On the last day in office, Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy, who is transitioning from the Chairman of Infosys Ltd to its Chairman Emeritus, advised his colleagues to work hard, ensure that Infosys survived for the next 100 to 200 years, and moved from a turnover of $6 billion to $60 billion and, beyond that, to $600 billion.
Mr Murthy stressed that, to succeed, one needs luck and character. “But luck requires hard work and when you perform, you get recognition, respect, and power.” While talking about the importance of teamwork, Mr Murthy highlighted the need to recognise and reward top performers. “If you don't identify the high performers and reward them, they will lose motivation. However, high performance should not make you arrogant because arrogance leads to hubris.”
But hard work alone would not help you if you cannot defeat your mindset, said Mr Murthy. “The mind is an engine of progress, while your mindset is a database of experience which holds you back. So, you must use your mind to defeat your mindset.” Ultimately, he said, all this should lead to innovation. “I want to see innovation in HR, finance, sales, marketing, and other areas. Infoscions should ask, ‘how can I make things faster, cheaper, and better'." Mr Murthy also showed some veiled displeasure regarding Infosys' current functioning. “The fast track leadership programme I have started has somehow been abandoned. I hope that it is resurrected,” he said.