Veda

The Vedas – A collection of Divine Revelations

The Vedas consist of hymns, thousands and thousands of them. They represent an ocean to which countless Sages have contributed, going back to a period when there was only the spoken language and no script. The hymns of the Vedas represent thoughts and revelations that came to the Sages of yore during their meditations. These revelations were in the form of hymns, which the Sages transmitted to their disciples. Thus it was that they were passed from generation to generation. For centuries, all this happened entirely by word of mouth. The written version came much later. Thus the growth of the Vedas is like a series of small streams joining to form tributaries that feed big rivers, the rivers all finally merging into the ocean. This analogy is very apt, because the water that the streams get is from the rain, whose source is really the ocean. In the same way, the revelations that the Sages had were from the Divine; and the Ocean made up by the collection of revelations that constitutes the Vedas, is also Divine.

Vedas must be chanted with grandeur so that the sound can be properly heard. Vedic Mantras not only produce beneficial vibrations in the pulse of the one who chants them properly, but also similar vibrations in those who may hear them. Since it is spread in the atmosphere, it ensures wellbeing here and hereafter. The outstanding feature of the Vedas lies in the fact that the sound of the Mantras by itself when chanted has a meaning, apart from the words themselves, which too are pregnant with significance.

The Vedas took form, only to demonstrate and emphasise the existence of God. The Veda is a collation of words that are the Truth, which were visualised by sages who had attained the capacity to receive them into their enlightened awareness. In reality, the Word is the very Breath of God, the Supreme Person. The unique importance of the Veda rests on this fact.

The Structure of The Vedas

I must now say something about the structure of the Vedas. It is usually said that there are four Vedas. Yes there are, but this classification came after several thousands of years. Before that, it was, shall I say, a period of discovery? Revelations came to people belonging to different times, and these were encapsulated into Vedic hymns. There were thousands and thousands of hymns but unfortunately, most of them have been lost in time. What has survived is only a small part. Even so, they are not only grand in themselves, but tell, in their own way, the story of the evolution of human thought. I shall come to that aspect a little later but for now, I shall stay with the topic concerning the structure of the Vedas.

Today we recognise four Vedas, the Rig Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda and the Atharvana Veda. Apparently, it was Sage Vyasa who made the compilation and classification of Vedic hymns in this manner. It is customary to identify in each Veda, three portions known respectively as: Samhita, Brahmana and Aranyaka. Thus, the Rig Veda has its own Samhita, its own Brahmana and its own Aranyaka. The same holds for the other three Vedas also.

The Division within Each Veda

Now what do these three portions signify? Why this division? That is the question I shall address next. In a sense, the three portions are indicators of evolution of Vedic thought. The word Samhita means that which has been collected and arranged. The Samhita portion of a given Veda contains the Mantras belonging to that Veda, arranged in a systematic manner. These Mantras comprehensively convey the main objective or the purpose of that particular Veda. The Vedic Mantras that we often hear come mainly from the Samhitas.

Turning next to the Brahmanas, these spell out how certain rituals ought to be performed. About the Brahmanas, Swami has this to say:

The Brahmanas constitute an important part of the Vedas, and deal with the correct procedures for performing rituals like the Yajnas and Yagas. Being ceremonial rites for acquiring mundane pleasures, such ceremonies, however, cannot offer Atmananda or the Pure Bliss of the Atma. They can only enhance sensory enjoyment and provide epicurean pleasures, which are intrinsically transient. The search for pure abiding Bliss of the Atma led the ancient Rishis to the solitude of the forests.

This leads me on in a quite natural fashion to the Aranyakas. This word is derived from the word Aranya, which means forest. Thus, the Aranyakas are sometimes referred to as forest books and with good reason. As already pointed in the quote from Swami, neither the Samhitas or the Brahmanas ask a person to give up everything and retire to the forest in order to contemplate on God and focus totally on spiritual development. No doubt chanting Mantras from the Samhitas does promote some purity of mind, but where spiritual development is concerned, they can take a person only so far.

