Santayana's Calculus

Run with your legs to be fast, with your mind to be faster, with your heart to be unstoppable.
Ken David 2010 All Rights Reserved
Santayana's Calculus
If you can dream it you can do it. But you have to do it.
No one is born successful in their chosen field. Even the most
accomplished entrepreneurs and the lavishly rich started, and
struggled, somewhere. And the main reason they succeeded often boils
down to one trait that extends beyond talent, money, opportunity or
social status: Heart. And in that heart, perseverance. The late eorge
!eonard, a philosopher and ai"ido master, wrote in his boo" #Mastery':

$We fail to realize that mastery is not about perfection. Its about a
process, a journey. The master is the one ho stays on the path day
after day, year after year. The master is the one ho is illin! to try,
and fail, and try a!ain, for as lon! as he or she lives.%

&astery 'of anything( is practice and staying on the path by getting
bac" on the path every time you fall 'fail( off it. "very fall is a choice to
either fall forward or to fall bac". And either way, falling isn#t failing
until you stay down. As &ary )ic"ford '*+,-.*,/,( observed:

$#upposin! you have tried, and failed a!ain and a!ain. $ou may have a
fresh start any moment you choose, for this thin! that e call %failure%
is not the fallin! don, but the stayin! don.%

0n 0nnovation, Nin1utsu, )arenting, 2ormula * car racing and 3ilicon
4alley culture, doing, falling, failing, learning, chan!in!, and then trying
again has long been unrelenting, necessary and legendary. And when
this cycle fires the future, as it so often has, it#s immensely rewarding.

5ourtesy of transformational movements in the mastery of excellence,
li"e &'(, and in superior business dynamics, li"e the 'ean Manufacturin!
revolution in 6apan, this cycle is shedding the last vestiges of social
shame earlier associated with individual and business failure and is now
energetically embedded in start.up and venture capitalist cycles.

0t even has new language 7 pivotin! ) and a new name, the #(ivot,# and
is part of both a broad reinterpretation of lessons learned from tech
history, and a spreading present.day revolution called #'ean #tart)*ps#
'not what it sounds li"e( that involve dynamic #mastery# techni8ues
such as Minimum +iable and (roduct,Mar-et .it strategies. 3ome
mantras of mastery in this growing movement are:

9"ver tried. "ver failed. &o matter.
Try /!ain. .ail a!ain. .ail better.9
: 3amuel ;ec"ett

%.ailin! is a part of innin!. If you set !oals so you don't fail, you don't
move forard. $ou can have hatever you have the coura!e to as- for.
Most people don't as- for enou!h.% : ;ob )roctor
Mista-es are the steppin! stones of !enius0 1o a!ain, the fire of mastery.
The main barrier to success is lac- of action. $ou ill never chan!e your life until you chan!e
somethin! you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. . 6.5. &axwell
2ailures 2ailing .allin! is part of livin! life:
$0f you don#t practice you can#t fall.
0f you don#t fall you can#t fail.
0f you don#t fail, you won#t learn.
0f you don#t learn, you#ll never change.
0f you don#t change you can#t compile anew.
0f you don#t compile anew you won#t become a new you.
0f you don#t become a new you, you can#t e2ercise a new you.
0f you don#t exercise a new you, you#ll never practice a new you.% 3/non

0#ve spent many a year loo"ing to find and distill in myself, in others,
and in the cycles of action of survivor organi<ations running the frontiers
of endeavour, this essence of rapid practicing, falling, failing, learning,
changing, compilin! ane and becomin! 'lather, rinse, repeat=(.

0n the early >*
st
century this cycle of mastery is becoming intentionally
active in the ?NA of transformation in individual and collaborative selfs.
And 0#ve repeatedly seen, in the successful creative and innovation
practices of both, a complex set of signals and a signature song.

However brief or complex, this song is a cycle of reali<ing, a becomin!
arcing into presence already present yet unmanifest possibilities. And,
li"e lotus lilies, these efforts oft times spring, not from clear waters, but
as in our then awareness, from amidst the mud of dar"ened perception
and challenging experience we desire to transform into needed results.

Here, in creating sustainable efforts of any "ind and scale, is a short ta"e
on this signature in present ways of reali<ing successful missions. 0 call it
#antayana's 4alculus. 0t#s a radiant mind-in-focus in8uisitiveness, growth,
humility, adaptiveness and relentlessness purposely breathed into cyclic
transformative practices. This focus awa"ens phoeni2 cycles, untangling
and regenerating the self in all practices, trivial, ephemeral and eternal.
Here#s the bac"ground and, in a present mantra, the signature seen.

