Reaching Stardom: How to Identify and Develop Top Performers

Abstract:     
I have always liked kōans — those baffling, challenging, frequently infuriating, thought-provoking, learning tools that in the Zen tradition are the way to enlightenment — perhaps because, in my role as a psychoanalyst, I see parallels between the master-student relationship of Zen Buddhist learning and the process of psychoanalytic intervention. Zen masters use kōans to guide their students toward enlightenment. For example, one of the most famous kōans is ‘What is the sound of one hand clapping?’ The response is obvious. And I use material my clients present to me in a similar way, although I probably direct my clients more overtly. In an intervention, almost anything can be used as a kōan, which — taking the essential meaning of that term- is a puzzle or riddle that contains the key to a deeper reality. In Zen teaching, kōans are used to open minds to other alternatives than habitual responses to day-to-day reality.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 26

working papers series