Friday 19 October 2007

Narayan Murthy says DO NOT WORK LONG Hours I disagree

When Natwar posted an article from the mentor of several thousand professionals all over the world Narayan Murthy... yes the Big Boss and the Chief Mentor of Infosys technologies...that talked about how long working hours are not productive and harms the individual and the organisational goals.... I was believed to Agree and Disagree..... though I do believe in a fact that longer hours in the office can harm... but they cannot always harm.. Yes there are ways to be
Productive in the office even if you have to work long hours and 6-7 days.... eventually somethings are always mis understood... working long hours do not necessarily mean LONG WORK HOURS.... I work long almost everyday and that too for last 9 years.... not a single time I have felt that I could be less productive.... not sure what my bosses talk about it... but anyways... my personal opinion doesn't go very much inline with the Chief Mentor of Infosys.....

However I completely agree with him that you should love your job but not your company.... I have been following this since a long and have always mentioned that "When someone says that he is emotionally attached to a company..... To me he is either lying or he is on a job hunt..." anyways that's just experience.. and I am sure if you meet the variety of such species you will agree ;)

back to working late I would really like to mention why I don't agree with Mr Murthy....

1. Longer hours not necessarily mean work
Yes I agree with you Sir.... however the remaining part of the time that is not work is not definitely a waste..... Not many really waste time playing games . TT , chit-chats and gossips... some of us who like to work long hours also want to read more, write more, share what we have and grab what we don't have.... For the last 8 yrs of my longer working hours I have learnt several things that I could have never learnt all my life working 9 - 6... and if I have to do some additional work in this time I dont blame the company here, because something has to be given for something that is taken.... I always thought that its a give and take relationship isn't it? cut the crap.... back to my experience in the last few years I have always found more energy within after 7:30 PM when most of the office is on the verge to go.... this energy is due to the fact that I work not only to finish what I was supposed to finish in my 8-9 hours but also to finish the task that I am going to live my 40-45 yrs of life..... Yes and that is knowledge....

2. What's with the Balance?
Life is all about balancing... work - life , bank , walk and strive and relationships.... I have seen people mentioning that it is very important to have a work - life balance... and why does someone need to think about it in the first place? I get 2 hrs a day with my kids without any disturbance when I play with them and also try to be a part of their daily schedule... I get distributed hours with my family and kids yet again to handle other things.... A full of Sunday is always used to make sure that I do something helpful for my family... and if I have to cut a few hours of my sleep for that I think that's a bonus not a cut..... Not sure if you guys remember watching James Bond series Tomorrow never dies when the diamond merchant says to the news reporters.... "We get life only once a time .. why waste time sleeping?" The balance is always there ... they are not very smart people who cannot manage there 10-12 hrs out of the 24 for their own....

3. You will get sick if you work long and late?
The only reason I think can get sick of is the workplace....damm that bought a giggle on your face didn't it? Yes been in office longer and late can bring you to a point where your eyes don't want to see more of the office place..... But did I already tell you that swapping team places and co-locations help in getting rid of this thing? Yes the workplace layout needs to be manipulated and edited every few weeks / months so that the team feels different .... however thanks to a high attrition rate in the software companies they see new faces always :D that was just a joke BTW...

4. Mistakes? If you work long?
And what mistakes are we talking here about? I am sure not many people think that mistakes are not done deliberately... and are not done ONLY when you are not in state of mind... damm we need some science out here to support my statements.... anyway... when I see someone saying that longer work make you irritation level rise earlier than when you work 9 - 6? Boooof... that was a bullet without a gun to me..... The irritation level can be high even if you work shorter NO ? All you need is a better work environment that irritates you... So I remember a guy who always worked 9 - 5 but was always irritated because he did not liked smiling faces around.... ahh there I Go... I thought that irritation has something to do with the nature of the person... you cannot expect a cold blooded man to leave anger away just by making him friends with his biggest foe can you? So when we talk about bigger mistakes I think they are not directly linked to longer hours but the quality of the hours spent.... someone can burn his 8 hour long brainy cycles in a minute if he has to deal with a creature in the office that doesn't understand one thing in one time... Now you agree is it?

And now let me go back to My List of advantages ......

1. I am always at a startup
All my career I have always preferred working with small companies .... many don't know but the objective was to work hard and make sure that the small becomes BIG sometime... for me Life is too short to know the shortest of the world... and if Internet and other facilities provide you a source to know a better part of this world with just a few extra hours of you ... is it not a BUY 1 GET 2 Free deal? Remember You are the smallest of the creature in the world.... only hardest of your efforts are going to give you best est of the results and success's..... so every day is a new beginning of a day with your company and 8 hrs is just a startup to understand what a world wants from you......

2. How many of us know today if Britney Spears lost the visiting rights to her kids today? Or know that YouTube is blocked in China from today?
I haven't seen many of the 9 - 6 personalities doing anything once they reach home than sitting gossiping, shopping or putting their heated Asses in front of the IDIOT box.... reason? Ask Savio.... Once talking to him he said .... "No matter I reach home at 4 in the evening or 11 in the night the feel of been tired is the same....." and damm that applies to many.... how many of you after reaching home have opened a exciting Harry Potter Novel that you have already read 3 times? or how many of you have spent time watching the National Geographic and writing a thesis on why Lions are more prone to Sex than Tigers? geeeezz.... well honestly many of us when we reach home really don't want to work more because we just got back from it bloody hell.... SO how many of us really update ourselves after 6 when we reach home?

3. I work Long to Give My team a confidence....
what do you expect your security personal to do when you ain't in the office? BE AWAKE AND AVAILABLE... No? Yes .. that's what I do when I am awake and working late and longer... I make sure that I am with my time or ahead of my team to make sure that they don't have blockers ahead waiting for them ... just because I am not there...... Now don't you dare talk about empowering and dependencies here ..... It has no connections.... I work long so that my team has a feeling that Someone is there..... It may be ME or SOMEONE else.... and that is one of our objectives right? specially when people call us leaders?

4. I have a flair of advantage
Google did not start working 9 - 6.. nor did Steve Jobs kept a work life balance when he started APPLE?..... so If you are a start up You have to work long so that your future can be smooth , relaxed and convenient.... Working late gives me fair amount of advantage over my competition... competition that stays in and out of my organisation.... When I work long I compete with the outside world, gain more knowledge, work towards achieving my goals and gaining that upper hand that can help me accelerate my skills.... However I am not a very strong believer of showing that I work late.... I work late for myself and my tasks to finish... and not for MY COMPANY....

5. I sleep less to sleep more....
I always heard some statements made by the biggie managers... WORK HARD PARTY HARDER.... and if you are a bit aware of Ramayana you must be knowing Kumbhakarna ... who really followed it... so when you really go to vacate yourself on vacations you party hard.... and I am sure you don't need any special request to party harder... the moment you get to party you party harder anyways....

6. Do I need to mention more?
OK Let me wait to the reader comments and I shall shoot more of shit at you...

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