Background: @ather than being as many believe a moral exhortation
to pay attention to history, 3panish.born American philosopher eorge
3antayana '6orge Augustin Nicolas de 3antayana y ;orras(, in *,AB, in
+olume 5 of The 'ife of 6eason 7'The (hases of 8uman (ro!ress'9,
remar"ed thus as part of his theory about how "nowledge is ac8uired:

9(ro!ress, far from consistin! in chan!e, depends on retentiveness.
When chan!e is absolute there remains no bein! to improve and no
direction is set for possible improvement: and hen e2perience is not
retained, as amon! sava!es, infancy is perpetual. Those ho cannot
remember the past are condemned to repeat it. ;added underlinin!<.


In the first sta!e of life the mind is frivolous and easily distracted, it
misses pro!ress by failin! in consecutiveness and persistence. This is the
condition of children and barbarians, in hich instinct has learned nothin!
from e2perience.%
It doesn't matter how much experience you have if you don't learn from it, change, and then enact the changes.

0n other words, what is conserved defines identityC and can 'or not(
incorporate lessons learned from experience and insight. ;ut what is
conserved also defines what can chan!e. This is deeply relevant.

As biologist Humberto &aturana points out, 9We are so concerned
about chan!e, yet hat is most important is hat is conserved. (olitics
conserve. "ven revolutionaries conserve. /ll systems only e2ist as lon!
as there is conservation of that hich defines them.%

Hence, in both individuals and in business, learning lessons is
fundamentally different from incorporating and enacting the lessons
learned. Dne does not entail the other. As eorg Eilhelm 2riedrich
observed $We learn from history that e do not learn from history%.
F=noin! ThatG or F=noin! WhatG is a universe apart from F1oin! ThisG
or F1oin! ThatG, or going readily, never mind repeatably and rapidly,
from one to the other. And bac" again. Dr being able to.

This distinction, and the balance between philosophy and practice, is well
defined: )hilosophy can be almost endlessly intellectuali<ed. )ractice
cannot. 0t must be done. And no matter its# beauty, the map is never the
territory. Even when in and made from the territory. 0t#s one reason 0#ve
a deep empathy for original ;uddhism: it#s neither a religion nor a belief
system, but, only, a believin! system. 0t#s an operational philosophy of
awa"ening with in1unctions, only, of practice. 0ts deeds can only be done.

Essentially translated, #;uddhism# is #the path of practice of #a-in! up'
consciousness# and both all and not any of the deeply useful accounts of
exemplars, beliefs, thin"ing and writings which might assist one in doin!
the practice. #Wa-in! up# can only be done, #;uddhists# only become.

3imilarly, 'earnin! can be endlessly intellectuali<ed, whereas 4ompilin!,
that is, incorporating and enweaving chan!es in one#s self or business,
in who you are, what you "now, and what and how you feel and act,
into a ne you . cannot. 0t must be done. As in becomin! a martial artist.

5ompiling is the reweaving step in do)a!ain ?o -2all -!earn -5hange -5ompile
cycles of minded conforming and mindful transforming practiceC enactive
phoeni2 cycles enweaving changes, adaptations and innovations into self
again regenerating becomin! self, in divining, distinguishing, determining
and deed. 6ohann Eolfgang von oethe: $=noin! is not enou!h0 e
must apply. Willin! is not enou!h0 e must do.% And in doing we become.
0 thin" Aristotle said it best: $We become just by performin! just
actions, temperate by performin! temperate actions, brave by
performin! brave actions. We do not act ri!htly because e have virtue
or e2cellence, but rather e have those because e have acted ri!htly.
We become 7and thus e are at any moment9 hat e repeatedly do.
"2cellence then is not an act but a habit.%
Knowing what to do doesn't make a bit of difference if you don't act. It's doing what you know.

2riedrich Niet<sche saw that, in theory, there is no difference
between theory and practice. ;ut, in practice, there is.
Thus >...those ho ere seen dancin! ere thou!ht to
be insane by those ho could not hear the music.?

;ut dancin! to that unseen or unheard by others
re8uires practisin! that unseen or unheard by others.
&artha raham '*+,-.*,,*(, a modern dance giant:

>(ractice means to perform, over and over a!ain in the
face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire.
(ractice is a means of invitin! the perfection desired.

Whether it means to learn to dance by practicin!
dancin! or to learn to live by practicin! livin!, the
principles are the same. @ne becomes
in some area an athlete of Aod.?

