Fear Induced Innovation vs Rapidinnovation.

Here is a Facebook status update of Rahul, a friend of mine, who works as a consultant in Tata Consulting Services, and is presently engaged in improving the manufacturing process of a large gold jewelry manufacturing company in India:

"Last 2 days I got great exposure and learning while understanding with respect to India "What does Innovation means & How it happens" for the companies like Google, Intel, Yahoo, IBM, 3M, Infy, Wipro, Biocon and many more big & small enterprises from the CEO's, MD or VPs of these companies....The mandate came from Summit- Making Bangalore the Innovation Hub for Asia. (in the field of Manufacturing, Pharma, Energy...and obviously "IT" :) )"

It was obvious that he was quite happy attending this Summit. But I wanted to understand from him the deeper insights he gained from the interactions during the Summit. Few days later he came out with a terrific insight about the Summit and put that in as a comment to the discussion thread, which was the following:

"I found that almost all big companies are involved in doing innovation in the name of fulfilling the Future needs of the people, But they are not thinking much to solve the present "Wants of the mankind" specially the basic wants of low income group..i.e. food, water, energy, transportation, house, having regular income....Business house generally think this as a charity or CSR activity, but this is wrong, these issues have huge potential for doing Innovation and also have successful business models to sustain it.....It requires patience and focused approach from individuals and organization to address the problems of the larger section of our society."

Now that was something very significant and what I fear most about 'innovation' -- that is trying to do something for the future by completely ignoring the present.

Trying to do something for the future is insurance and not innovation. And insurances are always made to cover known and unknown risks and consequences. I call such innovations 'Fear Induced Innovation' (FII). And why is that? Risks are imagined or perceived - never real. So addressing such risks is done more out of fear than anything else -- just like any insurance policy we undertake. 

Paradoxically, such innovations based on fear or induced by fear are always risky, costly and most often do not serve any real purpose of the society in which they spawn and develop. They sap the resources of the society without paying them back adequately. The society is exposed to more risks than achieving solid gains in improving the standard of living of its citizens. Hence to cover such risks at low cost big companies are setting up their innovation centers in India and China away from their homelands. It is a sort of gamble that may not pay off in the long run.

What is the answer?

Innovations must be based on the 'NOW' (N). Innovation must be based on 'Present Failures' (F). Innovation must solve some 'Present Problems' (P). And innovations must be guided and informed by reality. Otherwise it is mere distorted thinking. 

I have classified the innovations that address the NFP (Now, Failures, Problem) as products of Rapidinnovation, which is a more inclusive form of practice under Design Thinking. I shall write on Rapidinnovation in my next blogs.

FII ('Fear induced innovation') is never the real one. CEOs are often found to run after FII to turn around companies. But they fail. No wonder, the CEO of Yahoo got fired over phone just two days back on 9th Sept 2011. CEOs of modern companies seem to work like 'freelancers' far removed from the ecology on which they operate, thrive and grow.

I feel that the need of the hour is to have Creative Leaders who understand the inclusive nature of innovation, or more specifically the inclusive practice of Rapidinnovation.

 

 

CL - Self Organising Movement in Complexity

Electrons, Corrosion, Particles, Water, Smoke, Population, Bacteria, Organizations, Societies, Nations, Human minds have one thing in common. They all move. All such movements grow and evolve, not through top-down direction and control, but through balancing of opposite forces or diverse ideas, changes in quantities that change the quality of movement and change of phase transformation of becoming through the elimination of previous states of being. But what changes situations are changes in relationships that, so to say, hold the 'organism' together.

We may say that social relationships are built around opposing or diverse ideas, apparently paradoxical, that mutually support relationships that are mostly non-linear lending the inherent 'complexity' in its movement and behavior that defies individual control of human beings. New ideas gain traction or lose it depending on their inherent appeal and utility and desire of people. Leaders in such movements give shape and flow to such collective desires. Individuals coalease spontaneously as do individual groups. Such spontaneous self organization helps new alliances to emerge rooted in the situation and the mutual needs of the groups (which I call as 'situatedness') depending on what works for those involved in the moment. What exactly would emerge is both difficult to assess and predict with great degree of certainty. While some alliances are fleeting; others endure; and some serve their purpose before they dissolve. Whatever, it might be, the states always transforming and changing. Such becoming is the nature of complex systems.

Therefore, in short, social systems self-organize around ideas and non-linear relationships. They are living, complex, dynamic, and constantly evolving as they and their members learn from shared experience generated by various leaders who emerge at different points of time and space.

