1. Introduction

When Shifu first mentioned the book “The Diamond Cutter”, I was quite sceptical about it though I got hold of a copy anyway. I did not read the book due to my examination preparation at that time. Instead, I lent it to a colleague, totally ignorant of what I might be missing! Immediately after that, the book became a hit at Than Hsiang! Everyone who had read the book talked about it. It is taken to be the Mahayana Diamond Sutra, applied in business environment. ‘Imprint’ was the popular term mentioned also. “It was nothing much except about imprints!” commented one colleague.

I was left out. After a while, the Diamond Cutter craze died down. When my copy of the book finally came back to me, I was still sceptical. Nonetheless, I turned to the first page and began reading it. It was an instant addiction! I was glued to the book immediately! Hey! I was indeed missing something here!

As my eyes traced line after line of the wisdom contained in the book, my mind pondered and reflected over what I had read. Now, this is what I call a good management book! Virtually, a perfect one! Although the ideas and concepts presented by Geshe Michael Roach in the book are much related to conventional and contemporary management principles, it is more complete in the sense that it is beyond the sphere of normal business management ideas. In fact, some of the ideas are in total contradiction with normal business practice. It presented an alternative method in the attempt to influence our business and personal life positively.

I was attracted to Buddhism because I was not able to do much to influence my life with the management, psychology, motivational and leadership ideas I came across in the past. The alternative method offered by Buddhism which I was attracted to is now presented with clarity in a more secular term and logical manner in “The Diamond Cutter”. To some, it may sound illogical and impractical, but as a Buddhist and an instructor, I found the ideas are nothing short of realism and pragmatism – a very practical way of life in the business or working environment. This method will be complementary to what I have learned thus far to make it a more complete system.

Thus, I am writing this article to present a relationship between some popular management principles advocated by the ‘gurus’ and the wisdom contained in “The Diamond Cutter”, to see how one can complement the other to form a more complete approach to organizational issues. I will attempt to explain how the ideas in the book can be applied using the modern management principles, and to explain these principles with the ideas suggested in the book.

2. The Three Methods and the Human Relations Management

I have always been an advocate of the Human Relations Management approach, an idea pioneered by Elton Mayo et. al. in the 60’s. Unfortunately, in most business environment, this idea is usually brushed aside sceptically! It is still the dough that counts. It is the system that matters! Sometimes business people forget that they are human themselves, and the dough comes from the people, and the system cannot function without the people! They are more concerned with managing the business, which is only one aspect of running a business. Peter Drucker (The Principles of Management) had clearly stated that to run a business successfully, one must also know how to manage the ranks and files – the people, and to manage the managers, also people! It can be illustrated as follow:

Managing business involves managing resources, finances, systems etc, which is something which most people are indeed experienced with. What we would like to look into is the other two aspects; managing people and managing managers, which is generally involving the principles of Human Relations Management approach.

The three ultimate management tools – the Jampa Method, Switching Bodies and Rope Tricks suggested by Roach, are in essence the mentality and practice of the Bodhisattva, served to promote the relationship among beings for a common goal – Nirvana. In the business sense, these are tools to promote the relationship among colleagues (including bosses and subordinates) for a common goal – profitability.

Hopefully, with the three ultimate management tools, we will be able to open our eyes to the concept that has been forwarded since the 60’s and believe it can actually work – that is to pay special attention to our people; to their likes and dislikes; to acknowledge and recognize their efforts; to praise their achievements openly in the public; to criticize their failures and weaknesses constructively in private etc. In general, it pays to make them feel good about their job, efforts, achievements, colleagues etc because we can be assured that the more they feel good about it, the more they would like to do it; perform and exert themselves to achieve yet greater heights, without us prodding them from behind!

The Diamond Division of the Andin International under Roach’s leadership, has proven that this method works, except that Roach took two steps further with the Switching Bodies and Rope Tricks. These two are something which are not commonly found in management books, though it is often equated to empathy and oneness which are not even close to what Roach has in mind, that is the Bodhisattva ideal advocated by the Sutra. The Human Relations Management principles can still be practised on the surface, except that in essence, the management will have to adopt a more profound mentality and cultivation. This is not so simple but they can begin by putting themselves into the other person’s shoes, or even, be one with them to see what is it really needed, and apply the management principles accordingly. With the Human Relations Management mentality and the Bodhisattva’s spirit as the basis, the following areas pertaining to business management can be implemented specifically according to the needs.

