Article originally published at Forbes on April 15, 2020.
I am not a religious person. Yet my semi-agnostic, almost-atheistic upbringing provided me with an opportunity to be a student of all religions. And even before "coronavirus" became a household word, perhaps bringing many closer to their respective faiths, I have found sage guidance in many ancient religious texts that have helped me navigate through previous — albeit minor compared to the present — turbulent times.
Let me share four of these as we deal with what feels like an upside-down world.
To say that times like these are fearful would be an understatement. People typically view fear as a negative emotion, but it has also been one of the critical survival tools for most animal life, including us: the homo sapiens. Why? Because it steers us away from mortal danger by bringing out one of three responses — flight, fight or freeze.
That said, the Torah of Judaism teaches us to shed our fears and "journey forth." Through the action of Moses, who confronted an Egyptian army approaching from the back and a seemingly unpassable Sea of Reed in front, Moses is said to have shed all three fear-based responses of fight, flight or freeze (i.e., he left it to fate). He's said to have led the Israelites across the water as it parted. (Was it low tide?)
A lesson for business leaders is to shed fear-based decision-making as much as possible and bring in facts, convictions and experiences to guide your actions.
Speaking of actions, how do you determine what to act on?
I remember leaning very heavily on the Serenity Prayer, an important prayer in Christianity, immediately after 9/11 when I had to go through the painful process of laying off my hand-picked team I had built meticulously over the previous 18 months. By focusing only on what you control (like who and under what exit package), and what you don't (such as the state of the economy and corporate targets), you can go through painful processes like these with some semblance of sanity and control.
I suggest that a similar approach of stratification, of considering what's under your control and what's not, will go a long way toward making the seemingly impossible feasible and tolerable.
Now that you know what to act on, how should you approach your actions? And what about anticipated results?
In one of the holiest scriptures of Hinduism, the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna is quoted as advising Arjun: "Karmanye Vadhikaraste, Ma Phaleshu Kadachana, Ma Karma Phala Hetur Bhurmatey Sangostva Akarmani ..." That translates loosely (and as viewed through the lens of business) to: "You have the right and duty to work, but not be driven necessarily by its rewards."
Now, I know this is almost antithetical to everything that western management stands for. But in this upside-down world, perhaps you can appreciate the need not to be driven by KPIs, MBOs, and OKRs. All such metrics are likely to show up as #DIV/0, anyway.
So, all you can and should do is use your moral compass and experiential knowledge to do the right thing and not be (too) affected by a lack of immediate results, which will come eventually.
How far, deep and focused should your actions be?
The notion of the Middle Path is one of the central pillars of Buddhism. In times of extreme crisis, it's natural for us to want to respond with equally extreme measures. However, if you think about crises like the novel coronavirus from beyond an anthropogenic perspective, some may only impact a "small" subset of life on Earth — whether it's a percentage of the humans or that of certain age groups and medical profiles. For example, as far as I know, no other species is being impacted as adversely by the novel coronavirus.
Our response to it, thus, should also be equally focused, targeted and measured. Keep in mind that these times will also pass. And while you want to (and must) do everything possible to contain immediate damage, you don't want to do anything that handicaps you and limits your options to work toward normalcy and beyond. "Normalcy" and "beyond" will come.
Regardless of your own personal faith, we collectively have enough wisdom from various faiths to guide us through tough times.
May all of you stay safe, healthy and optimistic.