This blog post is my reflection on Mr. Devdutt Pattanaik's following article:
Admittedly, his musings on mythology and their analogies to
contemporary management have captured my rapt attention for long,
but this is the first instance when it invigorated the writer in me.
As usual, an awesome article by Devdutt! Though, I fail to completely
affiliate to the line of thought. When I first read the article, I couldn’t
help but recall Adiga’s (in the White Tiger) snide at Hanuman and his rebuking
of the Hindus for idolising a ‘servant’. Devdutt raises the bar and aligns the
Hanuman of mythical folklore with an obedient, brilliant and hardworking
employee. Devdutt then goes on to allude, and later elucidate with examples
that sheer obedience on Hanuman/Employee’s part is not enough, it must be
supplemented by originality and acting on one’s own free will. This is where I draw
the lines of diffidence from his viewpoint.
The first case is that Hanuman/Employee is a new
entrant into the Ramayana/Company and should assume the role of a learner. He
should learn from his job rather than questioning the intentions of Ram or the vision
of his Company. He will certainly get the due answers, but at the cost of compromising
his learning and performance. Hanuman/Employee, indeed, consistently needs
motivation/direction in the forms of Jambavan/Rama/Sita but that does not indicate
lack of originality, it shows eagerness to obey and achieve.
Another example is that of Hanuman not rescuing Sita and
averting the war, which Devdutt deems to be an opportunity lost. The war was
inevitable as it not only involved rescuing Sita, but also signified the upholding
of righteousness over evil-which could be achieved only if the going followed
its due course. Had Hanuman interfered with his sheer courage, he would have
launched a car, not a Nano! (What Nano ended up as is quite similar to what happened
to Sita, but that’s a different story altogether!)
Also, most importantly, it was not Hanuman/Employee’s job to
rescue Ram’s wife. An employee is not supposed to bypass hierarchical levels and
perform his superior’s job. Instead of gaining brownie points, he would end up
with a partially baked cake- detrimental to both his personal growth and the Company’s
well-being. Instead, he should selflessly and assiduously concentrate on the
task at hand, displaying exemplary creativity and sheer brilliance within the
respective purview. Doing so, indeed, would catapult an unknown monkey to the rank of
a god- much more revered and adored than his divine master himself!