3. The Correlations and Reward

Although Roach stresses toward the end of the book the idea of limitless economic resources that can be achieved, it may take a long time before it becomes a reality. Long before that, we still have to accept the fact that we are still facing the constraints of limited resources, particularly financial resources.

In voluntary organisations such as a Buddhist organisation, where financial rewards and perks are rare and are scarce luxuries, the management will have to seek for alternative reward which can keep the people going, motivated and inspired to contribute to a greater cause.

Concerning this matter, I would like to refer to the chapter where Roach touches on the correlations and common business problems, in particular, problem #36 where he suggests that we should open our ears and listen to what they have to say. On top of that, recognition should be given where it is due. These are examples of extrinsic rewards that can be meted out to the people, where monetary rewards may not be in abundance. Problem #32 which suggests the “gratitude meditation” illustrates this point too: although people are paid to do their job, we should recognize and be grateful for the precious hours of their lives and healthy years spent in helping us accomplish what we aspire!

People, as explained in McGregor’s Theory Y, do not work for the sake of work or money. They are looking for other rewards as well, perhaps of an intrinsic nature. In a Buddhist organisation, this is even more relevant. Human relationships, spiritual guidance, the opportunity to cultivate and practise, inner joy, a sense of achievement, satisfaction derived from been able to contribute for a greater cause etc are some good way to motivate and inspire the people. This can be achieved if the management takes the trouble to constantly communicate and ‘educate’ them with the plan, strategies, directions of the organisation, the roles played by the people, the ‘big picture’, and how they are related to that ‘big picture’. Give them something they can be related to, and to strive for.

This takes time, but come on, giving time and by being present, is also a type of generosity or dana which would plant stronger imprints than monetary rewards themselves! Han Xin, the general who helped Liu Bang to build the Han dynasty, used to squat and have meals with his soldiers. This had a strong bearing on the soldiers’ morale and fighting spirit! Liu Bei of the Shu Kingdom evacuated together with the slow moving citizens of Xin Ye while pursued closely by Cao Cao’s fast advancing army. He could have lost his life in the process, but he won the hearts and support of the many by that action! This corresponds with Drucker’s idea of Management By Walking Around (MBWA) and Roach’s business problem #3. The mere presence of the leader who radiates sincerity, loving-kindness and compassion makes a significant impact on the people.

Of course, at the same time, the organisation should also practise the examples as stated in business problems where the willingness to share, a generous state of mind, the actual giving, and the sincere wish for the success of others, should be practised in order to attract more financial returns in the accounts. And all these solutions, happen to be human-oriented too!

4. Team and Teamwork

The idea of team and teamwork was advocated very much earlier by Henri Fayol, a French businessman who coined the term esprit de corps, at the end of 19th century. However, team-based business organisations gained their popularity only at the end of 20th century. What is it that make the word ‘team’ ticks? Let’s look into the feature of a real ‘team’ in order to answer that.

With due respect, none of the organisations which I have came across so far, has the real ‘team’ and ‘teamwork’. What they have is only a functional workgroup, that’s all! Yet, the management of these organisations claimed that they have a good ‘team’ and ‘teamwork’, which in essence is not but a group of workers combined for a common function or project. What is the difference? A team should not only be functional, but it makes the member feels good to be part of the team. The team will be something they are proud off, and have a strong sense of belongingness. The cohesiveness of the team makes it a highly functional and efficient group of people. Ask around the people who have worked in a group, “Do you feel good after working in the ‘team’?”, the answer will probably be “Yes!” – they are glad it’s finally over! Not while they are still in the ‘team’.

Besides that, the team members should be open, and participates in the discussion and work actively. Everyone has a role to play and plays it well! Criticism are not swept under the carpet. However, criticism that is brought out is not of a personal nature. Rather, it is pointing at the issue at hand, or at least phrased in that way, aiming in ironing out the problems of their work. The leadership of the team is shared out – in other words, there is no official leader in the group. Each team member can take the initiative to lead the group in their area of expertise.

The Japanese are good in making ‘team’ and ‘teamwork’ function effectively and efficiently in the business world. However, this is also influenced very much by their patriotism and spirit of nationalism; that is they are proud to be Japanese and have a strong sense of belongingness! The whole nation is one big ‘team’! On top of that, their ‘family’ concepts applied in the business environment is something the management experts from the West are not exposed to. I have heard that few organisations claimed that their organisation is a big ‘family’. Again with due respect, the term ‘family’ is used only as a superficial ornamentation, just like ‘team’ and ‘teamwork’!