Het, as we deeply recogni<e,
practice to excellence of anythin!
means relentlessly falling down and
not staying downC and in mista"es,
leaving down in the ta"ing up.
Albert Einstein: %/nyone ho has
never made a mista-e has never
tried anythin! ne.%

0f we don#t ma"e mista"es we#re not
wor"ing on challenges new or demanding.
And that#s a bi! mista"e because mista"es
are an essential part of how we learn.

As Elbert Hubbard remar"ed,
%4onstant effort, freBuent mista-es
and inner reflection are the steppin!
stones of !enius.%
%=noled!e comes by eyes alays open and or-in! hands0
and there is no -noled!e that is not poer.%
: @alph Ealdo Emerson
These revolving actions in the self give rise to the palpable presence of
an increasingly flexible nature . an adaptive intelligence given over as an
active and growing power of a!ile becomin! in realizin! whatever is
practiced. 0 call this power in agile reali<ing and becoming #Iuessence'.

A Buessent person or firm more 'or less( becomes, from their habitual
practice of #1o, .all, 'earn, 4han!e, 4ompile' ) breathing in experience
and breathing out a more #virtuous,# #same# and more 'vicious# blended
self in energies permeating everything they are and do and which freshly
forges results renewing their aliveness or lac- thereof in desired realms.

Cuessence is a poer of becomin! from a practice of realizin!. 0ts# "ey
change.catalytic habit in all its fall.to.transform, fail.to-change and fall.
to.trauma cycles is compilin!, that is, regenerative actions that -eep self
and positively and negatively transform and confirm self and capabilities.

)ositively, in virtuous cycles, compilin! extends, expands, re.threads,
re.calibrates, reloads, and 1ust plain altogether recharges the individual
or organi<ation with new energies and evolving capabilities arising from
incorporating the often hard won results of experience and insight into
new learning, and then, on into and as a newer self. 0nsights thus bred
breed insight. And insight thus becomes actionable, active and in action.

As a positive habit of becomin! in reweaving within persons and firms,
compiling is more than 1ust continually changing your maps 'learning(.
Everybody does that. 0t#s continually changing one#s very territory and
actions from this learning. 4ery few do that. 5ompilin! continually
synthesi<es experiences and insights in self and business dynamics into
new dynamics in business and self, and a renewing ma"e.up of identity.

)ositively rendered compilin! rema"es and reali<es a self or firm in every
cycle of practice .regenerating places, rema"ing spacesC rebuilding here
and fashioning freshly there as, when and where re8uired. Ehereas when
negatively rendered, compiling acts on vicious cycles of seeing, thin"ing
and acting with ne!ative habits of learning, changing and incorporating,
wor"ing to undo the self with every fearful and selfish passing breath.

(ractice, especially compilin!, is an adaptive vs. addictive transformation
habit, a repeating growth.vs.grief cycle of breath.in teachings and
breath.out a new you, more agile and resonant with tangible dimensions
of challenge, choice and change. 5harles ?arwin: %It's not the most
intelli!ent of the species that survives, but the most adaptive to chan!e.%

(ractice, staying on the path, getting bac" on the path, and compiling
anew every time you fall is a cyclic exercise realizin! anew what and who
you are 'dynamics(, how you feel, act and experience 'process, posture,
perception( and how you "now and, subtly, thin- you "now '"nowing and
patterns of "nowledge(. 0n mindful sensing, thin"ing, feeling and doing,
this is a survive and thrive habit of becomin!: #antayanas 4alculus.

on!t be discouraged. It!s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock. "#non
Your past is not your potential.
In any hour you can choose to liberate
the future.
~ Marilyn Ferguson
I am your constant companion.
I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.

Half the things you do, you might just as well turn over to me,
And I will be able to do them quickly and correctly.
I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with me.
how me e!actly how you want something done,
And after a few lessons I will do it automatically.
I am the servant of all great men
And, alas, of all failures as well.
"hose who are great, I have made great.
"hose who are failures, I have made failures.
I am not a machine,
"hough I work with all the precision of a machine
#lus the intelligence of a man.
$ou may run me for profit, or run me for ruin;
It makes no difference to me.
"ake me, train me, be firm with me
And I will put the world at your feet.
%e easy with me, and I will destroy you.
&ho am I'
I am HABIT(
he possibilities and dynamics of our awareness, sensing, signals, data, information, !nowledge, practices and intuitions are all "teachings". And habits
I don"t care how much power, brilliance, or energy you ha#e, if you don"t harness it and focus it on a
specific target, and hold it there, you"re ne#er going to accomplish as much as your ability warrants.$
% &ig &iglar
3antayana#s 5alculus is a transforming phoenix cycle of becomin! action.
Applying to any and everything. 2rom sense and thought to feeling,
action and behavior. 0ts heart is a fast enou!h cyclic doing, gaining and
reali<ing of teachings, experience and insights in a transforming reweave
that#s not 1ust an adding to, but a changed and then altogether newly
rebuilt and confirmed self with growing s"ills. And what so often is
valuably gained is about hat did not fit and does not or-. As 5arl 6ung
observed: $=noled!e rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.%






