What Would Buddha Do – Part 4

Here’s the last part in the series of What Would Buddha Do At Work! Today, we have some wisdom on hiring, morale, conflict resolution and turning around. After that, there is some additional wisdom – and I think some of the best so far! Especially, look near the end of the list, you will find some gems!

Hiring according to Buddha:

• Begin inside.
• Ask behavioral questions. What happened to them in a particular situation in the past and how did they handle it?
• When hiring remember that appearances can be deceiving.
• People are hired for their technical skills and get fired for poor interpersonal skills.

Morale

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

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.
• 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.

Additional Wisdom

• Diversity is based on the fundamental idea humans are all the same.
• Buddha would have nothing against firing someone for poor performance.
• 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.
• 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.
• Be conscious of the words you use. “Business is war” and “Crush the competition” are not very enlightened.
• The moment your organization ceases to evolve, it will die.
• Let it all go. Everything changes.
• “The Web site you seek cannot be located, but endless others exist.”
• Do not cling to the latest guru or consultant. Think for yourself.
• Do not analyze things too much. Decide on a course of action and take it.