“Have you read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance?” was last night’s surprise after-dinner question.
I read Robert Pirsig’s book maybe 35 years ago, but I didn’t have any knowledge about the book’s subtle philosophical basis or understand its purpose. Thinking about the book now, I wanted to share six ideas that seem to translate directly into my work.
1. Quality = Care-Focused Engagement
Pirsig’s idea: Quality begins with attention, care, and a refusal to cut corners.
Community lens: Real change in health inequalities starts with deep listening, relationship-building, and contextual understanding. It's not about “quick fixes” from the top down.
Practical application:
- Value long-term trust over short-term metrics
- Centre lived experience; co-produce solutions with the community
- Prioritise relational work (conversations, trust, consistency) as much as technical solutions
2. Bridge Classical (Data) & Romantic (Lived Experience)
Pirsig’s idea: Classical = systems + analysis; Romantic = feeling + narrative. Both are essential.
Community lens: Health data tells part of the story; people’s stories complete it. Don’t let stats alone dictate interventions.
Practical application:
- Blend public health data with storytelling and community voices
- Use both GIS mapping of need and walkabouts and interviews
- Involve both academics and aunties from the local estate
3. Respect the Tools, Build Local Capacity
Pirsig’s idea: Tools, when respected and understood, become gateways to empowerment.
Community lens: Give communities the tools and the training—not just the tech, but the confidence to use it.
Practical application:
- Offer digital skills training alongside access to tools (e.g., tablets for telehealth)
- Promote peer learning groups rather than one-off workshops
- Ensure platforms used (like health portals or apps) are designed with and by the community
4. Fix Before You Replace (Sustainability + Dignity)
Pirsig’s idea: Maintenance is care. Fixing is an act of understanding.
Community lens: Don't abandon or “restructure” a community project when it breaks—ask why, and work with people to fix it.
Practical application:
- Support legacy grassroots groups with burnout issues, don’t just replace them with new shiny projects
- Fund continuity, not just innovation
- Celebrate local repair cafés, food hubs, and community kitchens as systems of dignity
5. Quality Is Felt Before It Is Measured
Pirsig’s idea: People recognise quality instinctively—before it’s even named.
Community lens: Health equity initiatives should feel respectful, empowering, and trustworthy. If they don’t, people won’t engage.
Practical application:
- Design health interventions that feel human, not clinical
- Ask: “Does this feel like it values the person?” as much as “Does this meet our KPI?”
- Use cultural rituals, local dialects, familiar spaces (like libraries, allotments, or boxing clubs) as entry points
6. Zen Philosophy for Community Development and Health Equity
- Slow down: Deep work, not fast fixes
- Listen first: Trust is the soil everything grows in
- Value all knowledge: Data and lived experience both matter
- Empower, don’t extract: Tools belong in the hands of locals
- Co-create meaning: Quality isn’t delivered, it’s built together
So, what do you think..?
John Atkinson
MVDA
Community Action and Development Officer at MVDA.