There is a special form of Japanese poetry called the Haiku. It’s format is 3 lines, containing 17 syllables – 5 in the first line, 7 in the second and 5 in the third.

With such a rigid and ordered structure, one could be forgiven for thinking that the poems would be sterile, lacking in enjoyment – and soulless.

However, Haiku poems were not initially intended for instruction, but as vehicles for inspiring deep enjoyment of sentiments or knowledge.

There is usually a reference to nature and the strict form of the poem encourages all waste to be cut out.

Only the words that really matter are included in a Haiku poem.

”Everything I touch

with tenderness, alas,

pricks like a bramble.”

Koboyashi Issa, c1800

The ancients used the poems to reach a state of intuition and insight by repeating them over and over again.

So, why write about the Haiku in 2014?

Because it has much to teach us about how we live our lives and do business.

There is: structure, rule, hierarchy, tradition, order and symmetry.

There is also: beauty, insight, intuition, knowledge, no waste and a shared appreciation of nature.

They can all exist together – but it requires practice, dedication and discipline to succeed.