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Making wise decisions: Leadership lessons from Mahabharata

Article  in  Journal of Management Development · September 2014

DOI: 10.1108/JMD-06-2014-0061

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 Journal of Management Development

Wise decision making: Lessons from the Indian Epic

Mahabharata to Business Leaders

Journal: Journal of Management Development

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Manuscript ID: JMD-Sep-2012-0119

Manuscript Type: Original Article

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Decision making, Leadership, Globalization, Cross-cultural management,
Keywords:
Business ethics, organizational behavior
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Page 1 of 17 Journal of Management Development

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6 Wise decision making: Lessons from Mahabharata for Business
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9 Leaders
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13 The Context
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15 Leaders have always been under pressure to make swift decisions. But today the pace is
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18 faster than ever. In high-pressure settings, when leaders are under crisis, they often tend
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20 to rush into decisions without proper reflection, rely too heavily on data and analytics,
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22 and demonstrate an inability to decide when to stick with their decisions and when to let
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go of them.1 As a result, many leaders make poor choices for themselves and their
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27 organizations, in terms of the organization’s values and their own, and end up paying a
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high price for them.
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32 Complexity is another factor affecting making quality decisions. The majority of CEOs
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34 feel they are unable to effectively address escalating complexity.2 Seventy-nine percent
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of CEOs also expect the business environment to become even more complex in coming
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39 years – even if the recession is over.3 Summarizing, over 75% of the global CEOs are
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41 unable to take steps to innovate ahead of the competition and capitalize on the complexity
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44 in the future successfully.
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51 1 Fox, Justin (2012) “In a Fast World, Think Slowly: Interview with Frank Partnoy” HBR IdeaCast,
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[http://blogs.hbr.org/ideacast/2012/08/in-a-fast-world-think-slowly.html]. August 16, 2012.
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Retrieved Sept. 9, 2012
54 2 2010 IBM Global CEO Report Capitalizing on Complexity May 2010 http://www-
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56 935.ibm.com/services/us/ceo/ceostudy2010/?sa_campaign=message/leaf1/gbs/study/CEO
57 retrieved on Sept. 10, 2012
3 ibid.
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 Journal of Management Development Page 2 of 17