How does this relate to Roach’s idea? I’m not suggesting the team concept as a blanket treatment to all business entities as it may not be suitable for some industries. However, it is one of the Human Relations Management principles that can be utilized effectively, particularly in a voluntary organisation, where financial rewards may be scarce. In Andin International, Roach actually created a team without labeling it as one. The people of the Diamond Division comes from diverse backgrounds and countries. Yet they work hard, and feel proud to be able to work for each other. At the end of the day, I’m sure that they will answer “Yes” to the question “Do you feel good working with each other?”.

The point here is, as we may have seen, that these ideas are not separate principles. Human Relation Management, intrinsic rewards, team approach etc, are inter-related. So much so, that all the business problems presented by Roach, and his final three ultimate management tools, are related and to be implemented as a whole. That’s how he created the team! One of the major factors of failure in implementing the management principles in some organisations is that they tend to implement only a certain set of the principles, or to treat them separately. It is not the total approach.

Another factor is that these principles are applied in certain groups or divisions only, or implemented on the subordinates only. The total approach means not only applying all the related principles, but it must pervade every corner of the organization from top to bottom where the whole organisation adopts such a mindset. Otherwise, the ‘us and them’ perception may come into intervention and any subsequent changes will meet a high level of resistance.

5. Imprint and “Us and them” Perception

Some of my colleagues who had read the book commented that the book talks only about ‘imprint’. I have not talked about it as yet in the earlier paragraphs, but this does not mean I am ignoring it. If one thinks that the ‘imprint’ idea suggested by Roach is insignificant, then they are really missing the essence!

As a Buddhist, we are to believe the most fundamental teaching of the Buddha – the Law of Karma. This fundamental teaching is now explained in a common language which serves to reach out to more people. The term used here is ‘imprint’. This is what I meant when I said something about attracting me into Buddhism and that we can influence our life if we understand this concept.

Along with the ‘imprint’ concept, there comes again a yet important and fundamental teaching of the Buddha – Dependent Origination which gives rise to the idea of Emptiness (Sunyata). I will not explain these concepts as this has been done very well by Roach. What I’m trying to do is to explain management principles and practice with the imprint idea, and see how these principles can be practised in accordance with the idea of ‘imprint’.

I suggest a total approach in applying Roach’s idea in the organisation, as well as applying suitable management principles in every corner of the organisation, from the top to the bottom. This is in line with the understanding of the operation of the imprint. Business problems #27, #42 and #43, particularly #42, stated that it is our imprint in the past that causes us to be associated with the type of people we are associated now. It is also our imprint that the people in the organisation behave the way they behave right in front of us – be it fighting, inefficient, lazy, dishonest etc! If their behavior hurts the organisation, it’s our past negative imprint that causes us to perceive so. Vice versa, if their behavior benefits the organisation, it’s our past positive imprint that causes us to perceive so.

So, if the subordinates behave well or otherwise, the management will perceive it as well or otherwise depending on the type of imprint they have planted in the past. So it is clear that if the management wants to influence the organisation positively and to be associated with the right people in order to have the desirable results, they have to begin planting positive imprints in their mind and putting the suggestions by Roach into practice. Whatever policy or practice should begin at the top – as the adage says “Leadership by example”! Only from the top can the practice pervade every corner of the organisation. Changes or implementation of new ideas should not begin at the bottom.

From this, I would like to look into the traditional conflict that exists in most organisations – the “us and them” attitude. As a Buddhist, we understand that a lot of human problems stem from the ‘I’ness or the Ego (Atman). It is because of the belief in a permanent self or the ‘I’ that many other mental proliferations arise. This is prevalent in any, I mean, every, human being in this world! Even in a Buddhist organisation, the ‘I’ness is nothing less. This is because the ‘I’ness or Ego is one of the last fetters that will be eradicated in the journey towards enlightenment. So, it is not something that can be eliminated easily, even from years of Buddhist practice and cultivation!

