Management Lessons from Panchatantra

August, 2020

The story of 'Dharmabuddhi and Papabuddhi Two friends earn some money in a certain village and hide the money under a tree before returning home.

• One of the friends, Papabuddhi, digs up the money alone, and blames the other of stealing it.


• When the matter is escalated to the elders of their village, Dharmabuddhi faces the allegations of being the thief through dubious evidence.


• It is then that Dharmabuddhi swings to action to prove his innocence during this crisis.


• An analysis of this story reveals that when the innocent one among the friends is faced with evidence to prove him guilty, he understands the crisis caused and the importance of immediate damage control before he is prosecuted. The principles of crisis management that get highlighted are:

Risk Management from Panchatantra

The story presented hereby illustrates the circumstances where crisis management becomes important.

Often as the incident is still unfolding, it is required to mitigate the effects of the incident.

This art of decision-making is referred in modern management as Crisis Management or Incident Management.

This often requires to make quick decisions about the future, while the incident has already enforced a certain stress - and since the incident is premature, key pieces of information may still be missing.

Panchatantra notes that such situations should be handled under properly managed emotions, and the key to such decisions is to foresee and plan as much as practically possible - prior to the incident occurs.

However, unforeseen incidents simply happen! Herein, we discuss actions related to managing a crisis, that stands testimony to the priceless, ageless wisdom contained in the 5000-year-old Panchatantra!

Every business exposes itself to a certain amount of threats and uncertainties, or in other words: risk. Risks may arise from multiple events and scenarios, like legal liabilities, project failures, uncertainty in financial markets, even threats by natural causes and deliberate attack from adversaries.

  Through varied strategies, “risk management revolves around identifying, accessing, prioritizing and eventually negating the effects of the risk”

Strategies to manage risks include avoiding the threat, transferring the threat to another party, reducing the threat and even accepting some or all consequences of the threat.

The STORY of 'The Tale Of Two Fishes and a Frog

Three friends, two fishes and a frog, lived merrily in a pond.

One day, they overheard few fishermen as the planned to cast their nets in the pond next morning.

The fishes were confident of their skills to dodge the nets, and even though the frog tried hard to explain the risks, they would not leave.

As the fishermen cast their nets in the pond, all fishes got caught - including the frog's friends. The frog, however, escaped because he left for a well with his family.An analysis of this STORY reveals the following

Essentials of Risk management

• The frog was early to detect the risk and planned his counter-action, which the fishes failed to do.


• He realized the intensity of the risk, and undertook a long-term alternative.


• The frog prioritized his actions, he left with his family in the night, without wasting his time debating with the fishes or trying to save the fishes.


• The fishes were dear friends of the frog. To seek their welfare remained in the frog's list of priority - but was not on a higher priority than saving his own life and that of his family.


• The frog did not end his actions, when the higher priorities (saving himself and his family) were served and returned to check on the fishes, which was a follow-up on his lesser priority actions.


• A risk mitigation plan based on major risk options:


• Formulate a business process that include risk control and containment measures.


• Include periodical re-accessing of risks as a part of the business operations.


• Transfer risks to third-parties, insurance companies for example.


• Avoid areas of risks by shutting down areas that exposes the business to high risk.

Modern management re-iterates the ageless principles of management from the Panchatantra - which remain consistent with modern views and are as relevant as ever!

its rich traditions. Long before the advent of psychologic therapies, motivational gurus, life coaches, finishing schools and agony aunts, Indian tradition has summarised words of wisdom in the literary forms - of Puranas, Upanishads, Vedas and epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.

  The Panchatantra is one such literary work that packages words of wisdom, and coaches human conduct through elegant stories, amplified through its simplicity and yet being technically and scientifically correct.

  Be yourself and more importantly believe in yourself

'The Story of The Blue Jackal' teaches the importance of being oneself. We can fool others about our appearance, qualifications, possessions, knowledge - but that does not work in a long run and eventually we get caught.

• It is important of being confident, when being oneself. Only somebody who does not believe in oneself, retorts to cheap show-offs. It is thus important to believe in oneself, which is what 'The Brahmin And The Crooks' illustrates us. Belief works wonders in our struggle for accomplishments while we lose possessions, position and prestige when we fail to believe in ourselves.
  
