Managing with Aloha: Pearls of Palena ‘Ole

Series 3 on Managing with Aloha, Bringing Hawai‘i’s Universal Values to the Art of Business. Tenth in Series Three on Managing with Aloha

By Rosa Say

Palena ‘ole is Key Concept 9 in the Managing with Aloha philosophy. It translates to “without edges or boundaries” and we refer to it as the concept of unlimited capacity:

“This is your exponential growth stage, and about seeing your bigger and better leadership dreams come to fruition. Think ‘Legacy’ and ‘Abundance’ and welcome the coaching of Pono into your life as the value it is. We create our abundance by honoring human capacity; physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. When we seek inclusive, full engagement and optimal productivity, any scarcity will be banished. Growth is welcomed and change is never feared; enthusiasm flourishes. Palena ‘ole is an everyday attitude in an ‘Ohana in Business, assuming that growth and abundance is always present as an opportunity. Given voice, Palena ‘ole sounds like this: Don’t limit yourself! Why settle for ‘either/or’ when we can go for the ‘and’, and be better?”

In a word, Palena ‘ole is about growth, whether for individuals, or for vision and a company as a whole.

For individuals, think of Palena ‘ole as the extra oomph to our Key Concept 7, Strengths Management, whereby we boost our strengths inventory by exploring our untapped human capacity. We push at the edges of whatever we previously felt constrained by, and employ the value of Ho‘omau (perseverance, continual improvement and renewal) as we question any obstacle or barrier which may have walled us in before. There’s more possibility to be explored, and we can thrill to the discovery of the growth we are capable of. We expect better, and aim to become innovators.

I have penned an annual one-word theme for the Ho‘ohana Community of Managing with Aloha in recent years, and our 2021 theme was inspired by Palena ‘ole as our best response to the pandemic difficulties of 2020:

“Experiment! Not ‘experimentation,’ for that’s more past tense, and can be about other people. Experiment, as in NOW, and as in for YOU, and as Go for it! What explorations can you take on this year? Which pathway of your fourfold capacity—physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual—has been your ‘road less traveled’ up to now? Think back to every ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’ you’ve ever uttered, and turn old regret into an intriguing experiment of fresh possibility. If not now, when?”

2020 could rightfully be dubbed the year all the rules changed. Those changes were a mixture of the good and the bad, and as Managing with Aloha has taught us, we always have a choice in what our reactions will be, so the good outweighs the bad, and that good perseveres—so we make that proverbial silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

When I think about the good which came out of 2020, I see the rule-changing packaged with a whole lot of permissiveness, and there’s no better response for us than the positive expectancy of Palena ‘ole.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us dramatically. It has been more than okay to change, whether in our habits, our work and how we did it, or even with where we decided to live—change and adaptation has been expected and encouraged. Still is.

Several stigmas, such as with being furloughed, laid-off, and fired, have lessened. All kinds of professionals have been just fine with being considered “unessential workers” this past year—they have explored just how much more they are capable of mastering, and they have lit their lifestyle on fire.

We have felt a new and different kind of camaraderie in our shared experiences, tough as they may be. We’ve “all been in this together” as a society-pervasive sorting out, streamlining, and shifting of priorities, examining a lot of variables we largely took for granted before, such as school and in-person learning.

Not for a second do I imply that any of this has been easy, yet this fact stands: we’ve done it, and we continue to push forward.

We can do so much more. The pandemic has exposed much more than our shortfalls in healthcare and governance, hasn’t it? What will we do about them? The experimental, permissive attitude infused in Palena ‘ole is so much better than blame, finger-pointing, and excuse-making: we just get on with it, and forge ahead toward better. We welcome the new and different with fewer pre-judgements or stodgy assumptions, and without being saddled by convention.

In 2021, let’s continue to be rule-changers.

Let’s continue to question the essential and non-essential.

Let’s continue to strike through old assumptions, worn-out traditions, and previously unchallenged conventions.

Let’s make more change—more innovation—with our willingness, and stigma-free encouragement to experiment.

Be inspired by Palena ‘ole, and enlarge your capacity: start with your expectation that the world is your oyster, and there are pearls of Aloha abundance to be found. ❖

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In Series 3, we explore the 9 Key Concepts of Managing with Aloha as a culture-building philosophy for the workplace.

Contact writer Rosa Say at RosaSay.com or ManagingWithAloha.com