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The Agile Tao

The Agile Tao

By Dov Tsal & Peter Merel

About 2500 years before the Agile Manifesto, Lao Tzu wrote a book on the agile mindset. Join us for a deep dive into that first manifesto.

In each episode, we will discuss a poem or two from Peter's book - "The Agile Tao (Lao Tzu Refactored)" - to understand what Lao Tzu had to say about agility, transformation, leadership, and life.


About us:
Dov Tsal is an agile coach and a self-proclaimed Taoist.
Peter Merel is the author of The Agile Tao, a deep-thinker, a translator, and a joy to talk to.


And Hey!
We are in the top Tao-Related podcasts for 2020!
Full list: bit.ly/TopTaoPods
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Currently playing episode

E2: About Mindset (part 1.)

The Agile TaoAug 25, 2019

00:00
20:35
S2E4 - War! - about revolution, weapons, warfare, reserve, surrender, subversion and mutual benefits.
Mar 21, 202201:05:57
S2E3 - The Captain /Shaping Wood

S2E3 - The Captain /Shaping Wood

This time, two poems from part 2 

- We talked about the role of a leader. what makes a leader one?

- We also talked about the constant attention required from a craftsperson of any kind to attend to its material.

Here are the poems, hope you enjoy them!

And a special thanks to Hekselman, Klampanis & Ravitz for the beautiful music I never get tired of.



29. The Captain (xxvi) 

A great captain tirelessly guides his ship at sea 

So that, safe in port, he may lose it in sleep. 


So calm is the master of haste 

And care the path to ease. 

The captain of a great ship 

Does not treat it like a pleasure boat 

Acting carelessly or hastily. 

Without care he loses his bearings at sea; 

Without calm he loses the trust of the crew. 


The great captain doesn’t lead his ship like a jade figurehead 

But steadies her like a stone keel.




Shaping Wood (xxvii) 

A great explorer leaves no trail unmapped; 

A great teacher no question unanswered; 

A great detective no fact unexplained; 

A great watchman no threat unchecked; 

A great tailor no thread unravelled. 


So the agile account for everyone 

And neglect no one. 

Accepting all, neglecting none, 

They account for the weakest. 


The strong must guide the weak 

For the weak are the source of their strength. 

If the strong are careless and neglect the weak, 

Chaos results no matter how clever they are. 


This is their method of adaptation: 

As wood is shaped, it becomes a tool; 

As a person is served, they become a servant; 

So a great carpenter leaves no wood uncarved.


Feb 13, 202252:53
S2E2: Flow (2/2)

S2E2: Flow (2/2)

Last time, we started reading Flow - the first part of the Agile Tao, we are back with the second part.
Join Peter and me, and connect to the Agile Tao.

May 31, 202141:53
S2E1: Flow (1/2)
Apr 11, 202136:27
E12: Collaboration
Jun 15, 202050:37
E11: Ecosystem
Mar 09, 202055:49
The prehistory of Agile (special episode)
Feb 21, 202034:41
E9: Fear
Jan 18, 202035:54
E8: The End of Agility
Jan 09, 202039:16
E7: About Form and Function, Usability and Craftsmanship.
Jan 02, 202032:31
E6: Bargains
Dec 26, 201925:43
E5: Embracing Change

E5: Embracing Change

In this episode, Peter and I talk about change, about embracing it and about resisting it.


The poem we read this time is called (unsurprisingly...):


20. Embracing Change (xxiii)

Natural forms change without cease.

Strong winds don’t last long;

Nor heavy rain.


As nature’s forms change, so must our own.

Accepting change, we lead change

Which buoys us on nature’s tide.

Anchored to form we succumb to change

And the tide drags us under.

---

The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.

You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com

You can find the book at LeanPub by pressing the link.

Nov 05, 201921:32
E4: Cycles

E4: Cycles

In this episode, Peter and I talk about duality, the cycling of forms into their reverse state.

The poem we read is called:

2. Cycle (ii)

Beauty fades and love dies
Because all forms are cycles.

Chaos evolves pattern,
Whole breaks apart,
Hope breeds fear,
Weakness supports strength,
Growth feeds decay,
After becomes before.

As all forms cycle, agility takes no form
But harmony with the ebb and flow of forms.
It accepts forms without commanding them,
Adapts them without controlling them,
Releases them without constraining them.

---

The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis, and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.

You can send us any questions to theAgileTaoPodcast@gmal.com

Sep 24, 201937:32
E3: Make it easy to take it easy.

E3: Make it easy to take it easy.

In this episode, I talk to  Peter Merel, the author of the Agile Tao about war, peace, ecosystems, beaurocracy and harmony.

All embodied in the first poem of 'Ecosystem' - the third part of the book.

43. Horses (xlvi/lxiv b)

When people live in harmony

Horses carry fertilizer through their fields;

When people fall from harmony

Horses carry soldiers through their streets.


There’s no worse loss than losing peace,

No worse waste than making war,

No worse defeat than defending dirt.


To fertilize peace,

Make it easy to take it easy.


---

The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.

Sep 03, 201926:36
E2: About Mindset (part 1.)

E2: About Mindset (part 1.)

In our first episode of the Agile Tao podcast, we dive into the sense of agility, and hear Lau-Tzu's advice to being agile.


19. Mindset (xv)

Agility is practical, not mystical,


A way of working, not a state of grace.


Listening as if crossing thin ice,

Testing as if surrounded by danger,

Learning as in a strange land,

Simplifying as thawing snow,

Integrating as the deep woods,

Leading as the river valley,

Innovating as the spring silt.


Imagine the ice solid or the stream clear,

Stop to plan your way ahead,

Ignore what moves underfoot;

You fall and disappear.


The wonderful music recorded by Guitarist Gilad Hekselman, bassist Petros Klampanis and drummer Ziv Ravitz can be found here.

As we had too many conversations for a single episode, next week we will release a different edit. hope you join us.


Aug 25, 201920:35
E1: About Taoism, Agility & Mind.

E1: About Taoism, Agility & Mind.

 In our pilot episode, we introduce the Agile Tao by Peter Merel, talk about what is Taoism,  what is the Agile Tao, and  mainly read and talk about Mind, the opening poem of the book.


1. Mind (i)

Life is not the breath in your lungs,

Nor mind the thoughts in your head;

Mind is the course of all thoughts,

And life, its source.


Thoughts represent forms;

Forms express thoughts;

Each generating the other

In waves on the surface of mind.


Beneath the surface,

Formless and silent,

Boundless and liquid,

Dream dreams with no dreamer.



Join us, and if you like it please rate, share and comment!

Aug 18, 201927:46