Strategy types, process and methods

In the last post - http://sastra-artha.blogspot.in/2013/05/components-of-winning-strategy.html we have seen the key components of the "mantra"

I try to cover my understanding from the same topic "On Strategy" related to types, process and method of strategy making in this post.

Four different types of strategies would be needed for a King (or Leader) :

अकृतआरम्भः - Starting something new internally or acquiring something new
आरब्धानुष्ठान - maintaining what has already been started or acquired
अनुष्ठितविशेष - Improving what is already in place
नियोगसंपदम् - Handing over to regular operations

Process:
A council of ministers (mantri-pariShad) should be consulted individually on all components of the 'strategy under discussion' followed by a collective session.  Sometimes "hypothetical scenarios" can be used to get the opinions from the ministers. (But in hypothetical scenarios the ministers' opinions also may be hypothetical)

Everyone's opinions should be considered, reasons for the difference of opinion should be evaluated and conclusion should be derived.

One should not spend too much time is deriving strategy. Once a conclusion is arrived, one should not go back to that aspect again.

Consulting with only one minister on all aspects may lead to sub-optimal strategy. Even two ministers could be biased on strategy. Three or four ministers are needed to arrive at an unbiased strategy. 

When the situation requires an urgent resolution, a quick tactical solution should be arrived at by consulting one or two ministers.

Method:
Strategy making should be done privately in a 'closed group' of ministers as described above. The strategy should be kept as a secret till its deployment starts. Leaking the strategic details is a sure recipe for failure. 

Finally cANakya concludes the chapter with a warning. One who has not studied artha SAstra thoroughly and unaware of all the considerations of a Strategy, is not eligible to be a strategist!

This brings us to the end of 15th adhyaya called "mantrAdhikAra"

Components of a "winning strategy"

Fifteenth adhyAya, eleventh prakaraNa  of artha SAstra deals with the topic of “winning strategy” making.
 
कृत्य स्वपक्ष परपक्षोपग्रहः कार्यारम्भांश्चिन्तयेत् । मन्त्र मूलाः सर्वारम्भाः ॥

It starts with “kRtya svapaksha parapakshOpagrahaH kAryArambhAM ScintayEt; mantra pUrvAH sarvArambhAH.”

Having made a good team, having understood the opponent’s team well, one should start making the strategy. Strategy precedes all endeavors. 
 
What are the aspects of such a “mantra” (strategy)?
 
कर्मणामारम्भोपायः पुरुषद्रव्यसम्पत् देशकाल विभागः विनिपातप्रतीकारः कार्यसिद्धिः इति पञ्चांगो मन्त्रः ॥
 
1.        An approach to the project (karmaNAm Arambha upAyaH)
2.        An estimate of required human and material resources (purusha, dravya sampat)
3.        An implementation plan showing place and time of tasks (dESa, kAla vibhAgaH)
4.        A complete list of risks and mitigations (vinipAta-pratIkAraH)
5.        A well defined success criteria (kArya siddhiH)
 
The above five aspects (or components) make up a winning strategy; says kauTilya.


What is to be done, resource estimation, a detailed plan of work-break-down structure, risk management plan and clearly defined exit criteria makes up a great strategy.
 
This definition holds good even in today’s world.

More in next post....  

On dissatisfaction and disloyalty

This post covers 13th and 14th adhyAyas of artha SAstra.

Till now we have seen building the visible and secret state administration layers and testing the loyalty of the appointed administrative officers.

Now, cANakya deals with the primary reasons that lead to dissatisfaction of appointed officers and making them disloyal and sometimes traitors.

Technical term used for "those who can be worked upon" to make them disloyal are "kRtya"

kRtyas are of 4 types: (officers turn disloyal due to four  feelings developing)

"कृद्ध लुब्ध भीत अवमानिनः तु परेषां कृत्याः" says cANakya.

1. kRddha varga (due to krOdha or anger) e.g, because a promise of 'promotion' has not been kept etc., leading the officer to develop anger on the King.
2. lubdha varga ( due to lObha or greed) e.g, an officer may be addicted to some bad habits making him greedy. 
3. bhIta varga (due to bhaya or fear ) e.g., an officer may have committed something wrong and has seen another officer being severely punished by the King for such wrong doing.
4. mAni varga (due to mAna or pride or false ego ) e.g., an officer may develop a false self-esteem making him dissatisfied with the King/Leader. to

Officers do not turn disloyal due  to above four reasons are "akRtyas" who need to be respected and honored.

