The Big Issues

Beyond the Bottom Line

Is There Any Conflict between Being a Buddha at Work and Making a Profit?

Beginning with only a little cash,
The wise can skillfully cause it to grow,
Like the slowly building wind can cause
A spark to grow into a mighty fire.

—Jataka 4

PEOPLE OFTEN IMAGINE the Buddha as an otherworldly ascetic who thinks we should renounce money and the material world. It is true that the Buddha did this, but he hardly expected everyone to do the same. He didn’t want the world to fall apart. He was very much in favor of making a profit, provided that it was done in keeping with the basic principles of awakening: honesty, integrity, personal responsibility, right livelihood, cooperation, harmony, and so on. In fact, making a profit with mindful business practices would be a perfect example of Buddhism in action. Remember, the dharma is, above all, practical, teaching us how to live and work in the real world. You can’t get more real than the world of work.

The wise person, one who follows the Buddha’s teachings about skillful practice, can build his or her business slowly, steadily, as one would build a fire. By all means, get a nice little blaze of profit building there. You can toast some mighty tasty marshmallows over such a fire.

Replacing Bottom-Line Thinking with Buddha-Mind Thinking

He was honored as the businessman among businessmen because he showed the priority of truth.

—Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra 2

THE BUDDHA TAUGHT balance. Buddhism is not called “the middle path” for nothing. So, what is balance in organizational life? The bottom line measures short-term profit, but this is only one measure of a company’s strength and vitality. A business might be making lots of money but still have blind spots and weak links that undermine its sustainability.

Here we encounter another instance of contemporary best business practices taking a cue from Buddhism. Some of today’s smarter businesses use a “balanced scorecard” to make comprehensive assessments of organizational health and effectiveness. This approach follows a middle way between profits and such things as customer satisfaction, innovation, and employee learning. Your organization will want to determine what factors are important to you, and then design ways to measure and evaluate those factors. Taking this holistic approach to organizational strength will help ensure that your enterprise sustains itself into the future.

How Do You Bring Your Buddha Mind to the Task of Writing a Good Mission Statement?

I am not satisfied simply doing hard work and carrying out the affairs of state. I believe my real duty is the welfare of the whole world, and doing hard work and carrying out the affairs of state are just its foundation.

—King Ashoka, Sixth Rock Edict

KING ASHOKA WAS perhaps the greatest Buddhist ruler in history. He established a dynasty in India, over two thousand years ago. He began with force, but he converted to Buddhism and changed his mission. He saw there was no point in ruling over a great kingdom that did not serve the people. He realized that his true duty—his dharma, which means his truth as well as his job description—went beyond strengthening the government; it went even beyond his country. His dharma was to provide a vision of welfare for all the world. That is why, though his dynasty has vanished, his values continue to work for the welfare of the whole world.

Heading a company is like this. In the final analysis, our mission is not merely to work hard and carry out business affairs. These are only the means of achieving our real mission, which should always be the welfare of the whole world. Of course, like Ashoka, we need to take care of the foundation; we can’t build without a foundation. But a foundation is pointless unless we build something real and lasting on it. Visionary businesspeople know this; they feel the deep need for this; they feel this as their dharma. And they give the world innovations that better our lives.

For instance, the mission of Disney is “to make people happy.” The company is committed to the happiness of all people everywhere because it knows that its customers come from every part of the world—and there are many more generations of customers to come. People are willing to pay for experiences and products that make them feel happy, and this results in a robust bottom line for Disney. But the Buddha would say that the bottom line should never be the primary mission; the bottom line is the by-product of the primary mission: making people happy.

How Does the Buddha Invest in the Future?

A treasure stored in a deep pit makes no profit and is easily lost. Real treasure is gathered through charity, piety, moderation, self-control, and good deeds. It is securely kept and cannot be lost.

—Vinaya Mahavagga 4

LOOKING AT THESE words philosophically, we can see the echo of all great spiritual teachers: the true treasure is love, not gold. The Buddha knew this, too, and we all know this deep inside ourselves.

