Right Speech as a basis for management training

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a process, grounded in Buddhist practical wisdom, which trains managers to negotiate effectively. Design/methodology/approach – After comparing Western notions of phronesis/prudentia with insights from Buddhist tradition, it reports on the author's 20+years’ work in cross-cultural communication-skills training and examines sample training exercises. Findings – Even experienced business-people rarely register the detail of what happens in their meetings. Simple behavioural routines, using checklists, can help here. The self-image of a problem-solver, reinforced by corporate culture, produces an urge to prove oneself right. So people get locked in to abstract, analytical thinking, and interpersonal relations are inhibited. A good way to overcome this constraint is to practise applying certain heuristics, or rules-of-thumb, for addressing contentious points in a negotiation. Practical implications – An impractical ideology of analytical perfection dominates much of corporate cultures; much management education suffers from a hypertrophy of theory. A different, more practical approach seems overdue. A good way to catalyse a paradigm shift is indirectly, by focusing on specific behaviours. There are some important goals which we cannot attain by an instrumental process. Social implications – Unethical business behaviour, which is also ineffective, is often rooted in mistrust of direct experience. To improve ethics and effectiveness, businesses and managers need to recognise non-instrumental goals. Important as they are, efficiency and profitability are subordinate to the need for people to stay sane, to continue learning and to grow as humans, in the course of doing business. Originality/value – Buddhist speech ethics and the culture of skill-in-means have much to offer management education.