Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.

Home
>
Business Management
>
Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.

Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.

Comparing Corporate and Personal goal attainment programs that have developed over thousands of years with those of modern day legends such as Covey - "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People"

In the 1990s Stephen Covey's name became famous through the publication of the "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". As many know the "7 habits" are not a group of new concepts but age-old approaches to success represented in a way that can be clearly applied to modern day personal and corporate development. These precepts are taught in a number of ancient development, and achievement arts, which have been practiced for thousands of years. Although many of these concepts have been lost and misinterpreted, they exist and can be translated in non-extreme forms, from such arts as: Zen (which is not a religion, but a path for self discovery and growth), the "Art of War" by Sun Tzu (the classic text on strategy which is often regarded as the most definitive text on the topic), and the Tao de Ching (the "book of change").

Profound lessons for leadership, change, victory and non-conflict have arisen from bodies of work such as the "Art of War", because the learnings came from life and death scenarios. Obviously today's corporate world does not induce a mechanism for change, and success, anywhere near as strong as these ancient arts as the consequence of failure is far less. This is why groups such as the Samurai, and post-war Corporate Japan, adopted highly refined lessons from Chinese Zen and the "Art of War". However, modern Asia is very different from its past. Today such cultures as Japan often see an environment which is one of the most materialistic and rapid success oriented cultures around, quite a contrast to its approaches of the past. Today many Western corporate cultures are now embracing past strategies to avoid conflict and gain success.

The strategy text "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, is often incorrectly viewed as an aggressive approach to victory. However, it is essentially a master text on "Conflict Management" and "Win-Win" scenarios ("Win-Win", habit 4 of Stephen Covey). It also discusses partnering in detail ("Synergize", habit 6 of Stephen Covey), project planning ("begin with the end in mind", habit 2 of Stephen Covey) and has many direct relationships to goal attainment in corporate and personal development contexts.

Partners, Competition and Internal Efficiency: Managing conflict in a modern organization has an amazing number of ties to the central themes of Zen, the "Art of War" and the book of change (Tao de Ching).They are all about understanding yourself, your organization, your strengths, weaknesses and synergizing with others to achieve positive outcomes. Collectively these things have a direct correlation to an annual company S.W.O.T review (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). Furthermore, these attributes and approaches mimic an employee's annual performance review. In Applied Zen workshops we go through approaches to company S.W.O.T. which include: company self analysis, analyzing the competition, and partnering for best case strategic outcomes.

All the above methods (old and new) are about changing base behavior, beliefs and approaches. These are core values, and are far more important than putting band-aids on problems, or approaching things with simply a behavior change. In regard to the ancient philosophies, they of course must be interpreted, and applied, using case studies in a context that matches the modern corporate world ? but the lessons are most definitely there!

Continuing to train ones skills and undergo development both in-house and outside your company is essential.

As the ancient samurai saying says: "Continually sharpen the sword or it will go blunt!"

Dr Jason Armstrong has worked at Corporate CEO levels in Japan, the USA and Australia. He has studied Sun Tzu's Art of War for 20+yrs. He was educated to Ph.D. level in the USA and his career has spanned the biotech and software industries. Companies he has worked for include multinationals like AMGEN, Mitsubishi Pharmaceutical, Zymark (Caliper), and CM Capital - a Venture Capital firm. http://www.AppliedZen.com

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Gaza violence rages on despite UN cease-fire call (AP)

AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, but an intense bombardment of missiles from Israeli jets and helicopters early Friday and a barrage of Hamas rockets indicated there may be no quick end to the fighting.

Illinois House on verge of impeaching Blagojevich (AP)

AP - Gov. Rod Blagojevich faces almost certain impeachment by the Illinois House, a historic step that would trigger a trial to determine whether the Democratic governor should be tossed out of office.

Toxic coal ash piling up in ponds in 32 states (AP)

AP - Millions of tons of toxic coal ash is piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a practice the federal government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but has left unregulated.

Cheney warns against impulsive action in Iraq (AP)

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney, warning against impulsive U.S. action in Iraq, says that whether the struggling nation backslides into a cycle of violence partly depends on how President-elect Barack Obama decides to pull out American forces.

Obama to finalize national security team Friday (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama is completing his national security team by announcing his unusual choices for CIA director and a national intelligence director who may face tough Senate confirmation questioning over how he confronted the Indonesian military when civilian massacres were occurring in East Timor.

Mini Dynasty: Tebow leads Gators past Oklahoma (AP)

AP - The game defied expectations. Tim Tebow fulfilled them. He rescued No. 1 Florida, running through and throwing over No. 2 Oklahoma for a 24-14 victory Thursday night that gave the Gators their second BCS championship in three years.

Most Asian markets fall ahead of US jobs report (AP)

AP - Most Asian stock markets fell Friday amid more corporate gloom and worries that a key U.S. jobs report could show recession in the world's largest economy is deepening.

Obama: Congress must act boldly and now on economy (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama implored Congress on Thursday to "act boldly and act now" to fix an economy growing perilously weaker. Democratic and Republican lawmakers complained about his tax policies, letting Obama know they intend to place their own stamp on the economic recovery effort.

Job losses stack up as recession deepens (AP)

AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

Critics' final answer: `Slumdog' wins 5 awards (AP)

AP - The critics have spoken, and "Slumdog Millionaire" is their final answer.

World waits on jobs data as recession weighs (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.

U.N. calls for immediate Gaza truce (Reuters)

Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its two-week-old offensive in the Gaza Strip, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Panel steps up criticism of Treasury: report (Reuters)

Reuters - A report being released on Friday alleges that the U.S. Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system, not answered questions asked by a government watchdog, and has done nothing to help struggling homeowners, the Wall Street Journal said.

EU seeks gas supply return after deal (Reuters)

Reuters - Europe sought a swift restoration of gas supplies on Friday after striking a deal with Moscow on monitoring gas shipments via Ukraine that have been halted by a pricing dispute with Kiev.

Citi backs measure to help avoid foreclosures (Reuters)

Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.

Illinois panel recommends governor's impeachment (Reuters)

Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama team amending financial rescue package: report (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Qaeda Pakistan leader believed dead: U.S. official (Reuters)

Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.

Gaza toll mounts as UN Security Council urges immediate truce (AFP)

AFP - Israel carried out new deadly air raids on the Gaza Strip on Friday as the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire to end the two-week-old conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

Hopes for Russia gas deal after EU claims breakthrough (AFP)

AFP - European states deprived of Russian gas amid freezing weather were Friday hoping for a resumption of deliveries after the European Union claimed a breakthrough in the crisis between Moscow and Kiev.

Comparing Ancient Programs from the East to Modern Programs like Stephen Covey.

Business Management Business Management