Management Techniques in Tamil Proverbs
It’s astonishing to observe that many management techniques currently followed worldwide were described in the ancient Tamil literature ‘Pazhamozhi Nanuru’ (four hundred Tamil Proverbs), These techniques are applicable to the modern management system too. Pazhamozhi Nanuru is a poetic work of Munrurai Araiyanaar, whose period is believed to be around 5th century AD. His work consists of 400 poems, each poem is based on an old Tamil proverb. The poems cover variety of subjects such as knowledge, discipline, effort, money, politics, friendship, handling situations, house hold life and so on. Even there are poems describing how to handle enmity. An important thing to note is that the proverbs used in the poems were claimed to be dated in the 5th century itself, we can calculate the antiquity of the proverbs.
The modern management system comprises of six activities.
- Planning
- Organizing
- Staffing
- Leading
- Monitoring
- Motivation
Pazhamozhi Nanuru has detailed poems educating every activity of the above aspects of management.
Planning - Making decisions by considering long term business goals in mind.
தற்றூக்கித் தன்துணையுந்தூக்கிப் பயன்தூக்கி
மற்றவை கொள்வ மதிவல்லார் – அற்றன்றி
யாதானும் ஒன்றுகொண்டு யாதானும் செய்தக்கால்
யாதானும் ஆகி விடும்.
The proverb used in this poem is – ‘If anything is done without proper plans, the result will be unexpected’
We must decide on the worthiness of project to start with. Also we need to plan the aspects such as whether we will be able to get actual benefit from this, do we have enough investment to make, associates involved, technical support available, marketing resources and so on. To say it simply, deciding whether it is worth doing this project or not.
Organizing - Defining a pattern on the work flow. Using the available resources, dividing the tasks into multiple steps to get the job done easily without any flaw.
முடிந்ததற்கு இல்லை முயற்சி முடியாது
ஒடிந்ததற்கு இல்லை பெருக்கம் வடிந்தற
வல்லதற்கு இல்லை வருத்தம் உலகினுள்
இல்லதற்கு இல்லை பெயர்.
Message of this poem is ‘no matter how difficult it is, a well planned task will not bring regret’.
Staffing - Job analysis and recruitment of right people to do the right job. There are many poems in Pazhamozhi Nanuru, guiding to choose right people for right job.
தெற்ற அறிவுடையார்க் கல்லால் திறனிலா
முற்றலை நாடிக் கருமஞ் செயவையார்
கற்றொன் றறிந்து கசடற்ற காலையும்
மற்றதன் பாற்றேம்பல் நன்று.
A wise man will not recruit unfit people for his job. He employs only a well learned and a disciplined people in duty. Also the poet describes what kind of people to be avoided during recruitment in many other poems.
Leading - Role of an effective manager. Determining what needs to be done in different situations.
செந்நீரார் போன்று சிதைய மதிப்பார்க்கும்
பொய்ந்நீரார் போன்று பொருளை முடிப்பார்க்கும்
அந்நீர் அவரவர்க்குத் தக்காங் கொழுகுபவே
வெந்நீரின் தண்ணீர் தெளித்து.
People are of different kinds. We have to interact in different ways for different people. It’s like while taking bath, we use to mix cold water with hot water in a proportion according to the room temperature. A good manager will interact softly with skilled people and little hard with the lazy people.
Monitoring - Monitoring the progress of work flow, to find out whether it is being executed as per plan. A very suitable poem can be seen in Pazhamozhi Nanuru.
விட்டுக் கருமம் செயவைத்த பின்னரும்
முட்டா தவரை வியங்கொளல் வேண்டுமால்
தொட்டக்கால் மாழ்கும் தளிர்மேலே நிற்பினும்
தட்டாமல் செல்லா துளி.
When placed even over a soft wood, a chisel will not break it automatically. It needs a hit over its head. Like that, a delegated job needs a regular follow up to get it completed as expected.
Motivation - It is also the basic function of management. Giving encouragement to employees makes them work effectively. Every one needs recognition rather than money.
வீங்குதோட் செம்பியன்சீற்றம் விறல்விசும்பில்
தூங்கும் எயிலும் தொலைத்தலால் – ஆங்கு
முடியும் திறத்தால் முயல்கதாம் கூரம்
படியிழுப்பின் இல்லை யரண்.
If aimed using a sharp arrow with determination, we can hit any target. We can use this proverb ‘கூர் அம்பு அடி இழுப்பின் இல்லை அரண்’ to encourage the people.
Besides these, there is a separate chapter of poems describing how to handle enmity. This will be very helpful to meet the challenging competition in business.
இயற்பகை வெல்குறுவான் ஏமாப்ப முன்னே
அயற்பகை தூண்டி விடுத்தோர் – நயத்தால்
கறுவழங்கிக் கைக்கெளிதாய்ச் செய்க அதுவே
சிறுகுரங்கின் கையாற் றுழா.
One can create a new enemy against the opponent from outside to create a favorable situation for taking revenge against him. It is like a monkey using another little monkey’s hand to stir the hot porridge.
If we extract the experiences of our ancestors who lived thousands of years before, in a few words, it will be a proverb. A single proverb can teach more than an hour of lecture. This old literature ‘Pazhamozhi Nanuru’ may be difficult to read, but when we understand the content of the poem, a good insight on to the management techniques can be obtained. Also an interesting thing to note is, our Tamil ancestors had explained complex management techniques in simple proverbs.