THE BUSINESS OF POETRY
Issued by: SoulCircle
Bizcommunity.com, South Africa
March 15 2006
Poets will become a key to unlocking culture meaning, building
relationships and developing leaders, says Mandy de Waal who looks
at the rising phenomenon of poetry in business.
Once upon a time there lived an emperor who was vain and insecure.
One morning he decided that it would buoy his spirits immeasurably if
he had the best attire in the Kingdom. He got the best tailors to make
him the best suite in the kingdom. Now these craftsmen were smart and
knew how to extract value from customers. They hatched an incredible
plan. They told the Emperor they had the finest cloth in the world, but
only people who were incredibly wise could see this cloth. The Emperor,
of course, fell for their proposal and before long the tailors, the
Emperor, the courtiers, and all the king’s horses and all the king’s
men were madly enamoured with this non-existent cloth, which was
sewn with non-existent thread to make a non-existent suit. You know
the rest. The Emperor paraded through his kingdom completely naked
and everybody fawned about him. That is, of course, until a young boy
stepped forward and shouted: “The Emperor has no clothes on.” The moral
of the story? The tailors were consultants and the young boy, a poet.
Ezra Pound eloquently summed up the role of the poet with his urging
them to “make it anew”. Throughout time great poets have sought to
see society and the world with a new lens, carving a courageous,
challenging and at times dangerous role for themselves. History is
littered with the bodies of dead writers or exiled poets who dared to
speak the truth. Chinese born poet Jun Feng was imprisoned and forced
into exile, and Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet died in exile after being
only major writer to speak out against the Armenian massacres. In
South Africa many poets were imprisoned or exiled during Apartheid.
The poet’s voice is often one of social conscience and because of
their ability to see things from a different perspective, poets are
often verbal activists in the face of corruption and exploitation.
Their power is their ability to touch the hearts and minds of people
with power, influencing mass opinion.
Activist and writer Ken Saro-Wiwa spent much of his life protesting
the exploitation of his native people, the Ogoni, who came under
threat when their homeland was targeted for oil extraction by Shell
in the late fifties. In his book “Genocide in Nigeria : The Ogoni
Tragedy” Saro-Wiwa tells how the Ogoni had “been gradually ground
to dust by the combined effort of the multi-national oil company,
Shell Petroleum Development Company, the murderous ethnic majority
in Nigeria and the country’s military dictatorships”. Two years
later Sero-Wiwa was honoured by receiving the Right Livelihood Award
for exemplary courage in striving non-violently for the rights of
the Ogoni people. Scarcely a year later despite an outcry from the
international community he was hanged in what was largely seen as
judicious murder by the hands of the Nigerian military government.
“Dance your anger and your joys dance the guns into silence.
Dance. Dance. Dance…”
– Ken Saro-Wiwa
“Poetry serves as a watchdog,” says Russell Kaschula, Extraordinary
Professor at the University of Stellenbosch and visiting Professor
in communication and media studies at Goucher College in the US. “The
language of poetry is passion and truth. Poets have the ability to be
open and criticize society, and it is when politicians interfere with
that ability to be truthful that the frontline of freedom of speech
is eroded in society. This is what happened to poets who were exiled
under apartheid.”
Kaschula, whose main areas of expertise are poetry and intercultural
studies, says the events surrounding the popular poet ZS Qungule’s
exile are a good case in point. “The imbongi or praise singer’s right
to speak freely and without censure came under serious pressure in
the 1980’s when the voice of protest that characterized Xhosa izibongo
was driven underground to serve small-minded politics,” says Kaschula
who relates how Qungule was arrested for his protest against the
manner in which the then King Sebata Dalinyebo, King of the Tembus,
was detained and deposed in favour of a pro-Government Bantustan
chief. A similar fate befell Melikhaya Mbutuma who was repeatedly
harassed by the police because of his protest poetry. “The descriptor
‘Praise Poet’ is a bit of a misnomer because praise poetry isn’t always
about worship. Praise poets have the ability and the license to be
critical,” says Kaschula who adds that poets are often a barometer
for freedom of speech. “When politicians interfere with the ability
to be truthful or critical, the frontline of the freedom of speech
is eroded. If you can censor the oral word, the written is next.”
