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The Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement Can Change The Way We Do Business
The Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement Can Change The Way We Do Business
The Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement Can Change The Way We Do Business
Let flowers live. That’s the concept that lies at the heart of ikebana, the traditional art
of Japanese flower arrangement. Every time you hold a flower in your hand, you
think about how you can help it look as beautiful as possible and in harmony with
the other flowers. “Think” may not be the right word, though. After years of practice,
your body moves instinctively to cut the flower and place it in the vase, without even
thinking. It is as if your body knows how to let the flower live before your head does.
If your ego starts kicking in, thinking, “I want to create a great ikebana work”, it
becomes about you, not the flowers, and you end up failing to let the flowers live.
Ikebana is the art and practice of continuously letting go of your ego and being
I have practiced ikebana for decades while working in management consulting and
for a business school. Until very recently, ikebana was something very personal and
private, something I just enjoyed doing in the small, closed ikebana community. But I
started to observe that the nature of management studies and leadership education
was changing, and there were more and more overlaps between what I had learned
in ikebana and what was being researched and taught in business schools. What if I
could bridge these two worlds, ikebana and business, and let them learn from each
other? That’s why I founded IKERU in 2017 with the mission to bring the wisdom of
ikebana to business and leadership education. For the past few years, through
offering various ikebana programs, I have seen the positive impact that it can have
So, what can ikebana teach today’s businesses? Why is it important for leaders to
ikebana is inspired by both Buddhism and Shintoism, where the former arranges
flowers and serves the Buddha statue and the latter sets up a specific tree branch
to welcome the Divine. Also, in the old days, people enjoyed collecting flowers and
arranging them in a vase, as documented in the Japanese essay Makura no Soshi,
written around 1,000 years ago by a high-ranking court lady who served the empress:
“A big blue-green precious vase was placed at the terrace and quite a few exquisite
cherry-blossom branches were put in the vase. The cherry flowers were so in bloom
Gradually, arranging flowers evolved from a simple daily routine that anyone could
techniques and its philosophy. It was recorded that, in the 14th century, there were
people known as “flower masters” who were widely recognized for their flower-
arranging skills and were sometimes invited by powerful samurai lords and court
nobles to arrange flowers on their estates. One of the oldest existing ikebana
textbooks was published in the 16th century by a then well-known flower master
who defined ikebana as the “art of letting the true nature of nature emerge in the
engaged in military conflicts to the unified, peaceful but strictly hierarchical pre-
modern society in the 17th to 19th centuries; from the drastic Westernization and
modernization of the late 19th and early 20th centuries to the recovery from the
devastation of the Second World War and the emergence as a global economic
power.
Regardless of the era, the Japanese have practiced ikebana and deepened their
relationship with it in their own way, leading to diverse definitions and principles. For
example, different perspectives exist around the relationship between humanity and
nature. Some believe that we understand the truth of nature and that ikebana is a
way for us to express this truth. Others believe nature is perfectly beautiful as it is,
and human intentions and interventions should be kept to the minimum. There are
also different theories about how much individual creativity should be used. Some
established balance formulas called kata until they are deeply ingrained, while others
believe we should allow spontaneous and creative collaboration with the flowers.
Among those who put greater importance on human creativity, some masters have
tried to redefine ikebana as modern art – to the extent that they sometimes replace
There is, therefore, no single definition for what ikebana is – every definition should
be respected and appreciated. But, for me, the philosophy of “letting flowers live”
seems to lie at the heart of the art, cutting across many ikebana disciplines and
a way to make it look as authentically beautiful as possible. For that, we need to find
the right angle, length, and location for each flower. Here, the definition of “right”
becomes important. If we think of “right” as the flower being a perfect part of the
work we are going to make, we are not letting the flower live – it is just being used to
make what we want to make. Instead, we must try to see how the flower can
become as beautiful as it can be. It must be placed in a way that creates harmony
with the other flowers in the vase. By focusing on this, we are able to see the entire
For us to let flowers live, we must exist with them, without having a pre-set vision of
what we want to create. The stem’s curve might be the most charming part of the
flower, but if we already have a plan in our head, the curve might not look right and
we might cut the stem short to remove that curvature. Instead, if you can appreciate
the flower as it is, you might see that it is unique and beautiful because of the stem’s
curve, and you might find a way to let the curve shine within the entire work. This is
letting flowers live: letting go of our desire to control, letting go of our ego, and
This is why cultivating our minds is the most important part of ikebana. Skills and
techniques are, of course, important but they can be naturally developed over time if
you keep practicing. Other Japanese traditional arts such as the tea ceremony,
early 2000s. Ikebana was like an oasis for me during that sleep-deprived and over-
stimulative phase of my career. On the weekend, through trying to let flowers live
and letting go of my ego, I found tranquility and was able to return to my hyperactive
job feeling deeply recharged. It never crossed my mind that ikebana would become
my career or have anything to do with the business world. Ikebana was a beautiful
practice I had to protect and keep away from my hectic work life.
