Sumathi Satakam - Lessons for Modern Management

“Erakumi Kasugayala

Durakumi bandhujanula doshamu summi

Parakumi ranamuna

Meerakumi guruvunagna medina Sumathi”

 

The English translation is something like this

Do not collect unripe fruits

Do not point out errors of relatives

Do not run away from battle

Do not go above the order given by your teacher

 

This is a simple poem taught to the young students in Andhra giving them four important principles in life.

 

The first line asks the students not to collect unripe fruits when collecting the fruits for immediate consumption. Many types of unripe fruits taste different from the ripe one. For example a ripe mango tastes totally different from a raw mango. By collecting the unripe fruits one will be wasting the resources as they may not be useful and may be thrown away.

 

The second line talks about not pointing out the errors of relatives as this will alienate them. By alienating the relatives we may not be able to expect any help from them in future.

 

The third line talks about not running away from battle.

 

The fourth line is about not crossing  / going above the lessons  / orders of a teacher. A teacher gives a suitable lesson / order to a student based on the ability and by crossing or going above the same may result in harm to the student. For example if a swimming teacher orders a student not to practice beyond a certain depth and the student going beyond the particular depth may result in the student drowning .

 

The poem has an inner meaning which is helpful for modern managers.

 

A manager needs to create a team with related skills / skills which can be upgraded to the task on hand. This will result in avoiding collection of employees with totally unrelated skills and the resultant wastage of time in getting them trained for task at hand.  For example if an employee requires oral communication in a particular language then recruiting employees who cannot talk that particular language will result in unnecessary wastage of time in getting them trained in that particular language.  Collecting employees with unrelated skills is like collecting unripe fruit for immediate consumption.

 

Secondly, the manager has to initially give strict instructions to his team not to go beyond the brief as this may result in unnecessary and avoidable errors by untrained employees. By ensuring that the employees follow the instructions strictly he can ensure minimization of errors and quicker learning of the necessary skills.

 

Thirdly, do not go on nit picking sessions with the team as this may totally demoralize them and will end up in disastrous results. It is essential to point out the fatal errors / learning gaps and take necessary action  or provide training to improve the skills. However continuously pointing our minor issues which can be ignored will result in bad morale and disastrous consequences.

 

Finally a battle / project once accepted should to be taken to its logical conclusion and not to be abandoned in the middle. This is like running away from a battle field which will affect the confidence levels of not only the manager but the team.