Slow Down Culture

What you are about to read is something that was forwarded to our whole dept from our boss.

Pretty ironic coming from you Razzi, he!he! please remember this article you sent us, the next time you are creeping up my desk to check on my progress for a particular project. :-) Peace!

An interesting reflection: Slow Down Culture.

It's been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It's a rule.Globalized processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold numerous meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, thisalways yields better results.

Some information before we proceed:

1.Sweden is about the size of San Pablo, a state in Brazil.

2.Sweden has 2 million inhabitants.

3.Stockholm, has 500,000 people.

4.Volvo, Scania, Ericsson, Electrolux, are some of its renowned companies
5.Volvo supplies NASA.

The first time I was in Sweden, one of my colleagues picked me up at the hotel every morning. It was September, bit cold and snowy. We would arrive early at the company and he would park far away from the entrance (2000 employees drive their car to work). The first day, I didn't say anything, either the second or third.

One morning I asked, "Do you have a fixed parking space? I've noticed we park far from the entrance even when thereare no other cars in the lot." To which he replied, "Since we're here early we'll have time to walk, and whoever gets in late will be late and need a place closer to the door. Don't you think?” Imagine my face.

Nowadays, there's a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing. Slow Food is the antithesis of its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, which was recently mentioned by Business Week.Basically, the movement questions the sense of "hurry" and "craziness" generated by globalization, fueled by the desire of "having in quantity"(life status) versus "having with quality": "life quality" or the "quality of being".

Some interesting stats- again:

French people, even though they work 35 hours per week, are more productive than Americans or British.
Germans have established 28.8 hour workweeks and have seen their productivity been driven up by 20%.

This “slow attitude” has attracted the US' attention, the most avid pupils of the fast and the "do it now!" school of thought.This no-rush attitude doesn't represent doing less or having a lower productivity. It means working and doing things with greater quality, productivity, perfection, with attention to detail and less stress. It means reestablishing family values, friends, free and leisure time. Taking the "now", present and concrete, versus the "global", undefined and anonymous.

It means appreciating every human being’s essential values through the simplicity of living. It stands for a less coercive work environment, happier, lighter and more productive where humans enjoy doing what they know best how to do. It's time to stop and think on how companies need to develop serious quality without rushing : this will increase productivity and the quality of products and services, without losing the essence of spirit.

In the movie, Scent of a Woman, there's a scene where Al Pacino asks a girl to dance and she replies, "I can't, my boyfriend will be here any minute now". To which Al responds, "A life is lived in an instant". Then they dance to a tango.

Many of us live our lives trying to catch up with time, but the irony is we only catch up with it when we die of a heart attack or in a car accident rushing to be on time. Others are so anxious of living the future that they forget to live the present, which is the only time that truly exists. We all have equal time throughout the world. No one has more or less. The difference lies in how each one of us does with our time. We need to live each moment. As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans".

Congratulations for reading till the end of this message. There are many who would have stopped in the middle so as not to waste time in this globalized world.

Now wasn't that a beautiful and meaningful article. Makes you just sigh, and say if only everyone can practice this culture especially those rushing for the only one seat in the LRT in the morning to work or those cramming to be in the fastest moving lane on the MRR2. Hhhhhuuuuhhh!! Double, triple sigh!