Management Lessons

from the
MAHABHARATA
.
1. Continuous learning and skill
development
• Arjuna grasped whatever knowledge came his way. Not only did he learn the
best of military science from Drona, but he was also interested in learning
about divine weapons from Indra.
• When Pandavas were sent into exile, they did not lose their patience and
determination. They saw it as an opportunity and focused on developing
their own competency.
• Yudhishthira worked on building his expertise in the dice game.
• Bhima worshipped Lord Hanuman and became expert in mace fighting.
• Arjun developed several skillsets apart from archery. Nakula and Sahadev
too developed their mastery over medicine.
 Continuous learning in the
 To the employees, this can:
workplace has the potential to
expand employee skill sets, • help achieve career development goals
increase skill and knowledge • obtain or update professional licenses or
retention, generate new ideas and certifications
perspectives, boost morale and • explore new perspectives to approaching
raise overall employee work
performance. • maintain a marketable professional skill set
 While to the organization, continuous
learning can:
• contribute to organizational goals
• make employees feel valued
• help keep costs down, as it is less expensive
to invest in the further development of current
employees than to start training a new
employee
2. Talent recognition
• Vidura was a great strategist, but due to Duryodhana’s ignorance and Lord
Krishna’s strategies, he was not a part of the war. If only Duryodhana
understood his significance, Kauravas could have had a better chance at
winning the war.
• This goes to prove how easy it is to ignore talent and skills if one is not aware
of his/her surroundings.
• Similarly even though Nakula and Sahadev played minor roles on the
battlefield, they did a lot of work behind the scenes. They were the ones
responsible for treating all injured soldiers and were one of the major reasons
Pandavas survived with the Kaurava’s large army.
• If you’re going to manage a team, it’s important to know what role they suit the
best.
3. Winning allies: Networking
• Networking creates long term relationships and provide
numerous benefits.
• Even after losing their kingdom, wealth and power Pandavas did
not lose connection and kept in touch with their existing allies
and also made new allies and maintained good communication
with them all.
• All these alliances proved to be a huge support to them during
the war, (especially the ones tied to a marriage like Matsya and
Panchala).
• Having a right set of friends and loyalists in the corporate world is
the key to make a long lasting impression and earn fair reputation
from the competitors and allies. If you are alone and have no
allies, you have to learn to protect yourself and stay away from
controversies.
• Networking allows you access to opportunities you might not be
able to find on your own. Your network has the potential to
provide you with insight into different fields, information on what
potential employers look for and advice on how you can improve
professionally.
• You may be busy focusing on your own growth at the present, but
you must start reaching out to more people and making allies.
They will push you forward when the time comes.
4. Calculated moves/losses
• To make things work in favor of the Pandavas,
Krishna let Abhimanyu die (by violating war rules)
so that when the time comes, the Pandavas get a
chance to break the rules to kill Duryodhana and
others.
• Individually or ethically, these things might seem
wrong, but it’s a calculated loss incurred to reach the
bigger, collective goal, which is the restoration of
dharma.
• In business management, also organizations are ready
with their strategies and backups. Depending upon
the situation and time, the business model and
strategies are used or changed.
 5. Knowing the opponent
• While it is important to know your own strengths and capabilities, but it is equally important
to analyze your competitor's strengths and weaknesses. Look for the opportunities, the gaps
and then plan your strategy accordingly.
• Droṇacharya was invincible, no one could have ever defeated him. His only weak link was
his love towards his son Ashwatthama and Pandavas took advantage of exactly that,
claiming Ashwatthama to be dead, when it was just an elephant with same name and
Dhrishtadyumna took the opportunity to behead him when Guru Drona dropped his bow and
weapons out of grief.
• Bhima could defeat Duryodhana only because he got to know about Duryodhana’s thighs
being his weakness and thus attacked him there.
• Krishna used his knowledge about the weapons Karna possessed so he used that to his
advantage and tricked him into killing Ghatotkatch using the weapon he reserved to kill
Arjuna.
• Knowing who your competitors are, and
what they are offering, can help you to
make your products, services and
marketing stand out.
• You can use this knowledge to create
marketing strategies that take advantage
of your competitors' weaknesses, and
improve your own business performance.
 
