M.S.
Srinivasan
Whatever you may want to do in life, one thing
is absolutely indispensable and at the basis of everything is the capacity of
concentrating the attention.
- The Mother
The ability to concentrate and use your time
well is everything if you want to succeed in business - or almost everywhere.
- Lee Iacoca
Former CEO of Chrysler
Former CEO of Chrysler
The capacity for concentration is an important factor in
enhancing the efficiency and productivity of individuals. There is at present a
considerable mass of literature on concentration based mainly on the ancient
disciplines of Indian Yoga. However there is not yet sufficient clarity on how
to apply these principles and methods of concentration in the modern corporate environment.
This article examines the problem of concentration in the corporate context and
as a means for improving the performance of individuals.
Key Perspectives
Principles of concentration; concentration in the corporate
context; obstacles to concentration; enablers of concentration; concentration
and inner growth.
Principles of
Concentration
Concentration means the ability to focus all the attention and
energy of the mind on a particular point and hold on to it as long as it is
needed. We must note here that concentration does not mean we must always be
tensely focussed on something but to acquire and possess the ability to focus
our energies at will and whenever it is needed.
Our so-called “normal” conditions of mind is a state of
dispersion, diffusion and wastage of the light and power of our consciousness
in a multitude of thoughts, feelings and objects, scattered helplessly in an
uncontrolled medley of confusion and disorder. Such a mind is the most
inefficient and unproductive. For Mind is also a form of energy like Matter.
When this mental energy is scattered and diffused in uncontrolled and useless
chattering, it is at the lowest and at the most inefficient level of
functioning. On the other hand
when this mental energy is under control, free from useless, wasteful and
disturbing thoughts, focussed and concentrated at a point, it functions at its
highest potential. Energy, physical or mental, when focussed, enhances its
penetrative power. An apt analogy from modern technology is the Laser beam. Laser
is the electromagnetic energy of sunlight which - falls on earth in a diffused
and scattered form, - focussed into a coherent and concentrated beam, which can
penetrate even steel. This applies equally to mental energy. The act of
focusing the mind increases and multiplies the cognitive as well as the
penetrative power of its energy; it grows in light, clarity, insight,
understanding and also in power, intensity, strength and force of effectuation.
In fact some form of concentration
is there in all creative and productive activities. All great leaders of
thought and action and all those who have attained higher levels of success or
excellence in whatever field, business or politics, art, literature or
religion, possess this capacity of concentration in an exceptional or above
average measure. But the Science of Yoga believes that even an average man can
develop and enhance his power of concentration by constant, systematic and
methodical practice.
There is at present a considerable
amount of literature on concentration and its methods of practice, most of them
based on Patanjali’s Yoga-sutra or Buddhist meditational practices. But
Patanjali’s and Buddhist methods of concentration are designed mainly for
spiritual seekers aiming at more or less other-worldly aims. Most of these
ancient methods of concentration aim at an inward meditative absorbtion in a
world-shutting trance. But our present enquiry is how to induce and enhance
concentration in our modern corporate life, pursuing worldly aims, made of average
worldly men and women and in the actual day-to-day work-life of the
organizational man. This requires creative adaptation of the basic principles
and methods of the ancient meditation techniques to the modern
work-environment.
Let us now examine this problem of
concentration in the context of modern work-life. We have to identify clearly
what are the factors which enhances as well as prevents concentration, both
individually and collectively, and think-out how to create an environment,
which felicitates concentration.
Concentration
in the Corporate Context
In most of us who are not Yogis, an
absorbing interest, desire or ambition, drive for success or achievement,
chasing a difficult goal or target, induces a certain amount of concentration.
Conversely lack of interest in work or life or the urge for wealth, enjoyment,
success or achievement, leads to boredom and monotony and a state of slack
inertia, which is not conducive to concentration. So an organisational culture
which makes a conscious effort to make the work-life interesting, exciting and
challenging and tries to harness the motives, desires and ambitions of people
in a healthy and creative way towards the progressive evolution of the
individual and the organisation is helpful and beneficial for achieving
concentration. And this is happening to a certain extent in our modern
corporate culture, especially in Business. This is perhaps the reason why
business is the most efficient and productive among modern social organs.
But in our approach, the ideal we
have to strive for is to acquire the ability to concentrate at will with or
without the factors like interest or desire which we have mentioned earlier. To
realise this ideal we have to understand what are the obstacles to
concentration and also the positive factors which can strengthen our ability to
concentrate. The practical problem is to eliminate or minimise the obstacles to
concentration and cultivate the factors which strengthen it.
Obstacles
to Concentration
The opposite of concentration is distraction
and dispersion. Our human mind is by nature fickle and tends towards
dispersion; it flits from one object to another and runs passionately towards
all that is pleasing and attractive to it. There are two major domains of
distraction: first are the distractions of the external environment and second
are the internal distractions within the mind. All forms of strong, gross and provocative sensations are
obstacles to concentration. So an external environment, which leads to soft,
mild and refined sensations, is favourable not only to our emotional and
aesthetic development but also for concentration. Similarly, excessive
gossiping and chatting can be a factor of considerable dispersion. These
are some of the major external obstacles to concentration. Among internal
factors, the first major source of disturbance is the compelling and
uncontrollable flow and crowding of thoughts and feelings. The remedy to this
problem is to cultivate
calm and peace, which is indispensable for effective concentration. No real
concentration is possible if the mind is like a crowded street in a city.
