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WISDOM IN A NUTSHELL

What Would Buddha Doat Work?

101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas

By Franz Metcalf & BJ Gallagher Hateley

ISBN 0-07-121038-5 McGraw-Hill 2002

170 pages

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What Would Buddha Do at Work

The Big Idea Using the teachings of Buddha in real-world workplace situations, this little book of wisdom will inspire employees, employers, executives, and entrepreneurs alike with its practical answers to everyday problems dealing with the self, with others, and everyday decisions. You always have a choice on how you will react to pressures, and conduct yourself each day. It’s about how you use the freedom of choice in the moment to become a better worker, and to find your own path to enlightenment.

PART ONE

Becoming an enlightened worker

• First recognize that you are responsible for your own future. • Second, recognize that you always have a choice. • Mission statements for your organization and life are key to enlightened

work. The mission statement is a compass to guide your priorities and decisions so you do not become lost in day-to-day activities.

• Part of the Eightfold Noble Path is choosing Right Livelihood. Do work that helps rather than harms living things.

• It is not wise to become too attached to one job or career. Things change, everything is transitory. Find your freedom in that truth.

• Do great work, all the time. • Start work before the boss gets in, and leave after she does. • Do not take more than you should. Taking home a pencil or minor office

supply is stealing. • You represent your employer, so uphold the company name. • Your self-confidence increases when you know you have done good work.

Good results come from healthy self-esteem. • Action always beats inaction. Making mistakes is better than not doing

anything at all. If you aren’t making mistakes, it means you are not taking risks and not trying hard enough.

• You are a work in progress. You are responsible for your own self-improvement.

• Practice yoga or meditation to learn how to focus. • If you have ten things to do and only enough time to finish six things,

choose the right six and go home without worrying about the four you had to let go.

• There is nothing you can do about the past and you cannot predict the future. The only time that matters is now.

• Speak your mind and share your ideas. Do not keep them to yourself.

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• Under-promise and over-deliver. Keep all commitments. • Talk is cheap. People like to see action, results, and follow-through. • Your internal moral compass will warn you when you are violating your

own integrity. • Respect company property like it is your own. • Go about your work quietly and deliberately. There is no need to make

public all your efforts. Results will speak for themselves. • There is no single right way to solve a problem. The problem itself is

always changing. • Be flexible and learn to live with uncertainty. • Admit you made a mistake. It means you are teachable and humble. • Do your best work. Promotions and perks are only side effects of doing

brilliant work. • If you wear self-confidence, it doesn’t matter what you are wearing. • Celebrate the successes of others. • Physical and worldly things like money are necessary for survival but they

will not make you happy. The best things in life aren’t things. • There is nothing wrong with personal wealth as long as it is put to good

use. Good stewardship of money comes from a sense of integrity. Wealth must be used for your family, employees, and friends. Give to spiritual organizations.

• Real happiness comes when we are free from cravings and endless desires.

• Treat money like a visitor we respect but we know can be dangerous. • When depressed, the best way to feel better is to do something for others. • Only inferior people need a code of ethics. If you know in your heart what

is right and wrong you do not need to be told how to behave. • You don’t need a lot to get by. Work with what you’ve got. • Learn from every opportunity, even if it means taking on a task you don’t

want to do. It may be that nobody else can do the job except you at the moment.

• Hypocrisy happens when you fool yourself. • Gossip is a waste of time. • Surround yourself with people you admire and respect. When you work

with someone better than you, your performance will improve. • You can change. • Make every day productive. • It is healthy to balance work and personal life. This is the Middle Way. • Think for yourself. Push yourself to achieve higher goals. • It’s easier to just follow the pack and be mediocre. Living a life of integrity

is hard work. • Wealth and power won’t make you happy. Health, love, and peace of mind

will.



PART TWO

Cultivating enlightened work relationships

• True leadership is service to other people. • Age does not necessarily confer wisdom. Good leaders have character,

discipline, self-reflection and self-control. • A tough demanding boss is like a tough coach who demands more from

his athlete. Good leaders stretch your capabilities and provide regular feedback.

• Wise people admit they don’t know everything. • Stay open to learning. • What goes around comes around. This is the law of karma. Do a good job

at work, respect your boss even if you don’t like him and let the law of karma work its way to him.

• Give unselfishly to your coworkers. Take on hard jobs that need to be done. Do your work without complaining. Admit your mistakes. Ask for help when you need it. Keep confidences, and help coworkers. Be loyal if they are going through tough times.

• To influence others, you must have competence and character. You must be articulate, ethical, responsible, honest, and compassionate.

• Do something extra for others. Go the extra mile. Ask a stressed coworker what you can do to help. Give the boss an article you think might interest her. Give the customer a little extra for free when he makes a big purchase. Offer to stay late to finish an important deadline. Ask coworker’s about their families. Get involved in company-sponsored activities for charity. Bring home-baked goods to lunch and share it with everyone.

