Business Sutra 4: Conflicts

By Devdutt Pattanaik

Telecast on 26 June 2010

This was a tough one. When one is looking at conflicts, we automatically seek answers. In this case, we want mythology to answer all our problems. Afterall it is the repository of ancient wisdom. But a repository does not offer prescriptions. It cannot offer prescriptions because every context is unique. All repositories can offer are principles and frameworks that facilitate decision-making. So one feels cheated by mythology. It is not the fountain of solutions, we hope it will be. It makes us skeptical. As humans we seek prescriptions. In today world, gurus are becoming prescription-providers, rather than decision-facilitators. I feel that is not a good thing. Below are two segments. The first one deals with the conflict between Board and Promoters. The second one deals with the problem of ends and means. In the latter comes the question that is it more important to follow rules or more important to get the results....its a question that makes little sense in India where rules are seen as contextual and not absolute.