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4 The Scope of the Article
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7 This article is not about the decisions leaders make as such, but on a particular way to pay
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attention to the objective and subjective factors involved in decision making. Objective
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12 factors are ethical code --“dharma” in the Hindu scenario, and the noble purpose of a king
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14 or a leader is upholding dharma at all times. Subjective factors are contextual adjustments
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17 (people and emotions involved) that need to be made to objective coda. Objective and
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19 explicit law is rigid but subjective application of it requires subtle but important
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21 discernment and discrimination-- Viveka. I will discuss what it means to make ethical
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24 decisions based on the Hindu concept of discrimination (viveka)—that is, the ability to
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26 perceive and make fine distinctions and also to notice and value quality.4 To illustrate,
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I’ll share four examples from the popular Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, wherein leaders
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31 are required to make wise decisions, with varying results. Finally, I’ll discuss the key
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33 ingredient of wise decision making, whether one is an ancient Hindu prince on the brink
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of war or a modern CEO barraged with choices in a business context characterized by
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38 ambiguity and volatility: the ethical clarity that arises out of the wise use of viveka or
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40 discrimination.
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43 This article will use these stories to cast light on four dilemmas that seem to trip up so
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45 many twenty-first century leaders:
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• Making ethical decisions in a crisis scenario (subjective interpretation of objective
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51 dharma)
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4 We used the definition of the word “discrimination” as found in thefreedictionary.com
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57 [http://thefreedictionary.com/discrimination] and Oxford Dictionary
58 [http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/discrimination]
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• Knowing what is the right decision—and then being able to act on the right
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6 decision without letting personal biases and attachments get in the way (objective
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8 dharma being implemented without subjective bias)
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11 • Consistently demonstrating role clarity, or the capability to perform a chosen role
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13 convincingly and with enthusiasm without losing your sense of who you are
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15 behind your role (clarity of subjective and objective context)
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18 • Lacking discernment—the subtle but essential spirit of ethical decision making
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20 (interpreting the essence of the objective dharma and acting on it)
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The purpose of the article is to help modern leaders make wise decisions learning from
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the ancient tales of Mahabharata.5
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28 Decision Making: Aligning Logic, Emotion, Discernment, and Discrimination
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32 Making decisions is one of the basic activities leaders engage in all day long, and while
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34 good decisions can yield productive outcome, bad decisions can have major negative
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consequences. Decisions can be made rationally or irrationally. They can be based on
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39 tacit or explicit assumptions. And they can be emotional or analytical. On a day-to-day
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41 basis, we rarely think much about how we make our decisions; some happen
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44 unconsciously even though they could have big impact on our lives.6 Good decisions take
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46 into account the objective dharma or law and interpret it subjectively in the context
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48 thinking about the spirit of the law in addition to the letter of the law.
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5 Kaipa, Prasad and Radjou, Navi 2013 From Smart to Wise Jossey Bass, San Francisco. The context
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57 for wise leadership and wise decision making is drawn from the final manuscript.
6 Brooks, D. 2011 The Social Animal. New York: Random House.
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In our time, the idea that people make decisions primarily by using logic and reason has
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6 been in the ascendant. Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford7 and Narayana Murthy, cofounder of
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8 Infosys8 have said repeatedly in their interviews that decisions have to be made based on
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data. These leaders not just use the data but spend a lot of time and energy to make sure
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13 that it is accurate, bias free and current and then consciously choose to add the context,
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15 values and other factors to make the decisions for themselves and their organizations.
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18 Recent research in psychology and neuropsychology shows that other factors such as
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20 emotions, biases, and discrimination capability are an integral part of making decisions
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22 and can heavily influence the quality of decisions we make. According to brain research,
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the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, different regions of the frontal cortex (orbitofrontal,
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27 anterior prefrontal, and ventromedial frontal) and the anterior cingulate cortex are all
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involved in decision making.9,10,11,12 In other words, the frontal lobe of the brain—that is,
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32 the most recently evolved part of the human brain—is hardwired for making logical
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34 decisions.
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38 But the frontal lobe, which controls logic and other aspects of executive function, isn’t
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40 the only part of our brain that contributes to decision making. The amygdala also affects
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43 7
44 Kiely, David 2009 Alan Mulally: The Outsider at Ford, Business Week March 4, 2009
45 http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2009-03-04/alan-mulally-the-outsider-at-ford
8 Narayana Murthy, NR 2012 “In God we trust, but rest of you need to bring data” is considered to be
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47 a favorite statement of NR Narayana Murthy. He repeated it in his personal interview in February 8,
48 2012
9 N. Camille, A. Tsuchida, L. K. Fellows. 2011 Double Dissociation of Stimulus-Value and Action-Value
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50 Learning in Humans with Orbitofrontal or Anterior Cingulate Cortex Damage. Journal of Neuroscience,
51 31 (42): 15048
10 Christopher K. Kovach, Nathaniel D. Daw, David Rudrauf, Daniel Tranel, John P. O'Doherty, and
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53 Ralph Adolphs. 2012 Anterior Prefrontal Cortex Contributes to Action Selection through Tracking of
54 Recent Reward Trends. The Journal of Neuroscience, 20 June 2012
11 Damasio, AR 1994. Descarte's Error: Emotion, reason and the human brain. New York: Picador
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12 
Steven W Kennerley et. Al, 2006Optimal decision making and the anterior cingulate cortex Nature
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57 Neuroscience 9, 940 – 947.
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the quality of our decisions. This area of the brain is the seat of our emotional memory,
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6 which not only stores all our experiences but also assigns an emotional tone to each. That
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8 means if we felt angry while making a particular decision, each time we execute on that
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decision, we will feel angry; and, furthermore, because we then need to contend with the
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13 negative emotion—anger—we end up losing our commitment to executing that decision.
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15 (Conversely, positive emotions felt when making a decision can increase the quality of
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18 our commitment to execution.) These new insights into the neurobiology of emotion and
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20 decision making align with an age-old lesson: we have to watch out for our emotional
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22 attachments to a particular outcome, as these can affect the quality of our decisions. As
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you will see, one of kings in the Mahabharata allowed his entire clan to be destroyed
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27 because he did not know how to deal with his “amygdala attacks.”
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In addition to logic and emotions, our biases and our conditioning also affect the quality
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33 of our decision making. If we are blind to our own biases and conditioning, we are
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35 missing information that is vital to decision making or the quality of data and information
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38 gathered to assist in our decision making is poor. When a leader makes decisions of high
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40 quality, with her own biases acknowledged and taken into account, one may say that she
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42 has good judgment or discernment. Discernment is defined as “the act or process of
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45 exhibiting keen insight and good judgment.”13 A discerning individual perceives and
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47 recognizes the underlying truth in not so obvious and changing context14 and is thus
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considered to be wise.
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55 13 The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition 2009 Houghton Mifflin
56 Company
57 14 Tychonievich, Luther 2012 Discernment and Discrimination
58 http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~lat7h/blog/posts/213.html retrieved on 9/9/12
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A fourth element involved in decision-making is discrimination, or the ability to subtly
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6 differentiate or distinguish one set of data (or context) from a similar-seeming other.
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8 Discrimination is a necessary precursor to discernment: discrimination allows us to
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differentiate or distinguish accurately among stimuli; discernment allows us to judge the
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13 value of what we find.15 Thus, in a decision-making context, discrimination refers to the
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15 cognitive process by which one differentiates among similar but different stimuli, leading
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18 to distinct decisions and actions.16 It is important for leaders to develop a discriminating
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20 intellect in order to make better decisions, and to learn to use their discriminating abilities
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22 properly (that is, not in the service of prejudice or bias, which is another meaning for
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discrimination). When leaders decide with discernment after proper discrimination, they
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27 are exhibiting a quality of ethical clarity aligning with dharma and its noble purpose of
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being fair and just to one and all. Their decisions are aligned with what is ethical—both
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32 in the context of the situation in which decisions are being made and also in a larger
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34 context—which in turn signals and ensures that these decisions are aligned with a noble
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purpose.
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40 All these factors—logic, emotion, discernment, and discrimination—collectively inform

