Management Lessons from Srimad Bhagvat Geeta

We have read and heard about the warriors who would waste our energy. They also create all kinds of distraction, physical, psychological, or otherwise. Let us now discuss how to work around and succeed, without wasting energy to identify and defeat these warriors, and without shedding any blood.

The solution lies within us. When we get distracted, it is not because of noise factors outside. The story of the deaf frog from my earlier blog should reiterate this.

The key lies in converting ourselves and our abilities so that we can focus on what we want to achieve.

The Shloka

"On this auspicious path, O Kurunandan (Arjun), the resolute mind is one, but the minds of the ignorant are divided and many."

The most important step toward this is to build a mind that is earnestly and firmly oriented to selfless action toward the goals we have set. If we compare this with those who propagate more than one mode of action, we must observe the dilemma they constantly enter into. The minds of such employees are endlessly divided, and that is why they conjure up endless ways. This is often visible in the confused state of functioning of such employees.

It is these employees who tend to blame everyone else for their failures. I am reminded of a statement from the book by Jack Canfield, the co-author of

The Second Shloka

"Since you are entitled only to the performance of action but never to the fruits thereof, you should neither desire rewards of action nor be drawn to inaction."

This is the most misunderstood or misinterpreted part of the text from the Geeta. The word means both action and its consequence. We should not worry about the fruits we would get. Consequence here refers to the user of the output of the processes we manage.

In my view, this fits with the process approach to management, where the belief is that output is the result of your processes and inputs.

The Process Approach to Management

The concepts of the process approach to management include:

• Focus on the inputs criterion and quality.
• Focus on process controls and the factors that lead to process management. These are the rules of the process, the methods or steps deployed, the skills and experience of the people managing or executing the process, and the facilities and equipment provided for the process.
• Understand the consequences of errors and omissions in following the process. This needs to be understood from the end user's perspective, whether a final customer or an internal customer.

The Characteristics of Karma

The characteristics of karma, as described, are:

The initial trigger of action is indestructible. Once it is initiated, we cannot eliminate it. The Chinese proverb, "the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step," is true. Having taken the first step, it is not possible to erase the footprints left.

Any flaw in action will never abandon us.

Performance of this action, even in small proportion, can give us great confidence and motivation. - Zig Ziglar