• You can also assess any threats posed by
both new entrants to your market and
current competitors.
• This knowledge will help you to be
realistic about how successful you can be.
6. Time management
• The time management skills in Mahabharata can be seen as
to how the war is continued for specific hours of the day and
whatever is to be done that day needs to be done within those
hours.
• So if one misses the chance to kill an opponent before the
war timings end then they’ve lost the chance completely for
the day and they’ll have to start all over next day.
• Time Management helps individuals to finish work within
the assigned time and stay stress free and relaxed through out
the day. Time Management helps you plan specific time slots This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed
for all your day to day tasks at workplace. under CC BY-SA

• Time Management helps an individual to prioritize things.

7. Teamwork
• MBA aspirants are taught management lessons on ‘Synergy’ and ‘Esprit
de corps’ which means union is strength.
• Pandavas with 7 armies fighting against a hundred Kauravas and their 11
armies, were highly outnumbered, still they won. Because it was never
just about the numbers; it was about the unity.
• There was no unity among the great generals and fighters of Kauravas,
Bhishma didn’t like Karna, Karna didn’t like Shalya, Shalya didn’t like
Shakuni and so on and so forth.
• Pandavas however loved and had a sense of
brotherhood for each other.
• They were also on good terms with
everybody in their support as most of them
were cousins, in-laws, and or other relatives.
• All of them participated in decision making
process and contributed their skills leading to
a synergistic effect.
• Similarly modern-day organizations also
need to build a good team spirit among its
employees and care for their employees.
8. Commitment and Common Goal
• Apart from Duryodhana nobody was fully committed to winning
the war. Most of them were fighting just to support Duryodhana
so there was a lack of zeal, determination and commitment from
the Kauravas side.
• Moreover four of the major warriors were fighting just for their
individual roles and responsibilities.
• Bhishma was fighting only because of his vow to protect the
throne of Hastinapur, he even disclosed the secret of killing him
to the Pandavas.
• Dronacharya fought because of his owed allegiance to the throne.
He too indirectly gave away his secret of being invulnerable as
long as he held a weapon.
• Karna was just fighting to support Duryodhana as a friend
and to prove his mantle against Arjuna. He also promised to
not kill any of the Pandavas except Arjuna.
• And lastly Shalya was simply tricked by Duryodhana to be
on their side.
• Whereas in Pandavas, interests of the team were kept above
individual interests.
• Having common goals gives management and staff
something to work toward together.
• This can improve morale on both ends, increase trust
between different levels of workers and keep management in
touch with the employees they are responsible for
supervising.
9. Choosing the right Side
• The Kaurava’s army was full of illustrious warriors, none can
match them in the battlefield. Bhishma, Drona, Kripacharya, &
Karna were some of them.
• They had celestial weapons and great prowess. But they sided
with the wrong due to loyalty to the kingdom.
• The skills, power and qualities of a man need to be aligned with
a purpose. Even the greatest and the most skillful people can be
wasted when they are not aligned with a common vision.
Management and leadership needs to ensure that they do the
right things and align people to achieve the shared purpose.
• When an organization and team is aligned with a winning
cause, it helps everyone achieve and contribute to it.
10. Getting out of the comfort zone
• Bhima who loved to eat since childhood had to cook and serve food that he could never eat.
He as Ballava learnt to tame his hunger and impatience.
• Krishna referred to Arjuna as ‘Purusharshva’ meaning “best of men”. He who was
considered to be an undefeated hero, the ultimate marksman and a great warrior, had to wear
the clothes of a woman to present himself as an accomplished dance teacher called
Brihanalla and teach Princess Uttara singing and dancing, a skill he had learnt under
Chitrasena. Though he yearned to hold the bow he could not and he learnt self-control.
• Nakula presented himself as a groom of horses called Damagranthi and Sahadeva presented
himself as a physician of cows called Tantipala.
• Yudhishthira who was a king was disrespected and slapped by Virata, the king of Matsya for
being too blunt, and realized how much importance was given to one’s social class around
them. Had Yudhisthira been the king, saying the same thing, probably Virata would have had
agreed to his opinions.
• Even Draupadi who was a princess and a queen had to present herself as a helper called
Sairandhri.
• When you go outside of your comfort zone, that's when you grow and engage in new
challenges.
• Research says that it's this “stepping out” that is responsible for greatly increasing your
productivity, creativity, and ability to cope with changes.
11. Division of work and shared
responsibility
• Even though Pandavas were working towards the same ultimate goal, they
had individual roles in the battle too.
• Mahabharata is an excellent example of the principle of division of work.
• Bhima, the strongest of all the Pandavas, with the power of a hundred
elephants; killed all the hundred Kauravas alone with his strength.
• Sahadev defeated 40 brothers of Duryodhana, was a master of swords and
also killed Shakuni.
• When Arjuna killed Bhishma, Shikhandi, stood before Bhishma to shield
Arjun because Bhishma had taken an oath to not raise his weapons against
her.
• Similarly it is important to divide the
right work among the employees
according to their skills and talent.
• Division of labor is essential to
economic progress because it allows
people to specialize in particular
tasks.
• This specialization makes workers
more efficient, which reduces the
total cost of producing goods or
providing a service.
12. Right Strategy and Leadership
• Kauravas had a one-man leadership hierarchy. The whole of the
army was under one person’s command.
• On the other hand, Pandavas had different generals directing the
operations and had authority to take decision.
• But one of the most significant parameters that led to the success
of Pandavas was Shri Krishna’s help in planning and monitoring.
• In the battle, Krishna strategically headed Pandavas’ divisions of
the army in such a way that they fight against the Kauravas’ army
to win (though the army of Pandavas was smaller than Kauravas).
It was Krishna who kept on motivating Arjuna to lead and fight
against Kauravas.
• Leadership is a vital management function that helps to direct an
organization's resources for improved efficiency and the achievement of
goals.
• Effective leaders provide clarity of purpose, motivate and guide the
organization to realize its mission.
• Regardless of your position, understanding the role of leaders can help you
contribute more meaningfully to the accomplishment of your company's
objectives.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

