Gandhi’s Experiments with truth – as guidance for managers

Mahatma Gandhi was a global leader from India. Gandhi’s vision and strategy were uniquely and deeply grounded in Indian values, and yet have a global appeal. On Gandhi’s martyrdom, the Nobel-prize winning scientist Albert Einstein declared that, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.”  Through experimenting with various ways of non-violence (ahimsa) and holding steadfastly to truth (satyagraha), he was instrumental in mobilizing the masses into a movement that dislodged almost two centuries of colonial rule. In today’s times of social polarization and inequality, and severe global environmental challenges, there is a need for new ideas of inclusive leadership based on pragmatic and tested ideas. The Gandhian process of values-based experimentation can be helpful in guiding managers in a rapidly changing world.

Mahatma Gandhi highlighted and underscored the many experiments he conducted and integrated over multiple decades in his Autobiography. These experiments included his well-known experiments with truth, non-violent non-cooperation, vegetarianism, celibacy,  empowerment of untouchables and women, and more. Gandhi’s moral values such as non-violence and truth, inspired other leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela to great success.

Gandhi was an avid experimenter. His autobiography is titled ‘My Experiments with Truth’, and no one else has been more candid in revealing as much personal detail with such brutal honesty as he writes with, down to admitting to things that are radical and controversial.  He learned widely from various people and books. He also tried out ideas on morality, spirituality, organizing, leadership, parenting, self-reliance, publishing, dietetics, healthcare, education, sexuality, and more. For him there were no dichotomies between the several aspects of life such as culture, spirituality, religion and economics. He was radically honest in building the capability of soul-power through tremendous self-discipline.

Here are some prominent and inspiring experiments across Gandhi’s life span:

When Gandhi wanted to travel to Britain to study law, his mother asked him to take a vow that he will not consume meat or liquor. To keep this promise and survive in the harsh climatic conditions of Britain, he worked out options to get vegetarian food. When he ran out of money from living the high life of a law student, he chose to begin to walk instead of taking a buggy ride. He saved money, made friends and also became an informal doctor to his friends who missed the exercise and felt sick.  

Gandhi protested against the white officers in South Africa, who were in favor of the Indian community. He mobilized a community of volunteers who contributed labor to transform uninhabitable land into the Phoenix ashram. Gandhi said that a life of labor, i.e., the life of the tiller of the soil and the handicraftsman is the life worth living. 

Upon his return to India in 1915, Gandhi travelled across the whole of India to gain understanding of people’s needs.  He started visiting villages, met people with diverse cultures, origins, thinking, and language. The summation of his experiments made him connect at a deeper level with Hindu spirituality and righteous living (Dharma). 

Gandhi established ashrams in India (Sabarmati, Wardha) thanks to volunteer labor. He experimented with approaches to developing self-reliance. He experimented with indigenous self-care treatments and on the rare occasions that he fell sick. The newspapers he published, Young India and Harijan, served as a source of inspiration and information for the people, as well as a source of income to fund Gandhi’s ashrams. He was an avid user of telephones. He would no doubt have readily appropriated the newest channels of Twitter and Facebook participants if alive today.

Gandhi’s experiments in the political sphere like Dandi March, Swadeshi Aandolan, and others, began to bring positive change in the freedom movement. Gandhi’s book titled “Hind Swaraj” beautifully integrates the ideas of culture, spirituality, environmental care, economic development and overall societal growth.  

Constant Experimentation as Embodied knowing

Embodying knowledge requires constant experimentation in which the person who experiments is both the subject as well as the object. With his famous quote Mahatma Gandhi reminds us of the importance of embodied knowing: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”. He led by example. Some of his experiments around Brahmacharya were very controversial but he persevered. Likewise, future leaders and managers could experiment, and develop a holistic embodied intelligence that may support coherence,  co-existence, and collaboration in the context of the VUCA world.

His approach can be labeled as Glocal. Managers can learn from his work that to successfully connect to large numbers of people and move them toward a higher purpose, beyond their self-interests, a local understanding of aspirations and behavior is essential. This resonated not only locally but globally as his views found global acceptance. One can conclude that Mahatma Gandhi developed a holistic view of society through a constant process of grounded learning.

Yet around the globe, many millennials may not have heard of him, and if they have, may see him as an idealist saint of the past, with quirky habits, beliefs, and practices related to individual salvation and self-realization. Gandhi’s values-based experimental approach can guide today’s managers in the following ways:

1. Social entrepreneur: To enable purchasing power for everyone through local production and consumption, he shifted from self-governance (swaraj) to upliftment of all (sarvodaya). He endorsed human-scale governance models in villages and local communities. How can managers create a more inclusive world and organizations?
2. Model educator: He emphasized holistic education based on moral principles, self-knowledge, and following your personal calling (swadharma). He emphasized practical hands-on skills for employability. This is an urgent contemporary issue. How can managers create more self-aware and employable students and workers?
3. Healthcare role model: He emphasized cleanliness, simple living and right thinking, and eating the right food in the right quantities. How can managers help create alternative indigenous knowledge systems for low-cost health management in India?
4. Peacemaker: Gandhi approached his opponents with love and Truth. He highlighted the symbolic and purifying value of self-sacrifice, self-suffering and a willing acceptance of pain. How can managers help organizations achieve sustainability, good governance, and high ethical standards in managerial decision making?