Unravelling in the court of Akbar, the well-known Birbal stories illustrate the minister's sagacity and problem-solving acumen.
It has become trendy to identify various management and leadership styles with historical and mythical personalities such as Attila the Hun, Winnie the Pooh, Mulla Nasiruddin, Confucius and Jesus Christ, and with philosophical systems and religious books like Zen, Taoism, the Kabballah, the Bible, the Bhagawad Gita and Sufism. Against this backdrop, the authors thought it would be appropriate to unveil the managerial wisdom and problem-solving principles that Birbal's stories embody.
They have retold some of the Birbal stories that they gathered and at the end of each they have pointed out the Management Moral of the narrative, whose wisdom remains as fresh as ever. They have divided each story into two parts. The first part consists of the problem; the second part provides Birbal's solution.
Readers are encouraged to pause just before the solution is given and think of their own solution to the problem. Only when they have thought of one or more solutions should they read Birbal's solution. There is no more effective way of honing one's own creativity.
At the end of the book, the authors have devised a technique that they have termed BIRBAL (an acronym) and which readers can use to solve their problems.