So, the ninth topic of the book deals with "officers turning disloyal" in Leader's own territory and dealing with them and tenth topic deals with kRtyas in the other territories.

1. A King should identify the kRtyas in his own territory and fix them using sAma, dAna, bhEda and danDa upAyAs. (Topic 9)
2. A King should also identify the kRtyas in the enemy kingdom to weaken the enemy. (using sAma and dAna); A King should use bhEda and daNDa on the akRtyas and continuously show the defects in the enemy king to them. (Topic 10)

Note: Anger, Greed, Fear & Pride are the four feelings that corrupt the officers with power. Leader should be aware of this fact and properly deal with these  feelings of appointed officers.

This brings us to the end of 14th chapter and completes 10 topics on the subject.

Five intelligence agencies and more...

श्रुतवन्तमुपधाशुद्धं मन्त्रिणं कुर्वीत ..

SRtavantaM upathA SuddhaM mantriNaM kurvIta (A well learned and purified by secret testing should be made as mantri)

 

मन्त्रमूलाः सर्वारम्भाः ..

mantra mUlAH sarva ArambhAH (A well thought strategy is a good seed of every endeavour)

 

Says cANakya in his rAjaniiti sUtras... Having purified the council of ministers consisting of Thought Leaders (mantris) and amAtyas, the next key activity is to identify the "secret agents" (because to have a right strategy one needs intelligence!)

 

The prime minister (the mantri) will initiate identifying the agents working for five different establishments of secret service.

 

kApaTika : One who can quickly "see" the secrets of others, bold, student is a kApaTika.
 

udAsthita : One who has been a sannyasi a period of time and returned to the regular life, who is upright / pure, intelligent person is udAsthita. (One who failed to continue as a sannyasi)
 

gRhapatika vyanjanakaH : One who has been a good farmer, but now failed in his profession.
 

vaidEhika vyanjanakaH : One who has been a good trader, but who has seen losses in his trade.
 

tApasa vyanjanakaH : One who is a failed tapasi. Who has tried for magical powers and partially successful, who seeks name and fame and not really given up the normal life in search of ultimate truth. (not a real tApaSi)
 

These five types of "failed" people are the best suited for secret services working for the Leader undercover and providing all the needed intelligence to run the organization.
 

The above five types of "secret agents" stay in their places and keep feeding intelligence to the minister.
 

Other than these five types, there are satri, tIkshNa, rasada, bhikshukI agents who keep roaming around within and outside the kingdom and carryout the duties of collecting the information and sending it to the King.

 

एवं शत्रौच मित्रे च मध्यमे चावपेच्चरान्
उदासीने च तेषां तीर्धेष्वष्ठादशस्वपि
 

There are four types of people King / Leader should generally deal with:

1. shatru - enemies 2. mitra - friend 3. madhyama - middle one (neither enemy nor a friend) and 4. udAsIna - the indifferent ones... In all the four types of other Kings and their mantris, purOhitas, amAtyas, and commanders should be spied to know what is going on within and outside of the territory regularly.

 

Few notes:

It is important to the King to know what is happening around in his own territory as well as in neighbouring territories.

The failed ones will know not only how to win, they have experience of what causes failure and coping with the failure. So, Leader should use those who have good knowledge in their own field and failed due to the conditions beyond their control to act as "secret agents".

This post covers the contents of 11th and 12th chapters of artha SAstra. (It has been a month since I started making these posts)

upatha - Testing integrity

In the 6th topic, cANakya touches the method of "Secret Testing" of integrity and loyalty of ministers.

Having appointed the amAtyas in less important portfolios, King should secretly test them before promoting to key positions. There are 4 types of upathas provided by past teachers of artha SAstra.

1. dharmOpatha (Testing in the name of dharma i.e, righteousness) - King creates situation where he disrespects the purOhita. Later purOhita approaches each of the amAtyas to rebel on the King. If the amAtya disagrees to do so, he is proved to be pure in the name of righteousness.