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42 what I call decision logic, which I define as the system, process, and principles of
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45 reasoning used in making important decisions.
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48 Often, smart leaders attempt to convert as many intangibles as possible into tangibles
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and, referring only to those tangibles, to come up with a decision logic that is more
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53 automated and hence impersonal. Such leaders pay more attention to the “logic” part of
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56 15 Blavatsky, Helene Petrovna 1932-33 Theosophical Quarterly Magazine p. 323-324
16 Marshall, G. 1998 “stimulus discrimination.” A Dictionary of Sociology Encyclopedia.com.
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58 (September 4, 2012).
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“decision logic” and tend to ignore or minimize the spirit behind the decision. Wise
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6 leaders, on the other hand, pay more attention to the spirit behind their decision logic, a
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8 spirit that can, in their case, be characterized as ethical clarity arising from good
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discernment.
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14 Introduction to the Mahabharata
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16 The Mahabharata (meaning “great tale of the Bharata dynasty”) is the longest Sanskrit
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epic, with over 1.8 million words (ten times longer than the Iliad and the Odyssey
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21 combined) spread over 100,000 couplets and long passages and comprising 18
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23 volumes.17,18 With the Ramayana, it is one of the two major epics that continue to
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26 influence the Hindu way of life in the twenty-first century—even though the tale
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28 represents what is supposed to have happened around 3000 BCE. (Most people in India
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believe that the epic was inspired by a real war fought amongst the nomads in the
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Kuruskshetra area of India.19) The original version, written by the sage Vyasa, was called
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35 Jaya; it was retold and added to by others in later time periods, but the main origins of
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38 the story were written between 8th and 9th century BCE.20
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40 The full story of the Mahabharata is obviously beyond the scope of this article; for our
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42 purposes it is sufficient to say that the story revolves around a major war that took place
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45 between the Kauravas (who represent unethical leadership behavior in usurping the
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47 kingdom that belong to their cousins, the Pandavas, and refusing to give it back) and the
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Pandavas (who represent ethical leadership). The fight is for the Kuru kingdom, and the
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17 Spodek, Howard. 2006 Richard Mason. The World's History. Pearson Education: New Jersey.
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54 Sen, Amartya 2005 The Argumentative Indian. Writings on Indian Culture, History and Identity, Penguin
55 Books, London.
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56 Pattanaik, Devdutt 2010 Jaya: An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata, Penguin Books India, New
57 Delhi
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58 Brockington, J. 1998 The Sanskrit Epics, Leiden.
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Pandavas emerge victorious at the end of the war. The four ethical dilemmas discussed
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6 below are all connected to the great war and to leaders who played significant role in it.
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9 Dilemma 1: Discernment—Knowing and practicing subtle and wise decision making
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11 Context and Scenario
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14 Yudhistira is the eldest of the Pandava brothers and son of King Pandu. Yudhistira has
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16 two brothers, Bhima and Arjuna, and two step-brothers, Nakula and Sahadeva. After his
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18 step mother dies, Yudhistira treats his step-brothers as his own. Bhima and Arjuna have
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21 great physical strength and archery skills; Nakula and Sahadeva are great with the knife
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exiled to the forest, and they use this time to refine their skills and prepare for the war.
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28 One day, one of the sages in the forest requests the Pandavas’ help in finding and
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30 returning his arani (a pair of wooden blocks used to generate fire through friction), which
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were carried away by a deer in its antlers. The brothers go in search of the deer but
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35 cannot find it. Along the way, they get thirsty, and the youngest brother Sahadeva goes to
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37 fetch water from a nearby pond. The pond is protected by an invisible Yaksha (these are
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40 usually benevolent protectors of natural treasures) who warns Sahadeva that the water
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42 would turn to poison and kill him if he drinks it without answering the questions posed by
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the crane. Sahadeva looks around and, not finding anybody, arrogantly ignores the
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47 warning, drinks the water, and dies right away. Nakula, Arjuna, and Bhima all
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49 demonstrate the same arrogance and die the same way. When Yudhistira sees his dead
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brothers and hears the voice of the Yaksha, he realizes that the Yaksha has killed his
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54 powerful brothers. He humbly answers all eighteen questions on ethical leadership posed
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56 by the Yaksha; pleased, the Yaksha offers to bring a brother of Yudhistira’s choosing
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back to life. Yudhistira chooses Nakula. Surprised, Yaksha asks why Nakula is his
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6 choice; Yudhistira responds that it is fair for Nakula, his step-brother, to be alive as he,
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8 Yudhistira, son of Kunti, is alive. He also promised his step-mother before her death to
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take care of his step brothers. So, even though Bhima or Arjuna, with their great strength
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13 and archery skills, would help him win the war with the Kauravas, Yudhistira did not
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15 choose out of self-interest but rather chose what was ethical for an elder brother. When
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18 the Yaksha offers another boon to him, instead of asking for the kingdom or for victory in
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20 the war, Yudhistira asks for the lost arani to be found, which would make the sage very
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22 happy. Very satisfied that with the way Yudhistira makes his decisions, the Yaksha
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reveals his real identity as Yama, the god and protector of dharma (the righteous path).