The Aranyakas have a different objective. They are meant for people who wish to reach higher levels of development through intense contemplation and meditation of the Supreme One in His most abstract aspect. The famous Upanishads come at the end of the Aranyakas and represent the quintessence of Vedic Knowledge. As Swami puts it, “Ancient Sages have communicated the spiritual wisdom revealed to them through the Upanishads.”

Branches of Knowledge

The Vedas are divided into four groups, Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda represent various shākhās, or branches, of knowledge. Depending on the branch, different commentaries and instructions are associated with each Veda.

1. The Rigveda contains hymns (mantras) that formulate the mythology of ancient Vedic practice;
2. The Sāmaveda consists mostly of mantras from the Rig Veda, but arranged in an order specifically suited to the Soma sacrifice;
3. The Yajurveda contains detailed prose instructions for the sacrifices; and
4. The atharvaveda comprises semi-magical spells against enemies, sorcerers, diseases and mistakes made during the sacrificial ritual, as well as kingly duties and some deeper spiritual truths.

Each of the four Vedas may be divided into two sections:

1. The mantra portion, also called the Saṃhitā (संहिता), is a collection of hymns to be used in Vedic sacrifices.
2. The Brāhmaṇas portion (ब्राह्मण), contains specific rules and regulations for the sacrifices as well as prose commentaries explaining the meaning of the mantras and rituals.

The Brāhmaṇas, describing rules and purpose of Saṃhitās, are further divided:

1. The Āraṇyakas (आरण्यक), which conclude the Brahmanas, are written along a blurry line between
2. The Upaniṣhads (उपनिषद्), which contain highly philosophical and metaphysical writings about the nature of, and the relationship between, the ātman (Inner Self) and Brahman. The Upanishads are often referred to collectively as Vedanta ("the end of the Vedas"), not only because they appear physically in the concluding pages of each Veda, but also because the mystical truths they express are seen by many as the culmination of all the other Vedic knowledge.

There are also auxiliary texts called vedanga. The new books that appeared later are called smriti. Smrti literature includes Itihasas (epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata), Puranas (mythological texts), agama (theological treatises) and darsanas (philosophical texts).

The Vedas Are Universal

In this sense, the Vedas are Universal and it is for that reason that Swami makes it a point to draw attention to the Vedas, and NOT because they are Indian in origin.

To repeat, the Vedas focus on a MYSTICAL ETERNAL SOMETHING that is beyond this world, beyond this Universe, beyond Space and Time itself, and is changeless. It is that Something beyond words and even the Mind that the Vedic seers were in quest of, and with good reason too. Indeed, across the ages, seekers elsewhere too have been engaged in this very quest, though by different means. Einstein was one of them, and he gives expression to this beautifully. Explaining why he pursued Science, Einstein once said: A knowledge of the existence of Something we cannot penetrate, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our Minds – it is this Knowledge and emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, I am a deeply religious man. Einstein tried to catch a glimpse of Cosmic Infinity through Science while the seekers of the Vedic age sought that very same ETERNITY via the path of devotion and Spiritual inquiry.

The Art of Game Theory

One of the most challenging objectives for any organization is to make the transition from formal strategic planning to informal strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is one of the most powerful forces for creating value. In order to make this transition, we can look at business decisions in terms of playing a game. By applying this “game theory” to decisions, people tend to make strategic decisions in a very natural way.

Game Theory can be invaluable for effective strategic decision-making; answering questions like: What businesses should we compete in, what markets we should go after, should we partner with certain companies to survive, etc. The “game” represents your current strategic situation and “game theory” is the formal structure by which you make decisions within this strategic situation. Game Theory recognizes that decisions you make (as well as your competitor's) impact's the strategic situation.

“Challenged as never before with designing a high-value company game plan, executives often get blindsided by competitors' moves they failed to anticipate. To safeguard against nasty surprises, you must think carefully about what actions competitors might take. Strategic Gaming – a structured, comprehensive approach to putting yourself in your competitors' shoes – enables you not only to play the competitive game more effectively, but also to create one that improves your value prospects by influencing other players' actions.”
- Shaping Winning Business Strategies with Game Theory by Paul Papyoanou, Financial Executive Magazine, March / April 2003

Two opposing approaches to game planning are the Zero Sum Game and the No Zero Sum Game:

1. Zero Sum Game – Two companies are locked in fierce competition and only one company can possibly survive.
2. No Zero Sum Game – Numerous businesses exist and formulate their own unique strategies for market share. Each tends to play by its own set of rules. A decision matrix is sometimes used to plot moves, just like a sports team will plot moves on a play board.

