The Hindu Business Line : Difficult problems ‘are rarely solved with just magic’

To harried parents preparing to cope with the Harry fever, it may help to know that great stories can provide valuable insights, as Tom Morris writes in If Harry Potter Ran General Electric ( www.crosswordbookstores.com). The author is a former philosophy professor and his book is about ‘leadership wisdom from the world of the wizards’.

In the Potter series, Morris finds it ‘particularly interesting’ that the most difficult problems “are rarely solved with just magic, but rather by the use of intelligence, reasoning, planning, courage, determination, persistence…”

He classifies Rowling among ‘the greatest philosophers’ because she conveys through her stories that the meaning of life is not to be found in “elixirs or incantations, secret words, or exotic objects with esoteric powers, but in real moral virtue and the magic of what it can help us do.”

The book opens with Albus Dumbledore, in whom Morris finds many qualities of a paradigmatic leader. “Dumbledore is like a light on a hill, the North Star, an ancient beacon that keeps voyagers from crashing in the fog.” The headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry keeps his head when all around him seem to be losing theirs.

A chapter on ‘the courageous Harry Potter’ begins with a quote of Thomas Edison, ‘founding GEnius at GE’: “Be courageous!” The fundamental virtue in business and life is courage, says Morris.Courage or bravery is not a psychological feeling, but “an inner strength we can have whether we feel it or not,” he explains, citing instances from Harry’s adventures. Importantly, the book draws many ‘parallels’ between the messages of GE boss Jeffrey Immelt and Harry’s.

Morris lays down ‘six tests of ethical action’ in a chapter on ‘the ethics of wizards’. The first is ‘the publicity test’. Harry Potter uses the ‘invisibility cloak’ that allows him to go about and do things without being seen. “Most of us, when we contemplate doing something we really know to be wrong, imagine ourselves with the existential equivalent of that invisibility cloak,” rues the author.

The second test is ‘the moral mentor test’, where you hypothetically place an admired mentor in your position. “We can easily imagine Harry, Ron, and Hermione asking, ‘What would Dumbledore do?’” The admired observer test, the third, postulates that some person you respect and admire “could magically witness your actions and overhear your innermost thoughts.”

The fourth test is of transparency, which demands that you give a clear explanation for the contemplated action. “Would the stern and strict Professor Minerva McGonagall approve and endorse your action?”

Next comes the man in the mirror test: “If I do this, will I be able to look at myself in the mirror and respect the person I see there?” Works, even if you didn’t have the Mirror of Erised!

The final test is the golden rule: “Would I like to be on the receiving end of this action and all its potential consequences?” A rule that is as important to the wise people of our world as it has been to the wizards of Harry’s world, says Morris.

A book to whet the ‘Harry’ appetite.

http://BookPeek.blogspot.com