How to view success

SIX LENSES
Vignettes of Success, Career and Relationships
R Gopalakishnan
Rupa Publications
205 pages; Rs 395

With a broad theme like six lenses that shape our perception of the leadership challenges encountered in work and family, the book ran the danger of becoming a 205-page-long boring lecture on philosophy. But Six Lenses: Vignettes of Success, Career and Relationships ends up being a gripping narrative of life's many shades, which can encourage readers to look at their lives and careers in a different light.

There are three reasons for this: one, the author's mastery of the art of story-telling and his intellectual rigour that helps connects the dots. R Gopalakrishnan is a prolific writer (this is his fifth book in eight years) but this one is clearly his best. Two, he has carefully avoided the predictability of countless management books that offer instant, pre-packaged wisdom on how to succeed in one's career. And three, the book subtly revolves around management and philosophy with multiple references from religious texts and binds them all with several interesting anecdotes - the extraordinary lessons the author learnt from everyday experiences of people to which readers can relate. In the process, the author shows how, by altering our perceptions, people can better overcome the challenges they face at work and in family matters.

Mr Gopalakrishnan also draws from the Vedantic idea of myth and reality to conclude that the idea of reality does not exist and that all man sees is through his perception of the world around him. It's like a visit to the optician for an eye test - on the support frame, there are lenses that can be rotated to improve vision during testing. The rotation of each lens changes the clarity and the view. There are many perspectives that the viewer can get and he or she has to select the view that best suits him or her. Like an optician who keeps turning the lenses till the patient can see clearly, people need to keep shifting the proverbial six lenses until they find and arrive at an awareness of their life's purpose and fulfilment.

Take the story of Nihal Kaviratne who gave up a chance to study at Harvard to ensure that he did not lose his girlfriend, who later became his wife. Viewed through the lens of work, his decision may be termed a failure. But viewed through the lens of purpose and family, he might well appear to be a big success. Both are valid views, depending on the lenses through which the event is viewed.

The six lenses (the book has a chapter each that corresponds to each of these lenses) are: Purpose (the deep-seated belief about life's aim); Authenticity ( who you are, at the core); Courage (overcoming obstacles and inequity); Trust (encompasses virtues such as reliability, never letting anyone down, etc); Luck (people pretend they don't believe in it except when it suits them) and Fulfilment (it is about enjoying what exists rather than cry about what might have been missed).

Universally, people define success in terms of what other people think of it. But the important lesson the book provides is that there is no universally accepted measure of success. But the paradox is that while all success doesn't lead to fulfilment, all fulfilment leads to success. The delightful stories about "people like us" tell us how each of them sought success and fulfilment and are great examples of what happiness means - it's a complex phenomenon called emotional well-being. Young readers may scoff at the author's prognosis that happiness is tied to giving rather than taking, to volunteering and to donating, but they could gain some deep insights when Mr Gopalakrishnan says, "Life often seems to bestow its bounties at the wrong time on the wrong people. Banks lend to those who are creditworthy, which means they have quite a lot of money to repay. When one is of the age to go on a honeymoon, one is most likely strapped for cash. And when one has the cash one may not be in the age bracket for a honeymoon."

Though its inclusion as a lens may be considered unusual by many, Mr Gopalakrishnan is at his best in the chapter on "Luck". Through countless examples, he has shown how good outcomes are dressed up by the corporate types as strategic strokes of genius while catastrophes are attributed to bad luck. For example, when he was posted to Jeddah in 1990 as chairman, Unilever Arabia, war clouds were gathering. Many thought he was unlucky to be posted there at such a time. They were right, because the war broke out soon after. But after the war ended, there was massive government spending throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council states; the economy became buoyant and greatly helped him establish Unilever's business on a sound footing. It may have been "unearned" luck, but he was lucky nevertheless. One wishes many of his peers, both past and present, were as forthcoming about the reasons for their success.

Overall, Six Lenses… is a great read, made richer by an author who has enough experience and knowledge to offer readers views on the choices and assumptions that people make, as also their outcomes.