Opinion Consistency,from Picasso to Shakira

Somewhere that consistency is important for it brings a feeling of comfort. Picasso changed his painting style so many times in his 92 years of artistic life,but even without his signature there’s always something you can recognise in his paintings. All -time mime king Marcel Marceau,my close friend,confided in me that he had to maintain consistency in style through his different performances across time.

Another outstanding example of consistency is Colombian singer Shakira with her song Ojos Asi (Eyes like yours). I’ve seen her in at least five different concerts,from MTV Unplugged to shows in Dubai,Amsterdam and other cities,with different makeup and outfits,but every time her belly dance and her steps were always the same. I’ve even used this consistency example in different workshops I’ve conducted for my corporate clients in India and abroad. And invariably all the participants want to better understand how Shakira has achieved sustainability as a star performer by demanding to watch,over and over again,how she’s consistent in her dance!

The city of Paris,my home for the last 36 years,displays sustainability like no other city. Under Napoleon III,between 1852 and 1870,Paris was transformed by his préfect,Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann. The Haussmann Plan to modernise Paris levelled the narrow medieval streets to create a network of wide avenues and neo-classical façades that still make up much of modern Paris. It encompassed all aspects of urban planning,from regulations imposed on facades of buildings,streets,public parks,sewers,water works,city facilities to public monuments. Disease epidemics ceased,traffic circulation improved,trees were planted. Cleaning up living areas implied better air circulation,provision of water and evacuation of waste. A new water provisioning system led to the construction of 600 kilometres of aqueduct between 1865 and 1900. These aqueducts discharged water in a newly built city reservoir,the largest in the world. Haussmann’s 19th century urban scenario has up to the 21st century sustained a profound positive influence on the everyday lives of Parisians.

Last week in Greece,I was suddenly sparked with another European example of consistency. ESOMAR,the global research organisation,had invited me to deliver a keynote address to their thousand peopled Congress in Greece,and I spoke on ‘Disrupt to connect to 21st century’s Digital Zappers’. The sharp contrast of this contemporary subject in front of the 5th century BC Acropolis of Athens felt uncanny. I’ve been to Greece often on work since 1985,but this time,dining with my Greek friends overlooking the ancient Parthenon and watching everybody busy with modern technology mobile phones,the European consistency of carefully sustaining their heritage became very stark. You will not enjoy such unique disparity between the ancient and contemporary times in a young civilisation like the US. The Acropolis and its monuments are universal symbols of the classical spirit and civilisation bequeathed by Greek Antiquity to the world.

Consistency maintained year after year,generation after generation,century after century becomes an icon of symbolic expression. Picasso was consistent over 92 years,but even over short life spans ,consistency can be momentous. Raphael,the 16th century painter and 18th century music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart both died in their 30s,but left magnificent artistic works behind that have become references of classicism.

Sustainability has become a buzzword in the business world to satisfy shareholders from quarter to quarter results. The impact of the last recession has made business houses co-opt this word vigorously,and also use it for being politically correct in the environmental sphere. Sustainability is also related to a community’s quality of life.

The devil’s work can also be consistent. By official count,the US has conducted 1,054 nuclear tests between 1945 and 1992,the Soviet Union 715 up to 1990,France 210 nuclear tests up to 1996,UK and China 45 tests each,while India,Pakistan,Israel and North Korea around 10 each. The environmental destruction is both short and long term triggering landslides,tsunamis,fish poisoning,earthquakes and severe atmospheric pollution. After consistently testing about 2,110 nuclear bombs in the last century,the developed countries are now asking for sustainability from the rest of the world. Is it a farce when they meet at World Environment Summits? Surely the scientists knew the damage all these nuclear tests would cause to our planet,yet,for about 50 years they continued their devil-like nuclear program. If we can be positively consistent in whatever we do now to protect the planet,it will result in environmental sustainability for future generations.

You may always require a zone of discomfort at least to stimulate you. Let me try to be consistent for the next 52 weeks.

Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com