This is because as social movements develop, multiple sources of leadership are essential since improvements and movements of complex systems affect the whole and never in parts. Any individual or group, however that presumes to be the leader of the whole or aspires to organize a central coordinating body to impose order on the chaos does not understand the process of self generated chaos itself which is nothing but directional order. Hence self-organizing chaos is integral to the movement building process and essential to its success of the whole of complex systems.

Those who understand the complexity of the self organizing, self sustaining process are creative leaders.

 

CL - stands for Creative Leadership.

CL - The role of Creativity & Design

Many people take creativity and design to mean making things from 'spoons to cities' as the famous adage goes.

Sure it is. But there is something vital, which we generally tend to overlook.

I quote from Ralph Caplan's book, 'By Design: Why There are no Locks in the Bathroom'.

"...design at its best is the process of making things right. That is designers, at their best, create things and places that work. But things often do not work. And making things right is not just a generative but a corrective process - a way of righting things of straigtening them out and holding them together coherently."

In other words, it is a continual effort to correct problems or 'solve them' as they crop up, which they, for some strange reasons, come up every minute.

That is what the term Design Thinking is all about. It can be applied to 'right' anything we do as human beings.

Though the creative ability to 'right things' lies in every one of us we often don't get to see it being applied to make things 'right'.

Why is that?

 

 

CL - acronym that stands for Creative Leadership

CL -- The Sage Entrepreneurs - Part 2

Now we shift focus to another pioneering, self sacrificing Entrepreneur Son of Mother India – Shri Ghanshyamdasji Birla (G.D.Birla).  He was born in Pilani and at the tender age of five he witnessed severe famine and whole families starving and bones of animals being picked clean in the desert.  His grandfather had started the family business of broking and trading in the then Bombay (now called Mumbai).  Sri Shivnarain Birla has also built a temple, a well for the use of all the villages and family Haveli at Pilani.

G.D.Birla’s early schooling was at Pilani and later he went to a city school in Calcutta.  The city slickers made fun of a rustic “bumpkin” for the village and the young boy preferred to roam the city streets to being teased and tormented at school.  The streets obviously were an educational forum of practical action for him for he developed into a keen sharp broker with strong nerves and skillful foresight.

He came under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi at the age of 19.  G.D.Birla’s life went forward on may traders – 1) Family life 2) Industrial 3) Political-Emotional-Spiritual 4) Philanthropic and Charitable.

1)     Family life at the age of 14 he married Smt. Durga Devi she bore him a son Laxminiwas (L.N.Birla) and died when he was 19.  He again married at the age of 19 to Smt. Maha Devi.  But after a number of children she too contracted tuberculosis and expired so he was a widower at 32.  His political mentor Mahatma Gandhi advised him to remain celibate and devote the rest of his life to the country and he followed the advice.

2)     INDUSTRIAL CAREER : Ghanshyamdasji had inherited the sharp business acumen of his grandfather.  He purchased a lot of jute in his younger days and held to make a huge profit by dint of economic foresight.  During the First World War his father and he made around Rs. 80 lakhs a princely sum in those days (if you adjust for inflation).  He advised his father to set up a jute mill.  But the venerable old trader cautious and conservative by nature refused to embark on a journey into uncharted territory.  But G.D. was determined.  His determination was sharpened by insults and jibes to Indians by the European Businessmen !  Once he was not allowed to board a life because he was a non European !  Also the officer who used to sell him jute called him a “black native.”  His ears burned with outraged nationalistic pride and shame.  He secretly bought a small piece of land from a zamindar and appointed a trusted aide J.P. Mandelia to look after operations.  The British Imperial Bank refused G.D. any loan so he issued public shares and his shares were oversubscribed.  The Scottish supervisor of the Mill refused to teach Mandelia the intricacies of jute processing so G.D. and Mandelia would watch him secretly and observe his action.  They also scoured the bookshops of Kolkata and Mumbai.  Mandelia found one second-hand book on jute Technology which they pored over and made themselves knowledgeable regarding the technology.  The British controlled Jute Mill Owners association refused G.D. entry.  This made G.D. sure that the British were scared of Indians and they knew if Indians broke free of their Economic Domination their Political Domination too would be strangled and eliminated so he fought them tooth and nail and set up more industries.  By the time G.D. died he had set up Hindalco, Gwalior Rayon, Kesoram, United Commercial Bank and many other Industries.  India too won freedom on 15^th August, 1947.

