On June 3, 2006, Norman Fischer of the Everyday Zen Foundation, gave a talk in Muir Beach, CA on right intentions as applied to the business world. Right intentions involves having intentions that are in accord with one's views of self.
In order to have right intentions, one must first have right understanding, having a view of oneself in reality that is accurate.
Right intentions requires right speech, which is speech that is in accord with intentions.
Then to bring one's thoughts into the social realm, one needs to have right livelihood in order to interact with other people.
"Right" means alignment. Many times, one's views are not aligned with reality. The ability to discern reality requires reflections on motivations and intentions. Even when one has a solution to problems, one needs to realize that the solution is not permanent.
Motivations determine how one behaves and conducts oneself in the world. Fischer gave the example of a study written by Andre Delbecq, a professor at Santa Clara University in "Discernment and Strategic Decision Making: Reflections for a Spirituality of Organizational Leadership" in 2001.
In the study, a CEO at a large hospital chain had the intention to serve the poor. The CEO was committed to applying spiritual teachings to management. Though in the business, there were constant decisions to be made, conflicts, and the need to have shared values but diversity at the same time, the CEO was able to be in touch with his intentions, and move forward even when there were no strategies. He eventually came to the right decisions by applying listening skills, being open to questions, not closing the door on information, and not being reactive when events did not go as planned out of fear.
In business, competitive pressures, rapid technology changes, accelerate decision making, but the problems presented to leaders are not solvable simply by technical analysis or rational theory. Insight from the wisdom of spiritual teachings may be what is needed in order for a company or its leaders to stay true to noble missions so that intentions do not get lost in the crush of daily activities.
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