CHAPTER 19

Dharma of the Present Age: With Special Reference to Companies

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

1. See how dharma and the theories that support it offer reasonable explanations for a wide set of phenomenon.
2. See how the better methods of motivation help employs see the larger picture.
3. See that companies play an important role in the overall scheme of dharma in the present world.
4. See that modern dharma is sought to be built around principles of capitalism and democracy.

Spiritual Terms need not to be Put-offs in Rational Analyses

Note that in the attempt to understand leadership there are three important concepts that are brought forward in this book. These are the Common Soul, Yogyathwa and dharma. The three of them constitute a model which seems to explain the innards of leadership with good consistency. But it is evident that all three have spiritual connotations. Despite all attempts by the authors to minimize this reference to religion, there are certain inescapable facts that need to be brought out and the best way is to use these terms that people are already half-familiar with.

And the fact that these known concepts are making an appearance in the arguments should not be surprising. If leadership has something to do with the spiritual nature of man, then exploration of phenomenon in this connection is surely going to bring us to the milestones and signposts left by earlier explorers of the spiritual nature of man. Therefore, the use of spiritual terms is natural—rather they are a great help in furthering the cause of understanding leadership.

In the previous chapter, we looked at how these concepts and ideas have been used by the wise in the past with the hope that it would give leaders hints about how these concepts could possibly be used/applied today. In this chapter, we take up the question of its use in the present day by looking into the following three areas:

1. Relating these concepts to today’s important findings on leadership.
2. Relevance of dharma to present day companies.
3. Relevance of dharma to present day society.

Ultimately, a leader must develop confidence in the fact that these concepts will help him do his work better and he must pick up tips on how he can apply these in his area of work in the present generation.

Dharma Explains a Wide Range of Observations on Leadership

Consider the Hawthorne effect which Elton Mayo worked upon. When the worker found that people were studying his work he worked well. This can easily lead to the conclusion that the worker’s self-worth was stroked and pampered and so he worked better. But there is another possibility. The workers now knew that they were making some contribution to humanity in some way and so they felt good and worked well … This angle to the topic starts with the presumption that man is basically selfless … and that he is truly inspired by the Common Soul. And with all this observations follow logically … If we presume that man is selfish instead and look for explanations within selfishness as the paradigm then no successful explanation for this behaviour emerges (save that the worker is a fool when he gets excited! A little thought will help us eliminate this possibility though.)

Take this other example that is often quoted: it is about a group of factory workers who had very low motivation while doing their repetitive jobs in the process of manufacturing a part that went into the building of a plane … . There was absenteeism, they were prone to making errors and therefore many of the manufactured pieces ended up rejected at quality control … . And then the managers in the company had a brainwave and took the workers on a visit to the airplane factory. The workers saw there how the part which they manufactured made a difference to the building of the plane and they came back enthused. It is said that, statistically speaking, they performed better in all ways and the number of rejects of manufactured parts fell drastically.

In this case too the concept of ‘dharma’ explains why such workers were motivated—because they understood how their little efforts worked out in the huge scheme of things … ultimately in the service of humanity … .

Another example that points out to the same direction is a recent study by Michael Norton, a Harvard business professor, where he discovered what is being called ‘a cool secret to making employees feel like they’ve got more time’. A report in Business Insider says:

‘Since nobody can put more physical hours into a day, managers who want to give their employees a sense that they have free time need to address “psychological time,” says Michael Norton associate professor of business administration for Harvard Business School.

Norton and his colleagues recently published a paper called Giving Time Gives You Time …

In it, they discovered that if employees feel like their time is well spent, they feel like they’ve got more time. They are happier, more productive, more enthusiastic, and more satisfied. Happier employees are less likely to quit. They are also more likely to bring their best, innovative ideas to the company.’

A related experiment consisted of sending a batch of students for an hour long experiment to a lab. After 45 minutes however, they were asked to stop and while half of the batch was sent home the other half were asked to help out junior students of the low income category with editing essays for those fifteen minutes. The result was that those who edited the essays were found more likely to feel that they had more time.

The article then goes on to conclude:

Norton says managers can use this research in a couple of ways.

1. Make employees participate in a company volunteer effort, particularly if they can use part of their workday to do it.
2. Let employees know how their day-to-day tasks are helping others. If they can hear how the employee helped a customer, this will also make them more satisfied with their job.
3. Use fun strategies to encourage team members to help each other. Norton tells of one experiment where salespeople were given $20 bonus money and told they had to spend on another team member. Those teams sold more than other groups that were told to spend the $20 on themselves.