Now, what does this ‘I’ness related to the organisational “us vs them” conflict? Based on the management’s view, some policies are made and implemented. This is from ‘us’ point of view. The staff, on the other hand, may or may not agree with the policies that are implemented. If they do not agree with it, they may resist it. From the management point of view, the staff’s reaction is in conflict with ours (‘us’), so that is their (‘them’) reaction. Thus, the ‘us’ and ‘them’ are not in correlation and are in conflict. Vice versa, from the staff’s point of view, the policies made are based on the management’s point of view, or their (‘them’) view and is not to our (‘us’) favour. So, we (‘us’) need not buy it. Again, the ‘us’ and ‘them’ are in conflict.

So, it is clear that the “us and them” conflict and misunderstanding comes from the belief of the ‘self’ – the ‘I’ness. It is not anyone’s fault that this is so as it is empty by nature. We have been wandering from life to life and have been planting the imprint of this ‘I’ness since time immemorial. It is this imprint of the ‘I’ness that we were reborn. The “us and them” conflict is neutral. It is empty and void of true substance. However, we do perceive ourselves as ‘us’ and the other parties as ‘them’. The perception is something that comes from within ~ the imprint. We perceive the other party as ‘them’, and their decision or reaction as ‘theirs’, not because we wanted to perceive so. It is our past imprint that makes us perceive so. And if we perceive them negatively, it is our imprint that causes us to do so. The other party by nature is not negative.

This brings us back to the earlier paragraphs: the organisation is surrounded with people who are hurting or benefiting the organisation due to the organisation’s past imprint. The existence of the “us and them” misunderstanding is also from the imprint. So, what’s next? How to solve this? Of course, use Roach’s “Three Ultimate Management Tools”. It is ‘Ultimate’ because it is applicable in almost any situation, including this one. On top of that, when the management introduces any changes or new policies, be sure that it is implemented from the top to the bottom and in every corner of the organisation, thus reducing the “us and them” barriers between different units in the organisations. Include them in the process. Lead by example, and use the words ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘ours’ to mean the whole organisation! Similiarly, if the ideas in Roach’s book were to be carried out, they should be carried out from top to bottom, and in every corner of the organisation!

When the effect of the “us and them” perception is much reduced, and everyone is involved, it is easier to seek understanding and collaboration between different units and levels of the organisation. Then, it is easier to implement changes or new policies in the organisation.

6. Imprint and Change Management

For any organisation to survive, change is inevitable. The environment is in constant flux, and if the organisation is not responsive to it, it will be slowly and surely squeezed out of the race. However, this does not mean that the organisation can change all the time, without valid reasons, direction and strategy. Most organisation change in a haphazard manner; unplanned and without valid reasons. These haphazard changes create confusion in the organisation before even the uncertainties of the external environment create their impact. On top of that, it cannot be assumed that the organisation and its people are naturally responsive to change. Change has to be initiated and managed! Again, we will analyse into the imprint idea suggested by Roach to see how it is related to change management.

As in any other form of training, Buddhist aspirants need time and effort to train themselves in the Threefold Training; sila, samadhi and panna in order to reach the stage of perfection in the path of enlightenment. This is because the initial efforts in the path of cultivation may only plant very weak positive imprints that may not be strong enough to overcome the past negative imprints that had been planted in many pre-existences. However, as Liu Bei reminded his son on his death bed, “Please don’t refrain from doing a good deed because it is only a small good, and do refrain from committing a evil deed even it is only a small evil!”.

The wisdom expressed in the above statement is clear: even if it is only a small good deed, planting only a very weak imprint in our mind, we should still do it. However, we need to constantly plant the good imprint until one day, it is institutionalized within our nature, and doing good deeds runs in our blood. the imprint will become stronger and stronger, and our Threefold Training will become more and more inclined towards perfection. Then, we can witness how a person, however bad he is initially, can be transformed into a perfect being!

Now, it is clear that changing a personality, is parallel to change management in an organisation, except the latter involves groups of personalities. We cannot expect the people in the organisation to change by just telling them to change. We need to initiate the change; create the awareness for the change; educate them about the change; convince and inspire them; constantly reinforcing the change, and when it is institutionalized, that is when the positive imprints are getting stronger, they will change on their own accord. This corresponds with Kurt Lewin’s three stages of learning behaviour: Unfreezing, changing and refreezing.

Is this what the management needs to do all the time when changes are required? It may be a very tedious and long process. Perhaps the best way in change management is to change the people to adapt the ‘highly-responsive to change’ attitude. This process needed to be done only once, and when the people had changed from their non-responsive mindset to a responsive mindset, they themselves will initiate the change on their own when necessary. The management need not be the change agent all the time then. Changes initiated by the grass root levels will definitely be more efficient as they are the people actually involving with the work and the environments! They can make necessary adjustments, and change directly in response to any situation they are facing off hand! Of course, it must not be forgotten that the leaders themselves must also be responsive to change, and change when necessary, as Blanchard put it succinctly, “Move with the Cheese!”.