3)     Political – Emotional – Spiritual views Politically before coming under the spell of the Mahatma, G.D. was a friend of the revolutionaries and even hid some guns in his office, was raided and went underground.  But from the age of 19 onwards he was a devotee of Mohandas Gandhi.  When the boys of Kolkata opened the horses from the carriage and pulled Mahatma’s carriage themselves G.D. was one of them.  He may not have agreed with the theory of cottage industry but in obedience to Gandhian philosophy he practiced the Charkha daily.  Mahatma Gandhi pressed upon his consciousness the concept of trusteeship and the disciple responded sincerely.  Under the urging of Gandhiji G.D. became the President of the Harijan Upliftment Committee.  When C.V.Raman needed some money for experiments G.D. immediately sent him the required funds.  When he came to know that the Poet Rabindranath Tagore required around Rs.60,000/- for Shantiniketan, Vishwa Bharati University he anonymously sent a draft for the amount.  G.D. Birla’s philanthropic projects are numerous – Birla’s Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, BITS Mesra, the Laxmi Narayan Temple, New Delhi, Birla Science Museum-Kolkata, Birla Planetorium-Kolkata, B.M.Birla Hospital, Bombay Hospital – the list is too numerous to quote !  He also donated money to the Aligarh Muslim University.  There is a special Saraswati Temple in Pilani covered with statuettes of famous scholars and scientists.  At his mentor’s behest he started “The Hindustan Times” and English daily newspaper to counter the vicious, malicious propaganda that was put out by the British owned English Anti-Indian Independence newspapers – that paper is still flourishing today !

4)     A little known incident in G.D.Birla’s life is that the British Bulldog Sir Winston Churchill, at that time out of Political Power, invited G.D.Birla to his country home in England.  Filled with trepidation G.D. agreed to visit.  To his utter surprise, the staunch opponent of Indian Independence was a most hospitable host to the staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi !  Needless to say both men probed each other’s minds to gather vital intelligence helpful to their opposing causes ! Mahatma Gandhi tragically was shot dead at Birla House while leading a prayer meeting.  He used to say at Birla House whenever in Delhi.

5)     If anybody is interested in reading about there 2 stalwarts I would recommend Amar Chitra Katha’s “Jamshedji Tata” and “Ghanshyamdas Birla”.  I have relied totally on there 2 publications for my factoids and pictures.  Thank you ACK, thank you Uncle Pai for such depth of research and infotainment !!

6)     In my analysis and study of these pioneering, entrepreneurial souls.  I stumbled upon one bright shining jewel of a fact – these two patriots had an overwhelming burning desire to serve the Motherland and that desire sharpened their Entrepreneurial skills to Excellence in the World of Business, Industry and Commerce ! Nisarga datta Maharaj has said “if you have a vast, deep and noble ambition to serve the world, the people, the country the Universe itself will help you – It will go out of its way to help you !” But the ambition should be noble and vast !

No IPO, NO Angel Investors, No Entrepreneurship Incubator can substitute for Vast and Noble Ambition.  Spectacular short-term burn outs like Enron or Satyam can never challenge an Arvind Eye Hospital, a Bharat Sevashram, a Wipro or an Infosys because when a mere Entrepreneur becomes an Ardha Sanyassin (sage) Entrepreneur like Jamshedji or G.D.Birla he or she becomes Unstoppable, Towering Dynamos for the Power of Good in the World !!! Here I would like to caution that smart Buzzwords may sound phonetically attractive but are actually useless in the Real World.  For instance in the environs of 5-Star Air Conditioned” comfort, a Seminar Speaker may very cleverly say “Bill Gates entered the Gates of the World Economy by selling Electronic Windows !”

But by repeating the saying a 1000 times one will not create even a mini-Microsoft !

Cleverness and Smartness can never substitute Hard Work, Self Sacrifice and a Vast, Noble Ambition !

I would like to close with a saying by Swami Vivekananda, “No Noble and Great Activity was ever accomplished by mere Cleverness !”

Jamshedji and Ghanshyamji would have heartily agreed on this.

 

This is the concluding portion of the two part series. Part 1 was published on 15th August on this blog site.

Ashesh Ghosh, FCA, CEO of RollPack Pvt. Ltd. is the author of this story. He lives in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, with his wife and their son and daughter.

CL - stands for Creative Leadership

CL -- The Sage Entrepreneurs - Part 1

A ship “The Empress of India” set sail from the then Yokohama harbour to Vancouver, Canada in 1893.

On the upper deck two Indian met during their morning and evening walks and became fast friends.  One was a young unknown monk and the other was a rich Parsi trader from Bombay.  The monk and the Parsi businessman agreed starting some industry, not in mere cotton or textile but in the core sector e.g. Cement or Steel or Chemicals would help India progress from the coils of Foreign Domination !

