Management and the Bhagavad Gita............ The story is about Arjuna, who became depressed when he realized he had to fight his relatives on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. To help Arjuna in his moral dilemma, lord Krishna preached the Bhagavad Gita , which can be a powerful catalyst for transformation. The story has all the management tactics necessary to achieve mental equilibrium and to overcome any crisis situation. In days of doubt, this divine poem will support all spiritual searching. It will contribute to self- reflection and deepen one’s inner process. With it, life can become dynamic, full and joyful, no matter the circumstance. The Holy Gita is a practical psychology of transformation because it offers people the tools to connect with their deepest, intangible essence, teaching them to live with knowledge. For all achievements, management’s task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their weaknesses irrelevant, as management guru Peter Drucker says. It creates harmony in working together— equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves situations of scarcity; be they in the physical, technical or human fields, through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve the goal. Lack of management causes disorder, confusion, waste, delay, destruction and depression. Managing people, money and materials in the best possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most important and essential factor in an organization’s success. Following are some thoughts inspired by some of the principles in the Bhagavad Gita : There is an important distinction between effectiveness and efficiency in managing. Effectiveness is doing the right things. Efficiency is doing things right. The general principles of effective management can be applied in every field, the differences being more in application than in principle. A manager’s functions can be summed up as: Forming a vision Planning the strategy to realize the vision Cultivating the art of leadership Establishing institutional excellence Building an innovative organization Developing human resources Building teams and teamwork Delegating, motivating and communicating Reviewing performance and taking corrective steps when necessary Thus, management is a process of aligning people and getting them committed to working for a common goal to the maximum social benefit. In other words, it’s the search for excellence. The critical question in many managers’ minds is how to be effective in their job. The answer to this fundamental question is also found in the Bhagavad Gita , which repeatedly proclaims that “you must try to manage yourself.” Unless a manager reaches a level of excellence and effectiveness, he or she will be merely a face in the crowd. When Arjuna got over his despondency and stood ready to fight, Sri Krishna reminded him of the purpose of his new-found spirit of intense action, which wasn’t for his own benefit, nor for satisfying his own greed and desire, but for the good of many, with faith in the ultimate victory of ethics over unethical actions and of truth over untruth. With regard to temporary failure, Sri Krishna says, “No doer of good ever ends in misery.” Every action produces results. Good action produces good results, and evil begets nothing but evil. Therefore, if you always act well you’ll be rewarded. My purpose isn’t to discard the Western model of efficiency, dynamism and striving for excellence, but to tune these ideals to India’s holistic attitude of lokasangraha —for the welfare of many, for the good of many. There is indeed a moral dimension to business life. What we do in business is no different, in this regard, than what we do in our personal lives. The means don’t justify the ends. Pursuit of results for their own sake is ultimately self-defeating.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Aug 2014 02:52:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015