KayKaySaja

I got an email from my sister and i think i should share it with all of you.

Mr. Narayana Murthy is undoubtedly one of the most famous persons from
Karnataka. He is known not just for building the biggest IT Empire in India 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 -