While politics and poetry has enjoyed a relationship knitted with
barbed wire, the connection between poets and business has been
less direct. This is largely because poets have operated outside
the realms of traditional business, and corporate institutions have
not considered poetry as relevant. This looks set to change for a
number of reasons. Poets are making inroads into corporations as
consultants and harbingers of meaning and leadership development,
while in another contexts poets are taking aim corrupt corporations,
extending their role as a societal watch dog to embrace economics. In
South Africa praise poets are becoming a part of labour relations
and with the surge of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) now act as
cultural attaches for leadership. Another strong trend is the rise of
poetry amongst the country’s youth who are giving poetic expression
to their disenchantment.
“South African businesses should be asking themselves what their role
will be in the evolution of our collective culture, and therefore
in the evolution of the market,” says youth marketing specialist
Andrew Miller. A writer and poet, Miller is often called to speak at
conferences and to offer counsel on youth marketing because of his keen
understanding of the sector. He is also a founding member of the spoken
word poetry collective, Reunited Siblings. “South Africa’s youth are
shaping a modern, urban identity that is only partially informed by
western or liberal democratic values. South African businesses are
not operating in a strictly western culture or economy, although
the majority of them are geared solely around this culture. Those
who become literate and conversant in urban, Africanised poetry and
culture will stay on top of the evolution of the South African market
and will therefore be better positioned to make more money,” he says,
adding that underground and commercial hip hop poets in this country
frequently take aim at capitalism. He quotes lyrics from all female
hip hop group, Godessa, as a case in point.
“it’s like a multi corporation wants complete invasion of my senses
i sense this game of rands and cents complain when brands can lend
their name and space to setting up new trends campaigns offend public
and individual expression again…
The need to understand an emerging new culture is a sentiment echoed
by Kaschula: “The problem with marketers is that they are monolingual
and they are not culturally aware. They only speak one language
largely and they are not aware of societal issues outside of their
demographic.” Kaschula advocates that the ideal marketing person in
South Africa and should be multi-lingual with a strong appreciation
of the cultural diversity of this country.” He adds that poetry and
culture are considerations in BEE where new philosophies and leadership
styles will shape the way business is done in this country.
“I saw a great cartoon the other day which paints the picture of an
office where white people gawking from behind desks when the black
director walks in with a praise poet in traditional garb. In the
cartoon the white people looking scared and perplexed, which is a
strong commentary on black empowerment, affirmative action and the
fear white people have of the cultural aspects that come with this,”
says Kaschula, adding: “Praise poetry is considered the highest form
of verbal art and people who can produce this are often found in
close proximity to people in power or important positions.”
He believes that praise poets will become a bigger part of business
and cites the example of Sasol who hired a praise poet to convince
the workers to come back to work. “Business can manipulate this,
once they realize the emotional sway between workers and the poets,”
he says adding that this wouldn’t be sustainable in the long term.
“Authenticity is an important facet of poetry because the poet
represents the middle ground between people in power and the people
on the ground. If people cotton on to the fact that a poet has been
bought over then the poet will lose his credibility and be displaced.”
Both Kaschula and Miller believe that poets have a powerful role
to play in business in terms of creating cultural understanding,
being the voice of the people, being used to influence people and to
convey messages to people in power about how workers feel about issues
as disparate as working conditions or products. They say poetry can
bridge a gap between business and workers and consumers, as long as
poets play the role of mediators and not propagandists.
One poet who has become a mainstay of corporate life and is entrenching
himself with business leaders is Irish borne David Whyte.
