LAMSTAIH - The Alhambra

An article in this weekend's Wall Street Journal ("Masterpiece" feature) on the The Alhambra in Granada, Spain provides some excellent food for thought on important topics.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118798773225908231.html

Dating from the ninth century, the Alhambra is a massive collection of structures - and very likely "the finest example of Islamic architecture in Europe and one of the greatest anywhere in the world."

Its significance as a cultural and architectural masterpiece is clear. And yet, with a closer look - and a different look -it reveals even more. The rewards for that closer and different look include lessons and provocative insights that can be applied to business.

For example, while it "became one of the finest trophies of dominance between Christian and Islamic cultures...its creation and preservation highlight not warring ideologies but the profound harmony that can emerge from the intermingling of seeming opposites."

Furthermore, "these structures affirm the authority of their builders in a very different way from the massive foundations, gigantic proportions and dominating axes of medieval European palaces... The Alhambra does not immediately impress visitors with sheer size, rather it leads them through a series of intimate rooms that accumulate into one of the richest experiences of architecture, decoration and nature anywhere on earth."

In fact, while touring the massive structures, in what seems counter-intuitive, the"best way to see the Alhambra is seated on the floor...From this vantage (still available to the tourist willing to break ranks and plop on the cool stone flooring), the architecture is transformed."

How can business leaders best create harmony from the many seemingly disparate and opposite forces at play in their organizations and in the marketspace? How can they move from the massive scale to intimacy that leads to rich experiences - for their employees and their customers? And how can they change perspective and point of view to transform how they and their organizations see and address business challenges and opportunities?

Ready to create intimacy? Ready to sit on the floor?