This is a letter from Azim Premji to all employees at Wipro.
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
कोणत्याही टिप्पण्या नाहीत:
टिप्पणी पोस्ट करा