Seth’s Wisdom

I came across this blog post from Seth Godin about creativity. Worth reading…

I don’t think it is necessary to add my analysis to this beautifully written piece.

Randy Pausch’s Time Management Talk

This is worth listening to…

Work for Work’s Sake?

This is from Bhagavad Gita, one of the best books ever written anywhere. One part of the book focuses on Karma yoga, result of actions (dreadful oversimplification on my part). Basically, it is mentioned that do work for work’s sake. Do not do it because you are expecting a result or because somebody forced it on you. Do work because you want to do work. The same concept is voiced in buddhism. The other day I was reading a book by Thich-Nhat Hanh (Peace is every step) and the same words were echoed. His point was that when you wash dishes, be mindful and wash dishes. Do it because you want to wash dishes. I think it is a similar variant of the Gita.

Anyway, coming back to Bhagavad Gita, Krishna (the protagonist) instructs Arjuna to not worry about results. He says that, leave the results to me (Krishna is the soul of the world or the creator) and you focus on what you need to do. Do work for work’s sake. This is a beautiful passage. For one to do work for work’s sake, one must enjoy the work. I have found it easy to follow this suggestion when I love what I am doing. In that case, I do not worry about the outcome. Not everyone is lucky in the corporate world to align what they love doing with what their tasks are. That kills productivity and perfection.

For people working in the corporate world, it is important to find ways to do what you love in ways that benefit your company (or team). Once you show this can be done, you can ride on the belief to do greater things.

Krishna illuminating Arjuna