How Stoic Philosophies can add value to your team
Philosophy may initially appear unrelated to business. The term tends to evoke an image of a bearded man wearing a tweed jacket with elbow patches (no offence to philosophers or bearded men). Regardless of the image, philosophy, in particular the study of stoicism, has the potential to change your business.
Stoicism is a school of philosophy born in ancient Greece and Rome. The stoics principal focus was on living a virtuous life and reducing negative emotions. Marcus Aurelius is one of the most well-known stoics. Epictetus’ teachings are also recognisable, for example: “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak”.
The more I read about stoic philosophy, the more I see value in applying the principles to a team environment. I’ve developed pages of content detailing how the teachings of these famous philosophers can be practically applied to business. The following are just a few examples.
Marcus Aurelius - “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
We live in a world where everyone voices their opinion about everything through social media, but we often forget that opinions are born from perspective. Daniel Kahneman touches on this in his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”. Kahneman refers to the principle WYSIATI - what you see is all there is. Each person lives a unique life. No other human being has walked the same path; been exposed to the same struggles; and experienced the same emotions. Just because we feel it and think it, doesn’t mean it’s true. Our perspectives are bias and limited to the life we live.
From a business perspective, we work in teams of individuals with different opinions and perspectives. Using this statement as a value in meetings can improve your business decisions and team dynamics. For example:
The most confident contributor in meetings is often viewed as the most competent contributor and therefore not challenged. Encouraging a philosophy of “it’s an opinion, not a fact”, may lead to more questions and curiosity from others, which then leads to better decisions.
It’s not uncommon for a team member to be offended by a colleague. It’s also not uncommon for it be due to miscommunication, or different perspectives. Some team members may be more sensitive than others. Their perception of the situation is therefore catastrophised and/or personalised. When you understand your perspective isn’t necessarily the truth, you’re less likely to be offended. This reduces friction between team members who have different perspectives.
To implement, simply remind everyone in meetings of this quote and ask contributors how they formed their opinion. Understanding where an opinion is formed helps identify biases and assumptions. Additionally, encourage disagreement and the challenging of ideas in meetings. “It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows” (Epictetus). The simplest way to have people challenge their own thought is to introduce the 5-Whys into discussions. Ask 5 times why someone feels a certain way or holds a specific opinion.
And when an overly sensitive team member is offended (in a misguided manner), empathise but explain their perception doesn’t necessarily make it true. Encourage them to consider the intent of the other party. These team members require ongoing support and mentoring. Holding regular workshops for your team to better understand each other and understand how we form our own perspectives can be very beneficial.
Epictetus – “Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig; I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen.”
Our world today is all about “instant”. We binge watch entire television series; We buy-now and pay-later; We eat fast food, and buy fast fashion... Unfortunately, patience is becoming less common, including in business and careers.
Jim Collins, in his book “Good to Great”, explains that great organisations have no single defining action that makes them great. They persist over long periods. James Clear, in his book “Atomics Habits” refers to the aggregation of margin gains. Both argue that small consistent action leads to significant outcomes. Epictetus’ writings have a similar message - if you want a fig, plant the tree… These teachings have several benefits:
In business, if you want to achieve something extraordinary, you need to set a plan and “chip away”. Progress may not be instantly visible, but the 1% change today, leads to 2% tomorrow and so on. When setting a strategy, don’t focus only on the “big wins”. Consider all the small improvements across your people, processes, and technology, that lead to big wins as an aggregation.
For your employees who want the corner office and six-figure salary immediately, they too can learn from Epictetus. A tree does not bear fruit without time, water, sunlight, and the right conditions. I was fortunate to hear Julie Bishop speak of her career. She said it took 15 years to achieve her goal… small actions and persistence lead to great outcomes.
I suggest identifying all the small frustrations across your organisation. This should be a significant list. Ideally, it includes the tasks/processes that have always been done a certain way “because that’s the way they’ve always been done”. A team should slowly work through this list bringing small improvements with each change. From an individual perspective, encourage your team to identify their long-term career goal, and step-out what that looks like each year to achieve.
Marcus Aurelius - Journaling Meditations
Marcus Aurelius’ journals were published and are what we read today of his philosophies. Journaling is one of the most effective ways to obtain clarity, build self-awareness and change your behaviour. Journaling doesn’t need to be a long process. I recommend the following simple approach:
What went well in the day?
What didn’t go well in the day?
What would I do differently next time?
When studying for an exam, you write content over-and-over again. Writing by hand forces your brain to process information and embed it in your memory. Writing what you would do differently, helps you act (in that way) next time a similar situation occurs.
From a business perspective, this could be implemented a few ways:
On completion of a project, ask the project team to reflect on those questions. Request they handwrite their response (they can then be transferred to typed document afterwards if necessary).
Encourage daily habits with your team. For example, before you leave at 5pm:
o Tidy your desk;
o Clean out your inbox and emails;
o Shutdown your computer (helps with standby power);
o Take a moment to reflect on your day.
Marcus Aurelius lived a stressful life and journaling helped him deal with those stresses. His journals were private notes for his own guidance and self-improvement, but they were eventually published into 12 books of Meditations. I believe in the value of meditation but that’s an article for another time…
Musonius Rufus - “So in the majority of other things, we address circumstances not in accordance with the right assumptions, but mostly by following wretched habit…”
Paraphrased, Rufus suggests to never do anything out of habit. This happens too often in the workplace. Again, the phrase “because we’ve always done it that way” is common in most team environments. Changing this mentality is as simple as insisting people ask why anything is done a certain way. Encourage this in your inductions, performance reviews and daily operations. The 5-Whys can assist with this questioning.
Why Stoicism?
We’re living in unprecedented times. COVID-19 changed the way we live and work; the collapse of Australia’s relations with China, and the US’s fight to preserve primacy in Asia is one of the most important issues facing our nation today; climate change also needs to be addressed in our lifetime… These macro-issues are in addition to the challenges our team face daily in their work and life. Building a resilient team, using stoic philosophies, means your team are better equipped to overcome any challenges that come their way.
The above are just a few examples of stoic teachings and how embedding some of these philosophies into your business can improve decision-making, improve team dynamics, and improve performance.