From Preface ...

Winston Churchill once said, “The further backward you look, the further forward you can see.” Churchill’s words reflect the underlying philosophy of this book. Karmic, Inc. introduces timeless wisdom from Eastern philosophy that can be used by modern managers to motivate workers and invigorate organizations in the age of information and knowledge. We can derive countless essential lessons from Eastern philosophy, and this book explains four of them, described herein as the four contracts of meaningful work.

Modern management has evolved over the last several decades mostly based on problems faced in the industrial age. Largely influenced by the need to make machines and factories efficient and productive, the ensuing solutions gave little emphasis to human capital. Although modern managers regard human capital as an asset, their regard is only rhetorical in most cases. On the financial statements, human capital ends up as an expense.

We have arrived in the information age with many management scholars and practitioners acknowledging that the real pulse of an organization comes from its workers and that the financial statements are only a reflection of that pulse. The problem is that we have arrived here with no effective tools or management techniques to inspire and motivate workers in an organization. Motivational speeches, bonuses, other remuneration, and managerial charisma may work some times, but not all managers and organizations have easy access to or the ability to exercise such tools and techniques.

The age of information and knowledge is evolving at a fast face. If we look closely at the rate of technological evolution, it is difficult to fathom the magnitude and complexity of information that organizations will consume and produce in the next five to ten years and beyond. This evolution is silently leading us to what some scholars call “the age of wisdom,” where we—as human beings and organizations—will be far more informed and knowledgeable. In the age of wisdom, our consciousness and judgments will be based on the vast pool of information and knowledge we have been gathering for ages. This will also lead to a paradigm shift in the way we view and operate our lives and work.

In such an age, we will need tools and techniques prescribed by ancient wisdom that emphasize the fundamental principles that govern us as human beings. We can motivate workers, make them creative and competitive, and invigorate organizations only by looking at those fundamental principles, and this is the premise of this book.

You may ask, why use ancient wisdom? According to management guru Peter Senge, both ancient and modern wisdom still come down to wisdom, the most precious commodity in all times of profound change.

To illustrate this ancient wisdom, I tell the story of a fictional organization, which uses four unique contracts—based on Eastern philosophy—as its operating principles. In the second half of the book, I describe each principle in detail.

The feedback I have received from around the world for my previous book, Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership, has revealed a growing interest in the relevance of Eastern philosophy to modern management. I hope that Karmic, Inc. will grow this interest further, especially among management scholars and practitioners—and anyone who works to make a living.