Things started to look different around 2010. I was working at Harvard Business
School (HBS) as a researcher based in Japan. Having gone through deep self-
reflection after the Great Recession and various discussions about the school’s
future during its year-long centennial forums in 2008, HBS reached the conclusion
that it should transform itself to keep fulfilling its mission, “Educate Leaders Who
Make a Difference in the World”, over the next 100 years. The school came up with a
guiding principle – “Knowing, Doing, Being” – and revised its two-year MBA
curriculum based on that code. The school emphasized that “being”, which is to
understand who you really are and what you believe in, would be like a compass for
life – without it, one would get lost and might end up making a negative difference in
the world. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised by the fact that HBS, “a capital of
capitalism”, officially announced that cultivating the mind was the most important
thing for future leaders. For the first time in my life, I saw there was a possible
world as seen in, for example, Google’s Search Inside Yourself program. Research
showed that mindfulness could boost employees’ productivity, creativity, and well-
being and that it was also linked to leadership effectiveness. While the term
existing and remaining in the present, ikebana is indeed the very practice of
mindfulness: we cannot let flowers live without being “present” in the moment.
Further, given the more creative and dynamic nature of ikebana, I realized it could
become a mindfulness practice that might appeal to those, who like me, found
At the time, Ikebana was known for its tremendous, inherent wisdom but it was
appreciated mainly in the realm of culture. What if I could bridge the gap between
ikebana and business and let managers access opportunities to learn from the
wisdom of the art of flower arranging? It might also help redefine and reinvigorate
ikebana, which had faced the challenge of an aging and declining population of
three to four people would create one ikebana work, and began introducing the
concept to companies.
In the workshop, each member of the team is responsible for one type of flower and
members take turns to arrange their flowers as if passing the baton in a relay race.
I have developed five guiding principles of team ikebana based on the traditional
wisdom of ikebana (see box below). The process can feel quite different from a
and agree upon a goal, identify tasks to achieve it, assign a task to each member,
and make sure that no one deviates from a given task. In this setting, the team
knows where it is going and can measure where it is in relation to that goal.
Individuals might also intervene while other members are still working on their
tasks.
In the workshop, team ikebana participants are always amazed to see the outcome
of their work, as it is often far more beautiful and dynamic than their initial
expectations. They learn the power of respecting and trusting other members,
what is emerging during the moment. Most importantly, the workshop reminds them
Participants also deepen their understanding of themselves. They might notice their
hesitation to cut a flower because they are afraid that they will not be able to come
back once the cut is made – a fear of making a mistake. They might feel irritated
about not being able to intervene when another member is arranging a flower – a
they actually enjoy ikebana, an art of creating something beautiful, using not their
1. No discussion
Do not discuss or plan beforehand what your team is going to create. Always just pay attention to what is emerging in front of you.
2. Individual focus
Let each team member focus on their own dialogue with their flower. If you notice something, say it in a way not to disrupt their focus.
Even if you do not agree with the flow the previous member created, accept it without judgment and play with that flow.
When it is not your turn, check the balance and flow of the whole work.
5. Final assessment
Once all members have finished their turns, look at the work as a team and see whether there are parts that should be fixed. If the team
agrees about changing something, make sure that the member who arranged it in the first place fixes it.
For the past few years, dozens of companies, business schools, and non-profit
feedback that the experience has helped to change team dynamics and the quality
of collaboration.
Convinced that the wisdom of ikebana is relevant to business and can be a powerful
tool to boost collaboration and leadership development, I have started to work with a
leadership program in which ikebana plays a central role. I have also worked with the
HR team of the company where I serve on the board to integrate ikebana into its
leadership development plan. Knowing that a one-time ikebana workshop can make
such a profound impact, I am truly excited about what these longer programs can
bring to business.
fully immersed in the experience of letting flowers live, not distracted by the
formalities and rules that have been prevalent in the traditional ikebana world. My
artists in their 20s to 50s, both male and female – a stark contrast to the existing
ikebana schools where the majority of practitioners are women over 60.
If you are deeply in the flow of ikebana, you focus on letting each flower live and
then realize later that the whole work emerges in front of you naturally and
In Issue XI of I by IMD, we explore how to build sustainable organizations to succeed in turbulent times.
Explore Issue XI
Authors
Mayuka Yamazaki
Iikebana artist and the founder of IKERU
Mayuka Yamazaki is an ikebana artist and the founder of IKERU, an initiative to bring
the wisdom of ikebana to business and leadership development. She also works as
public companies, including Ryohin Keikaku (MUJI). Prior to that, Mayuka worked at