For most companies, game theory resides somewhere between these two extremes. Developing a game plan usually consists of three basic steps:

1. Identify your key competition and map out strategies for those who threaten your market share. Depict the entire game for critical players and evaluate choices for winning against the competition.
2. Assign payoffs to various choices and plot the sequence of events. Determine which of these moves is most likely to occur through hard competitive intelligence.
3. Develop a plan for playing and winning the game that you expect to unfold.

Game Theory provides some interesting lessons in strategic thinking. For example, if you want to win at any game, then you have to have competitive skills. So if you are great at playing tennis, you should not try to compete at football. The same holds true in business – build on your competitive advantages instead of competing on things that are outside your core competencies. Also, game theory takes a “war” like approach to business, which in many cases is much closer to reality than ignoring your competition. Understanding your competition is critical to strategic thinking and game theory organizes the process as part of the planning exercise.

“For many organizations it is a dog-eat-dog world. In every commercial organization, there are talented people planning strategies to increase their business at the expense of the competition. Many noncommercial organizations find themselves under threat from those who provide their funds. The successful organization studies external threats and formulates a strong defense. It adopts this value: Know thine enemy.”
- Unblocking Organizational Value by Dave Francis and Mike Woodcook

Although game theory has been around for years, it didn't receive recognition until it was the subject of a move titled: “A Beautiful Mind.” Therefore, game theory is the art of looking at the strategic landscape in a much different way. Most people will fail to think this way, but game theory can provide a powerful framework for having this “beautiful mind.”

“Game theory is a different way of looking at the world. In game theory, nothing is fixed. The economy is dynamic and evolving. The players create new markets and take multiple roles. They innovate. No one takes products or prices as given. If this sounds like the free-form and rapidly transforming marketplace, that's why game theory may be the kernel of a new economics for the new economy. “
- Co-opetition by Brandenburger & Nalebuff

What is Economic Value Added?

Have you noticed that the stock prices of many companies (especially internet stocks) seem to rise rapidly despite large reported losses on their Income Statements. How can values go up, up, and up with such low earnings on the Income Statement? This question has raised serious concerns that Net Income has little to do with the values of companies. So why the disconnect? Well, net income is derived from past events on a short-term basis while values of companies are derived from future events over the long-term. Consequently, managers are looking for better measures of financial performance. In recent years, such a measurement has emerged. It's called Economic Value Added or EVA.

The basis of EVA resides in something called Economic Income. Economic Income is a better measure of value-creation since it takes a much longer view of what's going on. Unfortunately, calculating Economic Income isn't easy. For example, suppose you spend $ 10,000 on research and development. This should provide a long-term benefit to your organization. In determining Economic Income we will capitalize Research and Development while under traditional accounting, we deduct the full amount as an expense in arriving at Net Income.

In a much simpler form, EVA is calculated by taking Net Operating Profits After Taxes (NOPAT) and reducing NOPAT by your total cost of capital. Remember that your cost of capital includes both debt and equity. Cost of Capital is the cash flows that you spend to compensate your investors for the risks they incur when they lend you money or buy stock in your company. The resulting amount, NOPAT - Cost of Capital, is called EVA. If it's positive, this indicates that you created x amount of value for the owners of your company. A negative EVA would imply that you destroyed x amount of value for the owners.

Numerous companies, such as Coke Cola, have made EVA their key management program to drive value-creation. So does EVA really work? Well, that depends upon your business. It appears EVA is a good improvement to traditional financial measurement when a company's capital structure is heavily invested in real assets with relatively low debt loads (such as utilities). However, if your business is based on intangibles such as intellectual capital in a fast growth environment (such as technology companies), than EVA will be less useful.

