Heterodoxy and Discourse

When Hema Ravichandar sent me his vitae, I knew Dr. Narendra Agarwal and I would have much to discuss. A distinguished professor and fellow of the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, this nation’s premier training ground for MBA’s and Ph.D’s, Dr. Narendra invited me to spend Friday and Saturday morning at the campus. Breakfast would begin the day, I would attend class with him to meet his students, and then, on Saturday, I would present an invited lecture to a group of over seventy-five. The presentation began with all of us standing, hands folded under chin as if in prayer, and about two minutes of silence. I did not know if we were praying, meditating or doing some other activity, and later asked my host to explain what had happened. He shared that he was demonstrating a sign of respect to his students, as they were to him and to each other.

I began my talk with a quote from Rabindranath Tagore.

The best and noblest gifts of humanity cannot be the monopoly of a particular
race or country.

I shared a bit about my background, my commitment to building relationships and alliances internationally, and my fervent belief that our survival depends on our recognition and practice of respect for one another. I came to India, I said, to learn, and to the degree that I have something to give back, to share.

Using Margaret Wheatley’s work, Leadership and the New Science: Discovering Order in a Chaotic World, I titled my lecture, “Leadership: From Chaos to Order.” I suggested to the group that sometimes to gain insight into a subject, one must move beyond the classic literature associated with our field and seek analogues in art, in poetry, in music, in science, and in other fields. Meg Wheatley examines quantum physics and uses it to discuss the principles of chaos, of relationships, of information, and of vision in organizations. I shared with the group how these principles can be made manifest as a leader.

For example, with the principle of information, I pointed out that in application, a leader must

Let go of the need to hoard knowledge;

Recognize that knowledge is power and access to it distributes the power to others in the organization;

Acknowledge that with power comes responsibility; and

Commit that all in the organization have a right and responsibility to lead from any chair.

I then asked the group to spend about 5-8 minutes reflecting on lessons they have learned about leadership and to frame their thoughts through the lens of chaos, relationships, information, or vision. They spent some time writing, then sharing with a partner, and then discussing as a group the various challenges, questions, and insights. Many of their issues are similar to those we face in the West; some are unique to India. One issue similar to a matter we face in the United States is the idea of heterodoxy, the ability to embrace a variety of perspectives. India, as reflected most quintessentially in the 8th century work, the Isa Upanisad, truly is a paradox, a riddle, a conundrum, a contradiction.

It stirs and it stirs not; it is far, and likewise near; it is inside of all
this and it is outside of all this.

The ability of Indians to hold seemingly antithetical states simultaneously astonishes me. In these early days of initiating this research, recurring notions, possible themes are already emerging, and one is this uncanny ability for individuals to be and/or simultaneously. Is this recognition of khela, of change coupled with an underlying and unchanging harmony in nature and in us, one key to acceptance, and ultimately to loving the other in our midst?

I have come to work in a nation that through the millennia demonstrates respect for heterodoxy and embraces discourse. No, the road has not always been smooth, for we humans are human, after all. Often in the United States we talk about diversity, we talk of respecting differences and of cherishing debate, and yet do our actions reflect this? The respect I am extended here in India I wish to see in my own university among each of us—faculty, administration, students, staff, the larger community. If we take principles of chaos, of information, of relationships, and of vision, are they not the warp and weft of the fabric of Indian culture as surely as they are that of quantum physics? Perhaps the standing, the hands folded, the quietude, and the humble honoring of another individual can serve a both metaphor and action in our own lives not only when class begins, but moment by moment.