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Dear Wiproite,
My own
successes and setbacks along the way have taught me some lessons. I wish to
share them with you and hope you will find them useful.
Lesson #1: Be careful to ask what you want. You may get it.
What this
means is that do not ask too little either of yourself or the others around
you. What you ask is what you get. When I look back at the time when I
joined Wipro, I was 21. If you ask me whether I thought that Wipro would
grow so by someday, the honest answer is that I did not. But neither did I
think it would not. We constantly stretched ourselves to higher and higher
targets. Sometimes, it seemed possible, sometimes fanciful and sometimes
plain insane. But we never stopped raising limits. And we got a lot more
than what we bargained for.
Lesson # 2: Respond, don't react
Always be
aware of your emotions and learn to manage them. There is a huge difference
between people who react impulsively and those who can disengage themselves
and then respond at will. By choosing to respond differently, we can
prevent another person from controlling our behaviour. I remember a small
story that illustrates this well. There was once a newspaper vendor who had
a rude Customer. Every morning, the Customer would walk by, refuse to
return the greeting, grab the paper off the shelf and throw the money at
the vendor. The vendor would pick up the money, smile politely and say,
"Thank you, Sir." One day, the vendor's assistant asked him,
"Why are you always so polite with him when he is so rude to you? Why
don't you throw the newspaper at him when he comes back tomorrow?" The
vendor smiled and replied, "He can't help being rude and I can't help
being polite. Why should I let his rude behaviour dictate mine?
Lesson # 3: Intuitions are important for making decisions
It is
important to realize that our intuition is a very important part of
decision making. Many things are recorded by our subconscious. Use both
sides of the brain. Even that is not enough. Some decisions need the use of
the heart as well. When you use your mind and heart together, you may get a
completely new and creative answer.
Lesson # 4:
Learn to work in teams
The
challenges ahead are so complex that no individual will be able to face
them alone. While most of our education is focused in individual strength,
teaming with others is equally important. You cannot fire a missile from a
canoe. Unless you build a strong network of people with complimentary
skills, you will be restricted by your own limitations.
Globalisation
has brought people of different origins, different upbringing and different
cultures together. Ability to become an integral part of a
cross-cultural team will be a must for your success.
Lesson #5:
Never lose your zest and curiosity
All the
available knowledge in the world is accelerating at a phenomenal rate. The
whole world's codified knowledge base (all documented information in
library books and electronic files) doubled every 30 years in the early
20th century. By the 1970s, the world's knowledge base doubled every seven
years. Information researchers predict that by the year 2010, the world's
codified knowledge will double every 11 hours. Remaining on top of what you
need to know will become one of the greatest challenges for you.
The
natural zest and curiosity for learning is one of the greatest drivers for
keeping updated on knowledge. A child's curiosity is insatiable because
every new object is a thing of wonder and mystery. The same zest is needed
to keep learning new things. I personally spend at least 10 hours every
week on reading. If I do not do that, I will find myself quickly outdated.
Lesson # 6: Put yourself first
This does
not mean being selfish. Nor does it mean that you must become so full of
yourself that that you become vain or arrogant. It means developing your
self confidence. It means, developing an inner faith in yourself that is
not shaken by external events. It requires perseverance. It shows up in the
ability to rebound from a setback with double enthusiasm and energy. I came
across a recent Harvard Business review which describes this very
effectively :
"No
one can truly define success and failure for us- only we can define that
for ourselves. No one can take away our dignity unless we surrender it. No
one can take away our hope and pride unless we relinquish them. No one can
steal our creativity, imagination and skills unless we stop thinking. No
one can stop us from rebounding unless we give up."
And there
is no way we can take care of others, unless we take care of ourselves.
Lesson #
7: Have a broader social vision
While
there is every reason to be excited about the future, we must not forget
that we will face many challenges as well. By 2015, we will have 829 million strong
workforce. That will make India
home to 18% of global working-age population. The key challenge is to
transform that into a globally competitive work-force.
This will
not be an easy task. Despite all the rapid economic expansion seen in
recent years, job growth in India
still trails the rise in working-age population. It is important that gains
are spread across this spectrum, so that the divide between the employed
and the under-employed, is minimised. Education is a crucial enabler that
can make this growth as equitable as possible.
Lesson # 8: Play to win
Playing to
win is not the same as playing dirty. It is not about winning all the time
or winning at any cost. Playing to win is having the intensity to stretch
to the maximum and bringing our best foot forward. Winning means focusing
on the game. The score board tells you where you are going, but don't
concentrate too much on it. If you can focus on the ball, the scores will
move by themselves. I recently came across this story that I thought
I would share with you
A group of
alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their
old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints
about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the
professor went into the kitchen. He returned with a large pot of coffee and
an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal- some plain
looking, some expensive, some exquisite – and asked them to help themselves
to coffee.
When all
the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you
noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind
the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best
for yourselves, you were more concerned about comparing your cups but what
you really wanted was coffee. Yet you spent all your time eyeing each
other's cups.
Now if life
is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They
are just tools to contain Life, but cannot really change the quality of
Life. Sometimes, by over concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the
coffee."
I wish you all every success in your career and
your life .
Azim Premji
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