IT and religion: A subliminal connection!

A scene from the Tamil movie “Thiruvilayadal”, which I struggled to sit through as a kid sticks in my mind even today – high up on Mount Kailash, the great Lord Shiva and his consort Parvati pose a challenge to their two sons, Kartikeya and Ganesh – who would be able to circle the world and come back in the fastest time?

The valiant Kartikeya sets off on his peacock and speeds around the planet but Ganesh simply circles around his parents and says that this is as good as circling the universe.

It is amazing that at a time when the entire IT industry is in search of innovation to overcome the challenges being posed by ever rising costs and customer expectations, these lessons on simplicity and elegance in thought and action can provide so much food for thought to all of us!

An invitation to speak at a seminar a few years ago on “Leadership lessons from the Mahabharata” had made me do significant research on the subtleties that are encapsulated by the various incidents of this great epic: the ability to strike alliances to fight great armies, which is the basic tenet of the success of the Pandavas, the resort to innovation in battle strategies that teases the truth in order to accomplish a larger purpose; the many little subterfuges that Lord Krishna resorts to in the search for a way to vanquish many great warriors and the series of lessons available in the recounting of the Bhagvad Gita are valid for CEOs managers and human resource departments in all IT and BPO firms today, as they seek to counter interesting customer situations and unrealistic expectations of employees and associates on a daily basis.

And in my current research on the various versions of the Ramayana prior to writing a book with two friends on “The Leadership Style of Lord Rama” reveal that the motivation, vision and action of the original “maryada purshottam” Rama can serve as a veritable corporate bible for many of us who are at the helm of an industry in turbulent times.

The IT industry is the most interesting melting pot the country has ever seen – of nationalities, cultures, management styles and motivations and as generations of leaders revisit the fundamentals of management in the ever changing global industry, a gem of wisdom that my first co-author – MS Jayaraman of Chennai-based Lumino Strategies, always comes to mind “Did you know that the first practitioner of reengineering was none other than the Hindu God Shiva?

In being a God of Destruction and yet worshipped by millions, he demonstrated that for new successes to emerge, old processes, concepts and ideologies need to be destroyed. Indeed the very name “Shiva” emanates from “Shivam” which is good, and stands testimony to the positive side of destruction.”

So whether it is solutions for innovation, reengineering, management or leadership we seek or whenever we get frustrated at the large number of holidays and traditions that seem to come in the way of productivity in the work place, let us not forget how much our traditions and religion can offer in terms of valuable lessons for the management and conduct of our lives and work in the IT industry.

(Dr. Natarajan is Deputy Chairman and MD of Zensar Technologies Ltd. and the author of six books on Business Process Reengineering, Knowledge Management, Inspired Leadership and Winds of Change in Indian IT)

(Views are personal. CyberMedia News or the CyberMedia Group need not necessarily subscribe to the views -- in full or in part – expressed above)