Entrepreneurship and the "third eye" of Shiva

The Third Eye of Shiva

I recently attended a very insightful presentation held by TiE (The Indus Entrepreuners) Toronto Chapter on “Entrepreneur Values in a Globalized Economy“. The presenter, Dr. Mrityunjay B. Athreya, is touted to be the Peter Drucker of India.

I’m not sure what I expected to hear — possibly something about entrepreneurship and perhaps some of the latest “cool” business terms — but it certainly wasn’t how to use Hinduist principles to improve your chances of success in innovation.

To my surprise, this was unlike any business lecture I had attended in the past. Dr. Athreya was very engaging. This man of over 70 and graying hair had a very brisk stride and the enthusiasm of a 20-year-old. His credentials are incredible: Harvard and Stanford education, worked in three different continents in top management schools and worked with Fortune 500 companies.

He talked about the shift that is happening globally towards an innovation-driven economy. Of the many interesting aspects of entrepreneurship he shared, one was most intriguing. He described the various phases of an entrepreneur’s innovation cycle by relating it to three representative Gods in Hinduism for creation (Brahma), sustenance (Vishnu) and destruction (Shiva).

He went on to say that an entrepreneur must not only create and sustain new ideas but should always be open to destroy them so that they may become new creations. This is the idea of “creative destruction” that Friedrich Nietzsche wrote about. The term was then used by German economist Werner Sombart who acknowledged Nietzsche’s influence on his economic theory. The roots of creative destruction are traced back to Indian philosophy. The idea then entered the German literary and philosophical tradition. This phrase was later borrowed by the economist Joseph Schumpeter and made famous by using it to describe a process in which the old ways of doing things are endogenously destroyed and replaced by new ways. It is now termed in mainstream economics as the “Shiva-Schumpeter” business wave.

So entrepreneurs out there, remember to occasionally open your “third eye” to destroy some ideas that impede your success so that you may create again.

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