2. arthOpatha (Testing the integrity from the greed for power!) - King creates a situation so that one of the powerful military commander is removed from his job. This commander approaches each of the amAtyas provoking them to help him over-power the King. Ministers disagreeing to do so are proven pure in this test.

3. kAmOpatha (Testing the purity from seduction) - A sannyasini close to the Queen approaches each of the amAtyas and makes them believe the Queen is interested in them. (Rest of the story is well known!)

4. bhayOpatha (Testing uprightness when threatened) - King causes certain situations and puts the tested amAtya(s) in the jail for some silly mistakes! One of the appointed inmate of the jail tries to provoke the jailed amAtyas to retaliate against the King.

One who has proven pure in all 4 upathas can be placed in most trustworthy positions. 

But, kauTilya differs with this view.....

Applying such harsh tests have a great danger of corrupting a pure soul. One should not pollute the minds of good amAtyas by showing them the short-cuts to get the power. This is like mixing the poison in the pure water!

Once seeded with the poisonous thoughts of above 4 types of secret tests in the capable people like amAtyas, those seeds grow till complete destruction of the King/Leader. 

So, these four secret tests (dharma, artha, kAma & bhaya upathas)  should *NOT* bring the purOhita, King and Queen into the picture. Tests have to be conducted gently without causing the seed of corruption sets in the minds of those being tested. (That is the opinion of the great AcArya of artha SAstra.)
 

This brings us to the end of 10th chapter of artha SAstra called testing the purity using secret tests!

Qualities of a “mantri” (prime minister)

Qualities of a “mantri” (prime minister)

1. A national by birth
2. Born in a respected family
3. One who can correct himself
4. Proved himself by demonstrated skills
5. Who can see the truth beyond the bare eyes
6. Knows three time periods well
7. Great mental ability
8. Capable of applying the knowledge to situation s
9. Eloquent, good ability to express
10. Bold
11. Alert in current situation
12. Can encourage and influence others
13. Who can bear / cope up with difficulties
14. Upright
15. Friendly
16. Loyal
17. Having good character, power, health and sprit
18. Devoid of adamancy and fickleness
19. Generally liked by the people
20. Who does not create conflict

Above qualities are the assets of a minister. One who lacks a quarter (5) of them is madhyama i.e an average minister. One who lacks half (10) of the above is a poor (adhama) minister.

cANakya gives tips on how to examine the above qualities in a prospective minister.

Why amAtyas are needed? 
The kings profession involves three types of activities. (a) Leader is directly involved, (b) Leader need to get them done in his absence and (c) follow-up of previously started direct or indirect actions. (pratyaksha, parOksha, anumEya hi rAjavRtti )

These three types of activities always come together in various places within the kingdom.

Leader will not be able to attend to all of the activities himself directly as it is humanly impossible. Hence, the right persons need to be pre-appointed to take care of the activities of the Leader as needed.

Finally he concludes the 9th chapter
ब्रह्मणेनैधितम् क्षत्रं मन्त्रिमन्त्राभिमन्त्रितम् ।
जयत्यजितमत्यन्तं शास्त्रानुगमशस्त्रितम् ॥

Having grown the above good qualities by wise men (brahmaNa) , strengthened by the strategy of thought leader (mantri) , the victorious leadership of the king (kshatram) flourishes following the instructions of the SAstra.

Even this applies to an individual. kshatram means "capacity to do things", brahmaNa means buddhi i.e., resolve and mantri is the mental ability. When the individual capability is empowered by the firm resolve towards the purpose and supported by a good mental ability and individual follows the right instructions of the SAstra, every individual will be victorious!

So, 1. wise direction, 2. right strategy and mental ability, 3. following the right instructions  are needed for an individual or a society to flourish.

This concludes the fifth topic called mantri-purOhitOtpatti and 9th chapter of artha SAstra

Appointing amAtyas

Topic 4 - Chapter 8 of vinayAdhikaraNa is about appointing the "operating officers" or amAtyas. As mentioned earlier, cANakya first states all the opinions of the past teachers and finally gives his opinion.