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27 He brings back all the brothers back to life and disappears.
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Lessons
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32 What can this dialogue between Yudhistira and Yama teach us? Yudhistira not only knew
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34 the right answers to Yama’s tricky ethical questions, but he demonstrated his wise
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leadership in his selfless choices. Even in a crisis scenario—his brothers dead and himself
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39 in danger and on the brink of war—he chose as a true servant leader, first in the context
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41 of his family and then in the context of his role, and that impressed the God of dharma.
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44 It is worth noting that Yudhistira’s wisdom and ethical clarity were not instinctive, but
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46 flowed from the deep reflection and thoughtfulness he demonstrated as he answered
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48 Yama’s subtle ethical questions. (Curious readers can look for ‘yaksha prasna’ or
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51 dialogue between Yama and Yudhistira in Mahabharata for reading more about the 18
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53 questions and Yudhistira’s wise answers.) Within him was a well-developed
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consciousness of his duty and his role as brother, son, and leader, and a willingness to
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engage with Yama’s questions and demands with both courage and humility. He kept a
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6 grip on his ethical compass in this dire situation even as he learned and grew from the
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8 encounter. It’s easy to lose one’s grip in a crisis and either become rigid or start
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improvising in hopes of securing certain outcomes. Yudhistira did neither, and an
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13 unimaginably good outcome came to him.
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16 Dilemma 2: Attachment Keeps Leaders from Making Wise Decisions
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18 Context and Scenario
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22 While the Pandavas are the sons of Pandu, the Kauravas are the sons of Pandu’s elder
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24 brother, Dritarastra. Dritarastra was born blind and, while he officially was the king of
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the dynasty, Pandu ruled the kingdom while he was alive. Yudhistira, Pandu’s eldest son,
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29 is older than Duryodhana, Dritarastra’s first son; on Pandu’s death, both claim their right
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31 to kingdom as first in line. A truce is brokered and some territory given to Prince
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34 Yudhistira to rule. But Crown Prince Duryodana, feeling that the entire kingdom belongs
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36 to him, manages to cheat the Pandavas out of their kingdom with loaded dice, refusing to
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38 give it back even after the conditions he sets are met by the Pandavas. King Dritarastra
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41 and the cousins’ grandfather, Bhishma, attempt to mediate a peace settlement but it fails.
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43 The peace negotiator returns from the Pandavas in the late evening to King Dritarastra
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and tells him that war is inevitable because a settlement could not be reached. He blames
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48 the blind king for not doing what is ethical – which would be to give the portion of the
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50 kingdom taken from the Pandavas back to them. Furthermore, he argues, the Pandavas
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have gained a lot of special powers and weapons by pleasing the gods—they are
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55 invincible, and fighting them would destroy the king’s dynasty and kill all his sons. The
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57 agitated king calls for his confidante and step-brother Vidura, a wise minister and an
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expert on ethical practices, for advice. Vidura counsels the king on dharma—what is right
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6 and what is fair in these circumstances—and on what needs to be done to prevent war and
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8 protect his dynasty. Dritarastra agrees with Vidura fully, but in the event is unable to
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execute on his wisdom. Why? Because he is partial to his eldest son, and that attachment
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13 makes him unable to carry out his moral and ethical responsibility to set Duryodhana on a
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15 righteous path and keep him from destroying himself and entire Kaurava clan.
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18 Lessons
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20 This scenario clearly demonstrates that knowing the dharma, or ethics of a situation, is
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22 not sufficient. One must be able to act impartially in order to be a wise leader. It is not
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sufficient for the leader to be ethical most of the time. His responsibility is to lead
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27 ethically especially when ethics are in conflict with a personal benefit or attachment,
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which is when the most damage can occur to oneself and one’s legacy.
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32 Lapses in ethical clarity—sometimes massive ones—are all around us. It may be that
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34 globalization makes ethical clarity harder to hold on to. What is legal and ethical in one
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country could be illegal or unethical in another country. Be that as it may, leaders have
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39 the ethical imperative to strive for impartiality and to keep their personal benefit from
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41 trumping their larger responsibility to their stakeholders. Imagine what would have
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44 happened if Rajat Gupta had chosen to keep his board secrets safe, or if Bob Diamond of
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46 Barclays had not turned a blind eye to Libor rate fixing? Like Prince Duryodana with his
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48 loaded dice or the blind King Dritarastra, reluctant to do the right thing and rebuke his
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51 son, these two incredibly smart and savvy leaders tried to bend outcomes to their desire,
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53 ending up far afield of the arena of ethical leadership. Better to be like Yudhistira, who
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acted ethically and with humility and courage, and let the outcome take care of itself.
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Dilemma 3: Gaining role clarity in time of fulfilling your duty/responsibility
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6 Context and Scenario
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9 The war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas is about to begin. Various agreements
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for “just war” have been reached (no poisonous arrows, no fighting after dark, and so on),
