Author: Sid Kemp

Biographical note:

Sid Kemp has been practicing Buddhist meditation since 1980. In 1985, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh asked him to share his practice with others. Sid has studied and practiced across the Buddhist spectrum, learning from the Vietnamese, Korean and Japanese Zen traditions, and also studying elements of Therevadin and Tibetan Buddhism. Since his pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Buddha in 2001, he has been integrating these many teachings while deepening his meditation practice.

Sid's primary way of sharing Buddhist practice is by adapting core Buddhist ideas for use in the American workplace. Since 2001, Sid has written eight business books which come from a Buddhist perspective and share Buddhist ideas without mentioning Buddhism. He does this by translating Buddhist ideas and tools through General Systems Theory into practical business applications, such as team leadership and problem solving.

Sid is a certified Project Management Professional, an author, consultant, coach, and trainer. The two books that most express Buddhist ideas for business are Perfect Solutions for Difficult Employee Situations (McGraw-Hill, 2005), and Quality Management Demystified (McGraw-Hill, 2006). Sid also runs a meditation centre from his home, and offers spiritual coaching to psychotherapists and other healing practitioners. He has received training in two forms of psychotherapy, and uses these techniques in both spiritual and business coaching contexts.

Sid's business web site is www.qualitytechnologv.com. Soon, a web site with more of this material, www.livingjoy.net will be available.

In this chapter, which is the story of my work, I hope to address these questions:

- What problems and challenges do businesses have?

- What Buddhist ideas and practices can help businesses - and people in their business lives - solve these problems and face these challenges?.

- How are Buddhist solutions similar to existing business ideas?

- What unique elements does Buddhism bring to the challenges of living a healthy, rewarding business life that is of value to society?

These are the questions that have engaged me as a Buddhist and a businessman for the last fifteen years.
Buddhism, with its practical focus on happiness and communal harmony in this lifetime, has a great deal to offer today's business world, which is often full of confusion and difficulty. My own contemporary definition of Buddhist practice, built on a study seeking to find common threads in 2,600 years of global Buddhist, is to live in awareness and balance, allowing love and wisdom to move through me and touch the suffering and joy of the world, leading to healing and creative expansion. When I consult and teach in business, I do not use these exact words. I do find that many people in business want to and can cultivate awareness and balance. Also, people in business want to solve problems which are very similar to eliminating suffering. As we do this together, we change the way we live our business lives, and make room for less suffering and more joy.

The alleviation of suffering is the basis of the Buddha's first teaching, The Four Noble Truths. This talk, or sutra, is organized like a medical prescription. It addresses all forms of illness and imbalance - all suffering - not just one illness or another. The four noble truths say that suffering exists everywhere, that it has a cause, that it can be cured, and that there is a remedy in the practices of balance and awareness.

How does this idea of suffering apply to businesses? Businesses suffer in much the same way that people do. Here are some examples:

- Businesses fail; people die.

- Some businesses run inefficiently, wasting time and money; some people get sick.

- Some business work environments are full of conflict; some people and families are, too.

- Businesses often have wonderful products or services, but can't get them to market; people often have wonderful dreams, but can't make them real.

This list could go on and on. In the last several years, the American economy has seen the costs of greed in the actions of companies like Enron, Comcast, and Adelphia. I have witnessed the terrible effect of fear on businesses - particularly in New York City - after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. To deal with these very real problems, businesses need to be strongly directed, and also flexible and adaptive to circumstances. Balance allows for strong direction and flexibility for a business, just like it does for an athlete.

Buddhist teachings and practices can help business. The key is that we all - as businesses and as people - acclimate to our problems and let them remain. The Buddhist approach is to bring awareness to these problems and say "this is suffering, and there is a cure." Then we get to work - in a clear, directed, and harmless way - to resolve issues, eliminate problems, and achieve goals. That's the business language. The Buddhist language for the same idea is to practice in awareness and balance to eliminate suffering.

