What Suzuki can teach family businesses

(Second of three parts)

Music is not an inherited talent,” says Carmencita Arambulo, who brought the Suzuki method of talent education to her Greenhills Music Studio in the 1980s. “All children can learn music, as they do the mother tongue, when trained properly.”

At the core of the late violinist Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy is respect for the child, “a radical idea then when children are supposed to be seen and not heard.” Rather than administering entrance exams, Suzuki accepted any pupil—and parent—who sincerely wanted to learn.

Many people today suffer from instant gratification that leads to negative shortcuts and fosters entitlement behaviors that harm schools, workplaces, businesses. Music—and other worthwhile endeavors—require dedication, so how can families help in this regard?

“Young children make no distinction between work and play,” said Suzuki. “They are self-motivated and they work at learning with astonishing intensity, exploring the wonder of the world. They have not learned to fear failure … [or to] drop out just because success is not immediate. When introduced early, music becomes a natural part of daily experience, not something imposed by adults or squeezed into a schedule. The young don’t have preconceived expectations about when they will master … sounds comparable to the great artists. Unless adults tell them otherwise, they are happy to accept the natural pace of learning appropriate to their … maturity [level].”

As an antidote to today’s frenzied competition, Suzuki promoted respectful learning of children in groups. “They learn that others are confronting the same challenges, enjoying the same triumphs, coping with the same frustrations.”

Ideally, kids are exposed to the Suzuki method while young, just as successors in family businesses are to elders’ stories and experiences. Children learn easier through “natural growth” than adults do through willpower. But learning at any age is possible.

“There is no other way than training,” said Suzuki. “While a person trained from infancy needs five hundred times of practice, the other needs five thousand times to get the same results. But one who fails at five hundred times can succeed at five thousand times.”

“Nurturing with love does not mean that there are no expectations regarding self-discipline, the acceptance of challenges or plain hard work. Nor does creating a positive environment mean that we should constantly tell children that they are wonderful and brilliant, or that their playing is perfect or excellent if it is not. Children are quick to pick up on insincere or dishonest praise and … to distrust the adults who give it. What nurturing by love does mean is that parents and teachers respect children as worthy human beings. They have unshakable faith in children’s potential. And praise must spring from within that respect and faith.”

These words hold for successful family businesses. Succession fails if young people resent criticism from the old, who in turn are reluctant to mentor.

Suzuki said, “Adults [should] feel privileged to spend the time needed to nudge children gently but inexorably to develop what is good and true within themselves … If a child is corrected after being praised, the correction is pleasanter … than if given after criticism.”

However, “excessive praise [backfires, since] children must take inner satisfaction in their achievements [rather than] on adult approval. With too much praise, children begin to fear that they will not be valued or loved if they try something and fail, which leads to hesitation about taking on new challenges. [But] honest recognition of work done, matter-of-fact noticing and describing of things accomplished and loving encouragement to explore and learn are priceless gifts.” INQ

The Philippine Suzuki Youth Orchestra will have an Easter concert at the Manila Cathedral on April 13, 2023 at 6.30 p.m. For tickets, message via Viber 09064311407 or go to bit.ly/3mrdp8c. Have a blessed Holy Week.

(Next week: When love is deep)

Queena N. Lee-Chua is with the board of directors of Ateneo’s Family Business Center. Get her book “All in the Family Business” at Lazada or Shopee, or the ebook at Amazon, Google Play, Apple iBooks. Contact the author at [email protected].