Why Smart People Should Love The Geeta's Most Famous Verse?

August 10, 2014

I was recently reading an HBR blog entry titled "Why Smart People Struggle With Strategy" by Roger Martin. Maybe I am weird, but I could not help thinking of Bhagavad Geeta verse 2-47,(probably the Geeta's most famous verse; see below for the full text of verse 2-47). The post opens thus:

Strategy is often seen as something really smart people do — those head-of-the-class folks with top-notch academic credentials. But just because these are the folks attracted to strategy doesn't mean they will naturally excel at it.

The problem with smart people is that they are used to seeking and finding "the right answer"; unfortunately, in strategy there is no single right answer to find. Strategy requires making choices about an uncertain future. It is not possible, no matter how much of the ocean you boil, to discover the one right answer. There isn't one. In fact, even after the fact, there is no way to determine that one's strategy choice was "right," because there is no way to judge the relative quality of any path against all the paths not actually chosen. There are no double-blind experiments in strategy.

What upsets normally smart people about the Bhagavad Geeta is Śrī Kṛṣṇa's repeated insistence to drop all anxiety and attachment for the fruit of one's action. Smart people find it counter-intuitive. Their logic goes thus:

I want a certain outcome 
--> My LOGIC tells me that there is an IDEAL SET of actions
--> I EXECUTE the plan of action, let us assume, perfectly
--> Ergo, It is ABSOLUTELY LOGICAL to expect THE result that I worked for!

Yet Śrī Kṛṣṇa has the audacity to state "do not let the fruit-of-action be your motive"! (maa karmaphala-hetur-bhuuH मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भू:). In fact, when we reflect with an open mind, we see how incredibly liberating this teaching is. Just follow the logic here:

1. At every moment, I am faced with the choice to act. Act I must, that option goes away only when I die. 
   
2. With the best resources and brains at my disposal, the unpredictability of people, time, governments and markets means that I can never be certain my action will produce the perfect outcome that I seek or that my investors hanker after
3. So why not drop the anxiety for the perfect ouctome and be ready for whatever reality brings? What could be more logical?
4. In fact, the extent of my anxiety, can seriously limit my ability to respond intelligently, no matter what the outcome. This freedom from anxiety frees me to stay focused on my vision as well as my moral and ethical imperatives

Now go back and read Roger Martin's blog. He goes on to say that the great strategist is marked by "flexibility, imagination, and resilience." Further reflection shows how these qualities follow from the verse:

• Flexibility: A flexible leader's vision rises above the possibilities of a "single right answer" that Roger Martin warns against. The leader is prepared for the unpredictable and meet head-on challenges posed by competitors or regulators.
  
  
• Imagination: This comes from an acceptance that there are many path ways to success; when I realize that there is a dead-end ahead, I am intelligent enough to retrace and find a different path.
  
  
• Resilience: The resilient leader is ready for the long-haul and is not fazed by fickle swings in analyst reactions or stock price changes. Recall the innumerable start-ups that failed during the internet boom whose founders were left wondering why the venture capitalists lost interest.
  

This is the promise of Geeta 2-47, even in the material world of shareholders and regulators. The promise is greater for one who is motivated by higher goals. Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post Starting with this post, I am experimenting with posting the full verse and translation at the end rather than have it interrupt the thought flow. Let me know if you think it works by posting in the comments section. कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन | 
मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ||२-४७||
karmaṇyevādhikāraste mā phaleṣu kadācana. 
mā karmaphalaheturbhūrmā te saṅgo.astvakarmaṇi ..2-47.. 
Your right is to work alone, but never to its fruits; let not the fruit-of-action be your motive, nor let your attachment be to inaction.