Ancient thought & modern management
THE ABILITY to take decisions is the real test of a manager's calibre. After going through the usual preliminary steps of understanding and analysing the issue in question, its nature, its cause as well as its possible ramifications and weighing carefully the various courses of action open to him, the manager eventually reduces the number of options to two or at the most three. Now comes the crucial stage of choosing one of them for implementation. It is here that the Kathopanishad can offer us sound and practical guidelines.
The Kathopanishad is one of the most popular of all Upanishads judging by the number of commentaries written on it and the fact that Lord Krishna himself has quoted extensively from it in the Bhagavad Gita. The mantra relevant for our purpose says, "At every stage in a man's life he is confronted by the necessity to choose between two courses of action. One is sreyas and the other is preyas. Having carefully examined them both from all angles the wise man discriminates between the two and chooses sreyas; the average person on the other hand opts for preyas out of selfishness."
The terms `sreyas' and `preyas' are highly technical and have deep metaphysical import. Simply stated, sreyas is that which seems painful in the beginning but the end result is pleasant. As opposed to this, preyas is pleasant in the beginning but painful in the end. The essential difference between the two is that the pleasure or benefit ensuing from sreyas is permanent while that from preyas is transient. In managerial terms, sreyas may be regarded as the hard option while preyas is the soft option. (Incidentally many of the decisions taken by governments, especially those in an election year, fall into the category of `preyas'; for they are taken with an eye on the vote banks).
Before making his choice, a manager must ask himself the following questions: Will this option be in conformity with the general norms of justice and fair play? Will it be in the interest of the majority of persons in the organisation? Will the benefits flowing from it be long lasting? Will the solution it provides be a permanent one? If the answer to these questions is in the affirmative, the proposed course of action is to be taken as sreyas and is to be preferred. Otherwise it has to be regarded as preyas and rejected.
There may be cases where after following all the steps a manager may still be unable to decide which is sreyas and which is preyas. Faced with such an impasse, he is advised to look for a precedent. The specific guideline offered by the Upanishad is: "Look back to see how your predecessors had acted in a similar situation. Look around to see what action your contemporaries have taken." These precedents can be of help to a manager in taking a decision.
The Taittiriya Upanaishad lays down the qualifications of those who are worthy of being looked up to as precedents. They should be acknowledged masters in their field; should be men of discernment and unimpeachable integrity; and should be known for their objectivity. The Mahabharata too speaks about the value of precedents. In the famous Yaksha Prasna episode, one of the questions put by the Yaksha is `Which is the Path?' What this cryptic query means is — `When unable to decide between the courses of action available to him, which path should a man follow.' Dharmaputra's reply is: `The path that great men of yore had traversed in the past is the Path we should follow.' Here we have a clear reference to precedents and the word `great men' neatly sums up all the qualifications prescribed by the Taittiriya Upanishad.
Occasionally even after going through all these stages a manager may still find that there is very little to choose between the options available to him. Perforce he has to choose one of them and no doubt he will do so. It may or may not be the right choice. This, in managerial terms, is what constitutes a `calculated risk.' Of course it is presumed that he does so in good faith and not with malicious intentions.
In passing we also note that the Kathopanishad offers an excellent definition of the art of living. The art of living is nothing but the art of choosing wisely. If at the end of the day a person looks back and finds that the number of `good' options chosen by him, that is sreyas, predominates his life is a success. If however preyas predominates, it is a failure.
G. GURURAJ
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Open Page