There are several basic ideas in Buddhism that are valuable to business. It is useful to translate these foreign terms into business language:

1. Our suffering (issues, problems, and long-standing conflicts) matters. In Buddhism, this is
included in the First Noble Truth.

2. We can stop suffering. In Buddhism, this is the Third Noble Truth.

3. There is a relationship between our actions and the results we get, in terms of suffering, and also in terms of business results. In Buddhism, this is called karma. In Western terms, this is called the law of cause and effect, and is a key part of diagnosing and solving problems. If we change the cause, the problem (the suffering) goes away.

4. Being aware of our thoughts, feelings, and actions helps us change them. Then we suffer less and get better results. In Buddhism, this is the purpose of meditation and of inquiry into ourselves.

My practice of Buddhism for Business has helped me find ways to share these ideas. For example, here are some common business notions that open the door to healthier, more effective workplaces:

1. Teamwork. People can learn to work together, and that is good for results. Buddhism has 2,600 years experience creating structured team environments adapted to local culture. The Buddhist term for these communities is Sarigha.

2. Stress reduction. Excess tension and anger in the workplace create problems for each person and for the entire company, and there are things we can do about that. The first beneficial effect of meditation is relaxation; the second is awareness of the sources of stress, allowing diagnosis and effective response.

3. Personal and team effectiveness. Those who are willing to change to be effective are more open to observing their own behaviour. Buddhism, particularly the Zen tradition, has a long history of working together, defining problems, and achieving goals through effective leadership and teamwork.

4. Preventing a hostile work environment. Laws and regulations now require that the work environment not be hostile to women, minorities, and other cultural groups. Allowing a hostile or discriminatory work environment has become very costly to companies. This opens a door to companies spending money on behaviour change. Buddhism offers a 2,600 year old set of personal growth tools. The primary focus of these trainings is awareness of the effects of one's behaviour on others. In Buddhist terms, this is two core practices: awareness of ourselves and our situation, and awareness of karma.

5. Business ethics. We were all hurt by the corporate scandals that became apparent in 2001. Laws were changed, and the question of how to change business culture is a hot topic now. Buddhist practice is a tool for individuals and teams to effectively make ethical behaviour real in life and in the workplace. Businesses suffer and cause suffering. Here are some examples: When a business that offers value to its customers does not run well, benefit is lost for customers, employees, and owners or stockholders. When a business is poorly run, people do not find joy in their work. And when a business is misguided, it participates in increasing suffering in the world. Engaged Buddhism in business is, for me, a practice of cultivating awareness of suffering and joy, and the causes of suffering and joy, in the business realm. As people in business become aware of their actions and the consequences of those actions, it becomes natural to do the following:

- Create businesses that succeed
- Create businesses that bring value to customers
- Create businesses that are good, healthy, even joyful places to work
- Look at the ways in which businesses create suffering in the world, and begin to change them.

Readers familiar with the original teachings of Buddhism will see that I have already introduced three key elements from the Buddha's talks (sutras): The Four Noble Truths; the idea of karma; and the idea of self-inquiry (the second factor of awakening). Bridging the gap between the Buddha's 2,600 year old teaching and the needs of American business today has been my invisible practice for over 15 years.

Invisible Practice

Why is my practice invisible? That is, why do I offer tools from the. Buddhist tradition without calling them "Buddhist?" There are four basic reasons:
- Freedom of religion is expressed in business by keeping religious issues outside of the workplace.
- Christianity is expected. When religion does enter the American business picture, the assumption is that it will be Christianity (or, in some businesses, Judaism).

- Spirituality is outside many people's way of thinking. I've been very successful solving problems and improving corporate culture with police, engineers, and other very pragmatic people who aren't even interested in the "soft skills" of people management, much less anything that would sound touchy-feely, New Age, or spiritual.

- Medicine doesn't need a name, it just needs to work. On the Buddhist side, there is a long tradition of not tooting our own horn. The Buddha called for each person to find his own truth, not to rely on the truth-claims of others. Zen Master Dogen said, "Don't call it Zen. Don't even call it Buddhism. Just do it."

