The Connection Magazine The Connection Magazine Spring 2017 | Page 21

us are trained to focus on the tangible:
strategy, science, profit, product quality.
Of late, subjects such as vision and
values—especially at Zingerman’s—
have also become high priorities. So
too, appropriately, has organizational
purpose. We like long-term planning,
LEAN management, and low-cost change
initiatives. All are interesting and all are
important. But if you haven’t already picked
up on my theme, it’s worth recognizing that
particular beliefs underlie them all. I’ve
come to the conclusion that belief needs to
be an area of focus unto itself.
All too often, we aren’t cognizant
of what we believe. Our beliefs will be
at work regardless, but unless we pay
attention, they remain a mystery to us
and we lose the magic. I believe that
reflection, understanding, and increased
consciousness can change all that. I
believe that if we raise awareness of the
role beliefs play in our lives, we can make
a whole lot of good things happen for
ourselves and for everyone around us. It
has certainly worked well for me.
Thinking agriculturally (as I want to do,
given our work with food), I’ve come to see
that beliefs are basically the root systems
of our organizations. What shows up above
the surface, in “real life,” is a reflection
of what’s already been going on below
ground. As anarchist Alexander Berkman
writes, “You can’t grow a rose from a
cactus seed.” This statement is so obvious
that it seems almost silly to say it aloud.
Unfortunately, many of us try to do exactly
what Berkman poetically points out won’t
work. Our beliefs are, all too often, out of
alignment with what we’re trying to attain.
Yet we’re still surprised each time the
“wrong” plant sprouts from the soil. We get
SPRING 2017
angry, frustrated, and depressed. We feel
defeated. In response, many of us go out
to cut the offender off at the root line. But
you know what happens then, right? The
same darned plant soon pops up again.
The real work isn’t to cut out bad
behavior; it’s to change the beliefs that put
it in motion, to set a different root system
in the soil. If we want to grow roses, we’d
best begin by getting rosebushes in the
ground. Positive beliefs tend to yield more
positive outcomes; negative beliefs, more
negative results; neutral beliefs don’t
really do either. Until we are aware of what
our beliefs are, and of the fact that we can
consciously choose the beliefs we need in
order to get to the outcomes we aspire to
attain, we will continue to strug gle in our
lives both personally and professionally.
Carl Jung warns us accordingly: “Until you
make the unconscious conscious, it will
direct your life and you will call it fate.”
The point of this piece is to move us from
unconsciousness to consciousness in the
management of our beliefs. Because it’s
only from a place of conscious attention
that we can learn more about what our
beliefs actually are or about how to
choose and manage them appropriately
and effectively. Whether we acknowledge
it or not, our beliefs are calling our shots.
Our beliefs lead us to take certain actions,
which inform the beliefs of others, which
lead them to almost always act in ways
that reinforce our original beliefs. It’s
what Claude Bristol wrote over half a
century ago in The Magic of Believing:
“Every person is the creation of himself
[or herself], the image of his [or her] own
thinking and believing. As individuals think
and believe, so they are.”
ABOUT
ARI WEINZWEIG
ARI WEINZWEIG is the co-founding
partner of the Zingerman’s Community
of Businesses in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Starting in 1982 with 2 employees
and a 1300-square foot deli Ari
and his partner Paul Saginaw have
grown the organization to include
10 businesses including a bakery, a
creamery, a mail order business and
more; a staff of over 700; and annual
sales of over $60,000,000. The article
below is adapted from Ari’s new book,
Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading,
Part 4: A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach
to the Power of Beliefs in Business.
You can see more about Ari’s books
and ZingTrain at zingtrain.com, and you
can learn more about bringing a taste
of Zingerman’s to your front door by
visiting zingermans.com
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