The Business of Attachment
This post is the fifth in a series that looks at how Buddhist Wisdom can be applied to business. To start from the first post go to linkd.in/1qEIoKb .The first truth is that business is difficult and we examined the three broad categories as to why business is difficult in some depth to confirm the accuracy of the first truth. Along with this we discussed the concept of impermanence, company consciousness, skandhas and interdependence.
The second truth is that businesses create difficulties described above by attaching to goals that when achieved are inherently dis-satisfying. The key word in the preceding sentence is the word attaching.
Attachment
A common way a business measures it's success and ensures continuity is by setting goals for growth and profitability for a year. Not only will the business set goals but enact detailed strategic and tactical plans to achieve the goals. A good business will adjust as the year goes by both it's strategy and tactics as need be.
As a result of this work, one of three things will happen;
- The business will be over goal.
- The business will meet goal.
- The business will be under goal.
Evaluating a specific business relative to the second truth is how does the business react to the end result. The point being that the reaction to each of the outcomes should be almost the same IF the company and it's employees put forth their best effort possible to achieve the goal. If goals were not met then then the evaluation without making excuses should focus on the goaling process, the goals that were developed and external circumstances that may have been beyond the business' control.
This concept can be illustrated as follows. Consider a baseball pitcher pitching to a batter.
He stands on the mound. He sees the signal from the catcher. He adjusts his concentration. He adjusts his stance. He adjusts his fingers on the ball. He winds up.
He throws letting the ball release and following through.
At that point...he is done... the pitch will either produce a ball, strike or hit. It is beyond his control. Whatever the result is, he then has to throw another pitch maybe to the same batter, or a different batter, or in a new game.
If the pitcher is highly attached his emotions will run up and down, high and low, hot and cold on each pitch with each batter. This type of pitcher will get exhausted, burn out and make poor decisions because he is letting his desires and emotions rule him. In addition, this pitcher will never be satisfied if he wins a game, he will immediately start thinking about winning the next game. The satisfaction is the winning not the playing. In other words, the achievement of the goal is inherently dis-satisfying. There have been several academic studies that stress lessens cognitive ability as much as twenty-five percent.
On the other hand if there is a pitcher who wants to win and does everything he can but knows...sometimes I throw balls, sometimes strikes and sometimes batters will hit but my job – when I'm on the mound is to simply do my absolute best and enjoy the game. Assume similar levels of skill between the two pitchers. The second pitcher will be viewed as a professional, his team-mates will look to him as a leader, and coaches will constantly try and recruit him to their teams. Whether this pitcher is winning or losing he is enjoying playing the game. The satisfaction is in the playing at your best, the competition with oneself to be more skillful, not the winning in and of itself.
Bringing this back to the business-world and company consciousness. Whether you are a leader or an individual contributor at your company you can contribute to a higher quality of life for your business by staying completely committed to making your business and career successful but also by nurturing a degree of equanimity around goals and outcomes. In a business setting the players with highly volatile emotions do real damage to the cohesiveness, motivations and productivity of the team with a distinct negative impact on profitability.
In my next post I will look at the impact of actions and their consequences within the buddhist wisdom tradition this is known as Karma. Karma has become a common word in the English language. The definition of Karma is somewhat different then how the word is most often used. This post can be found at linkd.in/1B0wVXE.
Caveats, Disclaimers, Past and Future Posts
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This post is the sixth in a series that looks at how Buddhist Wisdom can be applied to business. To start from the first post go to linkd.in/1qEIoKb. I have also created an an index / table of contents for all the posts at http://linkd.in/V7Yugv.
The writings in these posts represent my personal interpretations and understandings of buddhist wisdom as it applies to business. The responsibility for any errors, misconceptions and/or alternative interpretations of traditional buddhist teachings are completely mine and mine alone.
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