Book Review: The Yogic Manager

“The Yogic Manager” by Avinash Sharrma is presented as a business novel with a story in sync with the Mahabharata. It’s about a consulting firm and the way decisions are made with only some stakeholders to benefit vis-à-vis the way all stakeholders benefit. From the author’s own interpretation, “the story is the medium by which several new frameworks, business models and management principles are explained.

Judging a book by its cover –

Who should read this book –

1. Corporates and Professionals

2.  Readers with a special inclination towards the Vedas and Mahabharata

What’s the story like - The Yogic Manager is about a consulting firm called Characterra Consulting. This firm is led by a certain Raja Sahamkar. The protagonist in this book is Arjun Atmanand who is a special talent in the firm. He rises from the grass-root level right up to being a partner in the firm. Arjun considers Raja as his guru. During one of the proposal to the client, Arjun chalks out 4 different solutions along with their benefits and risks. The 4^th option is the most profitable but harms the environment. He himself is against the 4^th option but is forced to include by Raja who is sure that this option will be selected. Meanwhile, Arjun is also asked by Raja to fire 15 employees with a sure-shot reward of being the partner in the firm. Arjun reluctantly agrees and fires them. On the day of the client presentation, he miraculously meets a Yogi who takes him to historic places and events and teaches him various aspects of the Vedas and Bhagwad Geeta. These are then applied by Arjun in his corporate career which results in short term loss but long term gain.

How’s the writing – The author has ensured the flair needed to adhere to professionals is maintained throughout. He knows his target audience and is catering specifically to them. Also, there’s no denying that the author has done his research and is extremely passionate on this topic. The concepts and jargons are used in between which the corporate world is well versed with and use them in day-to-day discussions / meetings. The book also contains a lot of ‘gyaan’ and addresses two techniques that are as different as chalk and cheese. And the arguments are also thought provoking. One involves success by any means and is covered in discussions between the Raja and Arjun. Some of the discussions involve identifying donkeys from horses in a team and how to treat them differently. It also treads the thick line between leading and managing with various examples in history that will make you feel inclined towards this technique. Then there’s the other side of the spectrum – Yogic Management and how it relates to corporate life of today.

So, what do I feel - There are a lot of takeaways from this book and can be immediately applied in daily work life. This book is the bridge and transition from an informative and trusted worker to a knowledge worker. If you are looking for a book that’s purely a novel, I suggest you skip this book since this book is approx. 25% novel and 75% knowledge. I personally was expecting more of a novel based on the book briefing. No regrets though. If you are looking for a book that can make you think, go for it.  

My Rating – 4 / 5