Who should be appointed as amAtya? is the topic called amAtyOtpatti.

bhAradwaja says one should consider appoiting his classmates (saha-adhyAyi) as amAtyas as the Leader knows their purity and other qualities.

viSAlAksha says it is not right. As the classmates have been playing together from childhood, they do not give respect to the Leader / King what is needed. King should consider appointing those who have similar strengths and weaknesses as himself as amAtyas.

parASara says viSAlaksha's approach leads to the weakness as both the leader and amAtyas will have same weaknesses. In parASara's view Leader should consider appointing those who have saved him during the times of deep troubles.

"No" says piSunaH. One who has saved the King in troubled time shows his loyalty alone. It will not prove his ability to serve as amAtya. Only loyalty is not sufficient to be an amAtya. One who meets targets should be appointed as amAtya.

"No" says kauNapadantaH. Meeting targets alone is not sufficient. One should consider appointing those who were serving as amAtyas from generations at the past Kings are the one's suitable to be appointed as amAtyas.

Uddhava (the minister of Lord SrI kRSna ) says, that is not right. Those who are amAtyas from generations are proud about their birth and behave as if they are the King. So, one should consider appointing those who are new and well educated in the SAstra as amAtyas.

bAhudantIputra says that is also not correct. Even if they are well educated in SAstras, without practical experience they fail at the duties. So, one should consider birth, capability, purity, initiative and friendship with the Leader as prerequisites for amAtyas.

सर्वम् उपपन्नं इति कौटिल्यः कार्य सामर्थ्यात् हि पुरुषसामर्थ्यम् कल्पते सामर्थ्यतः च -

विभज्यामात्य विभवं देशकालै च कर्म च
अमात्याः सर्व एवैते कार्याः स्युर्न तु मन्त्रिणः ॥।

kauTilya says all the above arguments are valid. Every person has unique capabilities and can achieve best results in different types of activities. So, one should evaluate individual capabilities to achieve required types of activities, considering the place and time of needed activities, all the co-students can be appointed in suitable positions. But one should never make classmates as mantri (thought leader!)

It is important to make a note of comprehensiveness of cANakya's approach. "right person to preform the right duty" is the key. Everyone has some or the other capability; it is the skill of the leader to put the right person to perform the right duty leads to the prosperous structure in the "cooperative leadership"

This brings to the end of 8th chapter of artha SAstra which completes discussion on "Appointing amAtyas".

Cooperative leadership - Introduction

At the end of the last post cANakya concluded "sahAya sAdhyam rAjatvam" i.e., the leadership is only possible with the help and cooperation.

I want to call it as a model of "Cooperative Leadership Model"

Who are the people a Leader (King) should get the help or cooperation from?

1. karma sacivas or amAtyas - These are the ones who own and perform activities on behalf of the Leader. 
2. buddhi sacivas or mantri - These are the ones who will help in thinking i.e., thought leadership and developing the strategy. 

The two prakaraNas (topics) covered in two chapters (8 and 9) of artha SAstra is about amAtya and mantri, purOhita.

Over and above these two types of sacivas i.e, friends, a Leader should also appoint a purOhita or the prime priest well versed with all the SAstras to oversee the function of the government / overall leadership.

In modern terms, the amAtyas are the operational managers led by a COO (chief operations officer) and mantris are the thought leaders led by the CEO (chief executive officer)

But what is not covered in modern management is the post of a purOhita. puraH dhIyatE iti porOhitaH - which means who is given top most respect in the territory is the purOhitaH as the purOhita always seeks the prosperity of the society / territory. The purOhita is the teacher of the Leader. He should be looked upon as the father by the King / Leader.

What is the use of a purOhita?

He foresees the problems before they manifest. He can provide remedies to unforeseen problems. He monitors and mentors the Leader, amAtyas and mantris in the difficult situations.

So, let us call him as "prime mentor" in the modern terms. It is very important for a Leader to have a prime mentor who is interested in the well being of the whole organization with a holistic perspective.

He makes sure the organization is not moving away from its purpose (or function) its structure is appropriate and the process is adhered.


(I will cover the qualities of amAtyas and mantris in the next two posts.)

rAjarShi vRttam – The profession of a “Saintly King”

In the 7th chapter of artha SAstra, cANakya gives a view of life of a rAjaRShi i.e, a King-saint.

