Management Lessons in “ TIRUKKURAL”

Management Lessons in “ TIRUKKURAL"

Preface (முகவுரை)

Tirukkural is a tilmeless Tamil Classic written approximately 2,000 years ago by the great thinker and philosopher - Saint Thiruvalluvar. It consists of 1,330 couplets. Each couplet is called a “Kural” consisting of 4 words in first line and 3 in the second; composed in a poetic grammatical form known as “Kural Venba”.  This body of work, is divided in to 3 major divisions - Virtue, Wealth and Pleasure. They are grouped in to 133 chapters, each with 10 couplets dealing with every facet of life. Over the centuries, readers have often considered the Turukkural as a set of best practices that defines the “Art of Living”. While that perception points to the practical applications of the philosophy this masterpiece espouses, this is also a highly analytical scientific manual that enumerates cause and effect of actions or the lack thereof.

The message conveyed in this great work is universal and timeless. There is no mention about a specific God, a religion or a geographic region or country. The author, Saint Thuruvalluvar did not call attention to him and did not even mention his name in this entire work. This great sage had given counsel to both Kings and commoners alike on the best way to lead life. Among many areas he had covered, it is awe inspiring to note the great extent to which he had dealt with the principles of management, leadership, governance and ethics - concepts that find relevance and applicability in our daily lives today - 2,000 years after this manuscript was originally written. 

I have made an attempt to highlight specific Kurals, or couplets that deal with management principles and best practices that are timely and relevant even after 20 centuries. I want to share the awe, inspiration and the wonder I experienced with regards to the advanced thought process in the highly developed ancient Tamil civilization. I have introduced each Kural as stated in the original body of work in Tamil with transliteration in English followed by meaning in Tamil and English. Where ever I found necessary, I have elaborated with examples of present day achievers. The number indicated in the bracket / parenthesis signifies the serial number in which each Kural appears in The Tirukkural.

The present day CEO, COO, Chairman or Managing Director of a multi-national corporation is often much more powerful than yesteryear kings or emperors. Even in monetary terms, the revenue and earnings of some of large corporations exceed GNP of small nations. In other words, the success or failure of a company has far reaching effects on the society as a whole. The role of government cannot be over emphasized, considering the power they wield on all facet of a common man’s life. Hence, Tirukkural which prescribed and called out good attributes and character traits for a successful king is applicable for present day CEOs. The executive’s action or inaction has far reaching implications on all stake holders in the corporate ecosystem including share holders, financial institutions, employees, suppliers, customers and society at large.

Today’s global economy and the resulting flat world have only hastened the spread of this effect across time zones and national borders. It is more important than ever to direct corporate energies towards the consistent and efficient application of management principles globally. This includes business sub-domains such as ethics, corporate planning, corporate social responsibility, coordination, resource allocation, human resource management, communication, risk mitigation and much much more. There is also a need for the top man or woman to embody and nurture impeccable personal character and conduct. The fact that Thiruvalluvar had conceptualized and had offered succinct best practices that resonate with today’s global challenges and drivers is testament to this most revered body of work’s timelessness. It is equally astounding to understand Thiruvalluvar’s advice on Political Economics particularly in the light of the fact that the birth of modern political economics is as late as 1776 with the publication of ‘ The wealth of Nations’ by Adam Smith.    (Annexure 1)

One striking phenomenon of “Tirukkural” is it’s brevity. Each couplet isn’t very different from today’s electronic integrated circuit chip that packs intelligence equivalent to a million transistors and the capacity to store and process large amounts of data into a very small physical area. Each couplet similarly, conveys a message in a crisp yet sometimes cryptic form and provokes the reader to interpret the teachings, while drawing one’s own ideas and conclusions - which of course, is the hall mark of any great artist. The Tirukkural has been the subject of thousands of scholarly as well as casual books, dissertations and debates - each serving to enrich the universe of ideas.

In conveying the message Thiruvalluvar had adopted two methods. In one, he indicates the positive outcomes one could expect in performing a good act. In another way, he points out the negative effect of certain actions. He adopts the second method, if the repercussions are lethal. When the poet had to covey a very strong message, keeping the need for brevity, he highlights it with a beautiful analogy which turns out to be very powerful.

Jack Welsh, who retired in 2001 after serving for about 20 years as the CEO of the General Electric is often dubbed as the one of the greatest managers of this century and is presently engaged in sharing his knowledge with corporate executives globally. In just the past decade he had met about 250,000 people to impart his life lessons about the corporate world. He developed GE into a multi-product multinational conglomerate with its value shooting to $400 billion at the time when he left the company. He had written two books- “Straight from the gut” and “Winning”. ‘Winning’ in particular has received widespread acclaim including from the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. In that book, Welch prescribed major qualities to look around in selection of Individuals. His 4E+ P formula is highly acclaimed to this day. E1 - stands for – inherent energy, E2- energizing others,  E3- Edge (taking decision under crisis) and E4- Execution being most important. P - Stands for passion. Jack Welch insisted on testing prospective candidates for Integrity, Intelligence and Maturity as key selection criteria in addition to other technical or business requirements of the job.

The continued relevance of this 2,000 year old masterpiece to 21st century management principles and business drivers never ceases to amaze me each time I have read these couplets over the past many years.  In shining the light on contemporary management principles ranging from leadership, motivation, anger management, treasury management and much much more, this work is my attempt at shining the light on how powerfully the Tirukkural resonates with the Boardroom & boiler room alike.