All of us are familiar with
designations like Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief
Technical Officer. But has anyone ever heard of a designation called Chief
Belief Officer (CBO)? Well, there is such a post, and it’s the first of its
kind in the corporate world. Dr Devdutta Patnaik holds this post at Future
Group, one of India’s retail pioneers with multiple retail formats.
A physician-turned-leadership consultant, Dr Patnaik is an author whose works focus largely on mythology and management.
He has written a number of books related to Hindu mythology, including Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology,
The Pregnant King, and Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the
Mahabharata.
When I entered the conference hall of
Le Meridian, Cochin, to attend the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO)
conference, I could hear the cackles of about 250 delegates present there. Since
I knew none from the travel and tour industry, I thought it would be better to
keep a close ear on the key note addresses. That’s when I found a plump person
clad in a maroon silk shirt and smart pair of pants on the dais. To my
astonishment, this gentleman turned out to be the CBO of Future Group, with
whom I had an appointment.
I regretted being late for the session, but there’s nothing more I could do
than curse the city’s heavy traffic for my delay. Dr Patnaik seemed very
radiant and patient enough to answer the questions posed by the audience. Each
answer by him was welcomed with a loud applause and laughter. Later, when I
approached him for an interview, he welcomed me with a sunny smile.
In conversation with Devdutt Patnaik...
I was a
doctor by profession and spent about 15 years in the pharmaceutical industry. I
have worked for Apollo Health Street and Sanofi Aventis. Then, I joined
Ernst&Young as their Business Advisor. Since mythology was always a passion
for me, I used to write articles related to it. In due course, I met Kishore
Biyani of the Future Group, and he motivated me to turn my hobby into a
profession.
Role as a
CBO
CBO is just a designation created to excite people. It has been created
to make people question the role of belief in menacing situations. Modern
management is actually a Western belief, and will such a belief work in India?
My theory is that it will not. The more you try to push Western beliefs in
India, the more troubles you will have to face. Now, look at our judicial
system, political system, and economic model. They are all Western. We are not
adapting to it. We have not understood it well enough in order to adapt to it.
We have not understood India or the West well and what we are doing is some
strange ‘khichdi’ (mixture).
This creates much more trouble than we can imagine because we are rejecting
everything that is Indian. We have to discover who we really are. Rediscover. That’s
the key point.
Mythology and modern management
The real question is how do we define mythology?
It is a collection of stories, symbols, and rituals that communicates a
subjective truth. Every culture has its own myth. This acts as an imperceptible
force that influences decision-making, which is the axiom of modern management.
Hence it is difficult to ignore myths. The only way to understand culture is
through mythology.
Whatever I believe, I communicate to others. What we call
management today is based on the mythology of the West. People don’t realise
it, but it is very obvious to a student of mythology. So, my question is if the
mythology of the West can create management strategies, then why can’t Indian
mythology do the same? It is a different way of looking at the same thing.
Medicine
and mythology
Medicine is all about evidence, and mythology is about faith. That
is the fundamental difference. In medicine, one needs evidence to believe in something,
but when it comes to mythology, it is all about beliefs. Let us take an example
of profit. If you think that profits are good for you, and you need to prove
that, it is medicine. If you don’t care for a proof that profits are good for
you, then it is mythology.
The
connection between relationship and business
How do you manage your home? It is the same way we manage our
society. If you think that you have to manage society differently from home,
then you are wrong. We are being taught that it is different. There is no
difference between managing our family and managing our business. Both have investments
and returns. An individual getting married is expecting something from his/her
spouse. You give something because you expect something in return from your
partner, and if you don’t get anything, you are sad and depressed. A relationship
is not so different from business. In business, you invest money, and in a
relationship, you invest emotions. In Sanskrit, principles are called ‘tatva’. They won’t change. Same is
the case with the principles in business too. The very same principle applies
to day to day life also. In the West, they have made these divisions, of professional
and personal life. According to me, such divisions are artificial.
Favourite mythological character
Lord Ram of the Ramayana. I don’t understand why everybody
finds it great in criticising. Some wonder why our ancestors worshipped him as king.
I couldn’t find an answer for it. Either our ancestors were wrong, or we are
missing a very reflective fact.
About ‘Business Sutra’
As I said
earlier, modern management is based on Western mythology, especially Greek and
biblical mythology. The book ‘Business Sutra’ makes this obvious. It basically
explores the ideas related to wealth generation, wealth management, and people
management through stories found in Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism. We can
learn a lot from these stories, which are being discussed in this book. There
are 145 sutras in the book. We have a notion that business is only about wealth.
It is a partial truth. Business is also about identity and wisdom.
Ten sutras for a happy mind at workplace
· You should know that happiness is a combination of Lakshmi
(material wealth), Saraswati (intellectual wealth), and Durga (emotional
wealth), abbreviated as LSD. If there is no balanced exchange of all three,
then happiness wouldn’t exist.
·
You should understand that beliefs
cannot be measured, but they shape the way we think, the way we behave, and the
way we do business. It is the base of everything.
·
Don’t assume that a decision is
balanced; it is the greatest mistake of modern management. You should know that
all decisions are influenced by the invisible belief systems of an individual.
·
Know that people want you to look at
them: look at the person, not human resources, or people.
- Be
aware of the fact that all things are subjective - what is right in one
situation may not be in another.
- Know
that Lakshmi chases the secure Vishnu while the insecure Indra chases
Lakshmi; wealth follows confidence, confidence does not follow wealth.
- Remember
always that Lakshmi always comes with Alakshmi, the goddess of quarrels -
so when there is wealth and fortune, fights are sure to follow.
- Don’t
forget that humans are 99 per cent animals, fearing scarcity and predators
that they sense in their imagination.
- Very
well remember a small fact that everyone wants to feel significant in an
organisation - systems and processes tend to dehumanise people and take
away their relative significance.
- Know
that people often do not know why they are doing what they doing. This
ignorance leads to confusion, hence unhappiness.
Message
to youth
I don’t believe in messages. Today’s youth have so many things to
worry about. They don’t need one man telling them what to do and what not to
do.
Click: Jose Jacob
Article first appeared in 2013 September issue of Money Indices magazine
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I have come across only three types of well-informed people. The first
category is from villages, including the hands-on Indians, who try new ways to
repair their tractors and invent new ways to repair and reinstall something.
They may not have the perfect book education, but their practical knowledge on
the world is quite awe-inspiring. The second category includes those who have
done an undergraduate course in India and then gone abroad for their higher
studies. The third category is those who have done their education here.
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