OAC 2013: Devdutt Pattanaik talks on customization, the Indian way of doing business

Devdutt Pattanaik, Author of Business Sutra, gave a lively presentation on the Indian Way of Leadership at the OAC 2013, the exciting one of its kind event for the OOH community inaugurated in Goa today.

Body Text: In a presentation laced with humour and vivid examples drawn from Indian mythology, Devdutt Pattanaik, Author of Business  Sutra, took the audience through some key management and marketing principles at OAC 2013, the much awaited two day OOH Advertising event inaugurated in Goa today.

Speaking on  the topic’Indian Way of Leadership’ , Devdutt began by talking about’Belief Matters’ – How people Think’.  Here, he very succinctly brought in the  importance of symbols, rituals and stories through which thoughts are communicated and behavior  decoded, by highlighting cultural differences across societies. He pointing out how the Indian way of doing things, whether socially or  in the business context, is all about customizing and offering  a range of options. 

Devdutt then moved on to the concept of heaven or’swarg’ , which according to him, in the content of business, would mean getting returns without any investments . He then proceeded to illustrate how this could be achieved  by drawing on the examples of Lord Indira, the one who  creates a  battle ground and chases his target or’Lakshmi’  , and Lord Vishnu , the one who  creates a playground and draws his target or’Lakshmi’ towards him.  Devdutt gave the audience a lot to chew on as left this question dangling amidst them: You want to be an Indira or a Vishnu?

Further demonstrating the relevance of ancient Hindu rituals such as Yagna, Aarthi  and Bhahan and anecdotes from epics such as the Ramayana , Devdutt reiterated the  importance of meaningful exchange of power,  of appreciation as an energizing motivator to get the best results  out of people, of empathy, of imagination, of compliance and of the need for self realization of potential. He concluded with a reference to Hindu goddesses Lakshmi, Durga and Saraswathi as symbols of wealth, power and identity respectively and the right way of harnessing them.