It is a wonderful challenge to try to live truly in awareness, joy, peace, and concentration without creating even a slight smell of being Buddhist or Zen.

At the same time, those who are ready see deeply. Every year or two, someone sees that there is a source for the novel material in my training classes. Either they sense and ask what it is, or they identify the Buddhist or Zen elements. In some cases, these folks become part of the community of Buddhist practice, the Sarigha.

Taking Good Care of Myself

Taking good care of myself is the single most important thing I do to share practice and principles derived from Buddhism with the business world. I practice awareness - mindfulness and witnessing in particular - so that I can maintain them throughout the day. I practice being grounded, so that I am not thrown off balance into my own mind-habits of frustration and sharp speech. I also don't pick up other people's feelings and then pass that frustration on to others. If I stay aware and grounded, the greater Wisdom and Compassion of life naturally flows through. As it flows, it meets and heals obstructions - in myself first, then in others. And so Buddhism is engaged with the working world every day through my own body and mind.

Over the last 20 years, I have developed a formal practice that includes meditation, gentle movement, and aerobic exercise, all performed in awareness. One can learn the art of sitting from the Buddhist tradition. Forms such as yoga, t'ai chi, and qi gong, are best done with mindful attention to the body. And the latest studies show that muscles develop fastest when we focus the mind on them during a workout. All of these practices bring my mind to my body, focusing my awareness on here and now. Being present then becomes a habit, not only when I practice, but all through the day, and not only for myself, but for those I work with and serve.

In my view, though, formal practice is not enough. To engage effectively means to be awake (be Buddha) in each moment throughout the day. To cultivate continuous practice of Buddha-mind, I combine three elements:

- Formal practice, as described above.

- Interventions, such as stopping and breathing every time I change what I'm doing, every time I see a new person, and every time I use the phone.

- Informal practice, such as practicing mindfulness as I write, sort mail, or think through a problem.

- Interventions are worth an extra note, because they give a great deal of benefit for little effort. My favourite is to use every interruption or change of scene as a chance to stop, feel my body, and breathe in and out.

So, if I walk through a door, I stop and breathe. (Think how many moments of relaxation there are between the parking lot and your office if you do that!) If the phone rings, I stop and breathe. If someone walks into my office, I stop and breathe. I don't do this noticeably. What people notice is that, when I answer the phone or say hello, I am really there for them.

Using techniques of self-awareness, self-nourishment, and self-inquiry that work with the non-verbal mind, the verbal mind, and the body, I bring the whole body mind into a state of awareness, so that my own unresolved problems and views do not interfere with the clarity of Wisdom and Love engaging the workaday world.

Combining formal practice, interventions, and informal practice, I seek to be aware and balanced each moment, so I can be truly present for each situation.

Being Present

I first knew that my spiritual practice was beginning to help in my business life when I took a job as a manager at Columbia University in 1990. Whenever someone had a problem, he or she would come into my office, shut the door, and say "I need to talk." I had become the "go to guy" for people with frustrations at work. It felt very good to be able to do that. And, mostly, I listened and affirmed the person's inner wisdom.

Sometimes, I provided guidance. One time, I needed to be away from work for a day because my aunt had died. Back at work, two of my team, both men in their early twenties, clashed. Differences of culture and personality, foe led by misunderstanding, escalated a disagreement into an argument. One of them almost felt like hitting the other, but had the sense to call me instead. I was able to speak to both of them calmly, remind them of how much I needed and trusted them to do their jobs and.be there for the students in the lab they were running, and helped them settle things down. When I got back to the office, I spoke to each of them separately. My message was simple: Being mature is a matter of acting well even when the other person is not being mature.

That job ended less than two years later, but one of those two young men has remained a professional colleague for fifteen years. He is now also a close friend, and has recently begun to meditate.