Looking at the change process, the amount of communication required to create the awareness, to educate the people to change etc is very high. This leads us to analyse the communication process in the next section.

7. Imprint and Communication

The old adage ‘no man is an island’ rings true today than ever before. People do interact, whether they like it or not. In whatever roles they are playing, or whatever social unit they are in – family, work, business, community, country etc, they have to communicate. Yet, communication skills are often neglected! There’s no communication skills taught officially in schools, except languages. Some university and colleges teach communication as part of their programme, moving away from the academic approach to skill-based practical approach. There are some organisation dedicated in training communication skills to their members. However, people at large are still green horns in this area!

For management, communication skill is a must! Statistics show that on the average managers spend a major part of their time interacting and communicating with others. On top of that, the management issues that I have discussed in relation to Roach’s idea definitely require a high level of interpersonal and communication skills!

Interaction with others, no doubt creates either positive, negative or neutral effects on both the communicator and communicated. These effects, may be the results of one’s past imprint, and if so willed, it may become fresh imprints planted in the process. And as Roach has stated, these imprints will surely bear fruits in time to come, and we can see that Roach placed high regards on communication, truthfulness and integrity from his solutions to business problems #6, #7, #10, #14, #15, #25, #26, #27, #37, #38, #41, #42, and #46. And we must not forget that actions through body, speech and mind create imprints (karma) in our mind. Thus, it is necessary to learn to communicate well and effectively, especially as Buddhists.

What is communication? Is it just speaking, as understood by most people? Communication is a two-way transmission of both verbal and non-verbal cues as messages. Most people talk about communication skills as how to ‘communicate’ their thoughts, intentions and feelings. Yet, the listening and observation skills are often neglected, hence over-emphasizing on one-way transmission of messages. Next, communication involves both verbal and non-verbal cues, for example, body languages, facial expression, vocal intonation etc play major roles in communication. If verbal cues and non-verbal cues are not in correlation, it is usual for people to trust instinctively the non-verbal cues. So, one can say one thing, but the non-verbal cues show another thing, then the verbal cues are ineffective.

Having to look into the basic principles of communication, let us look into how this involves the imprint concept. I mentioned earlier that through body, speech and mind, we can create imprints in our mind. Speech is the verbal cue, and body language, facial expression etc are the bodily actions. If these two are not in congruent, then we have to look into the third elements ~ thought (mind). Researchers have confirmed that the non-verbal cues are stronger because they correspond with our sub-conscious mind and our thoughts. Thus, whatever we say, if it does not correspond with the non-verbal cues, it means that what we say does not correspond with our sub-conscious mind, or thoughts.

This thought of ours, is itself a strong form of energy – imprint, as what the first verse of the Dhammapada stanza proclaims: “Mind is the forerunner…”. Thus, when we communicate, it is important to be aware and mindful of our own mind. If what we communicate is in line with our thought at that very moment, the message will be conveyed honestly and sincerely. This is more effective than any other communication techniques, as people can sense the consistency between the thoughts, non-verbal and verbal cues, and thus can understand and accept the message more willingly.

Thus, for the management of a Buddhist organisation to be successful, truthful and sincere communication is an important ingredient. People who cultivate are even more sensitive to the forces of the mind. I’m not saying that they are clairvoyant, clairaudient or anything of that sort, but they are much more susceptible to it. On top of that, certain good principles of communication like two-way communication, empathetic, sincere, mindful are to be observed when interacting with others. Of course, not forgetting Roach’s approach as well.

8. Where does the ‘Diamond’ come from?

Let’s face one fact: money is not everything, but without money, everything is not possible! Buddhist organisations have evolved in time but nowadays, in order to maintain and operate a Buddhist organisation, a lot of resources are required. More will be required if the out-reaching work is more intense. These resources, Drucker’s 4M’s: Money, Materials, Men, Machines, are necessary for any organisation to function. Of the four, money is the most important resource as it can acquire the necessary amount of the other three with the required qualities and specifications.

