.

That evening I told my wife Joanna that my class schedule was great, “except for this course I’m going to drop.” I told her about Rochelle in flowing robes and about Michael, who reminded me of Yogi Bear in a rumpled professorial suit (later I learned that he, as a spiritual mentor, actually practices yoga) teaching us how to meditate. I majored in applied mathematics in college and later worked at McKinsey. I enjoyed (as I still do) doing data analysis and theoretical development. And here it is...

THE HIGHEST GOAL

The Secret That Sustains You in Every Moment

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published by permission of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of the electronic version of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including posting on the Internet or corporate networks, for private or public use without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Legal support for the publishing house is provided by the Vegas-Lex law firm.

* * *

To my students and teachers:

May the flow of goodness never dry up

The real joy of life is to have a purpose, the importance of which you yourself understand... to be natural and strong, and not one of a bunch of neurasthenics and whiners complaining that life does not care about their happiness.

If not us, then who?

If not here, then where?

If not now, then when?

If not for the kingdom, then why?

Don't be afraid to dream.

Joy is the highest goal.

Chinese proverb

Preface

And so at 15:20 I leisurely entered the classroom and sat down in an empty seat. While waiting for teachers Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers to begin the seminar, my classmates and I chatted with each other, talked about our summer work, and exchanged opinions about the class schedule.

Nothing happened and we chatted some more. Still, the seminar did not begin.

Joanna listened to my lamentations and then said confidently, “I think Michael Ray’s course will be helpful to you. Wait to refuse it, maybe you’ll like it?”

She was right: I would not have reached such heights and my life would not have been so bright if not for this course. And I am not alone in this opinion. Not a year goes by without one of the graduates noting how grateful he is to fate for being able to take this course at one time. But we didn’t know then that we had already taken the first step in a life-long journey to finding our highest goal.

However, the experience was not easy for the insecure simpleton obsessed with data operations. “When will we get some technology for creativity or management methods for creating innovative products?” – I asked a couple of weeks after the start of the course. I longed for tools, technology, methods—something practical and useful.

In response, Michael told a story about a businessman who came to the Master in search of enlightenment. They sat down to drink tea, and the businessman began to talk about his life: about problems and difficulties, about how he strived to achieve some heights, how he was looking for the right path, and meaning, and purpose, and... and the Teacher remained silent and poured tea into his cup. It was already filled, and the Teacher poured and poured, and the tea already overflowed, filled the saucer, then spilled onto the table and, finally, onto the man’s knee.

"Hey! What are you doing?" – the businessman screamed and jumped up, brushing off his trousers.

“Your cup is overflowing,” answered the Master. – You add and add and add... to your life. Until you empty the cup, you will not find room for enlightenment within yourself.”

Michael and Rochelle explained that the “journey” ahead of us is not about new skills and knowledge, but its purpose is to remove barriers to creativity. They proceeded from the premise that there are no people who do not know how to create, but there are those whose talents have not yet been discovered. They wanted us to realize that each of us has our own treasure chest in the attic - with creativity - and we just need to do a thorough cleaning - remove all the rubbish that is cluttered with this chest in order to open it and look inside. The essence of the metaphor was the challenge posed to each of us: “ Transform your life into a work of art!»

In subsequent years, I came to the conclusion that there are two approaches to life. The first one, used by most, is the “children's coloring book” route. You do what you are told. You walk along a well-trodden path. Act within the prescribed limits. And in the end you get a pretty, but mediocre picture. The second approach, which only a few choose, is the artist’s path: when they take a blank canvas and paint a masterpiece. This path is more difficult, risky, uncertain and requires a creative approach. But this is the only opportunity to make your life a work of art. Creating a masterpiece requires non-standard solutions, searching for a starting point, a guiding thread in the absence of convenient contours and lines of a ready-made set. Such attitudes are the highest goal, and this book will tell you how to build your life with the help of Michael’s discoveries.

When I took the course in 1982, Professor Ray had not yet defined the highest purpose. But the idea was everywhere, like an overarching concept, a hidden framework creative experience. Now, twenty years later, Michael has precisely defined the meta-concept and describes it in detail in these pages.

