LESSONS FROM SAMUDRA MANTHAN TO CORPORATES

 The Samudra Manthan or Churning of the Great Ocean of Milk is among the most frequently told stories from the Indian Mythology. Having its mention in various Hindu Texts, this episode has been interpreted by authors in their own way. 

This article is an attempt to decode the take-aways for corporates from this celebrated story while narrating it in the Project Flow Framework.

Samudra Manthan Calendar art from the 1910s, Artist Unknown

A. PLANNING -  

Why Did the Samudra Manthan Happen in the first place?

It starts with Indra, the King of Gods being offered a special garland by Sage Durvasa. Indra, to show his Ego, decorates his Royal Elephant,the Airavata with this garland. Disturbed by the Bees attracted to the flowers in the Garland, Airavata throws away the garland. Infuriated with anger, Sage Durvasa curses Indra and all the Gods to lose all their celestial powers. 
When they sought to Vishnu for a remedy, then the Lord suggests the Churning of the Ocean of Milk, in which lies the Nectar of Immortality (Amrit). But, for extra hands in the task, the entire clan of Gods, have to approach the Demons, their half brothers from Sage Kashyap.

The Lessons from the Planning of the Sagar Manthan - 

1. The Leader's Actions would result in how the team is perceived. It was only Indra who acted Egoistcally. But his entire clan of Gods/  Demigods had to face the consequence of his misdeed.

2. Approach the Right Leader when in Crisis. It's only your leader who would want the team to succeed as much as the teammates would wish.

3. Keep your End Goal in Mind. Beginning with the right outcome in mind makes planning the project much easier.

4. Diversity in Teams - A professional setup always has teammates who may not get along with each other. But, the success of a project lies in using this diversity to achieve Organizational Goals.

b. EXECUTION - 

How was the Churning of the carried out?

It was surely a herculean task. The execution setup itself is very creative! The Mount Mandara was the Churning Rod, The Serpent Vasuki was the Churning Rope and Vishnu took the form of a giant Turtle, the Kurma to stay as a Support to the Mountain.

The Asuras held the serpent by the hood and Devas held the tail to start the churn.

The creative execution setup gives the following lessons - 

1. Think Out of the Box - Essentially, every project is like a churn. Plans may seem unreal. But the resource allocation and planning would determine the due course of the result.

2. The Leader should be the greatest support to the team in the execution. We see that the same Vishnu who suggested this activity just did not leave his team. He transformed himself to support them!

3.  The team should always have risk-takers to ensure the project isn't halted. Plan your team such that there are always those Asura's take a calculated risk to get your project continuously progressing!

c. OUTCOMES - 

What is a project which yields no fruits? Just a mere action without purpose!

The result of its state of the art setup for the Churn was achieved in phases. The first outcome from the ocean was the Halahala, the dangerous poison, which was swallowed by Shiva. Then came a few exotic gifts - The Moon, Goddess Lakshmi, the Flying horse (Uchairshva), the lost Royal Elephant (Airavat), the Wish-Fulfilling Tree (KalpaVriksha) to mention a few. But, the ocean was churned further to get the desired outcome - Amrit. 

Distribution of this Nectar was also entrusted on the Leader, Vishnu. For this task, Vishnu took the pleasant Mohini form and gave away the nectar to the worthy teammates, whom he knew would not misuse the immortality.

The outcomes of the Samudra Manthan can be interpreted as -

1. In 99% of projects, the Initial Outcome may not be in favor of the team. But, keep your efforts going.

2. Do not get lured by the smaller mid results of a project! Always work with the end in mind. The outcomes are merely the result of dedication.

3. The Leader still plays an important role to reward all the deserving team members. There are many arguments on the aspect that Vishnu favored the Devas during the distribution of Nectar. But, can we imagine the immortality given to the Demons?

As it is said, Beauty lies in the eyes of the Beholder and the texts, as vast as scriptures, always show a solution if a person has the lens of seeking from them.

THE VUCA ENVIRONMENT IN THE INDIAN MYTHOLOGY

V.U.C.A., an abbreviation of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, is a phrase in the world of business is apparently not very new to the world. Though it was used formally for the first time by the military officials during the World War 2 and from then, often related to strategic situations in the business environment, when keenly observed, the Indian Mythology has many instances representing these parameters.
But how? Have we ever wondered that such a niche concept could be found in Indian Mythology? Well, YES. With the number of stories we have and the number of characters in each story has, we can relate many such concepts to the Mythology.





Volatility, the first parameter talks about the dynamics of change. Volatility can be related to Mahavishnu, the moderator among the Indian gods. He is so responsive to volatile situations that he changes forms from a fish, to a turtle, a lion to a warrior riding the horse (kalki). Interestingly, his abode itself is a volatile place. The Kshira-samudra or the ocean of milk, where he reclines is always having waves. But, he adapts to those waves and finds comfort on that. He is so adapted to the change and is away from the illusion of the world. This makes even the “Shridevi” or the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi resort to lure him into the illusion of world or material world by constantly staying at his feet. Hence, he commands the whole creation by adapting himself to the change.





Second is the Uncertainty, the lack of predictability of events, can be related to the king of Gods, Indra. He has all the wealth around him. He possesses wonders like: the Kamadhenu or the wish-fulfilling cow, the Kalpataru or the boon granting tree, the Uccharishva or the unicorn and the Apsaras, the most sensual female embodiments. But, there is always an uncertainty in Indra’s kingdom. Every time an asura or a demon is born, there is an attack on Indra’s abode and every time a monk starts his penance, Indra finds risk to his abode. Thus, there is always uncertainty amidst of the wealth. Well, would this also mean to many assets increase the Risk?





Next is Complexity, a state of chaos in an organization, business or the society. An ironic example to this is the Kailash, or the heavenly abode of Lord Shiva, the destroyer in the Indian mythology, who himself is always at peace! A typical portrait of Shiva’s family itself reflects complexity. There is the bull, Nandi, facing Parvati’s, (his wife) lion, though sitting in front of its prey, the lion is at peace. There is a peacock, Karthikey’s vehicle, a snake around Shiva’s neck and also a mouse, Ganesha’s vehicle. In short, the whole food-chain present at his home, yet there is peace. This indeed is a complex situation in present day scenario.





Lastly, Ambiguity, the state of confusion or mixed feelings can be related to a character from the Ramayan, Trishank. An ancestor of Ram, the hero of the epic, Trishank wanted to ascend to the “Swarg” or heaven without attaining salvation. Rejected by Sages, he approaches Vishwamitra, a king of his times who gave up his riches to be a sage. Challenging the rules, Vishwamitra ascends Trishank to the heaven. But, the king of Gods, Indra does not approve his entry and sends him back to the Earth. In a state of not ready to accept defeat, Vishwamitra refuses his entry on earth and thus Trishank leads his life in an ambiguous situation, thereby establishing a Trishank Swarg, which, till date is used as a famous metaphor in India for an ambiguous situation.