What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas [Hardcover]

Franz Metcalf (Author), BJ Gallagher Hateley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 10, 2001

With the economy booming, people are experiencing extraordinary material benefits yet still hunger for deeper meaning in their work lives. What Would Buddha Do at Work? uses the gentle teachings of Buddha to help readers discover that meaning. What Would Buddha Do at Work? presents 101 situations or issues that people struggle with daily, ranging from coping with difficult bosses, serving customers, and working as a team, to being creative, solving problems, and offering leadership. In response to these dilemmas, the authors pass along Buddhist wisdom that will inspire and guide readers to “enlightened” answers to their problems — answers that are spiritual as well as practical and realistic.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With the better part of our lives spent at work, it's a wonder there aren't more books devoted to practical living in the workplace. Franz Metcalf, a Buddhist scholar and author of What Would Buddha Do? has teamed up with management consultant BJ Gallagher Hateley to apply the Buddha's insights to life on the job. What would Buddha do at work? Of course, he'd quit and go find a comfortable spot in the forest to meditate. But those of us for whom early retirement is not an option can still profit from the Buddha's wisdom. Buddha's advice is not always obvious but certainly always helpful. What would Buddha do to get promoted? To influence others? To maintain job security? The answer to the first two questions is that he would simply do his job well. You would think that would also be the answer to the third question. But for the third, our authors teach us the Buddhist notion of impermanence--that in a world that is always changing, job security is an illusion. So although the Buddha himself was focused on liberation, he also offered guidance for the workaday world that, with elaboration from Metcalf add Gallagher Hateley, can itself prove liberating. --Brian Bruya

From Publishers Weekly

Metcalf, the author of What Would Buddha Do?, joins with business consultant Hateley to dispense spiritual advice from the water cooler. What would Buddha do to become a terrific boss? What would Buddha teach about customer service? How would Buddha go about getting a promotion? The answers are sometimes surprising ("Buddha did not work for promotions and neither should you"), making this a refreshingly countercultural alternative to the typical spirituality-at-work manuals. Metcalf and Hateley provide relevant sacred texts at the top of each page, drawing from sutras, the Dhammapada and more modern guides such as Philip Toshio Sudo's Zen Computer. This is a successful example of the application of ancient wisdom to modern business situations.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Ulysses Press (July 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569753008
• ISBN-13: 978-1569753002
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #713,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SPIRITUALITY FOSTERS GROWTH AND PROFITABILITY, July 31, 2001

By 

Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas (Hardcover)

This is one of the greatest books one will ever find on the basics on what helps a business achieve its full potential. First of all, you do not want to be just a good employer, you want to be the best employer you can possibly be. Then, you want happy, motivated, productive employees who WANT to help you succeed, as opposed to those who are just showing up because they need a paycheque. Employees need to work well both independently and as a team. You also want happy, satisifed customers who receive personal, respectful and efficient customer service and value for their dollar. If they find that in your business, they will be back time and time again. Many of the secrets that serve as the driving engine of successful businesses can be found in the age-old basic principles of Eastern Philosophies.

What would Buddha do in this situation? How would he handle it? This book will help provide the answers. Aside from adhering to strong basic management principles, if you run your business based on integrity and strong ethical values, the money will come - it is the end result of the fruits of your labour, the driving force behind your success. Strive to run your business with honesty, respect, compassion and organized thought. By providing a quality product/service that is in demand, at an affordable price, in a unique manner that your competitors are not providing, and staying within your budget, you have the makings of a successful business.

This book may seem like common sense to many but, as a counsellor and teacher in business management with thirty years of experience, I can assure you that many business owners/managers do not think common sense is of any great importance or simply choose not to follow it. They are eventually the ones who show up on the list of bankruptcies. After reading this book, sit down and make a list of how you would like to be treated as an employee. What would keep YOU happy, motivated and productive? Then, ask yourself if you are creating this type of work environment for your own employees. Sound knowledge of business management skills is a must for any entrepreneur, but there is a misconception out there that a successful entrepreneur must be some sort of "super, natural guru." You run a business with the same moral values and principles used in your personal life. The inner peace and contentment one finds in their own personal spirituality can also be applied to the workplace to achieve profitability while maintaining a nurturing, caring, positive, productive environment.

The 101 dilemmas presented here show how ancient wisdom can be used to solve many of our modern-day obstacles and challenges in the workplace. This book is highly recommended and certainly worth a five-star rating - even Buddha would be proud of this one!

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take Bhudda's wisdom to work!, August 1, 2001

By 

Aubrey W. Metcalf (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas (Hardcover)

I found this book in a little bookshop in Marin Co., CA. Why isn't it being publicized more? Even the authors say "getting promoted is a happy side-effect of excellent work," and this book is just such an excellent work in that it furnishes great exampoles of practical ways to handle ourselves in the ready-made workplace or to create a workplace where dilemmas can be faced with the guidance of Bhudda thinking. Thanks to the authors for this help and recommendations.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great book but inapproriate foreword, January 29, 2005

By 

deepram "deepram" - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Would Buddha Do at Work? 101 Answers to Workplace Dilemmas (Hardcover)

This book is a wonderful attempt to put in practice the sublime spiritual wisdom of the east in the modern workplace. It is basically an application in today's context, of the spiritual wisdom which was meant purely for spiritual seekers in those days before Christ . All the issues of the work place are more than appropriate and the quotes are explanations are very convincing.

But what I found very awkward was the foreword by Ken Blanchard. Ken is asserting his belief in a very patronising manner by saying 'Jesus is the truth'. And to add more to it he says, "Buddha is a psychologist". This statement is very premature as he doesn't seem to be conversant with the Orient and its Masters. People who read books like this one obviously know Buddha as an enlightened master and not a mere psychologist. The wisdom of the Buddha is spiritual and to call it coming from a 'Pschologist' is blasphemy for the buddhists, though in saying all this ,I am not a Buddhist.

Thanks for the book but would actually prefer a spiritual master to write a foreword.