The monk told the would-be industrialist there were 2 aspects to industry- the manufacturing aspect and the knowledge science and to run the Steel furnaces, plant and mill.  An institute had to be built for imparting knowledge in Science and Technology to Indians as the British were eager to teach Literature and Arts but not science to Indians !  Both also felt if a country has to progress the poor people can only be uplifted vide indigenous Industry and not Foreign Charity or the imaginary Benevolence of Colonial Masters !!!

The two men were Jamshedji Tata and Swami Vivekananda !!! Jamshedji was visiting the Chicago World Fair and Swamiji continued onwards to his historic address at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago but the burning words of the visionary monk left an indelible impression on his listener’s mind !

Jamshedji Tata set up India’s first Steel Plant in Jamshedpur, a hydro electric power plant at Khandala near Mumbai and the Indian Institute of Science of Bangalore.  In 1898 five years later Jamshedji requested Swamiji to head his dream “Monastery of science where in a spirit of asceticism students would worship Science !”

Reluctalantly Swami Vivekanand had to turn down the offer as he was then pre-occupied with the Ramakrishna Mission and Math Organisation.  The first Indian Director of the Indian Institute of Science was the Nobel Laureate Dr. C.V. Raman !

“Imbued with an intensely patriotic and enlightened spirit, Jamshedji started India’s first Provident Fund Scheme, 8 hours working day, planned township for workmen including hospitals and schools !!

When Jamshedji was refused entry to a hotel in Bombay as he was a non European, he built the Taj Hotel in Apollo Bunder opposite the Gateway of India.  His sense of patriotic Indian ness had been outraged at the incident but  in his magnanimity he allowed Europeans entry to his Hotel ! When it opened it was the best in Asia ! In his search for excellence Jamshedji imported pipelines from Germany, water wheels from Switzerland, Generators from America, Electrical machinery from Dusseldorf, Chandeliers from Berlin, cast iron pillars from Paris etc.

When he wanted to start the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, the British Viceroy Curzon opposed it tooth and nail saying “How can Indians learn Science and Technology and where will you find students ?”

Contrast Curzon’s sayings with US President Obama’s constant exhortations to American Children “Indian students are very good in Maths and Science – Americans should study hard and catch up with the Indians !”

Curzon’s racial arrogance and White European supremacism only spurred Jamshedji onto greater determination !”

Jamshedji duputed Prof. Burjor Padishah to tour all the great Universities of Europe and USA and suggest a model for the Indian Institute of Science.  Prof. Burjor recommended the John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA.

Nobel Laureate Sir William Ramsay, the inventor of neon, visited India at Mr. Tata’s invitation and recommended Bangalore as our ideal location vis-à-vis Mysore and Mumbai.  Mr. Tata said this will be a national monument & never tried to glorify his own name !

When the British Chairman of Indian Railways heard about Tata Steel he said “If Mr. Tata produces steel, I will eat up every pound of it !”

Despite such condescending attitudes and even Vice regal opposition Jamshedji’s dream projects – Tata Steel, Taj Hotel, Tata Power and Indian Institute of Science stand as magnificent monuments to his sagacity, planning, execution and team-building.

 This excellent Zoarastrian son of Mother India really lived up to the tenets of Humata, Hubhakta and H’varsta – Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Action !!!

 

Part 2 would be published on 22nd August on this blog site.

Ashesh Ghosh, FCA, CEO of RollPack Pvt. Ltd. is the author of this story. The next part would be published on 22nd August 2011. He lives in Mumbai, the commercial capital of India, with his wife and their son and daughter.

CL - stands for Creative Leadership

 

CL - Act Local: Feel Global!

Times have significantly changed.

A time has come when 'All thinking worthy of the name must now be ecological." -- Lewis Mumford.

We are now clear that the ecological balance of our planet is at peril and our modern way of living is no longer sustainable.

What might we do then?

a) Do something on the political front. Any positive result is very unlikely.

b) Do something to lift financially poor nations and societies out of poverty. Again positive results are very unlikely.

c) Stop wars. Not a likely thing to happen in near future.

d) Bring Nations under environmental agreement. Looks gloomy at its best!

e) Stop manufacturing plants coming up in China and India. Downright foolish idea

f) Use renewable energy. Not viable till date. As of now the cost is prohibitive.

g) Use public transport and cut down on car production. Good idea but can't be implemented. But this might hurt public and social vanity. And it might hurt companies too.

h) Change currency into something intangible. This idea is doing its rounds for quite sometime. But can envision how this is possible.

i) Reduce or check population growth. Not possible unless poverty is eradicated like small pox.