Where does the money or ‘diamond’ come from? In all businesses, putting aside income made from investment and speculation, the money comes from the customers and clients. In a voluntary organisation, the money comes from donors and activities. It’s clear that the ‘diamond’ comes from the people! This explains why many corporations takes the trouble to treat their sources of ‘diamond’ – their customers well by satisfying their needs; be of service to them etc. They are adopting the customer-oriented strategies.

In a voluntary organisation, this is the same. People don’t just donate for nothing. Let’s face the facts: no one is in the beginning a Bodhisattva who can give selflessly. They have certain needs to be fulfilled. What are their needs? What kind of services and activities they are looking for? How can we render these services to them, satisfy them and make them accept the Dharma as part of their daily life? How can we convince them to support the activities that we are running?

Unfortunately, many Buddhist organisations I have come across do not take the trouble to analyze this, and instead offer whatever services and activities that the committee ‘thinks’ or ‘feels’ are needed by the people! Then, they take the trouble to ‘sell’ and convince the people that these activities are meant for them, and are good for them. They may ‘buy’ it once, but if it does not satisfy their needs, we can be sure that we will lose this ‘customer’ for good! When people don’t ‘buy’ our products – the Dharma, then the purpose of propagating the Dharma is defeated! What is the point of having a very good product but no customer because it fails to fulfill their needs This shows how unresponsive these organisations are towards the changes in the external environments. This also shows why the Buddhist population ratio is declining everywhere.

Another problem which exists in Buddhist organisations is that they tend to use the ‘blanket’ approach to organize and offer their services and activities to the people at large. Marketing-oriented organisations now divide their customers into different segments, and attempt to offer different products to specifically fulfill the needs of each of these market segments. Even Samantabhadra Bodhisattva stresses that we have to go according to the temperament and background of the sentient beings in order to bring them to the other shore. Here, we are talking about fulfilling their needs in order to bring the Dharma into their lives. Venerable Thitadhammo offers four different segments of the Buddhist groups: non-Buddhists, new Buddhists, long-term Buddhists and potential leaders for us to consider when designing our activities.

Although Roach does not specify clearly when he says that he will tell us where the money comes from, it is basically the concept of imprints, and the Jampa method. With the Jampa method, we need to see what the other person needs, and we will try to fulfill that need as a means to build a good rapport with them. What we may overlook is that the Jampa method can actually be applied at the macro level – on a larger scale: seeing what the people in specific segments really need, and we will try to fulfill that needs with our services and activities, and with that we will be able to build a good relationship with the people around us, on a larger scale! What’s the logic? It’s the imprint concept. When we fulfill somebody’s needs when they are sorely needed, we are actually planting a strong, good imprint in our mind. This imprint will eventuate in favourable results in the future.

So, if we plan and design services and activities that do not really fulfill people’s need or have a good impact in their lives, we are actually planting nothing much of a good imprint. We may instead plant negative imprints when we try to coax, persuade, manipulate, ‘sell’ in whatsoever way to pull them in, and these imprints will someday manifest into negative results, and our relationship with these people around us will sour, and then there goes the ‘diamond’! Vice versa, if we design and plan services and activities that really fulfill people’s needs and have positive impact in their daily lives, whether they are actually accepting the Dharma or not as yet, we are already planting positive imprints. These imprints will flourish into positive results, and we are sure to have the continuous supply of the ‘diamonds’. One more thing: if it is because of our services to them that have created a positive impact in their lives, they are sure to come back for more, and become ‘loyal customers’. By then, we can bring in the Dharma per se into their lives. Isn’t this a better strategy to spread the Dharma?

In order to be responsive to the changing environment, and maintain the marketing-approach strategies so that we can design the services and activities to fulfill the people’s needs accordingly, we must have a good feedback system. This feedback system should be incorporated into the infra-structure of the organization so that proper and accurate information can be channeled to the right people and management. That’s also one of the reasons why I stressed heavily upon two-way communication. The management who practises good communication principles are sensitive to feedbacks provided by the staff and external environments, and base on these feedbacks they will make necessary adjustments in their strategies and tactics to serve the community better.