We can also look at these words as an endorsement of values-based business practices. The Buddha is clearly in favor of the idea of making a profit, but he encourages us to make our profit in the right way, with solid values and ethical behavior. Warren Buffett (a billionaire with good values) and many other successful business leaders today would concur with the Buddha.

An enterprise that hoards all its resources greedily will soon find itself with no public goodwill, no partners among other businesses, and employees who feel disheartened and exploited. On the other hand, an enterprise that builds partnerships with other businesses, treats employees as valued partners in the business, sees itself as a responsible member of the surrounding community, and shares its resources with the poor and needy will be an organization that is built to last. Customers will be loyal, as will employees. The treasure of goodwill will be there in good times and in bad. The Buddha knows that an enterprise such as this understands that doing well and doing good go hand in hand.

How Can You Create and Develop a Mindful, Learning Organization?

With work comes wisdom; without work, no wisdom.
Know the path and work to increase wisdom.

—Dhammapada 282

IF THE BUDDHA were around today, he would be likely to use a vivid metaphor to bring the importance of continuous growth and learning to life. “Consider the shark,” the Buddha might say, “who must constantly move forward or die. He must keep moving through the water, so that the water will move through him, bringing him oxygen, keeping him alive. So too does your organization need to keep moving, or it will die. Learning is endless, and the more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. The moment your organization ceases to be a learning organization, in that moment it begins to die.”

Here’s a story told by contemporary teachers Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield in their book Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart:

One day Mara, the Evil One, was travelling through the villages of India with his attendants. He saw a man doing walking meditation whose face was lit up in wonder. The man had just discovered something on the ground in front of him.

Mara’s attendant asked what that was and Mara replied, “A piece of truth.”

“Doesn’t this bother you when someone finds a piece of truth, O Evil One?” his attendant asked.

“No,” Mara replied. “Right after this, they usually make a belief out of it.”¹

We should conduct ourselves so that wisdom will grow. Our organization’s structures should be designed to facilitate learning at all levels, in all areas, even if at first we don’t see the relevance. Professional development opportunities including seminars, university programs, special project teams, and mentoring programs are just a few examples of structured learning.

Our policies and procedures should be written and implemented to encourage continuous learning, even though this might upset our schedules. Generous tuition reimbursement policies demonstrate that we value learning at all levels; we are literally putting our money where our mouth is.

Our workspaces should be arranged so that we can easily get together and learn from one another. There should be ample places for people to gather and share ideas and experiences. Set up a white board by the water cooler. Create alcoves and equip them with flip charts so that people can exchange information. And organizational leaders must lead the way, always themselves learning and developing their wisdom.

How Do Buddhas Encourage Creativity and Innovation?

Upaya is about unlimited possibilities. It is analyzing the situation from every angle and simply letting your intuition be your guide. When you set your mind to accomplishing a task, and then truly open yourself up to finding a way to do it, everything becomes a Buddha. All people, places, and situations seem to be guiding and conspiring for your success.

—Kiley Jon Clark

FOR THE BUDDHA, this is an easy answer: begin where you are, work with what you have, and create from there. This is upaya, skillful means. You have plenty of intelligence, talent, imagination, resourcefulness, and creativity inside of you—work with it. Kiley Jon Clark works with the homeless at HMP Street Dharma. If upaya works for them, it can work for you.

While it is good to look around to see what others are doing or have done in the past, and to be inspired by them, do not copy them. Judy Garland is reported to have told her daughter Liza Minnelli, “Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of someone else.” She ought to know.

Begin where you are. The Buddha never tired of trying to wake us up to the world around us—that’s the whole point of mindfulness, no? Keep your eyes and ears open as you go through your day. Listen to what people are talking about; they are constantly giving you clues about what is important to them and what interests them—sometimes in ways they don’t even notice. Being mindful of where they go (in complaining, in sharing, in the physical plant), you can spot needs that haven’t been met and be inspired to find new products, services, and processes to meet those needs.

Work with what you have. Do not artificially limit your mind! Always question your assumptions and beliefs; they may be blinding you to opportunities for innovation and creativity. If you find yourself (or others) saying, “That’s impossible,” think again. What is “impossible” today may be very possible tomorrow.

