I am Grace Ann Rosile. My Ph.D. is in Business Administration, from the University of Pittsburgh. I also hold Master's Degrees in both Hospital Administration and Business Administration. I have taught management-related courses for 20 years at the undergraduate as well as graduate levels. My research and consulting has focused on storytelling for organizational change, and postmodern perspectives on management. Another side of my life involved over 10 years of experience owning and operating a "full-service" horse business. Also, for 20 years I have been a student of Jain philosophy as presented by Gurudev Chitrabhanuji. From Jain philosophy I learned about the concept of Ahimsa, or "reverence for life." My current work on "Managing with Horse Sense" comes out of the intersection of my efforts to practice Ahimsa, my management experience, and my horse business experience.
 
 

Managing with Ahimsa and Horse-Sense

Most of you have probably suspected that good management was essentially common sense (or "horse sense"). And many of you may know that Ahimsa is the concept embraced by Gandhi, which is at the core of the Jain (from India) philosophy. Ahimsa comes from a Sanskrit word which means "non-harmfulness." But what does horse sense have to do with Ahimsa?

For me, the term "horse sense" refers to what I learned about life, relationships, and management, from over 10 years of training horses. It is what the horses have taught me. In a moment I will explain how horse sense relates to Ahimsa in the context of management, but first let me explain Ahimsa just a bit.

Ahimsa, or reverence for life, means respecting the right of all living things to live. For Jains (and for me), it means being vegetarian and not eating meat, fish, or poultry, and avoiding animal products like leather and silk. Ahimsa means non-violence. Practicing Ahimsa means living in such as way as to minimize the inevitable violence we commit every day, thanking even the plants for giving their lives to nourish us. In the Jain philosophy, the attitude of non-violence must extend also to non-violence in thoughts and beliefs. Thus, Jains do no missionary work. They believe that trying to persuade another that their ideas are wrong, does violence to that other person's beliefs. Ahimsa is not a religion, but is a way of living (and managing) with a heightened awareness of the implications of our actions.

One day my young Arabian stallion Nahdique (pronounced nah deek') taught me something about practicing Ahimsa. He taught me that showing reverence for life can be the simple acknowledgment of that life. It happened like this.

It was during a period when I was even busier than usual, teaching full-time at the university, running my horse business, and training my three stallions every day. To fit everything in I was riding Nahdique at 6 or 7am. On these chilly Pennsylvania mornings I would enter his stall, put his halter on his head, and lead him into the aisle. I would quickly begin to groom and then saddle him. Each day he was becoming more restless, acting like he might kick me, and beginning to snap at me. He was getting worse and I was getting less patient. We had WORK to do!

One morning I was again issuing another sharp "no!" and I was about to smack him on the neck to get his attention so he could "hear" my message. Suddenly I stopped, and I realized HE had been trying to get MY attention. That morning, an awareness began. I paused to really look at Nahdique. I saw his body, tense and prepared to dodge the slap which he was clearly expecting. I saw his eyes, looking rebellious and resentful. I stopped, went to his right side, and looked into his eye. He watched me warily. I said slowly, "I'm sorry, buddy. I SEE you. I'm glad you're here." I put a hand out, then hugged his neck. I stepped back, and saw the anger fade from his eyes leaving some righteous resentfulness. Then his look said "well okay, I guess I'll accept your apology." I stroked his neck again, and then he looked calm and content. The "apology" took only a minute. We continued our work with no further problems. After that, each morning I would look in this eyes and feel that connection for just a second. Then I would pat him and say "Hi buddy, how are you this morning?"

One morning a few weeks later, as I walked into his stall I was worried about some other issues. Without thinking about what I was doing, I stood motionless and I sent a mental message, "Hi buddy, can I have a hug this morning?" To my surprise he did something he never had done before. He calmly lifted his head from the hay he was munching, and he gently rested his chin on my shoulder.

What did I learn from this? I had wanted that "connected" feeling of wondrous joy at communicating with one of God's most beautiful creations, the horse. In this insidious culture of productivity, speed and efficiency, I had allowed my work to overshadow the importance of my relationships. It took a horse to get my attention, to bring me back to awareness that my ultimate reason for working with horses was to experience that connected feeling.

In business and in life, Ahimsa can be simple acknowledgment of a fellow living being, of the connectedness of all life. One connection at a time, is what it is all about. It's just horse sense.