An aspiring king should first conquer indriyas (as per the last post). Then get trained by the elders by serving them. By being alert, he should focus on yoga (acquiring new things) and kshema (protecting already acquired). By delegating work, he should engage others following him in their own duties. Gain practical knowledge (vinayam) by learning vidyas. By properly distributing the money in welfare activities liked by the people. By making long term beneficial plans to the people run the government.

He should make himself and people fulfill desires that are not against dharma and artha. (dharmArtha-avirudhaH kAmam sEveta) All the tri-varga (dharma, artha & kAma) should be attended with equal importance as they are closely inter-related. By giving any one of them higher importance leads to diminishing impact on the other two and finally leads to imbalance and destruction of individual self.

But cANakya feels the artha is the glue which keeps dharma and kAma in limits. So additional focus to be given to artha.

King should request an AcArya (a wise teacher) to monitor his activities and warn him when something is about to go wrong.

Why an emperor has to impose restrictions on him in this manner? 

cANakya answers:

सहायसाध्यं राजत्वं चक्रमेकम् न वर्तते ।
कुर्वीत सचिवान् तस्मात् तेषां च श्रुणुयान्मतम् ॥

"The kingship is only possible by help from the well wishers. A single wheel can't run (the chariot). So, have sacivAs i.e, wise well wishers and listen to their opinions!"

(I hope this 11th post has captured the description of a saintly king's profession.... )

This ends the 7th chapter and third topic called indriya vijaya in the first adhikaraNa of kautilya’s artha SAstra.

First and most important victory - indriya jayaH

Third topic of artha SAstra is indriya jayaH i.e., victory over senses. There are six internal enemies who need to be conquered by one and all. cANakya states "विद्या विनय हेतुः इन्द्रिय जयः" the basis for learning and training is victory over senses.

kAma, krOdha, lObha, mAna, mada, harsha have to be given up. They are the six internal enemies. Desire, anger, possessiveness, ego, pride and making fun of elders are the six enemies.

One should win over these six. How?

By decoupling ears, skin, eyes, tongue, nose respectively from their subjects sound, touch, shape, taste, smell by strong will and controlling the enjoyments as per the SAsta with the necessary restraints.

कृत्स्नं हि शास्त्रम् इदम् इन्द्रिय जयः - This SAstra is ALL about victory over senses!

If a King has not attained this FIRST victory, even if he conquered the whole world, he will be destroyed completely sooner rather than later by his own internal enemies. cANakya gives examples of different past kings who have destroyed themselves and their kingdoms due to the dominence of internal enemies.

dAnDakya due to kAma; karAla due to kAma; janamEjaya due to krOdha; lAlajangha due to krOdha; ilA's sone purUrava due to lObha; rAvana due to mAna; duryOdhana due to mada; daMbhodbhava and kArtavIryArjuna due to pride; vAtApi and yAdavAs due to harsha i.e., moking at the elders. Not only these, several others have destroyed themselves along with their kingdoms! But Kings like Ambarisha have attained perfection having conquered their senses!

So, The first and most important victory for a vijigIshu is the victory over the senses and internal enemies.

How EGO causes corruption? - An upanishadic narration.

Human body is considered as the kshetra or the kingdom and the real king powers the whole of this kingdom is the prANa or vital force.

Once there was a war between the good and evil forces within. In the war the good forces made the faculty of speech as their leader. Speech kept alive traces of ego for its unique capability of reciting virtuous words. Evil used this and corrupted the faculty of speech and won over it by making it speak bad words!
Next the good forces made eye as their leader; Eye kept alive traces of ego for its capability to see good things. Evil used this and corrupted the faculty of seeing and won over it by making it see bad things!
In the same way faculty of hearing, faculty of smell and faculty of touch i.e., each indriya failed to win over the evil forces.
Finally, good forces made the prANa i.e., the vital force their leader. Evil could not corrupt it as it is impartial and equally powered everything without any EGO. In the impartial and egoless leadership of vital force, evil forces shattered into pieces and good forces won the war.

Moral: Only when the leader is impartial and conquered the senses & EGO, he can be victorious!

This is the 10th post covers the 6th adhyaya of artha SAstra.