When that friend read this chapter in draft, he added that, when he came it to speak with me, he expected to be fired. My approach "floored" him by changing the "manager vs. employee" framework into a "manager and employee" framework. Reading his comment, I see how, naturally and without thought, I translated the Buddhist idea of community, of Sarigha into the workplace. It doesn't matter whether we call it a Sarigha or a team. It doesn't matter whether we use Buddhist language or language from business (such as W. Edward Deming's dictum "Eliminate fear from the workplace."). What matters is that we engage and relate, living in a spirit of unity with respect for differences. Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh calls that Interbeing.
My ability to serve in these ways has grown over the last twenty years as a result of the Buddha Dharma (Buddhist teachings) and my own practice. In particular:

- Buddhism teaches that calm and peace must be unconditional - that is, we practice so that they are always present, regardless of our situation. Cultivating unconditional peacefulness allowed me to be fully with my team when they needed me, even on the same day that I needed to be fully with my family as we were grieving our aunt and making difficult family decisions.

- The example of Vietnamese Zen Master and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh remaining calm and peaceful even through the horrors of war is a model I keep before me so that I know that what I'm trying to do is humanly possible.

- To maintain a commitment to Interbeing or non-duality. In the business realm, this means teamwork — unified effort and direction with respect for differences.

- Experience is teaching me patience. This life seems to me to be a matter of planting seeds daily, and continuing to do so whether there is any sign of awareness, practice, love, or wisdom sprouting up, or not.

Many managers understand that good listening and a cooperative approach is most effective. However, Western civilization has struggled with the Problem of Will (as Aristotle defined it) for over 2,000 years. The Problem of Will is that we know the good, but we find we cannot always do the good. Most recently, Daniel Goleman has defined this problem in a social, educational, and business context as Emotional Intelligence. The solutions prescribed in the growing field of Emotional Intelligence for Business are parallel to, and sometimes derived from, the Buddhist tradition. Key common elements are awareness and practice. The Buddhist tradition adds specific practices that allow us to be good listeners and clear, effective, calm leaders even in difficult, confusing situations and conflicts.

Listening

On a spiritual level, I think that listening is the single most important expression of our practice. People are full of wisdom. When we listen well, people bring their attention to their issues. If we offer only gentle affirmation, each person we listen to finds his or her own way, and often, that is a wise and practical solution. It is also a solution each person creates for him or herself, and therefore believes in. Believing in the solution, the person makes it work.

On a business level, I think that listening is the most important and under-trained skill in the workplace. Where, in high school or college, will you find a course called Listening 101? People may get classes to help with reading, writing, and speaking, but never with listening. But I find that, in a room of good listeners, everyone finds it easier to discover ideas and speak up.

A good listener listens without preconceptions, and with patience. As good listeners, we begin by not understanding, we set aside any need to present our own ideas (at least until later), and we seek to help the other person feel safe to explore ideas and speak. We can also mirror those ideas back, and ask for confirmation that we understand correctly. I have found that good listening is very effective conflict prevention. Most conflict arises from misunderstanding, and listening creates a ground for understanding.

When I teach brainstorming techniques, my main focus is to create an environment of good listening. I use this metaphor: Water and flour make library paste, which tastes awful. Water, flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar make wonderful biscuits. Just the same, people and issues make arguments. But if we add time, space, and focus, we get a highly productive brainstorming session. The time and space are created by setting up a meeting with no interruptions. The focus is created by looking deeply at the problem and listening to one another. People, like cookie dough, rise to the occasion. Not only do we solve problems, but we also create a lasting environment of trust and communication.

I recently heard back from a client I worked with two years ago. At his request, I led a half-day brainstorming session on the mission, vision, and values for his organization. His organization is an office within the Texas Department of Public Safety, that is, the State Police. It has a mix of civilians and police officers. Before I came, the two groups did not talk to one another much. After our work together, even two years later, people feel much more free to exchange ideas about issues and values.
Just recently, I moved to a new city and I'm meeting new people. When I tell people I'm a consultant, they ask what that's like. I answer, "I listen to people. They tell me their problems. Then I say, 'what would you do about that?' Then they tell me their solutions." People have all the expertise they need to solve their own problems.