In an industrial conversation that largely centres on bottom line
performance, funding growth and increasing turnover, Whyte has
introduced a new lexicon that speaks to the heart and soul. Using
poetry to bring understanding to the process of change, he has helped
clients such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Express, Boeing,
Kodak, Toyota and Nedcor to understand individual and organizational
creativity and apply that understanding to vitalize and transform the
workplace. Whyte believes that work presents our greatest opportunity
for self-discovery and growth, yet is the one place where we are
least ourselves. Whyte says: “Our bodies can be present in our work,
but our hearts, minds, and imaginations can be placed firmly in
neutral or engaged elsewhere.” The danger he believes is that work
is a powerful force in the shaping of our identity and if we do our
work unthinkingly, Whyte maintains, it can shape us away into nothing.
In order to appreciate the contribution that Whyte makes to business,
lecturer and business consultant Retha Alberts believes one needs
put him and his work in the context of the new world of work and
the changing role of business in society. Alberts is a specialist
in Strategic Thinking, Corporate Governance and Ethics, as well
as Leadership Development and lectures on these subjects at the
University of Stellenbosch Business School. Alberts also works
and lectures in Stockholm for the Applied International Management
Programme and lectures to African business leaders in Sweden.
“Due to the fast pace at which decisions are taken and the dynamics
of the external environment, people sometimes find it difficult to
make sense of business itself and particularly of their own their
role in all of it,” says Alberts. “Employees no longer have a clear,
‘grand narrative’ according to which they can plan and organise their
careers or their personal lives. This has been a cause of uncertainty
and existential anxiety for most people. More than before, people seem
to be increasingly searching for authenticity and for more meaning
in business.”
Meaning and belonging are a strong theme of Whyte’s public talks,
his work with business and his poetry. “There is a tremendous breadth
and texture and colour to human life,” says Whyte, adding “It is this
breadth and texture that poetry celebrates and works with. The poetic
tradition has an understanding that each person has a particular way
of being in the world and a particular way of belonging to the world.
And that each person has a way of finding their particular place
through the imagination. That the imagination is not the ability to
think things up, but the faith you would have in the images which
reside in you at any one time. These images are actually making
sense of an incredibly complicated and quite often chaotic world
around you. The life of the imagination is the life of faith of your
particular belonging in the world.”
Whyte talks of the human existence as a constant dialogue with life
and of making a friend of the unknown. “If you can’t make a friend
with the unknown then life will always appear as a kind of enemy or
something that is constantly at your throat.” In the uncertainty that
has become global markets and shifting economies, the question of a
companionship with the unknown is a question of our time. “The severest
test of work today is not of our strategies but of our imaginations
and identities. For a human being, finding good work and doing good
work is one of the ultimate ways of making a break for freedom,”
writes Whyte in “Crossing The Unknown Sea: Work and the Shaping of
Identity”. He believes that as humans we must understand that we carry
enough burdens in the outer world not to want to replicate that same
sense of burden in our inner selves.
For a world that has been consumed with power and the pursuit of
profits, Whyte’s injunctions can come as relief. “Engaging with poetry
aligns the power of the mind with the power of the heart, and could
play an increasingly important role in creating a totally new, changed
business culture,” says Alberts. “Whyte challenges us all by asking
us to rethink our daily habits and assumptions – through his poetry he
forces us to look inside ourselves and to reflect on our own journeys.”
“Poets like David Whyte encourage us to explore and revisit our own
‘fiercer edges of life’ and because of this he and poets of his
calibre will play an increasingly important role in business,”
says Alberts. “Our personal journeys and the search for identity
and self-actualisation, become more understandable, and hopefully
more meaningful, using poetry. In my own work with people in various
organisations, I increasingly find an intense and earnest yearning
for another way. People who seek to get away from business-as-usual
to business-as-it-could be. Corporate business leaders repetitively
express their yearning for “more meaning” in business,” she adds.
What is certain is that business requires new approaches and
transformative thinking both in terms of the way it relates to
consumers and interacts with culture, as well as the role it plays
in people’s lives. Poets will no longer live outside the fringes of
business, but will become increasingly commonplace within the heart
of the corporation as cultural decoders, praise singers, mediators
between management and labour and as a facilitator for forging a new
paradigm for leadership.