Create from there. Practice divergent thinking. The human mind is capable of two kinds of problem solving: convergent and divergent. Convergent thinking is what you use to find a single correct answer to a question—for example, in math, logic, and historical dating. Divergent thinking is what you use to find several emergent possible answers to a problem or question—for example, finding alternative routes to get downtown. You are born with the ability to engage in both types of thinking, but our one-size-fits-all education system overwhelmingly encourages and rewards convergent thinking. So we often have to relearn how to brainstorm, explore options, look beyond the obvious, and question those who say there is only one right way. Creativity flourishes when people—and organizations—give themselves permission not only to think outside the box, but to tear the box apart and reassemble it in new ways. This is just what serious meditators do with their brains. In both ways, the Buddha says to reject business as usual and think for yourself.

What Do Mindful Leaders Do to Foster Corporate Responsibility?

A bodhisattva does not give food and drink to gluttons and drunkards…. And though it’s his own wealth, if those he’s responsible for are distressed when he gives it away, he doesn’t do it.

—The Precious Jewel of the Teaching 12, quoting the Ratnavali

HOW MUCH SHOULD a business leader give to charity? A significant chunk? A token amount? Here the Buddhist teachings remind us that a business leader’s best contribution may be in putting money back into the company. After all, charity begins at home. When Bill Gates and Ted Turner gave away billions of dollars, some criticized them for neglecting their primary obligation to their own companies and the wealth those companies could create for their shareholders. Did they go against the Buddha’s teaching?

The Buddha says two wise things about giving. First, one should never give money or things to those who would misuse them. We know this already, but it is sometimes hard to resist such giving, since people may clamor loudly for our gift or may try to induce guilt if we resist. But we must be firm in our resolve. Giving must go to those who will use the gift well. There are so many worthwhile, deserving recipients to choose from today that we must make sure we do not squander our generosity by giving poorly.

The text gives us another wise word: One must be careful not to harm one’s own company in one’s charity. After all, it is employees who generate the wealth through their hard work, and it is shareholders who invest their money in the company’s future. It is inappropriate to be generous with outsiders if one has not first been generous with insiders. Certainly, if it harms employees or the health of the organization (even indirectly, through employee resentment or shareholder bad feelings), one should not give away a company’s wealth, no matter how worthy the recipient.

Giving is a fundamental virtue, but we must think of the larger picture when we give. Does the recipient really gain? Will others be inadvertently hurt in the process? The answers are not always easy; this is why we must ask the questions.

What Would the Buddha Think of the Business Trend of “Going Green”?

When you throw away your spit and toothbrushes,
You must hide them well away from sight.
Dumping waste in places that we share
And in the water system leads to ill.

—Bodhicharyavatara 5.91

FOR THE BUDDHA, it’s just as true at work as at home: we must treat the places we share with respect, and with seven billion people on the planet, every place is a place we share.

To give a concrete example, your organization’s policies on paper recycling have the power to go far beyond its walls, because they create public perceptions and markets. This is especially true if you work for a large corporation. When a few large companies make the change to recycling paper and to buying recycled paper even for reports, proposals, and correspondence, many other companies will take notice. When many companies make this change, they will create a market that will change the economics of scale in recycled paper and drive the price down. Finally, we’ll all be so comfortable with recycled paper that we’ll wonder why people ever wanted paper bleached to blinding whiteness. Then we’ll at last follow the Bodhicharyavatara’s words and stop dumping dioxin into the water system.

Recycling and using recycled paper is relatively simple, just one aspect of addressing an organization’s carbon footprint. But what works with recycling also works with lighting, transportation, building materials and locations, and so on—all the complex of things, actions, and relationships that create a carbon footprint. Change might start with one person in the company who keeps bringing up recycling at meetings until something gets done. Corporate responsibility does not necessarily start at the top. It can start with anyone who has the courage, patience, and persistence to be a voice of integrity and to keep speaking until others take up the chorus and join you.