Jul 4 2006, 01:56 PM, updated 20y ago
QUOTE
Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from
Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire
inIndia
but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits
InfoSys
campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session
with
another IT company in India . He is incidentally, one of the top 50
influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also
the
new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.
Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session:
I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some
people
do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only
temporary.
Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if
they
are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this
long.
Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the
workplace.
Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the
long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are
things
managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the
office
long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors.
My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes
caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well
as
the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through
Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.
Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not
pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who are not
working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other
people
avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better
when
people work together instead of avoiding one another.
As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work
with
a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly
lose
their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a
time-stamp of
2 AM, Sunday.
Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For
instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play
with
your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.
This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2.
Working
regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard
for
some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible
since
we all have the power to choose to do them.
In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son.
When
he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not
fall
asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day
it
was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he
was
afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would
go
to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream
through
half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price
for
his fear of missing out.
Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to
miss
anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that
events
will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day.
Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap.
Things
will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch
up
when you wake.
Hence,
"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU
NEVER
KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" - Narayana Murthy
Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire
inIndia
but also for his simplicity. Almost every important dignitary visits
InfoSys
campus. He delivered an interesting speech during an employee session
with
another IT company in India . He is incidentally, one of the top 50
influential people of Asia according to an Asiaweek publication and also
the
new IT Advisor to the Thailand Prime Minister.
Extract of Mr. Narayana Murthy's Speech during Mentor Session:
I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some
people
do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only
temporary.
Other people I know have put in these hours for years. I do not know if
they
are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this
long.
Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the
workplace.
Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the
long term is harmful to the person and to the organization. There are
things
managers can do to change this for everyone's benefit. Being in the
office
long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors.
My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes
caused by fatigue. Correcting these mistakes requires their time as well
as
the time and energy of others. I have seen people work Tuesday through
Friday to correct mistakes made after 5 PM on Monday.
Another problem is that people who are in the office long hours are not
pleasant company. They often complain about other people (who are not
working as hard); they are irritable, or cranky, or even angry. Other
people
avoid them. Such behaviour poses problems, where work goes much better
when
people work together instead of avoiding one another.
As Managers, there are things we can do to help people leave the office.
First and foremost is to set the example and go home ourselves. I work
with
a manager who chides people for working long hours. His words quickly
lose
their meaning when he sends these chiding group e-mails with a
time-stamp of
2 AM, Sunday.
Second is to encourage people to put some balance in their lives. For
instance, here is a guideline I find helpful:
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the books/comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play
with
your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.
This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2.
Working
regular hours and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard
for
some of us because that requires 'personal change'. They are possible
since
we all have the power to choose to do them.
In considering the issue of overtime, I am reminded of my oldest son.
When
he was a toddler, if people were visiting the apartment, he would not
fall
asleep no matter how long the visit was, and no matter what time of day
it
was. He would fight off sleep until the visitors left. It was as if he
was
afraid that he would miss some thing. Once our visitors' left, he would
go
to sleep. By this time, however, he was over tired and would scream
through
half the night with nightmares. He, my wife, and I, all paid the price
for
his fear of missing out.
Perhaps some people put in such long hours because they do not want to
miss
anything when they leave the office. The trouble with this is that
events
will never stop happening. That is life! Things happen 24 hours a day.
Allowing for little rest is not ultimately practical. So, take a nap.
Things
will happen while you are asleep, but you will have the energy to catch
up
when you wake.
Hence,
"LOVE YOUR JOB, BUT NEVER FALL IN LOVE WITH YOUR COMPANY BECAUSE YOU
NEVER
KNOW WHEN THE COMPANY STOPS LOVING YOU" - Narayana Murthy
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