Phoenix Cycle: In (ractice: > ?o.2all.!earn.5hange.5ompile: > /s:
?esire, 0ntend, ActC 2allC 3ense, rasp, &easure, Test, ?ecide, ainC
5hange= 5ompile=J Start Over. @inse, lather and repeat. Kntil 3uccess.

@peratively, 3antayana#s 5alculus wor"s to re1uvenate the spring in an
individual or firmGs step, "eep "een awareness bounding through its
senses, supple strength surging in its muscles, and a hungry gleam in
the eye of its inner tiger. 0t#s a habit of continuous adaptive re!eneration
in freshly realizin! the doing what, how, why and way of a person or firm.

In daily practice what does this ean and how can this work!
3urrender to your passion. )ractice, practice, practice. 2ind a guide.
4isuali<e the outcome. )lay the edge. &a"e your #it# an #is:# a done deal,
real already Now= in the realm of your consciousness. To sum this into
actions brought together by !ean &anufacturing, !ean 3tart Kps, Agile
?evelopment and &astery, here#s the mantra with *>L.step in1unctions:

>With passion in heart, e2ercise clearness in purpose, clarity in mission,
consistency in fundamentals and persistence in efforts, be!innin! as
you mean to !o on, ith the end in mind, and every step a destination.?

"n any and e#ery scale of effort and action feel$ focus and then:

* 0magine and ?etermine Ends 'why from, where to, what as(

> ;egin as you mean to go on 'grateful feeling M seeing #it# as #is#, already so(
L 2eel to align, 2ocus to form, 2all to transform 'desire, engage, focus, act(

* Thin" Ehole '#whole# is always bigger, deeper, and smaller than #big,# then:(
> 3tart 3mall 'smallest sustainable M cycle.able acts: minimum viable moves(
L 3tructure 3imply 'as fast as simply as fits means and ends but not simpler(
>1o as little as needed, not as much as possible.% . Hen" Nraai1enhof
The most practical, beautiful, workable philosophy won't work if you won't: All you do and don"t, and
how, is practise-borne. Phoenix cycles mind the practise-invariant realiin! of whate#er"s practised:
)*+*, -Play it Sam.. &hatever your /instrument/ first, you learn to play by the /rules./ "hen you forget the /rules/ and play from your
heart. 0You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the
andstand, forget all that and !ust wail0 12harlie #arker3. As in living and as in loving, and in all that we do and aspire to in and of life.

4Sam 1Arthur /5ooley/ &ilson3 and Ilsa "#und$ 1Ingrid %ergman3 in %asalanca.
* 3cale 3mart 'increment M be increment.able: units, modules, layers, steps(
> 2all ;efore 'By design, %arly, &ast, "ften, 'ecoverably, Enthusiastically(
L &easure After 'not everything that counts can be counted and not....(
* !earn 2ast 'learn M learn to learnC distinguish, describe, determine, decide(
> 5hange .aster 'change, compile: incorporate and activate lessons learned(
L Exercise 0mmediately 'test the new and then test the new in the whole(

* 3tart Dver '?o it again. 2ail again. 2ail better. 3ucceed(
> Neep the )ath ')ractice, get bac" on the path, it#s not never falling from it(
L @inse, !ather and @epeat 'Kntil dreams are made deeds and deeds done(

#(urpose# is #What you ant to realize#, are reali<ing, and finally intend.
This is a #flow# and #pull# view. A #push# or #why# view is a #because of,#
expressing motivations. #Mission# is #What $ou Want To Aet 1one.# Dn
any scale. 0n any context. 0n any place or space. Ehether that#s invade
another country in two wee"s, get to the shops before they close, finish
a translation, or a triathlonC pic" up the "ids, complete an exercise in
the gym, or ma"e it with relief out of an unfamiliar bathroomC et al.

