BUSINESS SUTRA- an inspiring work- recommend reading
Presented as ‘ A very Indian approach to management’- with a premise as simple as ‘As is belief- so is behaviour, so is business’. Business Sutra is a rich interpretation of Indian mythology and understanding.
Divided into simple chapters. Starts with a detailed section CONNECTING BELIEF TO BUSINESS that lays the foundation to almost all the sections. Then in an a very belief agnostic unbiased approach DECODING WESTERN, CHINESE AND INDIAN BELEIEF leading to the main body of highly descriptive A VERY INDIAN APPROACH TO BUSINESS.
Working within the polarity of intangibles- Belief to logic, trust with doubts, subjective to objective and opinion to data – walking you through seemingly logical examples and interpretations through- Mahabharata, Ramayana, Purans; Devdutt makes a good reading. Though one is advised rest between chapters and sections to really appreciate the thoughts- otherwise it tends to become a bit mixed- or should I say confusingly similar.
While doing this analysis, Devdutt very easily slips into seeing each of the mythological character from differential point of views. In his view- ‘More often than not each character in mythology is seen in isolation. But a mythologist has to look at each one relative to the rest, which helps us create the entire mythic ecosystem, where every element is unique and there are few overlaps, just like the jigsaw puzzle’. He uses this to express the loyalty of Karna, the rebellion of Lakshman, the understatement of Hanuman, the power greed of Droyudhan and then places that in context of the current business providing the business sutras.
And I take his own words at the end of the first chapter ‘As the sages remind us; thoughts exist on shifting sands and flowing water. Ideas presented can always change or be further elaborated, or explained differently by different people in different times and different place faced with different challenges’. ONCE YOU GRASP THIS SIMPLE THOUGHT- PUTTING THE CONFLICT TO REST- ONE THAT WANT YOU TO QUESTION THE THOUGHTS PRESENTED IN THE BOOK- allowing and treating it as one more different approach and interpretation- reading becomes that more easy and you are able to further appreciate the book. BUSINESS IS AFTERALL ALL ABOUT DIFFERENTIAL POINT OF VIEWS.
Many times he questions basic elements in more basic terms. (p65) Professionalism which involves the removal of emotions in the pursuit of task and targets is seen as a virtue. Incredibly, scholars and academicians actually expect corporations designed on dehumanization to be responsible for society!’ (p66) ‘If imagination has the power to make us value profit over people, it also has power to make business growth an outcome of people growth, not regardless of it’.
It is a book you may really find boring and iterative or really interesting. Completely depends on your frame of mind. If you have any doubt on this- Devdutt in a very simple way at the very last page- gives you reasons under ‘How to reject this book’. Maybe you could do well to read the last page first.
Finally what matters and here it resonates with my personal belief. ‘There is nothing right or wrong in this world. There is only cause and consequences. That is why accountability and responsibility matter’
I really like the section where the Mahabharat is used to define people culture and reactions. For just a taste of the way Devdutt takes on to explaining things is captured in a very simple classification of people behaviour.
- YUTHISHTIR- as king, expect others to know the answer
- BHIM, a man of strength, prefers to do rather than think
- ARJUN, as an archer, sees questions as arrows shot at him and deflects them by asking counter questions. He is not interested in the answer.
- NAKHUL., the handsome one, is not capable of thoughts
- SAHADEV is the wise one who never speaks but is constantly thinking and analysing. When asked a question,, he is provoked into thought and comes up with an intelligent answer. If not asked aa question, he stays silent.
I recently even used this insightful way of describing in an internal workshop- for people to define and realise their internal work style. It works and you would realise in different roles, different times you ar a different Pandav- who sometime even be rule breaking Krishna or rule abiding Rama.
After having read few books by him- I really appreciate his knowledge and thinking- and would read any new work by him.
BUSINESS SUTRA- by- DEVDUTT PATTANAIK. ALEPH BOOK COMPANY. PAGE 467 INR 695
