The Silver Skies Of Indian IT

Twenty-five years is always an occasion to celebrate-whether it's a

silver wedding anniversary, the age of a favourite child or quite simply one

more milestone

for the poster child of India's software exports industry, the formidable

Infosys! And as one heard Nandan, Mohandas, Murthy, and Sudha wax eloquent on

the phenomenon that has been created, here are a few thoughts on what makes

legendary companies such as GE and Infosys truly inspirational.

The success of great companies lies deeper than the obvious, though these may

not often be articulated by the promoters themselves. The first characteristic,

which Murthy mentions often, is longevity. The institution has to be larger than

the individual and the smooth transition from Welch to Immelt in GE and Murthy

to Nandan in Infy are evidence of the institution building that has taken place.

But one could argue that the transition from Gerstner to Palmisano in IBM and

Kohli to Ramadorai in TCS was equally smooth. So what else characterises the

inspirational companies?

One common factor between GE and Infy is the ability to put one's unique

stamp on some distinctive areas of core competence and win the adulation of the

world. The best practices in corporate governance, the stunning impact of the

annual reports, the consistent ability to under commit and over deliver, which

has been almost taken for granted by industry analysts-if all these

characterize Narayana Murthy's Infosys, Jack Welch's obsession to be Number

One or Two in every industry segment, the Six Sigma movement that was all

pervasive in GE, and the stamp of larger than life leadership that Jack himself

left as his unique stamp on the organization are what makes GE the organization

that for so long towered over all its peers. Great credit also goes to their

successors who have left their own mark after taking over the mantle of

leadership where lesser mortals could have been overshadowed and dwarfed by the

image of their predecessors.

On a larger plane, Nasscom in India itself reflects this style distinction

where the ebullient and irrepressible Dewang Mehta built a larger than life

image for himself and the organization and the softer, subtle management by

advocacy and consensus style of Kiran Karnik has enabled it to continue the good

work and deepen the impact on all industry stakeholders in the last many years.

A deeper analysis of inspiration-that makes common people rise to uncommon

heights of aspiration and achievement is the subject of a book that my colleague

Manjiri Gokhale and I have been researching on and writing. As we traveled

throughout the country meeting personalities-Nandan Nilekeni to Baba Kalyani,

Ramalinga Raju to Kiran Bedi, and Kiran Karnik to Medha Patkar-inspiring

qualities such as commitment, discipline,  and

concern for people came up as recurring themes across geographical, cultural,

and industry barriers. Our belief is that sincerity of purpose and subjugation

of personal ego to the larger good of all stakeholders-in our work and life

will make us all more successful, but for more insights wait till you can read

the book later this year.

Finally back to Infosys and the celebration of the silver achievement on some

of India's television channels caused somebody in our family to remark-how

come they get so much more coverage for everything they do than TCS, which

everybody says is as competent and significantly larger? As a celebrated

marketing guru has said, the world does not automatically beat a path of gold to

the man who builds the better mousetrap. The marketing machinery of Infosys is

one of the best in the land and in a world where perception is so often

substantially more important than reality; there are no prizes for guessing who

should win that argument-may the tribe of Narayana Murthy flourish in their

endeavors!