Fihi Ma Fihi’s (“FMF”) founder Arian Nakhaie has 15+ years in a variety of roles, industries and countries which culminated in its creation. The organization is named after and based on the spirit of 13th-century mystic, jurist and poet Rumi’s philosophical treatise, which translates as “Signs of the Unseen”. The idea is that the truest answers come from a deeper internal space, an “Unseen realm”, so to speak.
Rumi said “the wound is where the light enters.” Many times people run from their problems, staying in denial. If a wound is neglected, it festers and can lead to death. But wounds can be healed and, in healing, there is much wisdom gained along with the development of previously untapped potentials, leading to new-found strengths.
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO PROFESSIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHALLENGES?
In the professional world, this might be called a strengths-based approach, turning problems into opportunities. This takes creative thought and courageous action. Courage is not the absence of fear, but its acknowledgment in order to face and overcome fear. Fihi Ma Fihi believes the person or group dealing with a challenge has the deepest answers within themselves. What FMF does is hold safe and caring space for clients to do their deepest, most honest work. This work is done in the heart, individually and, then, collectively.
Business terms like “Optimization” are used in the coaching and consulting field often but how often does that happen? FMF believes one of the challenges is that so often there is not a clear understanding of the current state of affairs in an environment. This requires honest assessment. Honesty requires safety and courage. Courage comes from the heart. Hence, FMF’s starting place.
HOW DOES FMF WORK? WHAT IS THE FIHI MA FIHI COLLECTIVE?
Fihi Ma Fihi serves as a bridge for the understandings, processes and tools of the impoverished and the enriched, the worlds of those on the global margins with those in the centers of Capital, those doing grassroots work with those in the corporate sphere. FMF is not ideologically-bound; it is results-oriented. Synthesizing polarities is a powerful way to achieve a higher state. The greatest innovations and accomplishments have often come through unlikely combinations. This is the zone of FMF’s focus.
And, to this end, Fihi Ma Fihi created the FMF Collective, a space where practitioners from a variety of professional backgrounds collaborate to holistically meet client needs.