9. Imprint and feedback system

The idea of having a feedback system comes from the engineering concept where the organisation is viewed as a system in which the system approach gained its popularity in the 70’s. The organisation is part of a bigger system, and the organisation in itself contains many sub-systems that function synergically towards a common goal. The systems approach in the organisation can be represented as follows:

In an organisation, the inputs are from the environment and can be people, raw materials, machines, money, ideas etc and the processing transforms these into outputs of the system. Outputs ranged from products, services, activities, wastage, skills etc and are fed back into the environment. Based on the quantitative measurements of the outputs, the feedback information is then compared with the standard. If there is a deviation or gap between the output and the standard, then necessary adjustments need to be made to either the input or the processing until the system gets the outputs that match with the required standard. Thus, an organisation is both affected and affecting the environment, and thus need to be responsive to the changes in the environment in order to make the necessary adjustment to the input and processing.

Thus, it can be seen here that the feedback in the system plays a very important role, and the management of any organisation cannot disregard it. I am sure many organisation has their built-in feedback system, which is usually the formal reporting channel. However, some information cannot be obtained through the formal reporting channel, and the management need to rely on their communication skills to tap into the ‘grapevine’ or the informal channels in order to get the necessary feedback. More often than not, the information from the informal channels are far more accurate and timely than the formal channel. However, it is advisable that the management are sincere in getting honest and critical feedback, otherwise the informal channels will also be quiet about the relevant information.

It is even more interesting when we talk about the imprint concepts as explained in Roach’s book as a form of feedback system! The idea here is, whatever imprint that we planted in the past will eventually manifest in the future. To know what type of imprint that we planted in the past, we need to look at the result that we get now. To know what type of results that we will get in the future, we need to look at the imprints that we plant now. Thus, the results of our imprint, that is forced upon us, is indeed a very good feedback to our doings in the past! And the future results are good feedbacks to our doings now.

As a management of an organisation, all we need to do is to be sensitive and open to those signs and symptoms of whether the organisation is doing well or otherwise and study the related business problems in Roach’s book, so that we will be able to gain precious feedback on our actions in the past and present. If we want the organisation to improve, then base on these ‘feedbacks’, we should try to take corrective actions suggested by Roach to adjust our doings so that more positive imprints will be planted. Slowly but surely, the signs and symptoms will improve, and eventually the organisation (system) will be able to produce the result (output) that will match with the required standard!

10. Human Side of the System

In the previous section, I mentioned about the inputs of the system that involves many factors. Similiarly, I quoted Drucker’s idea of managing business, managing people and managing managers, and his 4M’s concept in earlier sections. In the beginning of the article, I confessed of being an advocate of the Human Relations approach in management. After looking through the various management issues in relations to Roach’s ideas in his book, “The Diamond Cutter”, none are these issues are not related to human aspects.

The reason is simple: the organisation is functional because of human beings. If there’s no people in the organisation, then it is only an empty building, with the facilities and infra-structure, office equipment, latest IT gadgets, products etc which in itself is lifeless, in-animated and dysfunctional. Whatever perfect systems we have cannot function at all. Even in a fully automated business environment, for example in robotic manufacturing facilities, people are still needed to program the system, to maintain and repair the facilities, to oversee the operation etc. Even in this Information Age, the Internet relies on people in order to function. So, it is time now for the management of organisations to re-consider their approach towards handling their people in their organisation. It is even more important to look deep into their hearts and minds to see what kind of imprints they are creating on the people and themselves.

Also, not forgetting that the purpose of establishing an organisation is to serve the community. Yes of course, business organisations are in for the money, but lets see what Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors has to say: “Those who come into business just for the money is not doing business!” So, money in this sense is not the end, but a by-product of our endeavour to serve the community with our services or products. With this right attitude, the organisation will definitely have a better sense of direction, and will be able to look into their actions which has an impact on the community. The organisation’s imprint is even stronger as it has effect on the people on a larger scale. Word of caution, especially to the decision-makers of these organisations because one single decision may have a great impact to the society, exemplified by Liao-fan’s Four Lessons.

11. Conclusion

All in all, I am thankful for being in an environment that led me to Roach’s book and to have a mind that can absorb his ideas. Perhaps it is due to my past positive imprint. Yet, I have to admit that I do not know all that is to be known, and I am not able, with restricted resources, to discuss all that I might know in this article. Perhaps, if the conditions allow, I might put them onto a book! I am also thankful for whoever out there, investing their time to read this article, and come down to my level and listen to what I have to share. I am sure, if you can invest your time reading this, you can also invest your time in your people, or go down to their level and talk to them. Put Roach’s three Ultimate Management’s Tool into practice, and I sincerely believe and pray that in whatever you do, it will be a successto you and to those around you. And may the blessings of the Triple Gem be with you, and those around you.

Namo Amitabhaya!