Business Growth Strategies - 13
What has been said regarding animate and inanimate objects is equally true of money. It responds to attention. Keeping an exact account of what is spent is one form of attention which promotes a non-stop flow of funds for work. The principle of total and proper utilization also applies. It can be seen that when one is left with few more dollars and further finance is not forthcoming, the incoming money flow awaits the spending of the last cent. If money has been improperly expended on a certain item and efforts are taken to reverse the previous act, before long further sources of funds are revealed.
But money is not merely an object. Rather the material currency employed " is the visible sign of a universal force, and this force in its manifestation on earth works on the vital and physical planes and is indispensable to the fullness of the outer life.
Money is means to increase the wealth, the prosperity and the productiveness of a group, a country or, better, of the whole earth. Money is a means, a force, a power, and not an end in itself. And like all forces and all powers, it is by movement and circulation that it grows and increases its power, not by accumulation and stagnation" (The Mother). The normal human consciousness fails to see the Divine in money, and it wants to possess it for its value in fulfilling desires and the self-gratification of man's ego. Money is a form of the Divine in manifestation and it has a higher role to play in the life of each individual and the collectivity.
A business institution is based primarily on the motivation of economic self-interest directly in competition with others. Yet one can see in a larger view that, through this competition, not only a single business and its employees but the economy as a whole grows and prospers. The principle of competition is true at one level. But a higher truth is that of association, mutual interchange and collective progress. Wealth is not a fixed quantity in the world to be fought over. It is an ever expanding movement of prosperity fostered by the creative activity of institutions. In the long run a successful institution is only possible in a strong economy where others also prosper and the individual success adds to the collective prosperity.
When a business institution recognizes this interdependence between all elements of the economy and chooses for its motivation and practical philosophy the development and prosperity of the economy as a whole, it oversteps the narrow bounds of competitive self-interest and rises to a higher level of idealism. All its decisions, policies, actions have a broader perspective and a sounder basis. The result is that, having renounced the primary emphasis on its own survival, it becomes an essential component of the larger economic system. Life responds through the entire system to ensure that the company survives and prospers. In its activity the company becomes a broad channel for the flow of prosperity into the system. It attracts wealth to itself, and freely distributes it to the rest, far more than was possible by its narrower pursuit.
For an individual or an institution, the true attitude towards money is neither a greed to possess it for oneself nor an active distaste for wealth or the activities which create it. Money is a power of the Divine to be utilized for the development and prosperity of every man, institution, country, all mankind.
This subject has already been discussed in terms of the institution as a whole and its governing ideal. The same holds true for every smaller unit of the company down to the individual. Simply stated, the principle is that the higher, less selfish, personal and egoistic one's motivation, the more he grows, and the more he receives. On the lower levels man is motivated by a desire for reward - money, fame, prestige, respect, success. At a higher level he works out of interest. Interest is a broader, less personal, more mental motive than desire. By choosing it one does not necessarily sacrifice the lower rewards but adds to them the satisfaction which comes from following one's interest.
The highest level of motivation is service to another, to the firm, community, society, mankind, the Divine. Service brings with it the pure joy of self-giving and in the process life sees to it that one's desires and interests are also fulfilled. The basis of service is a decision to give of oneself. It is man's highest motive for action and it is the key to life. The principle of giving can be applied at all levels. One can give wealth and material possessions, give interest or attention, sympathy, psychological support, etc. When the management of an institution is able to practice this in its relationship with employees, other institutions and the society at large, then it opens the way for an unlimited growth, expansion and prosperity.
