SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT

Kautilya, a 4th century BC statesman from Northern India, defined success as an autocratic skill par excellence in his economic masterpiece—Arthashastra. Instrumental in dislodging the Nand dynasty from the capital city of Pataliputra and establishing the Mauryan dynasty over India, Kautilya also known as Chanakya remains ancient India`s best success story. His laws on government have been emulated through out the annals of Indian politics.

Kautuilya stands for the ultimate in shrewd statesmanship. According to his treatise on statecraft, it would make better sense for you to reach your goal by using subversive methods when you`re up against a strong adversary. All out war is a good option only when the opponent is weak. Perhaps another mind, which comes closest to such shrewd statesmanship, belongs to Niccolo Machiavelli.

Associated with corrupt ,totalitarian government the political genius of Machiavelli was overshadowed by the reputation that was unfairly given to him because of a misunderstanding of his views on politics. Nonetheless he is revered as a political cult figure espousing the most radical means to retain or procure power. The fact remains that the Machiavellian Head wears the success hat in this world today.

Sometime during the 1950`s, Abraham Maslow attempted to synthesize a large body of research related to human motivation. Maslow posited a hierarchy of human needs based on two groupings: deficiency needs and growth needs. According to his theory, if and only if the deficiency needs are met, is the individual ready to act upon the growth needs. When the growth needs are realized in an individual, he becomes self-actualized. Maslow evaluated (1954) this self-actualization as success. His basic position is that—as one becomes more self-actualized and transcendent, one becomes wiser (develops wisdom) and automatically knows what to do in a wide variety of situations.

Alvin Toffler, one of the world`s most well known futurists, published his Future Shock in 1970 which sold more than a million copies. Painting a dismal picture about the fast changing world he made people, institutions, governments, schools reckon change and deal positively with it. When the world was reeling under the pressure of Vietnam war,flower power and mercurial economy,Toffler compelled people to review stability and its role in the development of culture,society and civilization. He taught us to deal with success and its changing parameters and braced us for the coming world. Another major figure worth taking a look at while talking about success, happens to be Edward de Bono.

Edward de Bono is regarded by many as the leading authority in the field of creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He has written 62 books with translations into 37 languages. He is the originator of lateral thinking, which treats creativity as the behavior of information in a self-organizing information system—such as the neural networks in the brain. From such a consideration arise the deliberate and formal tools of lateral thinking and parallel thinking, which, if put to use in the pursuit of success—it might lead to better results.

For many successful people, the journey begins as a search for the self-image or self-creation. As New Age guru Deepak Chopra puts it in his best selling Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, each of us is here to discover our higher or spiritual self. He believes that focused and responsible effort, and a consistently positive outlook constitutes success. Together, they form the key to abundance—not merely in terms of material wealth but also in the form of opportunities that can become steppingstones to a completely successful life. Says Chopra: "All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation."