Saturday, September 29, 2012

Corporate Nirvana

The more I spend time in the corporate world, the more I realise the truth in the ancient Indian belief of "Non-Attachment".  "Non-Attachment" in the corporate world does not mean "non-involvement" or "lack of passion" - on the contrary it means that I acknowledge that:

  1. I do not own my current position - and nothing I do will ever ensure that I can continue in that position as long as I myself like.  So be humble, and avoid indulging in self-aggrandizing behaviour or creating personality cults
  2. there will always be people who are better than I am and who will step into my role or even supercede me, and it makes more sense to encourage this than resist it.  Rat Race - imaginary or real - is the biggest destroyer of harmony
  3. I will always strive to do my best in my role within my physical & mental limits - but there will always be lots of things that I will have absolutely no control over, and in those situations it is best to go with the flow, keep smiling, and leave the rest to God
  4. Often, for quick corporate glory we will be tempted to make "small, and for-this-one-time-only" deviations from our values such as honesty, openness, or what we stand for in terms of principles.  However, the moment you take a "small" deviation you are on the irreversible path to self-destruction and the end of any hope for corporate nirvana
  5. Ultimately it is my choice on what kind of organisational environment I want to be in.  It is a trade-off that I need to make.  If one cannot cope with a certain organizational environment, then don't blame the organisation, but blame the choice and then do something about it.  

Unfortunately these are easier said than done.  It becomes definitely easier to live these beliefs if one is not chasing a constantly upward spiralling life-style. A constantly upward spiralling life-style brings in a state of perpetual comparisons with others (and hence dissatisfaction) and leads to the ultimate killer tendencies for Corporate Nirvana - Greed and Insecurity.