More beautiful for having been broken
A long time ago, a very important Shogun in Japan was given a beautiful pottery bowl as a gift. But in the passing from giver to receiver, the bowl fell to the floor and broke into pieces.
The Shogun was a wise man, and instead of seeing a broken bowl, he asked for it to be repaired with gold. The finished product was more beautiful than the original.
Kintsukuroi, or golden repair, is a metaphor for something that is more beautiful for having been broken.
It is in the proof of our fragility that we become beautiful.
Businesses that embrace their wholeness, that are open to transparency, imperfection and the forever beta pathway to providing more beautiful products and services, are businesses that people seek to engage with. We call them a Syntropic Enterprise.
Leaders who give up the posture of perfection, who are able to stand in their own kintsukuroi, are leaders we yearn for. We call them stewards.
Brokenness does not have to be broken. In our brokenness, when we weave with consciousness our humanity and truth, our own golden thread, we express the beauty of who we really are.
It is in the perceived absence of brokenness that we lose our way into a grey world.
The heart and soul of any beautiful Syntropic business is woven with a golden thread of love and care.
Written June 30th 2013
Photo Taken March 6th 2026. Article published March 13th 2026
