This article is by Chokdee Rutirasiri, the founder of Story & Structure, a design firm.
At the heart of Buddhist traditions and teachings lies the Eightfold Path. It has eight elements: Right View, Right Intention, Right Action, Right Speech, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration. I consider it to be a nonlinear guide to areas of exploration and practice that can lead to a greater understanding of the world around you. By nonlinear, I mean that you don’t have to master one of the elements before taking on another. For instance, Right Mindfulness and Right Intention go into all parts of the path; they intertwine and intersect to create a clearer picture of reality and how to flourish within it.
These teachings have guided me not only in my spiritual life, but in my professional life as well, as a Buddhist in the business world. I have applied three of the eight tenets to my dealings with customers and employees and the management of my human-centered design firm. These three are Right Intention, Right Action, and Right Mindfulness. I believe they can help all of us face the challenges and choices we encounter in the corporate world. Understood and used correctly, they provide valuable tools to help us navigate the path to business enlightenment.
Right Intention: When I first explain to people what my company does, they always ask, what exactly is "human-centered design"? I answer that we listen to people’s business problems and then try to come up with solutions that they can easily and intuitively implement, but also, we incorporate the Right Intention teaching in our core company values, and it is reflected in the solutions we develop. For example, if I look inside myself and see that greed is a factor in a solution we are developing, I eliminate it immediately. Greed only leads to suffering, and suffering is something that Buddhists vehemently reject. I always focus on ensuring that my intentions in business are pure and centered on helping my clients achieve only the best for their business, because in the end that is the best for both of us.
Right Action: After intentions come actions. You must evaluate how your actions help or harm. The more wholesome your intentions are, the more sincere your actions will be. I always aim my work at being skillful, helpful, and best directed to improving the client’s return on investment. A client’s suffering is my suffering, so I make sure to prevent it as much as possible. To practice improving your actions, you need to develop an awareness of ethics and then use good judgment to ensure that your actions will not bring harm or suffering to your client (and your business).
Right Mindfulness: Mindfulness is easily summarized as paying attention. That sounds easy enough, but in today’s fast-paced, meetings-scheduled-months-in-advance world, staying present in the moment is very hard. In business, you need to focus on what’s happening now, not the future. Granted, you need to invest thought in foreseeable problems, upcoming major presentations, and the like, but that should not prevent you from taking time to really go over what you can accomplish today. Now. Tomorrow will come, but you will never get yesterday back. Make sure you use every moment to its fullest and invest your time wisely.
Focusing on these three tenets of the Eightfold Path will not only surprise but delight you. I’m not advocating converting to Buddhism, but I do suggest you convert to practicing Buddhism in business, as it will lead to greater rewards both spiritual and financial.