At the center of the process is the idea of rules for every day. These are mantras that you not only repeat day after day, but also follow for some time (usually a week or a little longer). At Stanford, the instructions for each day puzzled us deeply: “If nothing works right away, don’t try too hard. Be careful! Ask dumb questions. Destroy judgment, create curiosity. Don't think about it. Be ordinary."

But most complex rule was: “Do what is easy, what does not require effort and brings joy.” Unfortunately, we had to follow it during the mid-year exams, so we immediately had problems: “If you only do what is effortless and brings joy, you will have to miss the exams. How can I complete this task without failing the other subjects?”

I decided to treat the exams like climbing the fourth pitch on Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon. Naked Edge is one of the most beautiful peaks in the whole North America; it is ideal for rock climbing, except for the fourth pitch. Every time I climb Naked Edge I dread this part of the route. It is necessary to squeeze into a crack that widens downward and crawl along the overhanging wall, as if inside a bell, with your feet slipping, causing you to slide every now and then, and your shoulders getting stuck in the narrow upper part of the crack. The unusual combination of claustrophobia and uncertainty is compounded by the fact that no protective devices are effective at this stage. (So if you fall out of a crevasse and lose some of your equipment, you'll be falling for a long time, breaking bones along the way.) Nevertheless, despite the extreme difficulty of this part of the route, I climbed Naked Edge perhaps thirty times . Taken separately, the fourth rope is a complete hassle and tedious physical labor. Taken in the context of this amazing place, on a wonderful day, with a good partner, and given that climbing is my favorite sport, the fourth pitch brings true joy. I compared my exams with it and solved the problem.

Michael's concept of the highest goal takes this idea further and provides a philosophical answer to the question: “What would be considered the most difficult peak in your life? What highest goal will you strive for so passionately that you can find the strength to do the hard, routine work necessary to complete your work?

Highest goal- this is the quintessence of years of accumulated wisdom of a great teacher, who, in his modesty, considers thousands of students to be his teachers. What I appreciate most about this book is its personal focus. Professor Ray speaks directly to each person, helping them identify their highest purpose own life and achieve it. This is very difficult: to get to the logical end, you will most likely have to seriously change your life. And for me, as for others, Michael and Rochelle helped me to abandon the routine, the traditional path and create my own path in life. I was a little over twenty then. With their help, I found a path that combines passion (what I love to do), purpose (what I was put on this earth to do), and economics (what I do for a living). In other words, I had found the path to my highest goal. Perhaps after reading this book the same will happen to you.

...

Jim Collins author of the book “Good to Great”

For a long time I longed to tell a wide circle of listeners about the highest goal. I've been working towards this discovery for decades, viewing it as the distillation of the insights I've made over twenty-five years teaching a course on Personal Creativity in Business at Stanford University.

True, since I started teaching this course, the world has changed a lot. It has become more complex, messy and in many ways dangerous. But I did not always follow a direct path to my goal. At times I have found other methods to help move toward a more humane and creative society. I helped organizations start new businesses, tried to teach people to make choices, find new approaches to leadership, create structures to support change.

Over time, I realized that the work I did was very valuable. No one else seemed to explain how to connect our highest purpose to our work, our organizations, and our lives.

That's why about ten years ago I gave up everything except creative work. My colleagues and I continued to teach creativity courses at Stanford and other educational institutions. Then they founded a company and developed computer programs with the goal of making the course available to organizations and individuals - to anyone who is interested in it. We were shocked by the effect this course had on business people. Our clients have reported that the dividends on their investments have increased to at least a hundred to one, if not two hundred to one. In other words, every thousand dollars invested in the business now brought them a hundred or two hundred thousand in profit.

But it wasn't just the short-term financial results that were surprising. People who did not particularly stand out and did not give more than their profession required began to flourish before our eyes. Employees who were planning to leave companies suddenly decided to stay and work in a new way. Talented people came and stayed in companies because they found it interesting. And the companies themselves became a community - a community of bright, passionate people who knew how to not only defend their own opinions, but also, if necessary, take responsibility, people who treated each other with sympathy, understanding, gratitude and respect.