The Seven Factors of Awakening

In a Buddhist context, I see the Seven Factors of Awakening (also called the Seven Limbs of Enlightenment) as a step-by-step guide to living the life of an Awakened One. The seven steps are:

1. Effective mindfulness.
2. Effective self-inquiry.
3. Effective joy.
4. Effective peace.
5. Effective energy.
6. Effective concentration.
7. Effective letting go

I choose "effective" because I thinkit is the most accurate translation of the original word the Buddha chose. The Buddha did not speak of "right" vs. "wrong." Rather, he taught that the practice which has the desired effect - which eliminates our suffering and brings awakening - is the "right" practice. So I choose the word "effective" for its clear, practical, non judgmental meaning.

I translate the seven factors of awakening into business language like this.

1. Let's pay attention. If we see what is going on, we will see the sources of our problems, and then create lasting solutions.

2. Focus first on what we can change. It is hard to change ourselves, but it is impossible to change others. Make the change, then show others how by example.

3. This stuff works! When we pay attention, focus on changes we can make, and see results, a sense of optimism and a feeling of joy is the natural reaction. We succeed, and want to try again.

4. Keep at it! Once we see that being mindful and focusing on what we can change works several times, it is natural to keep doing what works, and this feels good steadily. We commit to persistent, renewed effort.

5. More energy! Now that we have a solution, we naturally bring more energy to seeing our situation and problems clearly, and solving our problems by changing ourselves.

6. Concentrate - cut to the root of the problem. We can apply this greater energy by focusing not just on fixing problems, but on preventing them by cutting off the root of the problem.

7. Let it go, let life flow. As we keep up this practice of concentrated effort, problems naturally disappear.
In my own experience, and also in watching both Buddhist practitioners and business people, I think the second step is the hardest. We all want to think that the problem is outside ourselves and that everything is someone else's fault. Or we blame ourselves, dwell in useless guilt, and don't change. If we can get past that habitual blame and take responsibility for our part of the solution, then the rest of the steps (three through seven) flow easily and naturally from enjoying our work to seeing our problems vanish. Once our problems vanish, others turn to us as a source of stability or support, and we are becoming a pillar of support in the everyday world.

Sharing With Groups

My engaged practice has evolved over time. Originally, the content of my work had nothing to do with my practice. I managed and trained computer professionals. On the side, I led a meditation centre from my home and offered spiritual counseling for free. Back then, the two sides of my life were separate.

Over two decades, that has begun to change. When I began to teach troubleshooting, the four noble truths and concentration (Zen) certainly informed the content of my classes. When that grew into offering management training and consulting, I had a chance to share more of the Dharma (Buddhist teachings) in the classes I created and offered.

At that point, though, I was still sharing invisible dharma. It was my business students who changed that.

The first real cross-over from spiritual work into business came at the request of a room full of auditors, employees of the state of Texas. I was teaching a class on time management, and I opened by asking the students what their biggest issue was. They said that the key issue was procrastination and unwillingness to focus on work. I answered that I had some tools for that, but I hadn't included them in the class, because they were kind of New Age and touchy-feely. The reply was, "We don't care. We need help. Give us what you've got." So I taught four tools for focusing on work and overcoming resistance that are derived from the Dharma and other spiritual sources to a bunch of state bureaucrats. That's when I realized that people who are looking for a solution are much more open than you might expect. (The fact that one of the auditors was a motorcycle mama on weekends helped, too!)

From that, I created a program called Share Joy and Serve, which opened up the direct spiritual dimension of business and public management. I used wisdom from winners of the Nobel Peace Prize to convey messages of spirituality and determination to succeed through great difficultly. I was able to deliver the message from all cultures: Aung San Suu Kyi is Buddhist, Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams are Catholic, Mother Theresa is Catholic, Nelson Mandela is Protestant, Menachem Begin is Jewish, and Anwar Sadat is Muslim. The message included what Buddhists call practice and what Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, calls self-renewal. The lesson is simple: If we take care of ourselves on the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual levels, then we are strong and can take care of others, making the world a better place.

