Feng Shui and Black Swans

The feng shui master came to the office the other week. Feng shui (pronounced fung schway) is very important in the Chinese culture and for every one who thinks of it as a pseudo science, there are many others who truly believe.



Before spending time looking round the office, he sat with me (and one of my team, who acted as a translator, as he does not speak English) and , based on birth date and time, gave a sort of astrological reading on me and several members of the team. Very interesting.......


My office now features red and gold (mainly in the form of an abstract paining in a gold coloured frame), a small fountain and a permanent light. The running water produced by the little fountain is meant to enhance energy and keep my chi flowing round the office and light, being the most powerful manifestation of energy, should be present always.


Furthering the interests of my Chi, I spent time with a Tai Chi master last week. This was part of a management development programme that I was attending last week, which included an optional early morning Tai Chi class. The programme was held at a rather lovely resort and spa hotel on the island of Sentosa (more of which will feature in my next post about the "Integrated Resorts") and the Tai Chi class was held just after first light overlooking the bay (don't think golden sands, think parked oil tankers and container ships, but nonetheless....) and it was a lovely experience, even for one as uncoordinated as me. As many of you know, I'm sure, Tai Chi is described as a martial art, but I think of it more as a sort of moving yoga. Like yoga, it has set moves and series of moves, and getting it right depends a lot on breathing. While I only had a taste, I think that I could get to like it, and possibly even remember a couple of the moves after several hours of personal tuition.....


Black Swans also featured on the programme, but unlike Tai Chi, this was a completely new concept to me. A Black Swan is basically an unpredicted and undirected event that has major consequences. Think 9/11 and the rise of the Internet. A bloke called Nassim Nicholas Taleb wrote a book about this - The Black Swan - in 2007 and although I had not heard of his book until last week, I have seen articles that he has written about the financial crisis (a rather large Black Swan). Interestingly, and most bizarrely, much of the world seems already to have forgotten just how major the consequences of that particular big bird were and are are talking about not just recovery, but mega bonuses. I have worked in financial services for 22 years, and this business never ceases to amaze me.