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14 and Arjuna, the mighty archery expert and the Pandavas’ commander-in-chief, is
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16 surveying the other side. He has Lord Krishna (the god Vishnu in human form) with him
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as his chariot driver; Krishna has agreed to help the Pandavas win the war because they
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21 are just warriors fighting for righteousness. He promises advice and moral support, but he
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23 will not take up a weapon or kill anybody.
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26 As he reviews both sides ready to begin the fight, Arjuna sees what he has committed to
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28 do: kill his own uncles, cousins, teachers, and grandparents in the name of justice and
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30 fairness. He feels unsure of the moral righteousness of the war and becomes
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33 overwhelmed with anticipatory grief. Proclaiming that nonviolence is better than killing
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35 one’s relatives for a kingdom, he drops his weapons and asks Krishna to turn the chariot
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around. Krishna reminds him of his responsibility as a king to uphold the law. When that
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40 doesn’t work, he shares the philosophical perspective that we are all going to die one
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42 day—we might as well do good and die in the process. This doesn’t work either. Then
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45 Krishna shows Arjuna his divine form and tells Arjuna that he (Arjuna) is just playing a
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47 role, and that his job is to do what needs to be done to fulfill his responsibilities—destiny
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49 plays a bigger role than individual will. Over the course of their dialogue, Krishna
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52 convinces Arjuna that a leader’s role is to be a protector of moral and ethical values. Our
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54 fears and security needs drive us to one set of behaviors; greed and control needs drive us
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to another set of behaviors: Krishna coaches Arjuna to become equanimous in his
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decision making—to be clear about his role, process, and responsibility and leave the
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6 outcome out of his decision making process. Arjuna sees the wisdom in Krishna’s words
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8 and acts on them to win the war. This conversation between Krishna and Arjuna on
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ethical responsibilities of a leader is called the Bhagavad Gita (the Song Celestial); it is a
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13 holy book for Hindus.
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16 Lessons
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20 In the twenty-first century globalized world, friends and foes are often not clearly
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22 delineated. For example, Apple depends on Samsung for some of the parts for its phones;
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yet Apple recently won a court case against Samsung and is attempting to prevent some
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27 Samsung products from entering the US market.21 Similarly, in the aerospace sector,
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29 Boeing works with BAE Systems on some projects and competes with BAE on other
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projects. In Silicon Valley, spouses may be working for rival companies and are expected
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34 not to share company secrets at home. This labyrinth can lead to role confusion and a
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36 lack of clarity in making ethical and moral decisions.
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40 The story of Arjuna’s dilemma illustrates this: that wise leadership necessitates
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42 skillfulness in role clarity—an ability to become and remain clear about the distinction
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44 between the role that leaders play versus who they are. When identities and roles are
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47 clearly seen as distinct, wise decision making becomes much easier; for example,
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49 attachment and crisis thinking do not color the decision making process.
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21 Barratt, Paul 2012 Apple vs. Samsung: the longer view Business Week Aug. 30, 2012
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58 http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-08-30/apple-vs-dot-samsung-the-longer-view
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Still—and this is doubly true in complexly interrelated modern business world—one
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6 needs to discern the spirit and true nature of a situation or interaction, using reflection and
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8 contemplation to distinguish what is appropriate in a particular context. For example, in
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2011 Steve Jobs of Apple was approached as a mentor by Larry Page, who had just
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13 became CEO of Google. While Jobs was really unhappy about Google entering the phone
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15 market with its Android OS in direct competition with the iPhone’s IOS, he agreed to
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18 advise Page. In this particular situation, Jobs was acting ethically in his larger role as a
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20 leader in his industry—mentoring Page was appropriate for Jobs in that role – he was
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22 mentored by the founders of HP in his younger days -- even while Jobs the CEO of Apple
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or Jobs the hypercompetitive perfectionist might prefer Page fail quickly and completely.
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28 Dilemma 4: Deciding with Both Discernment and Discrimination
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30 Context and Scenario
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34 The war is over. Toward the end both sides turned to unjust or questionable or unethical
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36 means to win the war. The grandsire of the Kuru clan, Bhishma, is on his deathbed.
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38 Krishna advises the Pandavas to visit their grandfather and learn from him the secrets of
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41 good leadership. Krishna tells Yudhistira that Bhishma learned ethics and leadership
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43 firsthand from the gods themselves and is the authority on dharma, the ethical code.
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Yudhistira is uncomfortable, as he and his brothers, warring, put Bhishma on his
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48 deathbed; he feels ashamed to go and ask his grandfather for leadership secrets. But
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50 Krishna convinces him, saying that he would be doing Bhishma a favor: teaching a just
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king all he knows before passing will allow his legacy to be kept alive. Yudhistira reflects
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55 upon Krishna’s words and, finding them wise, he and the other Pandavas (along with
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57 Krishna) approach Bhishma. Bhishma is surprised—when they could learn directly from
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Page 15 of 17 Journal of Management Development

