What is DecaTrait ?

The modern professional world is a maze of contradictions. The average professional must navigate changing technologies, global competition, inter-personal politics, work-life balance to name just a few of the challenges and be “successful” in all the domains.

The challenges are even more numerous in a leadership position, where one is also responsible for lives and careers of others! How do you separate the good of the organization from the good of the people working for you? How do you deal with employees who are resistant to change? How do you know if your directions are being followed in the spirit and not just the letter? How do you pivot an organization towards a new or more productive direction?

Finally, do you even know what success looks like? What does it mean in the context of a career in industry or academia to be successful? How does a team or an entire organization achieve success? These and many other such questions have become the subject of countless books and MBA seminars.

The answers for these and many other questions revolving around personal and professional success can be found by applying the Decatrait framework. Drawing from the Vedic scriptures, the Decatrait approach formulated by Dr. P.R.Mukund described ten traits that the shastras prescribe to achieve success in any endeavor. These traits are not just properties that one is born with, but characteristics that can be cultivated through introspection, analysis and practice.

This approach has been applied by modern day professionals in academia and industry with positive outcomes for individuals and organizations at large both in India and in North America.

Intended Audience

The workshop will tailored for professionals in the field of science and technology in general, but will be applicable to a broad range of professionals such as manufacturing, design, marketing, etc. Also, the target audience is typically young professionals, relatively early in their careers, but can also be useful for others.

The DecaTrait Approach

TM

The DecaTrait Approach is a ten-pronged approach that Prof. Mukund has extracted from Vedic thought process that can enhance success in one’s professional, and even personal, life. He has authored a book on this topic. He has taught it to generations of engineering students who have gone on to very successful careers. Based on his success of over fifteen years on this topic, he aims to share it with a broader audience. Dissemination of these hidden gems from the Vedic tradition to professionals is the main aim of this workshop. He has successfully conducted Science & Spirituality workshops in Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Houston, San Jose, Washington, DC, Edison, Bengaluru and Pune.

Workshop Format

The workshop will be broken into four modules of 90 minutes each. The first module will focus on becoming acquainted with the DecaTrait approach, its components and examples. This module will be presented by Prof. Mukund. Participants will also receive a copy of the book The DecaTrait Approach to Success, authored by prof. Mukund.

The second module will be a case study

The third module will be a group activity period when participants will be broken up into small groups , and based on the material presented in the first two modules, come up with a simple strategic plan for the development and growth of a hypothetical small high technology start-up company.

The last module will be an interactive panel session. Each group will come and present their plans and will receive real time feedback from the workshop presenters.

The Decatrait workshop will enable you to

Understand the philosophical framework for these traits and their application to current day society.
Through case studies see how this framework can be applied to modern day professional life and leadership.
Develop practical techniques for developing a similar framework for yourself and your organization.
Define checkpoints and metrics you can use to measure success with this approach.
Educate members of your own team or your peers on how to apply this approach.

Workshop Resource

Dr P.R.Mukund,

Professor, Electrical Engineering Department,

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester, NY, USA.

Dr. Mukund is a successful educator, researcher and entrepreneur. He has supervised the research of over eighty graduate students in engineering, published in international conferences and journals, and was designated as a Distinguished Lecturer by I.E.E.E. He has been the general chairperson of IEEE international conferences in engineering, and was a Guest Editor of IEEE Computer magazine. He is also the Founding President and CTO of a successful high technology start-up company, NanoArk Corporation.

Dr. Mukund also teaches Vedic science and spirituality. He is the Founder Trustee of two non-profit trusts, Tara Prakashana and the Foundation for The Preservation of Knowledge. His work in preservation of ancient Vedic manuscripts has been reported in BBC, MSNBC, CNN, etc.