Wabi-sabi

Wabi-sabi is a Japanese aesthetic concept that finds beauty in imperfection and the universe’s natural cycle of growth, decay, and death.

Practicing wabi-sabi means eschewing the unnecessary, getting rid of the clutter, and valuing authenticity above all else. Wabi-sabi requires us to accept the reality that nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect. We must not only believe that this is okay, but come to see the great power in the practice. Embracing this concept is critical to fueling our sustained commitment to innovation.

A culture of experimentation means we become more radical in our approach. We take more chances, we fight the tyranny of perfection.We try a bunch of stuff, it fails, we try some more. Rinse and repeat.

It’s an especially bad time to be boring. It’s also a terrible time to be complacent, to savor the glory days, or to rest on our laurels. Even though it’s easy and seems safe, we can’t coast. If we are serious about innovation, the choices are pretty clear.

Are we wired to say no or to say yes?

Are we riding the brake or stepping on the gas?

Are we more worried about failure or regret?

This post originally appeared on my website and is adapted from my book Remarkable Retail, which was recently named the best retail book of all time by BookAuthority. We’ve now released 10 episodes of Season 1 of the Remarkable Retail podcast. Please listen, subscribe, rate and review on your favorite podcast platform.

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