j) Do something at an individual or family level -- use less water to flush and bathe, recycle garbage, buy cars with better mileage, etc... Good idea to initiate some movement in this direction.

k) Campaign against anything obnoxious -- cutting of trees, toxic wastes in agricultural fields, killing of animals, growing crops not native to a particular place. Good idea again. But it needs a lot of leadership skills for people to voluntarily participate. Most of such campaigns have fizzled out unless backed by strong politicians (usually fighting for their personal causes) or backed by large and big corporations having vested interests who are sometimes economically more powerful than many nations. Hence unlikely! Or a Vinoba Bhave type of campaign that happens once in a century. Not very useful either. Or keep blaming others. That is a waste of time and effort since none would listen.

l) Feel what each of us can contribute from our own specific role in society constantly reminding ourselves of the question, "Within the given situation what may I do better to address the ecological issues of our times?"

This to me appears plausible under the given circumstances. It is simple indeed to ask, 'What can I do to promote both ecological balance and live in a better way as a businessman, architect, teacher, professor, engineer, worker, taxi-driver, bus-driver, designer, doctor, nurse, lawyer, prostitute, musician, student, husband, housewife, traffic policeman, employee, manager, politician or a farmer or an economist?

As soon as we ask this question or remind ourselves of it a whole new world opens up with zillion possibilities. That for me is creative leadership.

Let us take an example to examine how this might work.

I love this DIY site: Dornob. Let's see how they are answering the great question.

1. They use container pallets to design their furniture. It is basically a waste product after materials arrive at users' doors. Idea - recycling materials!

2. The pallets are then configured in various ways to create different types of furniture (modular in concept). That is you can take them off and choose to build something else or simply stack them away for some future use. Reusable!

3. The end products are not the most minimalist or fashionable works, but they show the marks of their origins and are certainly eye-catching in a raw and honest way. A good design approach without using additional materials!

4. The tables, chairs and lamps themselves are both playful and pragmatic. They use existing colors as accents rather than relying on additional paints or stains. Some use blocks while other employ slats, depending on the need. Straight lines and right angles make them look minimalist at a glance, but really just functional and easy to build on closer inspection.

5. The best part, though, is that you cannot buy their designs – these are not for sale. What is for sale, instead, are a series of instruction manuals, photo books and other related merchandise. This is not only a clever way to tap into a market of do-it-yourself customers who would rather be giving plans than a finished product, but also more sustainable (and perhaps less ironic) than simply boxing and shipping reconstituted containers that you could just as easily get locally. I love this idea!! It benefits ecology. It benefits business. It benefits local factories & warehouses. It benefits users who gets more for less.

What can I do to promote both ecological balance and live in a better way? This is the lead question one might embrace to restore  ecological balance in someway thereby prolong our existence on planet Earth and also live in a better way.

What a powerful story that would prove to be? Feel from the heart to reach and connect 6.4 millon hearts!

It is time for this Creative Leadership to take shape and form starting with every individual as a leader operating in his/her own sphere of activity/work --  Act Local. Feel Global -- What might I do to ... ?

 

CL stands for Creative Leadership.

Creative Leadership -- Question the Unquestionable

In the video that follows, Dr. R.A. Mashelkar shares with us three great stories of Creative Leadership for creating ultra low cost products.

He also shares the philosophy of designing and creating such great products.

It starts with a clear Intention.

The next step is to Question the Unquestionable.

And then it is all about combing Innovation + Compassion + Passion.

This appears to be the 3 step magic formula behind all the innovative products that have motivated the house of Tatas - one of the most respected business houses of India.

There is of course a great surprise that comes up towards the end of the video clip. I leave it to you to find it out -- a novel perspective on teamwork and how it motivated the life of Dr. Mashelkar.

Moksha -- The Path of the Liberated Leader

As we discussed earlier, the four fundamental pillars of Indian philosophy are – Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.

In our previous posts we dealt with the three pillars of Dharma, Artha and Kama. In this post we would briefly dwell upon the final pillar Moksha, which in short means enlightenment or liberation.

For many that might mean ‘death’ itself. They think with death we are liberated from all pains and sufferings we have had to endure in life.

To others it might mean getting detached from the worldly life and live the life of a hermit or a recluse who is no longer interested in the worldly ways or disinterested in life.

Still for others it might mean taking up the rigorous path of being enlightened in a special way.

Moksha has nothing to do with all that. It has nothing to do with religion or religious practices. It is simply a way of thinking and living.

And what might that mean?

It means integrating science and spirituality. It stresses on the use of scientific or objective knowledge to solve our problems in our lives without being detached from the spiritual knowledge that gives rise to wisdom based on which all actions to solve problems are taken. It is interesting to note the context in which the word spiritual is used here (Ref 1).