13. Half Knowledge is Dangerous
• Abhimanyu was brave and fought with great aplomb defeating many opponents
in the Mahabharata. When Abhimanyu faced the complex military formation
known as Chakravyuh, though he knew how to enter the formation, but he didn’t
have the knowledge to come out of the military formation.
• He was then brutally killed by 7 warriors together. Half knowledge in this case
proved to be fatal.
• When Yudhishthira told Dronacharya “Bhima killed Ashwatthama” to kill him. If
Guru Drona had the full knowledge about this he would not have been dead.
• Even in business, some people think that they will learn the technique by
experience, observations or simply copying others. Hence they start any business
that is popular and giving fast returns, but they forget the truth - that venturing
into unknown waters is usually dangerous.
14. Learning from humiliation
• Yudhishthira lost his kingdom, royalty, self-respect and even his
wife in a simple game of dice. He, his brothers and especially his
wife Draupadi were publicly humiliated and though it’s cruel to
even think of this as a learning, in reality it is. It taught
Yudhishthira to never take rash and careless decisions.

• Arjuna was mocked and humiliated by a tribal hunter and his wife
(Shiva and Shakti) in the forest. Arjuna cannot bear the thought of
being trounced by a forest dweller, who he considers socially
inferior but he was defeated by the hunter. This tryst with Shiva
was not just about obtaining the Pashupat; it is also about learning
a lesson that domination through display of prowess is the way of
the beast, not the way of the civilized man.
 Resources
1. Wikipedia
2. http://thepeoplemanagement.com/important-management-lessons-from-mahabharata/
3. https://www.xenelsoft.com/blog/10-management-lessons-from-mahabharata/
4. https://www.10pointer.com/article/4-great-management-lessons-from-mahabharata-666
5. https://www.cynergiconnects.com/5-management-and-leadership-lessons-from-
mahabharata/
6. https://www.nashikites.com/6-distinct-management-lessons-i-learnt-from-mahabharata/
7. https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/understand-your-competitors/
8. https://www.khaleejtimes.com/business/kt-network/half-knowledge-is-dangerous
9. https://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/continuous-learning
10. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/importance-of-leadership
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVT60SA3KgM
12. Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik
THANK YOU!