   By giving people the right kind of time, they will give it back to the company in productivity and innovation.

This finding again strengthens the case against the idea of pampering the individual ego (or the basic needs) and leans it towards the idea that there is greater satisfaction and excellence in sharing. If there is focus on the fact that humans are ‘social beings’ and even if that idea is raised to the sublime level of spirituality we arrive at the point that people thrive in doing their ‘dharma’. Provided all work appears to them as such—meaningful to others in society. One can easily explain why when the workers saw their relevance in the larger scheme of the airplane they stopped absenting themselves and improved productivity and quality (all signs of excellence) through the understanding of dharma.

The bigger picture is therefore important: “How does my little work fit into the scheme of things at the level of ‘service to humanity’?” And ‘there is nothing wrong in receiving a salary as it commensurate to workers in particular strata in a company … that pay must be adequate to cover the needs of the person and his family, but it is not the primary thing that drives a man’s life’. Man does not live on bread alone … (Bible)

This is a great attitude to carry, it is an attitude that a leader must inspire in order to create many leaders … For when they realize this they all work at excellence … .

Therefore, it emerges that the best way a company must foster excellence within itself is to make the workers responsible, let them know how they fit into the global scheme of things, make them realize that their contribution to society and to others lives is significant—they must apprise them of their contribution to dharma.

The company too must stand up for it … the brand of that company must represent its great value to society and it is there that the workers in its fold will find their greatest satisfaction … .

Note that by this, we have reached a point where the examples taken in the highest and current, motivation theories link up with a basic application or practice of spirituality. The three examples as mentioned above, (Hawthorne effect, airplane parts, giving time) which were earlier studied as empirical observations that lead to other theories, can be explained now using the basic principles related to ‘dharma’. In a similar manner the altruistic leaning/bent of various other modern theories too are easily explained by the principles related to dharma. And any man of science will testify that a theory that explains a wider range of observations is likely to be more advanced.

Therefore, could we at this point conclude that what truly motivates the worker is his inner nature and that it is represented by the impellers ‘dharma’ and ‘moksha’? … Well not really, because we have not laid down any proof for the matters related to these two impellers at the moment, but by instinct one can tell that they do show great promise as a probable reason—which of course a reader must continue to investigate for himself—for we know that in spirituality, finding proof is the student’s task and it cannot be delivered from outside.

But if one were to go by the great amount of stress the Indian civilization has placed in the concept of ‘dharma’, then one would do well by placing faith in it. The worker indeed works best when he has risen into working for ‘dharma’ and ‘excellence’.

And if, despite a lot of efforts, a student of leadership is not able to grasp the various arguments which the wise offer in respect of the true nature of man and of the ‘supreme self’ he need not lose heart since in the term ‘dharma’ there is a consolation prize of equal significance. Knowledge has to do with ‘how a radio is manufactured’ but even those who learn to ‘use the radio’ can benefit from the most precious of its gifts. He must therefore learn to ‘use’ dharma to good effect and it must begin from him applying it to himself.

All in all, a suzerain must realize that he must promote the values contained in dharma. He must encourage those under him to rise from their individuality and enter excellence. He must inspire them to uphold dharma.

Dharma in the Context of Companies’ Contribution to Society

It is instructive to visit historic sites and take a peep into the lifestyles of the rich and famous people of bygone times. Consider the Mughal kings of Delhi, they ruled a nation about two thirds the size of today’s India; so the ruling class of this empire represented the cream and cherry of society during the sixteenth century (The Taj Mahal is a testimony to their wealth and status).

At Fatehpur Sikri, about 40 km from Agra, the Mughals constructed a fort that was considered to be a kind of summer home from which they operated at convenience. Within its walls one comes across a monument which is said to be the living quarters of one of Akbar’s famous ministers ‘Birbal’. Akbar is considered the most prominent of the Mughals and his minister was by far one of the prominent citizens of the kingdom. It hardly takes a few minutes to scan through the rooms of this monument; the entire area would probably have a floor space of about 1500 or 2000 square feet.

Pausing for a moment at this monument one could indulge in taking guesses about the arrangements in the room … . Artificial illumination, curtains, furniture, quilts and may be a ‘punkah’ (traditional fan) that was manually operated from outside the room … and from there mentally transport oneself to a middle class or upper-middle class family home of today. It would be surprising to note that our middle class today lives in greater material luxury than one of the top ministers of such a vast empire.

The amenities available to the common man now were not present at that time so in fact, today’s middle class has it better! Well, it may only be a summer home for the minister, but even then the farm houses of the people of today’s upper middle class would easily outdo this. Today we have music and entertainment at the push of a button. You even have cool weather in the peak of summer heat when you can afford an AC (and if the supply has not been turned off). In contrast, the Mughal kings had to leave the hot climes and travel hundreds of miles to cool themselves at hill stations.