The thinking is based on the firm understanding that all actions must be tested and founded on wisdom. Or wisdom has to be extracted from the actions taken in our life. In other words Action and Wisdom have to go together as these are not separable.

The symbol that is widely used and understood in India is shown by depicting Krishna (signifying wisdom) and Arjuna (signifying action) together. And they together win many well known and famous battles and wars.

That would mean that action without wisdom is meaningless and harmful. Similarly, wisdom without action is equally meaningless and harmful.  

How would one develop such a combination of Wisdom based Action or Action based Wisdom?

Learning from ‘self experience’ is the suggested way of going forward on this path of Moksha. But at the same time we are forewarned not to blindly follow anyone who gives advice or teaches us without proper reasoning.  

The suggested path follows the ¼ or 25% rule (made up of four equal divisions)

¼ of such knowledge might be gained from a teacher or guru (a person who helps remove the darkness).

¼ by analyzing and understanding self

¼ by discussing with others (having dialogs that change the way we think)

The last ¼ of the path might only be traveled by living out wisdom and action in real life through constant practice and by constantly modifying and upgrading existing understanding and knowledge. This is also a test. A person who is neither changing his or her understanding or actions based on reality of an experience is not really living the path. Therefore, this last 25% appears to be the most important part in the whole game.  

Such a person can surely be said as a leader of self who sets himself/herself up as an example for others to follow just as the Buddha and other Indian leaders did for thousands of years.

Interestingly, what are common between the four pillars of Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are Wisdom and Action.

This path of Action based on Wisdom and Wisdom based on Action is open to all. This is the true meaning of Moksha or the path of enlightened leadership.

Ref:

1. Chapter 40 of Yayurveda of the Upanisads

2. Intention

3. Dharma and Creative Leadership

4. Artha

5. Kama

The other stories that illustrate this point of view are:

1. Truth becomes a lie

2. Happiness where is it?

3. Even the Wisest Don't Know

4. Carrying a woman

 

Nanak's Blessings -- Changing Perspective in Leadership Thinking

Guru Nanak was a great spiritual master and leader of India.

One day he along with his disciple, Mardana, visited a village. They were greeted with great respect and well taken care of during their stay.

People came to the master to learn from his the secrets of living successfully even though they knew a lot about it.

Nanak and Mardana were very pleased with the gentle nature and exemplary behavior of the people of that village.

When the master and his disciple left the village, Mardana asked his master, ‘What good wishes you would have for these villagers?’

Nanak said, ‘I wish that this village is completed destroyed and ruined so that none can live here anymore.’

Mardana was shocked into disbelief by what he heard. But he did not question his master. They kept traveling.

After a few days they came to another village. Here their experience was completely different. The people were hostile. They hurled abuses at them. Some even threw stones at them. None offered them food or a place to rest. They refused to even offer them water to drink.

The master and the disciple somehow spent the night in that village under a tree and by day break they were on their way out of the village.

While they left the village, Mardana asked the master, ‘Master, what curse would you like to cast upon such heartless villagers?’

Nanak softly replied, ‘Did you ask me to cast a curse on these villagers? I would not do that at all. I in fact would bless them that their village grows more prosperous and the villagers lead a better standard of life and have more food to live on.’

By this time Mardana have had enough. He simply could not understand his Master’s strange ways of thinking and could not figure out why his Master cursed the villagers who were so kind and courteous to them and blessed the villagers who were out to almost kill them.

But he knew that his master was a very unusual leader of men. So after some time, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, he asked Nanak, ‘Master, I don’t understand. Why did you bless the people who were so unkind to us and curse the people who were so good and nice to us?’

‘It is simple’, replied Nanak. ‘The villagers who were kind to us were exceptional men and women. I haven’t seen such a group of people anywhere so far. So in a way I did curse them by wishing that their village be destroyed forever so that these good people are scattered and are forced to settle in other lands. This would brighten up the lives of others since they can only enlighten them with their way of thinking and living. On the other hand, I blessed the notorious villagers to be more prosperous so that such people are never forced to leave their place to live in other villages. For if they do that they would contaminate the minds of others forcing them to follow their evil ways in thought, words and actions. It would then harm the world so much that it would be difficult to restore.’   

Personal Mastery & Leadership

The root of the word Master comes from the Sanskrit word ‘Maha’, which means a person who has put in effort and time to master the mind.

However, to master something does not mean to control something as it might be generally understood. It specifically means winning over oneself.

Hence hermits, sages and gurus in India are known as Maharaja – a kind who has won over himself.