My recommendation is to give EVA serious consideration due to the major distortions within traditional accounting. However, since cash flows are the real source of value-creation, you need to take EVA with a grain of salt. And don't forget that value-creation comes from lots of things that have little to do with financial measurement.

Strategic Planning: First Step to the Balanced Scorecard

The foundation for Balanced Scorecards resides in a complete understanding of what is important to the future success of your organization. Critical success factors are identified through strategic planning. Strategic planning is a formal process whereby you prepare your organization for the future. Building a strategic plan is like building a pyramid from the top down. You start at the top with your mission statement and work your way down to the bottom by completing an Operating Plan. The layers in between represent strategic objectives and goals.

The overall process for building a strategic plan usually requires that you assess your current situation. A SWOT approach is quite common - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Due to the enormous changes now taking place, I like to add a fifth area which I call Emerging Trends. Next you will isolate critical issues and categorize issues according to their probability of occurrence and significance to the organization. The following format can be used:

Place each critical issue within a grid according to Probability of Occurrence and Degree of Impact to Organization. Use three levels: High, Medium, and Low. Critical issues that are placed as High Probability of Occurrence and High Degree of Impact to the Organization must be addressed within the Strategic Plan.

You now have to reach agreement on how you will address these critical issues. This can involve scenario playing or simply establishing strategic goals. Some organizations will restructure the organization in order to meet critical issues. In any event, the end result is a draft strategic plan that clearly communicates direction and vision. Sometimes more critical issues will pop up when participants have a chance to read draft copies of the strategic plan. So make sure you encourage a flexible and open process. Strategic planning is very dynamic.

As a minimum, your organization should develop a strategic plan once a year. And you need to think strategically on a continuous basis. If you are new to strategic planning, a good place to start is with the Strategic Planning Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations. This book includes forms to walk you through the entire process. I use this book for all types of organizations, not just non-profits. You can order the book by calling 1-800-274-6024 (1-612-659-6024 outside the U.S.A. ) or visit www.wilder.org .

Completing a Feasibility Study

by Jason Westland, CEO of Method123

Is your project feasible?

The best way to find out whether your project is feasible is to complete a Feasibility Study. This process helps you gain confidence that the solution you need to build can be implemented on time and under budget. A Feasibility Study needs to be completed as early in the Project Life Cycle as possible. The best time to complete it is when you have identified a range of different alternative solutions and you need to know which solution is the most feasible to implement. Here's how to do it...

Step 1: Research the Business Drivers

In most cases, your project is being driven by a problem in the business. These problems are called “business drivers” and you need to have a clear understanding of what they are, as part of your Feasibility Study.

For instance, the business driver might be that an IT system is outdated and is causing customer complaints, or that two businesses need to merge because of an acquisition. Regardless of the business driver, you need to get to the bottom of it so you fully understand the reasons why the project has been kicked off.

Find out why the business driver is important to the business, and why it's critical that the project delivers a solution to it within a specified timeframe. Then find out what the impact will be to the business, if the project slips.

Step 2: Confirm the Alternative Solutions

Now you have a clear understanding of the business problem that the project addresses, you need to understand the alternative solutions available.

If it's an IT system that is outdated, then your alternative solutions might include redeveloping the existing system, replacing it or merging it with another system.

Only with a clear understanding of the alternative solutions to the business problem, can you progress with the Feasibility Study.

Step 3: Determine the Feasibility

You now need to identify the feasibility of each solution. The question to ask of each alternative solution is “can we deliver it on time and under budget?”

To answer this question, you need to use a variety of methods to assess the feasibility of each solution. Here are some examples of ways you can assess feasibility:

¦ Research: Perform online research to see if other companies have implemented the same solutions and how they got on.

¦ Prototyping: Identify the part of the solution that has the highest risk, and then build a sample of it to see if it's possible to create.

¦ Time-boxing: Complete some of the tasks in your project plan and measure how long it took vs. planned. If you delivered it on time, then you know that your planning is quite accurate.

Step 4: Choose a Preferred Solution

With the feasibility of each alternative solution known, the next step is to select a preferred solution to be delivered by your project. Choose the solution that; is most feasible to implement, has the lowest risk, and you have the highest confidence of delivering.