• Give others the benefit of the doubt and avoid making judgments. • Listen more than talk. • Let go of your ego and listen to other people’s feedback. • Respect the learner or trainee. Teach her by invitation, not by command. • When you are about to criticize someone, stop and ask yourself if you

mean to teach that person or do you simply want to establish your own superiority?

• It is better to ask someone if they would like feedback before giving any. • Take responsibility for the problem and the solution. Be personally

accountable. • If people are hostile to you, maybe you did something to deserve it.

People are jerks to us now because we were probably jerks to them earlier. Don’t give in to your anger. Keep your mouth shut and do the right thing.

• Say what you mean and mean what you say. There is integrity in clarity. • Walk your own talk. Practice what you preach.



• If someone is bad-mouthing you, ignore him. • Unconditional love and understanding in the face of hostility is the noblest

of all human acts. • Revenge is not sweet. An eye for an eye makes us all blind. • Adulterous affairs in the workplace should be acted upon by managers

with firm discipline. The lovers will eventually have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

• Sometimes the person with the least education has the best ideas at work. • Avoid negative people. These are the chronic complainers, whiners, and

cynics. Seek out the positive influences and hang out with them. • Own the problem and empower yourself to end it. Victims and losers

assign blame; winners make things better. • Buddha would see customer service staff as the most important people in

the organization. Whether you work for a business, a non-profit, or a government agency, customer service is the purest kind of Right Livelihood. Serving customers well will build the business for you. Satisfied customers will spread the word about your excellent service. Serving others well transforms the world into a better place, and transforms your bottom line!

• Customer service staff need to practice compassion. Take care of your customers with an attitude of service and you will feel fulfilled in your work. Even if you are having a bad day, you can “act your way to a positive mind” and transform unpleasant moods into pleasant actions. Make the customer’s day and it will make yours.

• How would Buddha handle an angry customer? He would let it roll off his back, but would do whatever he could to solve the customer’s problem.

Buddha’s tips on effective handling of customers: • Be compassionate. Do not meet his anger with yours. • Be grateful. Thank the customer for bringing the problem to your attention. • Listen. Take notes so the customer will not have to repeat his story to your

boss. • Emphasize what you can do for the customer, not what you can’t do. • Get help from a coworker or from your boss. • Explain and educate the customer as you interact. • Commit to what you can do to fix the problem. Always deliver more than

you promised. • Thank the customer again for the opportunity he gave you to serve him. • Follow up. Keep to your commitment and do what you said you would do.



PART THREE

Creating an enlightened workplace

• Survival at any cost, dog-eat-dog mentality, and war-like thinking in business leads to great social costs. We must see everything as interconnected, and therefore operate our businesses in a way that does not harm the environment or does not exploit workers in developing countries. We must offer only the best quality, and be truthful in our advertising.

• You need customers to survive. Do not deliver anything less than quality.

Buddha’s Basics on being a good boss or employer:

• Assign work employees can manage. Make sure job requirements match the employees’ skills and talents. Keep them challenged by assigning special projects, cross training, or job rotation.

• Give employees free food and enough money. Productivity and health are related. Pay them well and care for them, and they will pay you back with good work and loyalty.

• Support them in sickness. Provide healthcare for all your employees. • Share the bounty. Profit-sharing and other equitable means of sharing

the wealth will let your people know you appreciate their efforts. • Grant leave when appropriate. People are not machines and should

not be treated as such. Maternity and paternity leaves, sabbaticals to “recharge the batteries” and special days off for families are very important to increasing productivity. Recharged workers make up for lost time after a refreshing holiday with new ideas, more energy and less stress.

Buddha has nothing against making a profit. Just make sure you are making a profit while keeping the basic principles of honesty, integrity, social responsibility, and right livelihood.

• Start small and tend to your business as you would a fire. Let it grow steadily as you feed it.

• When writing a mission statement, consider your duty to make your small part of the world a better place.

• Buddha disapproves of adversarial business language. We should use words that emphasize collaboration and cooperation. Be conscious of the words you use. “Business is war” and “Crush the competition” are not very enlightened statements. Companies are very fond of using war as a team-



building theme. An enlightened workplace avoids the use of language that connotes doing harm to other living things.

• An enterprise that builds partnerships with other businesses, treats employees well, sees itself as a responsible member of the community, and shares its resources will be an organization built to last.

The moment your organization ceases to evolve, it will die.

• Your organizational structure should facilitate learning at all levels. Workspaces should be designed for teamwork and learning, procedures and policies written accordingly.

• Never give money to those who would misuse it. Give it first to the shareholders and employees who helped you make the profit.

Buddha’s notes on capital:

• Never abandon what can still be useful. Repair it. Invest in quality well-made furniture, floors and fixtures.

• Select and hire carefully. People must be cultivated for long-term, and not dumped at the first sign of tough times.

