The industry over ages has been in the karmic shackles of economic busts and booms. Each crash and recovery has given opportunity for emergence of management gurus propounding theories and practices for deliverance. Yet, as we all know that in an act of collective powerlessness, organizations have given up on the hope of getting out this econo-karmic cycle calling it an economic reality.It is absolutely fallacious, in the first place, to view organizations as mere economic entities. All humanistic systems, no matter with what intent or accident they have been created with, are living evolving ecological entities – organismic in nature. This fallacy has led to believing in the lifelessness and powerlessness of organizations to transcend man made forces like that of economy.
No, I am not talking of any breakthrough strategy or best practice drawn by analyzing from the past for attaining enterprise nirvana. Enterprise deliverance or nirvana is on the contrary possible by moving out of analysis and awakening the enterprise awareness.
Enterprise awareness is not about thoughts, words or actions. In fact all that you label as actions are reactions. Come to think of it all action plans – be it responding to a customer enquiry, designing a solution or even ‘proactive’ customer support - all of these are ‘reaction’ plans based on the picture-framed thoughts of the past which you often call knowledge. Ordinarily most enterprises as they are today are not capable of any original action unless they have awakened the Enterprise Awareness.
Enterprise Awareness is a collective intelligence of the enterprise which is much higher than the collective rational and emotional intelligence. Like a mirror it reflects the present and gives rise to fresh, spontaneous actions. Such action is a response and demonstration of true response-ability. Conscious awareness-led actions are not governed by any limiting laws of economy. However, they create and enhance value of the overall ecology. All innovations, pioneering initiatives and practice leaderships have emerged from such awareness and actions emanating there from.
How does one awaken the enterprise awareness? The obvious answer is by mastering the enterprise thinking which is easier said than done. You don’t ‘think’ – it does not happen by choice. On the contrary you are a slave to your mind full of thoughts. So then how is enterprise awareness awakened? The simple yet alien technique of all techniques which can bring any entity to a state of conscious awareness is witnessing.
It may be worth recognizing at this point in time that awareness – whether it is individual or institutional - is eternally virgin. It is gifted at the instance of inception and with it comes the natural ability of witnessing. To be a witness therefore you need to unlearn the habituated language of thoughts and to do that you need to quieten the mind. In fact you need to negate the mind as a silent or quiet mind is an oxymoron. In silence the mind dies and with it the thoughts and the sense of identification.
Another important rule to observe is to slow down chasing your competition. It will take you no farther than the next traffic signal where you are stopped along with your contender. Slowing down and stepping back throws you out of your habitual pattern of mindfulness and gets you in touch with your primordial awareness.
All thoughts and words emanating there from are judgmental and evaluative in nature. Remember even when you are complimenting someone you have intruded with your thoughts into the pristine presence of the other. Withhold judgments and evaluations. In fact withhold, if possible any language, for most language learnt and used by us are judgmental in nature.
Finally stop identifying yourself with the events around you. Being a witness demands non-association with problems solutions, opportunities, threats, constraints and enablers. It demands a certain amount of passivity as a witness and therefore a certain amount of surrender to accept things as they are. The actions that will arise from such innate intelligence will not only help you transcend the karmic cycles of economy but also tap into the non local ecological awareness – the universal awareness in which all life exists – leading to being in perfect harmony with enterprise evolution.
