Project Leadership Lessons from the Mahābhārata Part-I

A brief description about the Mahābhārata: The Mahābhārata is an epic tale of the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava (representing the bad side) and the Pā??ava (representing the good side) princes. The battle was fought for eighteen days, in which the Pāndava (the good-side) are ultimately victorious.

Arjuna’s Oath to kill Sindhu-King before sunset

On the thirteenth day of the fight; with an aim to end the war by capturing the good-side king, the bad-side commander launches the attack with a particular Phalanx (Circle Phalanx). Moreover, as a part of the tactic, they managed to distract and drove the only warrior from the good-side (the best archer, Arjuna) capable of demolishing the phalanx, to another side of the battle-field. (In fact, Arjuna would have avoided the distraction, but he preferred it.)

It was too late for the good-side to get out of the crises. In such circumstances, Abhimanyu, the young son of the best archer Arjuna, steps up and takes the responsibility to demolish the phalanx. The problem was he only knew how to enter the phalanx, but have no idea how to come out of it. As a counter-attack strategy, his uncles were assigned to provide him with cover fire. The plan was working until a warrior (King of Sindhu kingdom) blocks all the help to the young hero. Abhimanyu was left alone in the enemy camp, while all his uncles were unable to reach out for his help. Later, Abhimanyu was surrounded and killed by seven warriors; which was against the war rules; one warrior will fight with only one warrior of the same stature.

The preferred-side King takes responsibility for the loss of the young warrior. Dejected by the death of his son, Arjuna (the best archer) take an oath to kill the Sindhu-king before the next sunset, or he will immolate himself. Without knowing the fact that the Sindhu King got a boon from his father that the one who drops Sindhu-King’s head on the ground will find his head blown to pieces.

The next day, Arjuna unaware of the boon starts finding his target. The bad-side knew Arjuna’s oath, so they all were protecting the Sindhu-King. The situation was serving the bad-side two-fold; first, they were defending their ally; if they succeed, Arjuna will immolate, doing so the war will be on their side. Second, if Arjuna kills the Sindhu-King, as per the boon Arjuna’s head will blow into pieces, and again it will benefit the bad-side.

Lord Krishna, the mentor of Arjuna, says to Arjuna that the Sindhu-king deserve to die but because of your oath, your concentration will be on the position of the Sun instead of fighting. Lord Krishna tells Arjuna to use a particular weapon to behead Sindhu-king so that Sindhu-king’s head falls into his father’s lap. The Arjuna tried his best to reach out to the Sindhu-King, but unable to reach out to him. Later, Lord Krishna removes the impediments, provokes the Sindhu-King to come in front of Arjuna. At last, Arjuna completes his oath, Sindhu-King’s head falls into his father’s lap. Surprised to see his son’s fate, he stands up, and the head falls to the ground; as per his boon, his head blown to pieces.

Do you see any link between this story and your experience as a Professional Services consultant? 

The project management links include, but not limited to:

? You are working with a single star player, and there is a situation where he/she is required on multiple projects. In the end, the star player is assigned to another project (Arjuna was distracted and drove to the opposite side of the battlefield)

? Many times, the client or your sales team come with unrealistic scope and project timelines (Arjuna’s oath to kill the Sindhu-King by next sunset)

? Your manager is looking towards the team to get out of a crisis; you step up to try your best to manage the surprise situation or the unrealistic project. Your manager promises to help you to succeed. However, unfortunately, he/she is unable to assist you. Maybe because the senior management wants results on different terms, or a team member left, or in the worst scenario, your manager leaves you on your own. (Just like, in the story, the help was blocked by the Sindhu-King)

? Some stakeholders do not want to see the project success (the person(s) may be from your team or client’s team), and on top of that they have strong relations with the senior management, they are either the influencers or the decision-makers. If you complain about them, you are in a bigger mess (Just like the Sindhu-King’s boon/curse) [You act as a whistleblower and lose your job]

? The negative stakeholders engage you in some useless discussions or insist you work on out of the scope items. You pay attention to them thinking you are building relations with them, but it only delays the project’s deliverables or even gets the project towards failure. You can even ignore that noise and concentrate on completing the project (Just like Arjuna got distracted and put his team into a calamity)

? You may have an excellent Mentor in your team, who knows the project-team dynamics (including client-side), removes impediments, advise you what to do; it is your duty to follow his/her guidance and achieve your goals (Just like Arjuna followed Lord Krishna’s advice) 

Project Management lessons include, but not limited to: 

1. Human Resource Management: Never work with a single champion in the team. Invest time to build team(s) of champions

2. Project Initiation: Sometimes we may face unrealistic goals. In such situations, check the resources you have at your disposal. Try your best to make the best of everything you have

3. Project Planning: Planning is good, but keeping the plan up-to-date based on recent information is always better. Be innovative to manage the situation

4. Collaboration, and responsibility are essential ingredients of a great team. While planning, get input from the team because the best decisions are made by a team, not an individual

5. Risk Management: Complete risk analysis and planning; be ready with the contingency plan(s); at least for all known conditions

6. In case of a setback, the leader should come forward to take the responsibility, and do the retrospective to learn from the event

7. Stakeholder Management: People are the most important aspect of project execution. Be aware of the group dynamics, and the politics around the project. It is always good to have a stakeholder’s register; their role within the project team, designation, expectations, and their influence on the project's success. Don’t forget to complete stakeholders’ analysis also

8. Project Execution: Prioritize the tasks keeping project success as the goal. There should not be any place for personal ego and personal agendas

9. Avoid gold-plating; building relations are important, but not at the cost of project success

10. While on client-site, be ready to work independently and alone

11. Change Management: When there is a change in scope, do proper impact analysis, update the project plan, and execute it

12. Monitoring & Controlling: It is not the leader’s sole responsibility to monitor the project progress, the whole team should take this responsibility. When in crisis, plan collectively

13. Project Closure: When in need, ask for suggestions/directions from your seniors/peers and implement them with confidence

14. Project Leadership: Delegate the responsibilities (not tasks). Be accountable for the setback and give the success credit to the team or team member(s)