• Be moderate in consuming resources. Recycle paper. Fly coach instead of first class. Share office spaces and dining spaces.

• Real success depends on the virtue and character of leaders. No amount of charm will make up for the lack of confidence people have in you.

Think long-term. All endeavors yield fruits in their own time.

• Do not become attached to work processes. Let it all go. Everything changes.

• Stay current and overhaul processes regularly. • Respect technology as a tool. It can be used for good or bad. • “The Web site you seek cannot be located, but endless others exist.” This

anonymous haiku reflects Buddha who would have loved the way the Internet is forever changing, how cyberspace is infinite and endless. Just remember that virtual pleasures, just like worldly pleasures, will not make you happy.

• Buddha would have been in favor of telecommuting. A good employee will do her work wherever she is. Many employees simply try to look busy at the office. People who work from home tend to be more productive.

• Do not cling to the latest guru or consultant. Think for yourself. • Bad communication is gossip, idle chatter, and bad-mouthing. Good

communication is clear, effective, direct and honest. • Do not analyze things too much. Decide on a course of action and take it.

Meetings tend to be unproductive when the group debates and analyzes for so long that the window of opportunity for action closes.



• When hiring remember that appearances can be deceiving. People are hired for their technical skills and get fired for poor interpersonal skills.

Hiring according to Buddha:

• Begin inside. Clarify what kind of person you are looking for. Define the character, competence, and culture of your people.

• Be methodical. Do your homework by looking at track records and cast the net as wide as possible. Do no limit the search to obvious candidates.

• Be clear about tasks and duties the candidate needs to do. • Consider what it takes to be successful in your organization or

department. List traits. • Involve other people in the interview process. • Ask behavioral questions. What happened to them in a particular

situation in the past and how did they handle it? • Use tests to bring out skills and abilities. • Ask about her other skills. • Be honest about the job, the pay, the hours, and the duties. • A person may pass the interview with flying colors, but may be terrible

at the actual job. Training according to Buddha:

• Trainers must not make false promises by oversimplifying the complexity of the business.

• Recognize that every person learns differently and at a different pace. • Create an environment where people are challenged, work together to

solve problems, and collaborate to achieve the targets.

Morale • The big boss can spend time with the new employee. • Leaders need to be around constantly to encourage others.

Wisdom in a nutshell

• Job security is a thing of the past. Buddha teaches us not to cling to a job or a career. Things change. That is the only constant.

• We are responsible for our own development as employees. We should not look to someone else to hone our skills and develop our raw talent for us. Take the initiative and learn what you need to for yourself.



• Throw away the policy manual. Too many rules and procedures is another example of how we try to control change, and life. Rigid rules will make an organization less flexible and agile.

• Nordstrom, aside from excellent customer service, has a short and sweet policy manual that fits on one page. It reads “Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.”

• Never put profit before people.

• Your organization should embrace diversity. We must not insist on a one-size-fits all package.

• Diversity is based on the fundamental idea humans are all the same. We all want fair pay for a fair day’s work. We all want respect. We all want to do meaningful work. We want kindness from others.

• Buddha was not sexist. He was 2,450 years ahead of his time by allowing women to become nuns and by declaring that everyone could go on the path to enlightenment. Do not sell yourself or anyone else short on account of gender.

• Buddha would teach his employees about sexual harassment laws both the spirit of the law and the letter. He would say these laws are based on basic respect for all individuals and the right for people to feel safe at work. He would stop any harassment if he saw it going on. Any harassment affects all workers.

• When two coworkers quarrel, be the mediator and peacemaker. Listen to both sides and help the two parties find a compromise.

• Buddha would have nothing against firing someone for poor performance. An organization is only as strong as its weakest employee. We don’t do the person a favor by keeping him on board. He will only improve if he knows what he is doing is not up to standard.

• First, there must be a series of opportunities to redeem him self. Only after several chances are given can the poor performer be dismissed. It is not fair to others in the workplace to keep a poor performer.

• There is nothing wrong with joining the rat race. Just make sure you enjoy the race for the running, and not for the goodies along the way.

If Buddha had spent his life playing it safe, he would never have become the Buddha. Playing it safe never leads to greatness.



Conflict resolution:

• When someone is provoking divisiveness, try to get that person back in harmony with the larger group.

• Go to the person privately and counsel him. Do not humiliate him in front of coworkers.

• If that fails after three times, call the group together in a group intervention so the troublemaker can see how his actions affect everyone.

• Splintering into factions will hinder productivity. Do not abandon a person, the leader and team must make every effort to help the person mend his ways.

• In a crisis, take action immediately. No amount of spin doctoring and damage control can substitute for concrete action.

Turning a floundering business around

• Focus on your core activities. Gather water and firewood, so to speak. Go back to the basics and follow the vision. Plain hard work on core activities is all it takes.


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