  Good and Bad Companionship
  
  Companionship matters not just in the early ages but throughout the life. Through the story of 'The Turtle That Fell Off The Stick', the Panchatantra demonstrates us the importance of being with, and listening to advices of friends who are wise and wish us well. Issues that come of bad companionship is highlighted in 'Right-Mind And Wrong-Mind' and other stories, but the Panchatantra works on real world and redefines "bad company". We may have good and loyal friends, who are well wishers but they may lack the intelligence or knowledge to accompany you to your path to accomplishments. Through the story of 'The King And The Foolish Monkey' we get the lesson that a foolish friend can do more harm than an enemy, and should be done away as bad company.


Modern management's approach to risk management include:

• To detect, identify and characterize threats


• To access the vulnerability of critical assets to the threats


• To determine the likelihood and consequences to specific threats


• To identify ways to deal with specific threats


• Based on strategy, to prioritize risk reduction measures.

its rich traditions. Long before the advent of psychologic therapies, motivational gurus, life coaches, finishing schools and agony aunts, Indian tradition has summarised words of wisdom in the literary forms - of Puranas, Upanishads, Vedas and epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.

  The Panchatantra is one such literary work that packages words of wisdom, and coaches human conduct through elegant stories, amplified through its simplicity and yet being technically and scientifically correct.

Set realistic goals, and surge ahead

Luck does favour the brave - for if one is to brave enough to surge ahead in life, how can something good be accomplished? Through the story of 'The Jackal And The Drum', Panchatantra teaches us that rewards await for those who are brave to surge ahead in the path to accomplishments. But it is important for one to set realistic goals - as the 'The Brahmin's Dream' teaches. Again, the Panchatantra warns of trying something that we do not have the knowledge or expertise to do through the story of 'The Monkey And The Wedge', and illustrates us the precautions to be taken while setting realistic goals

But life is not a path of flowers

When one believes in oneself, sheds bad companionship and sets realistic goals to achieve, success can be achieved. But Panchatantra warns that the path is not of flowers and one will face difficult situations. One should be prepared for evils and not panic, as taught in the story of 'The Monkey And The Crocodile' - that difficult situations require witty solutions, which get clouded when we panic or become emotional. Through the story of 'The Cunning Hare And The Witless Lion', the Panchatantra teaches us to constantly use intelligence and knowledge to overcome all evils that come in our path to success.

  These simple lessons show us an easy path to success.

  A treatise of ancient India, Panchatantra packages the wisdom of ages for people of all classes. Through simple yet enchanting stories, it teaches us important lessons of life that we tend to overlook as we mature. This is despite of the fact that the wisdom it carries enlightens us with the path to success, and lead a life of peace. In this ever dynamic and competitive world, these lessons become more relevant in today's context than ever before!

 Indians are proud of its rich traditions. Long before the advent of psychologic therapies, motivational gurus, life coaches, finishing schools and agony aunts, Indian tradition has summarised words of wisdom in the literary forms - of Puranas, Upanishads, Vedas and epics like Mahabharata and Ramayana.

  The Panchatantra is one such literary work that packages words of wisdom, and coaches human conduct through elegant stories, amplified through its simplicity and yet being technically and scientifically correct.

  Be yourself and more importantly believe in yourself

'The Story Of The Blue Jackal' teaches the importance of being oneself. We can fool others about our appearance, qualifications, possessions, knowledge - but that does not work in a long run and eventually we get caught. It is important of being confident, when being oneself. Only somebody who does not believe in oneself, retorts to cheap show-offs. It is thus important to believe in oneself, which is what 'The Brahmin And The Crooks' illustrates us. Belief works wonders in our struggle for accomplishments while we lose possessions, position and prestige when we fail to believe in ourselves.

  Companionship matters not just in the early ages but throughout the life. Through the story of 'The Turtle That Fell Off The Stick', the Panchatantra demonstrates us the importance of being with, and listening to advices of friends who are wise and wish us well. Issues that come of bad companionship is highlighted in 'Right-Mind And Wrong-Mind' and other stories, but the Panchatantra works on real world and redefines "bad company". We may have good and loyal friends, who are well wishers but they may lack the intelligence or knowledge to accompany you to your path to accomplishments. Through the story of 'The King And The Foolish Monkey' we get the lesson that a foolish friend can do more harm than an enemy, and should be done away as bad company.

 

Dr. Smita Jape
Associate Professor
DR V N BRIMS, Thane

 

Also read : THE POWER OF DECISION MAKING

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