What is the reason that there is such material ‘prosperity’ today? Why are a great many people enjoying the comforts which even the elite of those times did not have? We owe it to the scientific civilization and the industrial revolution. And within it we owe it to the R&D efforts, trade, competition, companies, workers … Clearly, if the activities that encompass the present ‘economics’ were not there then the great gifts of modern civilization would not have been available …

Knowing this, any person who works in a company must realize that he is a part of this magnificent process that is bettering the lives of humans all over the world. His work therefore is a gift to humanity. He is participating in the progress of human kind. Companies therefore have a definite role in dharma and a worker in it is therefore upholding dharma.

So, that gets us to another interesting question: ‘Why do people work in organizations?’ Definitely for salary, perks, privileges, status … but that is a matter of perspective … Is he also working for other things like upholding ‘dharma’ for instance? Indeed he is … .

A project manager of a company was asked about his managing director … ‘Finally what is this boss of yours doing? Just making money is he not?’ He shook his head and said ‘no … he is struggling to create a good living for those working in his factories and for their dependents.’

Here too it is a matter of perspective but one must take note that this difference in perspective makes a great difference to one’s attitude and bearing. It follows from one of the cardinal principles of mind science—that what you think, you become—if the manager’s boss is actually up to altruism and this is indeed what the manager truly thinks/believes then the manager too experiences the beauty of it. The manager too works with such an altruistic frame of mind … and that in turn makes him work at excellence … indeed both of them, the boss and the project manager of this example, do outstanding work … .

All successful companies do have workers who are thus involved in the process of wealth-making, leading to the wellbeing of a part, or a great bit, of humanity—working for dharma.

This can be taken as ‘hypothesis’ and checked with all successful companies, most—if not all—will be churned by this spirit from within.

Dharma for this Age

All this we have seen exclusively from the perspective of people working in a factory … what about those who work as teachers, soldiers, in other service industries, in government, at private enterprises, in politics, shops … don’t they participate in dharma?

They do; irrespective of how imperfect the ‘dharma’ of today is.

The present dharma is not established by a single intellectual like it was in the case of ‘Manu’ during his age and place … or for that matter ‘Muhammed, the Prophet’ at his time and age …, or even Chanakya who tried to give form to the socio-political-economic structure in his time and age … Instead, the present system has evolved out of the inputs of academics, revolutionaries, suzerains, through treaties at the international level, through definition of human rights, though the work of scientists … It has evolved over the centuries … and as of today the ‘materially successful world’ looks at a combination of democracy, capitalism, social security, MAD dynamics and such other to attain stability in the world. And thanks to alternative thought processes that arose in the form of communism, socialism, indigenization, etc., improvements have been made to the present system.

But even so there is no doubt that the present system is far from perfect. There is currently great disparity in justice, great amount of wretchedness (even amongst the moneyed), atrocities … . The most definitive of all is the fact that the current system is not moving strongly enough towards addressing the issue of the environment … and there is every reason to believe that there is an impending disaster waiting round the corner owing to this … all of this needs to be addressed properly within the parameters of democracy and capitalism. The supreme spirit yearns for a solution, leaders yearn for a solution. May be something perfect will emerge but in the meanwhile, the leader has his role cut out in trying to read what the Common Soul in him wants and push democracy and capitalism towards greater perfection in dharma. The system must celebrate the divinity in man … .

Case Studies

1. The basic principles adopted by Chanakya in Arthashastra in respect of any particular aspect of society can be studied for the manner in which he tried to establish dharma.
2. Take examples used to explain modern advanced theories of motivation. Could you find an explanation for the observations on the basis of the principles of dharma and Yogyathwa?
3. Take cases of turnaround or of outstanding companies, study whether principles of dharma and Yogyathwa were used to achieve excellent results.

Exercises

1. Analyse the ‘American Dream’, discuss how it inculcates a sense of dharma and Yogyathwa in those who believe in it … (1500 words)
2. Review Taylor’s Hawthorne effect using the principles of Yogyathwa and dharma. (in 300 words)
3. Study the transformation achieved by Muhammed the Prophet in Arabia through his efforts. Give examples (50 words for each example) of contents of his work indicating his efforts establishment of dharma, call to Yogyathwa and motivating people to take up dharma. (1000 words)
4. Study an existing company and prepare a 500 word letter to the President of the company explaining how the organization can move closer to dharmic practices.