What happened? Why did this course have such an impact on people? What is the essence of the changes and how to make sure that as many people as possible know about them? To answer these questions, I looked to the experiences of my colleagues and the insights I've reached over my years of teaching at Stanford and other institutions, as well as feedback received from companies and other organizations with whom we have worked.

And I discovered that the effect depends not only on the structure of the course, the nature of the training and specific exercises. The classes resonated deep in the soul of every listener. A person discovered something new in himself, something that explained his actions and rebuilt his life. And although we never mentioned it, in the process of learning people found their highest goal - a secret that supported them at all times, no matter what happened in life. As one of the course participants said after many years, “this is a transformation that is ongoing.”

This is the secret of all people who live creatively: it allows them to maintain inner balance and makes their life perfect and fulfilling.

They view every life situation and their potential role in it from a superior perspective. There's no rush. Concentrate all your attention. And new opportunities open up for them. They depend on a kind of grace descending upon them - on the creative energy from this source.

This is the secret our book reveals: a higher goal is always waiting for you, beyond traditional definitions of success.

A fundamentally new model of success

When my Stanford colleagues and I developed the creative arts course, we viewed it as a complement to other business courses. If our students could unleash their creativity, we believed it would help them use the analytical knowledge gained from studying other disciplines.

Dominic Holder, dean of the Sloan program at London Business School, has excelled in more than just business. He is also known as a teacher of Buddhism. In one of his latest books, Mindfulness and Money: The Buddhist Path of Abundance, he says that the course “opened the eyes of many students to spirituality in business.” (1)

Widows of victims of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, after taking our course, admitted that their lives had changed dramatically. Despite the tragedy and difficulties they have experienced, turning to a higher goal helps them do what they previously thought was beyond their power. Their example motivates us to live in such a way that the world changes for the better.

Urgent need

Rigid adherence to principles too often leads to negative consequences. Proof of this is the growing gap between what we have and what we would like to achieve; the rise of the poor and hungry; deterioration of condition environment; reduction of values, violation of the integrity of society; a growing feeling of dissatisfaction and fear; poor health of people even in the richest countries.

Many of us feel an urgent need to change our lives and make the world around us cleaner. Yes, the world needs all of us and the best we can give. But can one person influence what seems to be the result of powerful forces, and at the same time not break under the weight of life's trials?

This book will help you find the answer. In times of global change, we must act creatively and courageously, drawing on our deep knowledge and not forgetting compassion. Only if we live for the sake of a higher goal, whatever we imagine it to be, can we cope with all adversity and correctly model our lives. And only if we find a way to embody this highest goal in every day of our new life, will it be necessary and valuable to us.

Introduction

This was in one of our classes on personal creativity in business at Stanford University. Michael Bush came out to the audience, leaned on the edge of the table and began to talk.

He started on a positive note. A Stanford graduate who took this course at one time, he is now the president of Tetra Tech Wireless. After receiving his master's degree, he took a position as an executive director in a rapidly growing high-tech company. (By the way, Michael is married. He has two sons, his wife works as a technical director in another company.)

His company was wonderful. She maintained high values and supported the personal development of employees. The company hosted events that created an amazing atmosphere conducive to the emergence of trusting relationships, common interests and creativity. Wanted to work for this company the best minds– people knew it was a great place.

And then the industry in which they worked fell into decline. The company was losing customers, more and more clients were refusing its services and creating corresponding departments in their structure. Michael is in trouble.

“In the mornings I looked in the mirror,” he admits, “and said to myself: “You’re falling out of business!” Sometimes in the evenings I returned home in such a state of mind that my wife tried to keep the boys away from me.”

He admits that he sometimes became desperate. When things were particularly bad for him, he cursed even the courses he took at Stanford, including the course on personal creativity. However, a sense of higher purpose allowed him to regain his balance.