You've now chosen a solution to a known business problem, and you have a high degree of confidence that you can deliver that solution on time and under budget, as part of the project.

Step 5: Plan the Project

It's now time to take your chosen solution and reassess its feasibility at a lower level. List all of the tasks that are needed to complete the solution. Then run those tasks by your team to see how long they think it will take to complete them. Add all of the tasks and timeframes to a project plan to see if you can do it all within the project deadline. Then ask your team to identify the highest risk tasks and get them to investigate them further to check that they are achievable. Use the techniques in Step 3 to give you a very high degree of confidence that it's practically achievable. Then document all of the results in a Feasibility Study report.

After completing these 5 steps, get your Feasibility Study approved by your manager so that everyone in the project team has a high degree of confidence that the project can deliver successfully.

Jason Westland has been in the project management industry for the past 16 years managing projects of up to 2 billion dollars. If you would like to find out more about Jason or about his new online project management software visit www.projectmanager.com.

Five Common Project Management Challenges

by Cynthia K. West, Ph.D, Vice President, Project Insight

When it comes to managing projects, there are many challenges faced by project managers, directors of operations, vice presidents of professional services, chief financial offers, and other project team members.

The five most common project management challenges are:

• Geographically dispersed project teams
• Using the wrong tool for the job
• Over booked or mismanaged resources
• Wasting time looking for project documents or assets
• Spending too much time in status meetings

1. Geographically-dispersed project teams

Sometimes the entire project team belongs to the same company or organization, yet they often work from different offices either within the U.S. or globally. Even if the project team is in the same office, in today's fast-paced economy, information needs to pass as rapidly as possible, making a centralized project management software solution imperative.

As the rise in outsourcing work and offshore development continues, project managers and executive management need to synchronize their work across multiple time zones. So, when the U.S. based team goes to sleep, and the team in Asia goes to work, they may login to the web-based project management solution to view their project, resource and task status. Companies that manage this asynchronous process well are excelling compared to their competitors.

2. Using the wrong tool for the job

Many companies attempt to manage projects using desktop software applications like Microsoft Project and Microsoft Excel. The main challenge with using desktop software to manage projects is that these applications were not designed for collaboration among several parties. At worst, the file is shared by emailing the file to all parties on the team. At best, the file may be posted on a network or on an extranet and shared from there.

One typical scenario that arises from using desktop software for project management is file ‘version control.' For example, a project manager may email a Microsoft Project file to share project information to the team. If the file is updated frequently, then it can often be confusing as to which version of the project is the most recent one. Many times, the project manager will be conversing with an executive about a project and twenty minutes into the conversation find that they are both viewing two different versions of the project.

3. Over-booked and mismanaged resources

Project teams often complain that they do not have accurate or up-to-date information about their resources and what they are working on. Many project teams have more demand for projects than they have team members to execute the projects. Many project teams solve this challenge with a combination of meetings and either Excel or Microsoft Project.

However, project managers utilizing desktop software may have a challenging time understanding how much work each resource has been allocated across all projects. A commonly stated problem is that the projects' timelines are extended beyond an acceptable timeframe, so many project managers abandon using the resource leveling functionality. If resource allocation is an issue, then a decent mid-market or high end solution may be the only options.

4. Wasting time looking for project documents and assets

Project assets can include project scope documents, risk lists, issues lists, files, emails, and deliverables, to name a few. Most project teams are sharing files on networks. The challenge with even the best file storage systems on the internal network is that team members still complain that they cannot find critical documents. It is simply too easy to forget where those assets and files are unless they are frequently used.

Another issue with file storage is that many of the people involved in a project exist outside the network and cannot access these files. Many organizations do not permit third parties to VPN into their network for security reasons. This means that the project manager must resort to emailing those assets to these outside team members, which again can result in the version control problem stated earlier.

5. Spending too much time in status meetings

Many project team members complain about spending too much time in meetings to update project status. No solution is ever going to replace the need for human communication and meetings. However, many teams talk about wasting too much time in meetings where everyone goes around the room and updates the project manager on his/her tasks. This is a very traditional way to getting status updates.