I would like to illustrate this by a story of an encounter between Alexander the Great and an Indian hermit, when Alexander came to India.

One day he chanced upon a hermit sitting by the river bank of the Indus sitting deep in meditation. He was on his way to a meeting with his army generals to discuss war strategies with them. The meeting point was a few miles from where he came across the meditating hermit. After the meeting which was over in a couple of hours on his way back Alexander saw the hermit was still sitting there silently in meditation.

Seeing this Alexander was not only curious but also very vexed. He was curious to know what this man was doing. And he was vexed because he thought how any man can waste his time like this doing nothing.

Unable to overcome his curiosity Alexander approached the hermit and sort of woke him up by force. The hermit opened his eyes and smiled at Alexander.

Alexander asked him, ‘What are you doing? Don’t you have anything better to do rather than sit idle for so long and waste time?’

‘What might have been a better task than what I am doing?’ the hermit politely replied to the great emperor.

Alexander laughed and mockingly retorted, ‘You could do something like I am doing.’

‘What are you doing Sir’, the hermit asked.

‘Well I am conquering lands and increasing my empire and building wealth for my state and my people. After I conquer your country I would be the unchallenged master of the world. What might be better than that?’ replied the great emperor.

On hearing this, the hermit smiled and said, ‘In that case, Sir, I am doing something way better than that. I am trying to master myself by winning over my mind, which I would do soon. That I believe is much more difficult and important than winning the world with all its riches.’

Moral

1. This story contains the cultural seed that made Indians what they are – a tolerant people who value inner wisdom over outer achievement. That is the reason the great Indian epic Mahabharata (where Bharata denotes the original name of India) represents the tale of greatness of India and not the great epic of India.

2. Personal Mastery would mean exactly the same. It starts with gaining wisdom from whatever field of work one might be engaged in. Wisdom and Action are related. One can't gain wisdom from thin air. It can only come from the numerous experiences one encounters in life and from his/her own realization of the inherent truth in every experience. 

3. Without Personal Mastery no leader is worth his or her name. One who can’t win over himself or herself can’t hope to win over others and expect people to follow them as examples rather than getting something from them in return for their followership.

Artha - The Means to Meaningful Creative Leadership

In my last blog post I wrote about the meaning of 'Dharma'. In Indian philosophy, for thousands of years, people have believed the whole dynamic life cycle of any human being might be aptly described by four significant concepts represented by four words pregnant with layers of meanings. These are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Much latter in the development of Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosophy leaned heavily on this basic framework which it laid out in a more elaborate fashion in the form of 8 fold path. However, these four concepts are deeply interrelated and flow from one other to make a meaningful whole. It puts forward a 'wholistic' view of life that not only offers us deep understanding, meaning and purpose of human living but also provides us a path to live it or a way to live it successfully.

I would now dwell on the meaning and significance of the second concept, i.e. Artha as I understand the concept in its different levels of reality.

Level 1

The most ordinary meaning of it is 'money'. It is obvious that we all need some money to survive, live life with dignity and do some useful work for self and for the society.

Level 2

But there is something deeper than that. Artha means 'resources' or a set of well defined 'resources' that help us to consistently and constantly engage with the perils and hazards in life. What are these? Well, there are five important resources we could possibly ask for in life, which are the following:

1. Knowledge -- of physical phenomena that go around us along with the methods of expressions and teaching others -- in modern day context we can say this as knowledge in arts, science, technology, communication etc...

2. Courage -- a kind of courage that comes from the heart, which is courage to act from the heart. More often than not we are blocked in life for this lack of this specific resource to act from our heart thereby also missing the psyche energy that comes along with it.

3. Wealth -- money and property in the usual sense of the word. But there is also a special significance which I would highlight little later.

4. Wisdom -- note that this is the link to the earlier concept of Dharma, which was nothing but the development of empathy and wisdom. So wisdom provides the basic link between Dharma and Artha indicating that without Dharma there can't be any Artha or the Artha gained and utilized is meaningless.

5. Network -- the strength provided by our group of good friends, well wishers, coaches, teacher and others in society. The strength of the network is also important for purposeful living.Without a reasonable and meaningful social network we are as good as dead. We stop learning and we stop growing.

