Learning Management tips from Scriptures

I have been pondering how the Srimad Bhagwad Geeta relates to how we manage work, especially in the IT industry. I must confess these are my own views. They are not meant to hurt any individual or group. Any resemblance to a specific person or group is coincidence.

In this series, I will pick a few shlokas from the Srimad Bhagwad Geeta. I will explain each shloka from a spiritual point of view, as explained by yogis and renowned speakers. Then I will offer my own interpretation, connecting it to business processes in the IT industry.

The Shloka

Let us begin with a shloka from Chapter One of the Srimad Bhagwad Geeta.

"So, while keeping to your respective stations in the several divisions, all of you should doubtlessly protect Bheeshma alone on all sides."

Commentary on the Shloka

(Excerpts from commentary, courtesy www.yatharthgeeta.com)

Duryodhan, the eldest of the Kauravas, commands all his chiefs to hold their posts and protect Bheeshma on all sides. The Kauravas cannot be defeated as long as Bheeshma is safe. So every Kaurav chief must defend Bheeshma rather than fight the Pandavas.

Bheeshma represents delusion. A delusion is a false belief, often fanciful or born from deception. As long as delusion is alive, unrighteous impulses cannot be defeated. When delusion ends, ignorance ends with it. What is free from delusion is eternal and unmanifest.

Today we admire a sage for his virtue. The next day we grumble because we saw him enjoying delicacies. Devotion breaks at the slightest suspicion of a flaw in the one we admire. The impulse of righteousness weakens, and the ties of devotion break.

Interpretation for the IT Business Context

Can we look at the delusions we live with at work? The workplace makes up at least 30 percent of our working life. For many of us, it could be as much as 50 percent.

Senior management often lives in the delusion that being nice matters more than being factual. This reminds me of an old Sanskrit couplet from school days: "Satyam Vada Priyam Vada," which means speak the truth, and speak it nicely. Speaking untruth nicely does not help. Neither does speaking truth rudely. I believe this is the essence of a performance management system. We must ask ourselves how often we give feedback that is both factual and nicely presented.

The rest of the organization often lives in the delusion that no feedback means good performance. In the early days of any craft, such as sculpting, the maker assessed his own work. There were no quality or managerial teams to give feedback. Self assessment is at the core of a performance management system.

We often call someone a great performer, much like we praised the sage. Then, just as quickly, we brand that same person unfit for the job, the way we judged the sage for enjoying delicacies.

Delusions fade only when ignorance disappears. Who can make ignorance disappear? I believe there are only two sources.

Self

Ignorance is bliss is not true in most real situations. For example:

• Customers will not be satisfied because we were ignorant of their needs. Often, we are.
• Statutory and regulatory authorities will not spare us because we were ignorant.
• Employees will not accept our unavailability just because management was ignorant of what they needed.
• Shareholders will not be satisfied because we were ignorant of how to deliver returns.

The list goes on. Do not blame others for your own ignorance. Use the body of knowledge available to remove it. This alone can raise each of us in the real world, and success will follow. This body of knowledge takes many forms: libraries, books, the internet, and experienced individuals.

Actualization Through Nurturance by Seniors

Somewhere along the way, we forget how we were taught to speak, or to do anything at all. The elders in our family gave us their time. They did it with pleasure, and they were the first to celebrate when we learned to write or speak well.

Why can we not behave the same way at work? Do we not spend as much time at the workplace as we do with family, if not more?

Nurturing the people on a team is the responsibility of the team leader. We should remember the oldest and still respected method of learning: the Gurukulam method, where the student learns under the guidance and care of a Guru. For most of us, the workplace is a Gurukulam, and our leaders must behave like a Guru.