Another common model for updating project status is the project manager asks each team member individually where their tasks stand. The problem with this model is that the project manager becomes a ‘glorified administrator,' and spends time updating the Microsoft Project file or Excel file. Instead, project managers could be managing more projects or thinking about higher level project concerns.

You Need a Web-Based Solution

Naturally, there are many more project management challenges than stated here. However, these are the most frequently voiced by teams from a myriad of industries. If you are experiencing one or more of these challenges, then your team may benefit from implementing a project management software system.

A project management solution that is 100% web-based solves these issues by allowing project managers and their team members to access project information from any browser in the world, at any time of the day or night. The project information is centralized in one database and posted in real-time, assuring that all project members and executive management can view the most recent information about the project.

All of the aforementioned challenges above, and some not even noted, can be handled quickly and easily by implementing a web-based project management software. Make these issues a thing of the past and start working smarter toward the future.

Motivation as a Value Driver

So much of what drives value and greatness in any organization resides in how the people are managed. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great , has repeatedly emphasized the importance of attracting and retaining the best people. However, a big part of this has to do with motivating your people. When you focus on this single element of value, namely motivation, you can really unleash so much value and performance within any type of organization.

One reason to fully understand motivation is due to the fact that so many managers are blindsided by it, having to spend so much time keeping people motivated and those managers that ignore run a high risk of losing their best people, not to mention the decline in performance from the workforce as a whole. So motivation warrants a lot more attention from all managers and organizations.

“Surveys show that 73% of workers are less motivated today than they used to be, and 84% could perform significantly better if they wanted to. Perhaps most shocking of all, a full 50% of workers say they are exerting only enough energy to hang on to their jobs. This crisis need's a radical treatment . .” – Supermotivation: A Blueprint for Energizing Your Organization From Top to Bottom by Dean R. Spitzer

The good news is that all employees have the capacity to be motivated. The bad news is that most companies fall back on traditional forms of motivation such as promotions and pay increases. It's true this can help with motivation, but this is very short-lived. The key here is to motivate from within and not fall back on the external techniques such as pay and promotion. These internal drivers of motivation depend upon some critical cultural issues within the organization:

1. Communication – You must communicate clearly and concisely with your employees. You must listen to what they have to say. Communication should not be simply top down, but also horizontally across organizational layers.
2. Recognition – Recognize the accomplishments of your employees. On the spot recognition and encouragement are very easy.
3. Learning – You must make an investment that grows the employee in terms of their skills. And as employees are trained they need opportunities to apply their skills for real growth. Without "experience" the investment in training goes no where.
4. Responsibility – Give employees real ownership over the work including lead roles over important work.
5. Personal Side – Don't put all emphasis on work. There needs to be some emphasis on the fact that people are people and some time should be spent on the personal side; such as drinks after work or recognition of birthdays, weddings or other personal events in the life of the employee.

“People are dying to be connected, invited, involved. They don't like having things shoved down their throats in a formal way. They show energy and commitment when they can be players and influence an initiative's outcome.” – Kenny Moore of KeySpan Energy

When you have motivated people you literally create a passion for excellence across your organization. As authors Mike Veeck and Pete Williams point out in their book Fun is Good , passion is behind greatness and this leads to things such as innovation and incredible levels of organizational efficiency. It's worth noting that we are not talking about transforming people into workaholics, but more on recognizing basic principles behind how you must manage people. For example, more and more people have concerns about their future and they want direct input into decisions. If companies can recognize these critical internal factors behind motivation, then you will invariably create a lot of value in the long-term.

Finally, don't forget that many companies are riddled with de-motivators, things like policies and rules, numerous job titles that divide the workforce, a high tolerance for poor performance, and under utilization of highly skilled workers. The emphasis should be on the fact that people seek purpose and meaning behind their work. This requires things like involvement, training, and shared responsibility.

“Companies with a highly committed workforce repeatedly outdistance their rivals in both profits and returns. As all evidence indicates, the source of competitive advantage is shifting from technology, patents or strategic position to how a company manages its employees.” – Competitive Advantage through People by Jeffrey Pfeffer