Michael remembered that his highest goal was one word: “teacher.” When he taught, he felt an emotional uplift and a connection with something higher in the broadest sense of the word. And he knew that he was able to help others if he relied on this power. He knew that if he conscientiously began to play this role, he would turn the tide and be able to live a full life.

Deeply believing in himself and his higher purpose, he did everything to change things.

He experienced the worst thing that could happen in his position: he had to fire 90% of his employees. But he was able to unite those who remained, and their values and high level trust helped them get back on their feet. Inspired by his determination, people rallied to rebuild the company.

A year later, the company's income began to grow, but now it was focused on a completely different clientele. Two years passed, and the company became an industry leader and its stock price increased. It eventually merged with Tetra Tech and Michael became president of the combined company.

Despite everything, he remained faithful to the principles of this book. He drew strength from his higher purpose. Michael concluded the story by describing his new life. Everything about her is wonderful. He no longer stays late at work and returns in time for dinner almost every evening. He is happy to participate social activities. In addition to his corporate responsibilities, Michael teaches at a local college. His wife remained in the same position, but had already agreed on a reduced working week. As a result of the experience, the family only became closer.

Of course, life goes on. New challenges constantly arise. Even if you, like Michael Bush, know your highest goal and how to achieve it, you must be prepared for any surprises. None of the stories in this book are about serene happy life. Rather, they are about a life full of problems, worries, ups and downs.

Michael Ray

Highest goal. The secret that keeps you going every minute

THE HIGHEST GOAL

The Secret That Sustains You in Every Moment

Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Published by permission of Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

Legal support for the publishing house is provided by the Vegas-Lex law firm.

* * *

To my students and teachers:

May the flow of goodness never dry up

Bernard Shaw

Joy is the highest goal.

Chinese proverb

Preface

And so at 15:20 I leisurely entered the classroom and sat down in an empty seat. While waiting for teachers Michael Ray and Rochelle Myers to begin the seminar, my classmates and I chatted with each other, talked about our summer work, and exchanged opinions about the class schedule.

Nothing happened and we chatted some more. Still, the seminar did not begin.

Joanna listened to my lamentations and then said confidently, “I think Michael Ray’s course will be helpful to you. Wait to refuse it, maybe you’ll like it?”

"Hey! What are you doing?" – the businessman screamed and jumped up, brushing off his trousers.

“Your cup is overflowing,” answered the Master. – You add and add and add... to your life. Until you empty the cup, you will not find room for enlightenment within yourself.”

When I took the course in 1982, Professor Ray had not yet defined the highest purpose. But the idea was everywhere, like an overarching concept, a hidden framework of creative experience. Now, twenty years later, Michael has precisely defined the meta-concept and describes it in detail in these pages.

But the most difficult rule was this: “Do what is easy, what does not require effort and what brings joy.” Unfortunately, we had to follow it during the mid-year exams, so we immediately had problems: “If you only do what is effortless and brings joy, you will have to miss the exams. How can I complete this task without failing the other subjects?”

I decided to treat the exams like climbing the fourth pitch on Naked Edge in Eldorado Canyon. Naked Edge is one of the most beautiful peaks in all of North America; it is ideal for rock climbing, except for the fourth pitch. Every time I climb Naked Edge I dread this part of the route. It is necessary to squeeze into a crack that widens downward and crawl along the overhanging wall, as if inside a bell, with your feet slipping, causing you to slide every now and then, and your shoulders getting stuck in the narrow upper part of the crack. The unusual combination of claustrophobia and uncertainty is compounded by the fact that no protective devices are effective at this stage. (So if you fall out of a crevasse and lose some of your equipment, you'll be falling for a long time, breaking bones along the way.) Nevertheless, despite the extreme difficulty of this part of the route, I climbed Naked Edge perhaps thirty times . Taken separately, the fourth rope is a complete hassle and tedious physical labor. Taken in the context of this amazing place, on a wonderful day, with a good partner, and given that climbing is my favorite sport, the fourth pitch brings true joy. I compared my exams with it and solved the problem.