Kintsugi – Bowl repaired in the Kintsugi “Golden repair” method
Perfect. Broken. Beautiful.
Some things become more beautiful after they are broken. The Japanese art of kintsugi invites us to mend the cracks and thread them with gold. Instead of throwing away broken ceramics, the “golden repair” extends their useful life and elevates the objects to a third state. Beyond perfection. Beyond brokenness. Beyond expectations. Beautiful.
Kintsugi is more than the art of golden repair. It is the expression of the wabi-sabi, a philosophy that invites us to embrace the flawed and the imperfect. It does not attempt to hide the damage, but rather uses it as an opportunity to illuminate the seams.
Kintsugi resonates with my journey in business transformation and with my experience of methods like Lean Six Sigma. Perhaps you find them perfect as is, in their first state. Or you may think they are inexorably broken, struck into a second state. But what if we could bring them to their third state, with veins of gold coursing through?
“Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen
Kintsugi requires seeing possibilities beyond breakage. To expand, to reinvent, to renew. To go beyond the confines of initial appearances and the illusion of blemish-free perfection. Part of the beauty of kinstugi is the stark honesty to claim the imperfections, honor the limitations and, give form to an enhanced vision of what is possible.
Through kintsugi an ordinary object with an unremarkable past is transformed into a unique piece of art, more valuable after the break than it ever was.
Sure, it may seem expedient to just throw things away, then start over with new, shiny objects that capture our attention and hold our ideals of perfection. Until they break as well, under the weight of our rough handling or unreasonable expectations. Some of my favorite plates have gone that way.
Kintsugi. Do we have the courage to mend things to keep them functional so that their useful life does not end with their brokenness? Because in that breach might be a field of opportunities.
Some things are more beautiful for having been broken. And Lean Six Sigma might just be one of them.
Your turn: Do you think Lean Six Sigma or business transformation can be mended? Where and how? What “precious metal” do we need to add?
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