Further explanation of wealth: -- The consistent symbol of wealth in India is the cow. Hence it is not killed though earliest Vedic literature does mention killing of cows. Hence it is obviously a later day development, say around 4000 BC. Whatever it might be the symbol of 'cow' as understood in context to Artha represents Nature. So it means that Nature can't be killed under any circumstances, whatever it might be. That to my mind was a tremendous leap in human understanding and thinking especially if we consider people thinking of ecology and sustainability 4000 years back. Therefore, it wasn't unusual in India to measure the wealth of a person in terms of cows. That was crafty thought indeed. More the number of cows that would be available more open spaces must be ensured for cows to graze on. Grazing meadows and cows are inseparable. One can't be without the other. In this way both Nature and ecology was preserved. It is no wonder that India still has the highest cow population in the world and along with it enough open spaces for them to feed upon. A beautiful balance has been maintained for over 4000 years without launching a single campaign or educating the public on Sustainability and Ecology and Global Warming etc. ... This is a brilliant stroke of wisdom to my mind. 

Level 3

At the third level, the concept of 'Artha' is meaning. There are two parts to it. While the first focuses on the means by which wealth is earned, the second focuses on the way it is meaningfully spent. There exists till this day a sort of social or peer pressure on these two critical points. Ilegal means of earning wealth is looked down upon in society. Too much wealth, more than what is needed, is also despised. And people are always bothered about the way wealth is spent.

Therefore, it no longer remains a mystery to me as to why the business of 'credit cards' miserably failed in India. People simply refused to spend money without having earned it in the first place. Or in other words don't spend beyond your means. It has done India good. The way the country waded out of crisis during the Asian Crisis and the more recent recession bears testimony to this fact. Self respect or self esteem comes before earning money in illegal ways and spending it wantonly. Perhaps for the same reason the recent campaign in India championed by none other than Bill Gates, his wife Milenda and his fast friend Warren on philanthropy failed since most Indians believe that family wealth is a thing to be passed down generation by generation. No wonder, India retains its top slot as the gold hording nation in the world for the past 2000 years of its history. Every family, according to its capability, converts money into solid gold. I see even very poor families (even under poverty line) engaged in converting their wealth into gold and storing them for hard or harsher times.

Conclusion

So 'Artha' has different layers of meanings which are really significant. At the basic level it means money. At the next higher level it means 'resources' made up of five different elements. And at the third level it is all about meaning.

The way to earn Artha is through Dharma that springs from 'empathy' and 'wisdom'. So, it is not very surprising to hear Mahatma Gandhi saying, 'The customer is the most important visitor to your premises....." This is simply a modification of the age old saying 'Guest is God'.

All empathy and wisdom spring from this intention.

No doubt Artha gained through Dharma is well worth its weight in gold -- both symbolic and factual.

And it does provides the means to lead a meaningful life. It would be foolish indeed to turn away from it. 

In the next post I would deal with the generally controversial issue of Kama, the third concept in this series -- the superficial meaning of which is 'sex'.  

 

 

Dharma & Creative Leadership

In India, the word 'Dharma' occupies a special place. However, the meaning of this word is greatly misunderstood.

Some take it to mean religious beliefs, which it is not. Some take it to mean a 'calling' in life, which it is not. Some take it for integrity, honesty ethical values, which it is not. Some take it to stand for justice, which it is not.

The Sanskrit word, Dharma is all about empathy and wisdom. It is about looking deep into ourselves and winning the raging war that goes on inside every human mind and spirit. It is about new ways to do something in a new situation.

This is central to anything we choose to do in life. It is the starting point of Designing and Creativity. It is the end point of Thinking It is the starting point of Decision making. It is the starting point of Personal Mastery.

All great leaders in our world, now and in the past, have adhered to the path of Dharma to be successful and do good to others. Examples are countless in every field of human activity -- Krishna, Moses, Christ, Mohammad, Buddha, Gandhi, Mandela, King, Tagore, Shakespeare, Kalidas, Mother Teresa, Newton, Einstien, Bohm, Bateson... They were against rituals and established orders. They understood reality and the aspiration of their people well. They were creative. They helped people. Touched their lives and hearts. And moved them and nations or their fields of activities to ever increasing greatness.

How might the golden traits of empathy and wisdom be developed?

It might be developed through critical thinking. It might be developed through practices of problem solving or questioning meaningless rituals. It might be developed through listening to stories and developing imagination. It might be developed through the practice of achieving balance in anything we experience or choose to do.

Generally, it is best to have a bit of all four paths or ways incorporated in our daily lives to have a balanced but accelerated process of self development in empathy and wisdom. 

Without these two fluxes to envelope us we are badly stuck in life. But mastery in these would certainly help us to become Creative Leaders to lead our societies in this new century.

Creative Leadership based on Dharma is not only about the way we think, do, manage and organize our organizations and societies but also how we choose to lead our own lives in the most productive fashion that ensures joy and satisfaction in whatever we do opening the way to enjoy the expanding experience of freedom.