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Krishna, the godhead himself, what could he, Bhishma, say or teach? Krishna clarifies:
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6 he never ruled as a king in his human form, and when leaders speak from real experience,
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8 they can contextualize the lessons in a way that makes it easier for other leaders to learn
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and internalize them. Krishna could discern what is to be taught and distinguish the
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13 specific knowledge that would be appropriate to be taught but he does have the same
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15 credibility as Bhishma does. Bhishma agrees, communicating what he learned as a king
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18 to his grandsons the Pandavas (the teaching of Bhishma can be found in the Santhi Parva
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20 of the Mahabharata).
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27 What is unique about this situation is that the defeated leader is teaching the victor how to
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29 be an ethical leader. Also, Bhishma himself fought on the wrong side of the war—
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because his role was to protect the kingdom, he did just that and gave his life for the king
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34 The flaw in this was that while he challenged the king on the throne when he was being
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36 unjust, he continued to back him till the end. He showed he had sufficient discernment to
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39 grasp and assume his role, but he could not distinguish or discriminate the subtle point
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41 that his role was to protect the Kuru kingdom, not to protect whoever was on the throne.
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43 Because he failed to understand the spirit of the commitment that was required of him,
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46 despite all his wisdom and ethical knowledge, he could only teach his knowledge to
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48 Yudhistira—a worthy student—but could not practice it himself. So discrimination—
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Viveka—is an essential precursor to discernment and together they are the key to ethical
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53 decision making in complex scenarios.
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 Journal of Management Development Page 16 of 17

