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The Psychic Being and the Management of the External Being and Its Action · Sri Aurobindo Studies

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  There are a number of different management strategies we see in
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  the world today. They range from attempts at
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  total control, what we can call micromanagement, to total
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  laissez faire release to permit individuals to do whatever they
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  decide at each moment. Both of these extremes have
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  their limitations. Micromanagement tends towards
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  inflexibility and eventually fails to address changing facts
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  and situations as they occur, while it also reduces initiative
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  for the individual participants. Laissez faire freedom tends to a
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  somewhat chaotic implementation without the central guiding
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  principle or focus to Orient the action towards the intended
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  goal. In a complex interaction.
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  One can see the failure of the laissez faire approach in the
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  idea of simply turning a Symphony Orchestra over to that
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  method and hearing the mismatched sounds and timing
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  that inevitably occur on the other side.
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  Micromanagement suppresses the free will so entirely that those
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  subjected to it tend to act mechanically and without
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  thought, insight or consideration, as these have
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  been taken away from them by the central manager.
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  It is interesting to note that the Berlin Philharmonic
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  Orchestra, one of the world's premier elite Symphony
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  orchestras, is known for its unique and powerful
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  performances. Because they have, through their
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  intimate knowledge of the other members and their long rapport
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  with each other, gone beyond being purely dominated by the
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  strict control of the conductor and have found a way to blend
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  their individual expression and personality into their
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  orchestral performances. Management theories continue to
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  work toward achieving something of an ideal balance between a
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  central organizing and guiding principle and the flexibility
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  needed in the implementation to address facts on the ground.
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  One can see this play out in various military organizations.
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  Some are extremely rigid and hold command and control within
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  a centralized team. If communication is broken down,
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  or if unexpected things occur in the operation, things can go
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  wrong very quickly, leading in some cases to absolute disaster.
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  One of the attempts to overcome this limitation is to have the
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  leadership set specific objectives and goals, Set
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  general boundaries and guidelines such as rules of
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  engagement, but train the team that has to actually implement
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  the plan to be resourceful and free within those boundaries.
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  Some of the most elite military units in the world utilize this
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  general approach. The balance between free will
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  and destiny also partakes of a similar concern when applied to
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  spiritual development. Some people hold that everything
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  has been predestined down to the individual detail level in what
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  is called the block universe theory.
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  In this approach, free will is purely an illusion.
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  If, however, the universal consciousness is evolving within
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  a general framework, free will and destiny could actually
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  coexist. The question about the guidance
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  of the external being and its development in life to fulfill
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  the spiritual aspiration of the psychic being revolves around
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  these issues. If we assume that there is a
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  complete control over every detail, we find that the
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  external being, the body, the life energy and the mind tend to
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  lose their initiative and in some cases actually rebel or go
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  on strike when they feel like their needs and expectations are
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  not being met. On the other hand, a flexible
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  approach focused on a central aspiration and framework, but
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  leaving the details to be worked out by the external instruments
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  allows them a measure of development and growth that both
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  makes them more effective over the long term and ensures that
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  the acceptance is not grudging or withheld by the external
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  being. This approach may take longer
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  and may lead to divergences, errors or failures along the
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  way, but in the end it brings about a stronger, more stable
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  change in the consciousness and action of the external being
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  that is supporting and aligned with the psychic beings intended
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  direction. A disciple inquires Mother, is
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  the orientation of an individual's life directed by
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  the psychic? The mother responds, quote Yes,
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  absolutely unconsciously for the individual most of the time, but
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  it is the psychic which organizes his existence only in
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  what may be called the main lines.
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  Because for intervening in the details they would have to be a
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  conscious union between the outer being, that is, the vital
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  and physical being, and the psychic being.
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  But usually this does not exist so externally in the details.
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  For example, there was someone who in deep perplexity said to
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  me, Well, if it is the psychic being or rather the divine in
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  the psychic who directs our life, is it he who decides the
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  number of pieces of sugar I put in my teacup?
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  That was the question verbatim. So the answer had to be no,
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  because it is not a detailed intervention of this kind.
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  End Quote reference Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the
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  psychic being soul, its nature, mission and evolution.
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  Section 2. Role, function and Action of the
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  Psychic. Pages 60 to 62.