#antayana's 4alculus underlies and emphasi<es the imperative of
rapidly and recoverably 'in error, failure and discovery( going from
purpose to becomin!: 2antasi<e. Theori<e. 2actuali<e. Actuali<e. @eali<e.
@inse, !ather, @epeat. Even as and necessarily so because in practice
transformation to success, if -ept to, cycles through fall.to.transform.
The essential arc of becoming in individuals and organi<ations remains
the same: 0f you can dream it you can do it. ;ut you have to do it.

Het nothing happens unless first a dream. Hou have to dream before
your dreams can come true and every dream begins with a dreamer.
Het no dream becomes a deed until made a deed done. As 5arl 6ung
remar"ed, $ho loo-s outside, dreams0 ho loo-s inside, aa-es% and
often enough we wrestle with reality for a long time before we begin to
reali<e how futile it is for one dream to fight another.

Ehen one to the other we surrender, we return to flow, our intentions
resonate our desires, and align and exercise in us and the universe
around a necessary determined focus, dedication, self.discipline and
efforts acting in our favor. 6oseph 5ampbell said $.ollo your bliss and
the *niverse ill open doors for you here there ere only alls.% 0f
one could follow one#s bliss you would follow the trail to abundance and
well.being on all sub1ects and in all missions.

As s"etched herein #antayana's 4alculus is about becomin!, and thus
realizin! purpose and mission as carried in and expressed through a
passionate cycle of do.again agile, adaptive actions that reali<e the
necessary transformative efforts ma"ing dreams deeds and deeds done.

Eith than"s to 5arl 6ung, 6esse Dwens, eorge !eonard, Esther and 6erry Hic"s,
Abdul Nalam, Harriet Tubman, 5harles ?arwin, 5arl 3andberg and ;ruce !ee:

'dapt what is useful, re(ect what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.
Phoenix Cycles


The story of the )hoenix is all at once
legend, myth, and abiding truthC it#s
about a never.ending resurrection of
life turning bac" into life, in cyclic
transformations 7 phoeni2 cycles .
that rema"e and regenerate self.

This story is a resonance of a
recurring force in history and in
individuals that#s far deeper than
readily imagined or, indeed, visible.

The force is a story bound into all
things, from 8uantum fields and
cellular diatoms, to the very Kniverse
at largeC it#s a tension embossed onto
space itself, that nothing lasts
forever, that all things rise and fall,
and that whateverGs built to last
must be built to chan!e.

3uch storied transformations, for a
while, -eep themselves and then
falter, giving rise to a fabled endless
flow of being, becoming, dissolving,
and being again, in cycles of
renewing transformative change
called forth in recurring creation,
celebration and destruction.
&'very living eing is an engine geared to the
wheelwor( of the universe.) * 6ikola "esla
Phoenix Cycles

3uch recurring deep retraining, reali<ation and renewal .
and the re!enerative actions that ma-e it so ) on any scale
and in any place, time or domain, 0 call a phoenix cycle.

These cycles of inded and indful breath)in experience
and teachings ;do, fall<, conforming and transforming all
;learn, -eep, chan!e<, and breath)out new resonances of
self ;compile, do<, are the purposed cycles of reali<ing and
becoming . cycles of mastery ) that are the scale.free and
practise.invariant dynamic of 3antayana#s 5alculus.
At any scale, e#ery cycle of practice is a cycle of reali<ing
and becoming of whatever#s exercised and thus can be a
phoenix cycleC i.e. persistent, minded and mindful efforts in
the 1oin!).allin!)'earnin!)4han!in!)and 4ompilin! of a
reali<ing and becoming self in whate#er the self is
practising( And that self is ever and always 7 breath.in,
breath.out 7 becoming the change it practises to be.

Ehen our heart, head and hands are in son! each cycle is a
bound and determined effort in effortlessness 7 whether we
practise breathing, washing dishes, raising children, planting
forests, listening heart.to.heart, carrying our family safely
out into the universe, or awa"ening enlightment.

Ee are ever a part of and can never be apart from the
oneness infinitely enfolded in and as every uni8ue self.
Thus realizin! and becomin! in and of any and all entities
inherently is, calls and carries . oft times unnoticed and,
usually, unseen and untold . tranformative conse8uence
once more bearing forth capable and compassionate selfs.
+Becoming is not attained by chance, it must e sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.+
&#ife does not accommodate you, it shatters you...
'very seed destroys its container or else there would e no fruition.)
- .lorida Scott-/a0well