There are many disciplines in Yoga
for bringing peace and calm to the mind. First method is to consciously slow
down breathing. For Indian
Yogis have found that there is an intimate connection between the rate of
breathing and the flow of thought. Second method is to draw back and detach
inwardly from the crowding flow of thoughts, take the position of a witness,
and allow the disturbance to pass or exhaust itself. Third method is to
visualise universal peace, calm and silence pervading all space and call it
down into our consciousness by aspiration, invocation and prayer. So before
commencing a work requiring concentration, it is always desirable to establish
a certain amount of calm and peace in our body and mind; it very much helps in
concentration.
The other set of obstacles to
concentration are worry and anxiety and brooding over the past and future.
Worry and anxiety may be due to personal problems or incompetence or the present
corporate environment with its threatening deadlines and insecurity. Anxieties
and worries created by personal problems or incompetence have to be handled by
the individual employee himself, though the corporate management can lend a
compassionate helping hand. But the anxieties created by the corporate
environment are a difficult problem, which requires a more humane, sympathetic
and serious attention from the corporate management than a helpless, or
indifferent “can’t-help-it” shrugs. For a state of constant anxiety and
uncertainty over the job is not conducive to concentration or well-being of the
work-force. An individual company may not have the power to change the
market-realities. But a conscious combined effort of industry or business
associations, government and NGOs can have a definite impact on minimising the
anxiety levels of the work-force created by the down-sizing culture.
The
other important obstacle to concentration is the inordinate longing for future
result, reward or benefit. Constant drifting of the mind to past or the future,
for whatever reason, due to worry anxiety or the desire or ambition for the
future reward dilutes and scatters the mental energy. The power of
concentration reaches its peak only when all the attention and energies of our
consciousness is focussed on the present and the now. This is a great
discipline for the spiritual development of the individual. However by
minimising worry and anxiety and the drift towards past and future, it can also
enhance our capacity for concentration.
Enablers
of Concentration
We have discussed so far some of the
major obstacles to concentration and the remedies. Let us now look at the
positive factors which can reinforce concentration. We have already indicated
some of them like focus on
the present, calm and peace. The other important factors are persistent will,
vigilant mind and constant practice. We must keep in mind that there is no
shortcut or quick-fix remedies for concentration. We have to work against the
natural urge of the mind towards dispersion and impress upon it the opposite
tendency of concentrated focus, through a patient, persistent and undespondent
will. The ordinary unfocussed human mind is described in the ancient Indian
Yogic literature in the image of a monkey who is at once blind, drunk and
strung by a scorpion! This image gives some idea of the difficulty
involved in dealing with our mind.
Initially, it could be extremely
tiring to impose concentration on the mind which is not habituated to it. The
mind may revolt violently and react with thoughts and feelings like “O it is
hopeless”, “no use trying”, and “not worth the labour”. But these suggestions
have to be firmly rejected by the will and the process of concentration has to
be repeated again and again, patiently, without yielding to despondency. The
steps of the process are simple in paper but difficult to put into practice.
The first step is to establish a minimum amount of calm in the mind. Next step
is to gather and bring back the vagabonding mind to the focal point of
concentration which may be an object, thought, or an activity. Third step is to
hold on to it as long as possible, keeping the distracting thoughts away with a
vigilant mind and a firm will. Here comes the importance of an alert and
vigilant mind. A sleepy and
drowsy condition is a great obstacle to concentration. And sometimes a drowsy
absorption of the mind in an object is mistaken for concentration. For
effective concentration, both the will and awareness in the mind has to be
alert, watchful and vigilant to ward off the unwanted intruders and keep the
mind focussed.
Practice of concentration during
work can be supplemented by other and more specialized practices at home or
during unoccupied moments like for example while commuting to office or home,
in a bus or train. There are innumerable methods and techniques, which we can
pick up from any good book on the subject, and there are many such books. For
example gazing steadily over a candle flame is a well-known method in the
Indian Yogic tradition. The
other method is to inwardly visualize an object or image and concentrate on it.
The image can be religious or spiritual symbol like the form of a deity or a
non-religious image like a geometric figure. Here, the practitioner can begin
with a simple figure like a square or a circle, slowly and gradually progresses
towards more complex figures like a hexagon or a pentagon. The object of
concentration cannot be the same for all. It has to be chosen taking into
consideration the nature, temperament, occupation and the mental or emotional
affinities of the individual. Initially the object of concentration has to be
something pleasing and attractive to the mind and heart of the practitioner.
Concentration
and Inner Growth
We have discussed so far how to harness
the power of concentration for enhancing productivity. However when this power
of concentration is turned inwards, for focusing all our creative energies for
realizing a mental, moral or spiritual ideal, it becomes a potent tool for
accelerating our inner growth. So we request our readers use the power of
concentration not exclusively for enhancing productivity but predominantly for
inner growth with productivity as the outer result. When this power or capacity
is used with this higher aim it can perhaps lead to even higher or more
qualitatively superior productivity because it will bring the greater creative
energies of our inner being to work. In this way while becoming a better
professional we will also grow inwardly and become better human beings.
The author
is a Research Associate at Sri Aurobindo Society and on the editorial board of
Fourth Dimension Inc. His major areas of interest are Management and Indian
Culture.
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