Helping Business Help the World

Think for a moment: What would the world be like if everyone were mindful and clear throughout the workday? Consider:

- How much anger would vanish?

- How much more opportunity would there be for us, as people, to question what we are doing, and whether it is really harmless and beneficial?

- How much more opportunity would there be for people to contribute to make our work more effective, so that more people would be helped with less effort?

Learning Business

Engaging in invisible practice often means translating what we know into a different language and jargon. To do this, I learned a lot of business theory and leadership methods. This study was an opportunity to admire the wisdom that is found everywhere. My experience re¬affirms that the Buddha was an ordinary person, and that the things he discovered are commonplace. He just did an exceptional job of putting them all together and making them real.

Many business "gurus" today have pieces of this puzzle. Rather than trying to force ancient wisdom onto people, or claiming that I have come up with something new, I have chosen to share the Dharma with people in business using names and ideas they are familiar with. I deeply appreciate the teachings of W. Edwards Deming on quality management, which included "eliminate fear from the workplace." There is also a lot of good dharma in Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The power of meditation was brought into the popular mind of American business way back in 1926 with the bestseller Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. One doesn't have to look very far to find the dharma in business.

The most central teaching of Buddhism is non-killing and non-harm. In the Order of Interbeing, this is also expressed in the positive - to nourish life. In business, we find Stephen Covey's habit - win/win or no deal. That is, if an agreement or job is not good for everyone involved, don't do it. Many people like that idea. What I have been able to add is that we must look at ourselves deeply if we want to truly live it. This integrates the practice of self-inquiry with the principle of non-harm. A good look at our own habits will show us that our deep-set habits of mind are inclined either towards beating others in competition or believing we will always lose. Challenging those ideas opens the door to a genuinely cooperative business community - a business Sarigha.

My work has occasionally been challenged by other Buddhists, and by those who practice non-violence. Is it really possible to engage in, and profit from, the world of work and remain harmless? My answer is: not entirely. I am not harmless in the way that a monk is harmless. At the same time, if Buddhism were represented only by monks, how could Buddhist practices reach people and leaders in business and politics? I seek to extend the universal understandings in Buddhism to those who most need them, if we are to create a world of cooperation free from human-created suffering. I help people understand that cooperation works, and how to make it work.

It is dangerous to work with people in a violent society. The danger is not only that we might get hurt, it is that our own anger or suffering might be activated. We might lose our centre and fail in our practice of non-harm, hurting ourselves and others. I know Buddhists and other spiritual servants who work with violent offenders in prison. I choose to work with very largely good people who, nonetheless, are a key part of the structure that creates much of the suffering in today's world.

Some decisions made by American-led global business have devastating effects on the environment and on the balance of global society. All of us, through our business and economic activities, participate in, and profit from, war and suffering. There is no doubt about that. And yet all the people doing these things are not evil. They are confused and suffering. On bad days, so am I. And when we become clear and free of suffering, we change what we do.

That is why I work so hard to help people discover and express their own wisdom. I am not sowing seeds of the dharma - they are already there in each person. I am helping each person become aware of the suffering in and around us, and the wisdom within, so that the two can meet.

Thus my practice with a very rich and powerful part of the world is similar to work with those who are downtrodden and outcast. I seek to be a person with each person I meet, and to help people remember the feelings of being human - all the forms of suffering and joy. And, deep in those feelings, we learn to touch the wisdom and love that lie in all of us as seeds, waiting to sprout.

Bibliography

Covey, Stephen R. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People: Restoring the Character Ethic. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.

Goleman, Daniel. Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam books, 1995.

Hill Napoleon. Think and Grow Rich. New York: Fawcett Crest, 1926, reprint, 1960.

Kemp, Sid. Perfect Solutions for Difficult Employee Situations. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Quality Management Demystified. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2006.