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Lessons Bhishma’s store of ethical knowledge and wisdom was great—it was even god-
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6 given. But Bhishma’s wisdom lost traction when he was faced with the complex and
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8 clashing claims of his two sets of grandchildren. Instead of being able to distinguish
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between his roles as supporter of the king and supporter of righteous rule in the kingdom,
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13 he stayed rigidly attached to the former. For whatever reason, he could not operationalize
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15 his wisdom to make the harder, and more ethical, choice to back his rebellious but
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18 righteous grandson Yudhistira over his son the weak-willed Dritarastra and his grandson
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20 the resentful and underhanded Duryodana. Times changed, the situation became
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22 complex, and he could not adapt.
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26 In addition to globalization and technology revolution, a third major source of modern
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28 complexity is diversity. It shows up in our workplaces as diversity of age, gender, culture,
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and ethnicity. Discernment and a leader’s ability to distinguish or discriminate important
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33 but subtle differences among people and circumstances is critical to her winning the
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35 support of people who look, feel, think, and act differently from her. (It is also critical to
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38 her being able to serve effectively as their leader.) Discernment and discrimination drive
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40 and support ethical clarity and provide the objective dharma framework. When it comes
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42 to diversity—and to all sources of complexity—our actively cultivated ethical clarity
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45 allows us to demonstrate and teach wise decision making and function effectively as
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47 leaders.
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50 Conclusion
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53 When the world is global, when technology is supreme and the diversity is the name of
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55 the game, complexity reigns and decision making suffers. Allowing crisis to drive
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57 decisions, failing to recognize and account for our biases and attachments, and not
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Page 17 of 17 Journal of Management Development

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developing good role clarity keep leaders from making the decisions they need to, from a
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6 place of ethical clarity.
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9 The stories of leadership success and failure in the Mahabharata serve to remind us that
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12 reactive or unreflective decision making are not the answer to rapid change and
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14 uncertainty. Yes, leaders need to be able to make sound decisions rapidly in a complex
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16 and changeable context. But the stories open up other paths to cultivating this ability.
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With clear engagement with our role of leader; the will to detach from desired outcomes;
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21 and a stance of courage, humility, and ethical clarity, we have the tools we need to
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