The Energy Equation

Chapter 7Business Transformation, Health, and Agility

In the movie The Karate Kid, Mr. Miyagi agrees to teach karate to Daniel, a local teenager. Daniel is tired of being beaten up by local boys from a dojo where they are taught to be aggressive and merciless. Mr. Miyagi insists that karate is about something deeper and more important than that. Daniel's training begins with a series of seemingly irrelevant menial tasks like waxing cars. Mr. Miyagi instructs him, “Wax on, wax off,” making circular motions with each hand. Daniel is not at all pleased with this course of training as it didn't involve the punches and kicks he associated with karate. After several days, Daniel blows up, accusing Mr. Miyagi of taking advantage of him. In response, Mr. Miyagi let out one of those loud guttural sounds that karate people sometimes make when they challenge someone to fight. Daniel faces him. Mr. Miyagi throws a punch with one hand, and Daniel automatically responds with a motion that blocks the punch. The motion strongly resembles the wax on‐motion. Mr. Miyagi throws a punch with his other hand and, again, Daniel automatically responds, this time with a wax‐off motion that again blocks the punch. By the time the fight is over, Daniel is shocked and realizes that through seemingly unrelated tasks, he had learned and had ingrained within himself some of the most important fundamentals of karate.

This chapter is similar to that moment of revelation. You learned the fundamentals and techniques ...