Sukhasya moolam dharmah, dharmasya mulam arthah

Here are some sutras for executives in Canakya on Management, by Ashok R. Garde

"A sutra is a short, pithy statement or an aphorism about a concept; it is easy to memorise, and to recall whenever required in practice,"

Almost half of the over 450 sutras of Canakya (or Chanakya a.k.a. Kautilya and Visugupta) are on `the principles of management' appropriate for rulers and administrators; and the rest are for the common man.
Though the western schools have compared Canakya to Machiavelli, the 16th century Italian statesman-advisor to kings, who is "well-known for advocating unscrupulous methods to retain/gain power," none of Canakya's sutras indicate "any crooked or unethical advice," points out Garde.

"Sukhasya moolam dharmah," means `basis of happiness is ethics'

"Ethical behaviour is universal, while moral behaviour is often defined by the particular culture of the society."

"Dharmasya mulam arthah," meaning that the basis of ethics is resources. "Even the crooked amongst the Indian traders know that subha (good/auspicious) comes first, and labha (gain/profit) comes afterwards,"

`Not having a chief is preferable to having a chief without humility/morality,' counsels a diktat.

"Keep friendship and consultation separate," is another practical advice. "Do not confide with a friend about your plans simply because he is a friend,"

"Make him a minister who is learned and who has passed the integrity tests," states Canakya, and one wished the suggestion were followed in government.

An important management lesson is that for the work-blind, policy/strategy is the lantern. "When in doubt about whether to take one action or the other, or when quite foggy about what to do next, the policy guidelines help the manager to decide wisely,"

On laziness, Canakya says that the lazy one does not deploy employees. "A lazy person lets things happen to him, or for him."

Four elements that define management excellence are:

1. "gaining possession of non-possessed;
2. protecting that which is gained;
3. making the protected grow;
4. and deployment of employees."

Simple tip on working reads thus:

`Upayapurvam na duskaram syat,' meaning `attended with right means any work does not become difficult to do'.

Also, avoid `antara', that is; `no procrastination ought to be done between works'. When you fail to act and allow too much time to lapse, it can cause the work to perish!

`A-prayatnat karya-vipattih bhavati,' is a straightforward message that `lack of effort turns into difficulties in work'.

And the golden rule, that today's management gurus would also vouch for, is:

"When the number of tasks are many, priority should be given to that work which is most fruitful."

Priority read!

Source: Business Line dated 9th January 2006