__Love me Love my life_

Monday, July 03, 2006

ADvice from an indian.

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 ill 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 -

Me, my life 9:42 AM

	Danny
	eLiZa
	JiaYing
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	BernArD
	Chin Chong
	Serene
	Geraldine
	Sharon
	Lee Liang Cheng
	Dennis
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