Ya-Ya’s Tea-Board

The term wabi sabi describes a philosophical concept essential to Japanese art. The term is often used in its original Japanese form since there is no adequate English translation.
In an aesthetic sense, the concept of wabi sabi generally refers to the beauty of simplicity, imperfection, asymmetry, etc. But the concept can be applied to all aspects of life: it highlights the impermanence of existence and puts a strong emphasis on honesty and humility. Deriving from Zen Buddhism, wabi sabi is a concept with deep spiritual implications and its pursuit of simplicity is directly related to the essence of nature (which includes the imperfections of “being human”).

The term wabi sabi suggests such qualities as impermanence, humility, asymmetry, and imperfection. These underlying principles are diametrically opposed to those of their Western counterparts, whose values are rooted in a Hellenic worldview that values permanence, grandeur, symmetry, and perfection.

Wabi Sabi: The Japanese Art of Impermanence by Andrew Juniper [2003], p.2

What wabi sabi can teach us

As Andrew Juniper laid out perfectly in his quote above, the paradigm of the Western world is one of perfection. We have come to expect a high level of perfection in all aspects of our life. This came as a direct consequence of the industrial revolution and its subsequent movement towards standardization. It makes a lot of sense from an industrial production point of view (with items produced by machines to meet exact specifications), since it allows for massive reductions in the cost of production.
But more and more people start feeling that something is missing in their lives, which is often expressed as a certain intangible emptiness. Our Western societies have become very sophisticated on a technical level and yet, we are generally less satisfied with our lives than the people in countries we often regard as being less developed. We are caught up in a struggle to “meet the specifications” of life, instead of accepting that perfection actually results from the combination of a multitude of imperfections. Look at a tree for example: most trees, if left to grow without interference, assume a shape most people would call perfect. If you have a closer look at such a perfect tree, though, you’ll find that nothing about the details of this tree is perfect. Branches grow in all sorts of angles, the bark is everything but uniform, even the leaves are of vastly different sizes and shapes. And still, if we step back and look at the whole, the tree is perfect.
(I have gone through a great deal of trying to draw a decent-looking tree at high school but all my attempts looked rather unnatural due to my inability to reproduce the wabi sabi of a tree’s symmetry.)

To Japanese (in art as well as in a social context), wabi sabi is the highest form of perfection. It is something to aspire to. In my opinion, it is a more wholesome notion of perfection, one that goes way beyond the superficial ideals we have in Western societies. Wabi sabi is an organic worldview that equally accepts the flaws and wonders of nature.

Why wabi sabi for your business?

As Seth Godin points out in a recent post, today’s businesses often do not succeed or fail due to traditional aspects like the pricing or quality of a product. Too many similar products crowd our marketplaces and many of them are good and many of them are cheap, some of them are even good and cheap. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll succeed; intangible aspects often play into that. Wabi sabi is one of these intangibles and besides giving your business an advantage in a saturated market, it will bring you a deep satisfaction in conduction your business.

How to incorporate the wabi sabi concept into your business

Since we are trying to follow general aspects of wabi sabi in our business, the best way to explain business-related wabi sabi is to give you an insight into our business.
Today, much is written about business strategy as the one and only way to success. While any way you conduct business can be classified as business strategy, the term has a very Western, conformist and altogether bloodless connotation to it. All these aspects are squarely opposite of wabi sabi ideals. Business strategy also means that something is strategically planned and doesn’t necessarily mirror your personal beliefs. But wabi sabi can’t be contrived. It has to come naturally and reflect who you (or your businesses) are.

To incorporate concepts of wabi sabi into our business was incredibly easy and came naturally. So easy even, that we actually didn’t realize at all that we had incorporated these philosophical ideals. We just created Ya-Ya House of Excellent Teas as an extension of the personalities and beliefs of two people: our own. Only recently did we understand how our business and wabi sabi were connected.

Through our business, we are offering unique products with lots of character. When we are choosing a tea to offer to our customers, we are looking for individuality. We often review dozens of teas of a specific type from small tea gardens to find one or two that stand out from the crowd, that have the character that make them interesting. This is the exact opposite of what big companies do; they blend their teas so they can create and maintain a certain “brand flavour”, where every package you buy tastes exactly the same as the last one you bought. We can not - and do not want to - give you any such guaranties. What we can guaranty you, though, is a unique and deeply satisfying experience with every tea we offer. The limited availability - and impossibility to re-create it exactly - of some of our teas perfectly epitomises one of the key concepts of wabi sabi: impermanence. Teaware (like the cup in the photo at the top of this post) is often permeated by wabi sabi. A bit of the spirit of the maker is preserved in every handmade cup or tea pot. It’s the imperfection that allow us to develop an affection for a specific piece, whether it is the slight, almost invisible dent in an Yixing pot or the chipped part in our favourite cup.
While an industrially produced teapot can have a lot of style, it has no character. It can easily be reproduced and lacks the imperfections we as human beings find so comforting. We all have our faults and can never measure up to this standardized perfection. Products like that are lifeless and disposable; that’s why you won’t find any Bodum, etc. products amongst our offerings.

In conducting business, we also aspire to practise wabi sabi. We are individuals with our particular strengths and weaknesses, vices and virtues. We don’t pretend to be perfect since we aren’t.
Being a small business of course makes it easier to be genuine, to extend our personalities into our business. Our experience over the past 2 years has shown that our sincere interest in our clients has led to a sincere interest and support from our clients. Many people have become much more than customers - they’re extended family.

Here are a few key points in doing business wabi sabi style (concepts in parentheses):

1. Treat your customers without pretensions and unfounded superiority and they’ll esteem you as someone to trust. (simplicity)
2. Don’t ever abuse this trust. (honesty)
3. Be humble and open to corrections and suggestions. (humility)
4. Extend your helpfulness to every customer, not just the ones that promise to bring you good business; you might be amazed at how many people gain interest in your business when they feel treated with a genuine interest (impermanence)

A win-win situation

The principles of wabi sabi can help you to create a more satisfying business. As you treat your customers with the attention, modesty and sincerity they deserve, you communicate an important message. You accept them as they are, with all their faults and virtues. You’ll inspire a loyalty that’s based on your authenticity and honesty (we were amazed by how many people offered us help and support even though we never asked for it).
Human interactions are based on give & take; in good interactions, these are perfectly balanced. Give and you shall receive. Today’s business environment is too concentrated on individual advantages rather than mutual benefits. Start to base your actions on wabi sabi and everybody involved will benefit.
Take tea as an example: Tea that is produced manually by artisans who are proud of what they do is better tea. This tea is better because the people who produce it take care of it. Their efforts are rewarded by people like our customers who recognize the care that went into producing this tea. They taste the difference and support the cause. Their support in turn allows the artisans to continue doing what they love to do: produce outstanding tea.

You probably already appreciate wabi sabi

Do you have a favourite tea cup (or plate, spot on the sofa, part of a walk, …)? If you do, you’ve already had a glimpse of wabi sabi. The very thing that makes it your favourite … is something that sets it apart from the rest in the set. It must have an imperfection or highly individual character because if it were perfect in a standardized way, you couldn’t have it as a favourite. It would be just like the rest…