Unshakeable Core: Timeless Leadership Wisdom from Geeta Chapter 2, Verse 2.17 for Project Managers

Introduction

In Chapter 2, Verse 2.17 of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna introduces the concept of the unshakable and indestructible core—the essence of life that cannot be destroyed. He encourages Arjuna to focus on this eternal truth, providing a powerful lesson on resilience and purpose. The verse reads:

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(Avinā?hi tu tad viddhi yena sarvam ida? tatam, Vinā?ham avyayasyāsya na ka?hchit kartum arhati.)

Translation: "Know that which pervades the entire body is indestructible. No one can destroy the imperishable soul."

In project management, Krishna’s teaching reminds leaders to identify and focus on the core purpose or essential truthof their projects—what truly drives value and success. While challenges, uncertainties, and distractions will arise, a project manager must remain steadfast, aligning the team with the project’s unshakable purpose to navigate difficulties effectively.

This blog explores how this wisdom helped a project manager tackle a resource crisis and redirect the team’s focus back to what mattered most.

Scenario: Rediscovering the Core During a Crisis

The evening sun painted streaks of amber on the office windows, but inside, the mood was anything but golden. I sat at the head of the meeting table, staring at a projection dashboard that looked like a battlefield—red warnings everywhere.

Our GenAI project, a real-time anomaly detection model designed to simplify analytics for a retail client, had hit a snag. Our primary DevOps engineer, who handled the pipeline integrations, had been pulled onto another critical project. The remaining team was scrambling, but progress had slowed to a crawl.

Priya, our backend engineer, leaned back in her chair and sighed. “Tushar, I can code API fixes all day, but without DevOps to deploy, we’re spinning in circles.”

“And the client wants to see the PoC by Friday,” added Rajiv, our QA lead. “At this rate, we’ll need divine intervention.”

I smiled faintly, though I felt the weight of the situation pressing on my shoulders. For a brief moment, it felt like the project was collapsing—but then Krishna’s words came to me: Focus on the imperishable essence.

I realized that while we were distracted by the missing resource, we’d lost sight of our core goal—demonstrating the value of the model, not achieving perfection in deployment pipelines.

Key Challenge

The sudden loss of a key resource had caused the team to focus on what was lacking rather than what was essential. This diverted energy from demonstrating the project’s potential to firefighting technical obstacles, putting deadlines and team morale at risk.

The Turning Point

I stood up, marker in hand, and faced the whiteboard.

“Team, we’re chasing deployment perfection when we need to showcase the core value—the anomaly detection model itself. Let’s prioritize what we can control. Priya, can we run the model locally with test data to demonstrate its accuracy? Rajiv, validate those results with mock inputs and outputs. Karan, can you automate a partial pipeline to simulate real-time performance?”

The energy in the room shifted. Priya grinned, “Finally, something doable!”

Rajiv chuckled. “Partial pipeline? That’s my kind of shortcut.”

Over the next two days, we focused on what mattered—the model’s accuracy and functionality. We mocked datasets, simplified workflows, and built a streamlined demo. When we presented it on Friday, the client was thrilled by the model’s precision and potential.

“This is exactly what we needed to see,” the client said. “Let’s discuss the next steps for full deployment.”

Personal Reflection

This experience taught me to differentiate between the transient and the essential. The loss of a resource was temporary, but our project’s purpose—delivering value—was unshakable. As project managers, we must guide our teams to focus on what truly matters, even when chaos threatens to pull us off track.

Main Argument

Krishna’s wisdom in Verse 2.17 teaches leaders to anchor themselves and their teams to the project’s unshakable core purpose. By focusing on what is essential and imperishable, project managers can overcome temporary setbacks and deliver lasting value.

Actionable Framework for Project Managers

1. Identify the Core Purpose: Define the project’s true objective and value.
2. Assess Challenges Calmly: Differentiate between temporary roadblocks and essential goals.
3. Prioritize What Matters: Focus resources and energy on actions that align with the core purpose.
4. Communicate Clearly: Reiterate the vision to the team to maintain clarity and morale.
5. Simplify and Adapt: Use creative workarounds to demonstrate value when resources are constrained.

In another project involving an ML-based chatbot, unexpected API issues threatened delivery timelines. By focusing on a simplified demo using local environments, the team showcased the chatbot’s capabilities, securing client approval and a follow-up project for full-scale deployment.        

As Krishna teaches, the real essence—the unshakable truth—is what drives success. For project managers, challenges and distractions are inevitable, but focusing on the core purpose will always lead the team to victory.

“True leadership lies in guiding the team to see what is real, enduring, and valuable amidst temporary chaos.”