Narayan Murthy's Speech at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management: Lesson Summary

In his speech at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Narayana Murthy expressed his happiness to be there and described Lal Bahadur Shastri as a man with strong values who embodied simple life. He also acknowledged his role in nation-building as a freedom fighter and innovative administrator. His appreciation for receiving the Lal Bahadur Shastri Award for Public Administration & Management Sciences was extended to the jury.
The significance of Western values in contemporary Indian culture, according to Narayana Murthy, is a very significant issue that he had been considering for many years when he received the invitation to speak there. He continued by saying that the topic was extremely important to him because his organisation was built on strong values. He said that some of the lessons he had learned were relevant to the backdrop of the country. In reality, valves are what promote development and determine the societal quality of life.
According to Narayana Murthy, the Latin words com ("with" or "with") and unus ("one") are combined to form the term community. Hence, a community is both one and many. It is not just a group of people; it is a united multitude. According to the Vedas, although man is capable of living individually, he can only survive collectively. To create a progressive community, it is necessary to strike a balance between individual and societal interests. To solve this, we must create a value system where people are willing to make little sacrifices for the benefit of everybody.
Narayana Murthy queries What exactly is a value system? The community's members' commitment, trust, and confidence are all enhanced by the protocol for behaviour. It concerns decent and desirable behaviour, which extends beyond the domain of legality. It also includes prioritising the needs of the community before your own. Thus, sound valves are the foundation for our collective survival and progress.
According to Narayana Murthy, the two pillars of the cultural valve system are loyalty to family and loyalty to the community. None should be valued apart from the other since successful societies successfully blend these values. He further said that in that context, he would talk about the role of western values in Indian society.
Narayana Murthy said that some of the people present might think that he was going to discuss Indian values from the old ages and not Western values. He clarified that he lives in the present, and has seen these values primarily practised in the West, hence the title of the topic. He added that he was happy as long as these values were practised, and as an Indian, he was proud to be part of a culture which has deep-rooted family values. He gave an example that parents make enormous sacrifices for their children, and on the other hand, children consider it their duty to take care of their aged parents.
Narayana Murthy said that they believed that mother was God and father was God and that brothers and sisters sacrificed for each other, with the eldest being respected by all the others. He further said that marriage was a sacred union between husband and wife, usually for life, and that in joint families, the whole family worked together for its welfare, full of love and affection.
Narayana Murthy stated that Indian values were an important strength and that families acted as a critical support mechanism for them. He further added that the credit of Infosys' success credit went to the founders and their families to support them during difficult times. He lamented that in India, the attitude towards family life was not reflected in the attitude towards community behaviour. He highlighted that in countries like the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, individuals were responsible towards their communities.
Narayana Murthy said that the primary difference between the West and India is that people in the West have a better societal orientation and care more for society than India does. He further added that they usually sacrifice more for society than Indians do, and therefore the quality of life is enhanced. He suggested that India should learn from the West in this regard.
Narayana Murthy said that Indians can learn some lessons from the West, such as respect for the public good. He gave examples of parks free of litter, clean streets and public toilets free of graffiti. He contrasted this with the fact that in India, people keep their houses clean, and water their gardens every day, but do not think twice before littering a park.
Narayana Murthy said that corruption in India is an example of putting one's own and their family's interests above society. He further said that in the west, it is difficult to bribe a police officer to avoid a speeding ticket because of the people's responsible behaviour towards the community. He added that in India, corruption, tax evasion, cheating and bribery have become major issues and even contractors bribe officials for constructing low-quality roads and bridges. He said that this behaviour is condoned by almost everyone and has resulted in society losing out in terms of substandard defence equipment and infrastructure.
Narayana Murthy pointed out that apathy in solving community matters was hindering progress, which was otherwise within reach. He mentioned that people do not try to solve serious problems around them and act as if they do not exist or are somebody else's responsibility. He added that in the West, people take proactive steps to solve societal problems. He also gave the example of the problem of drought in India as an example of an apathetic attitude.
Dr.K.L.Rao, an irrigation expert, suggested over 40 years ago that we create a water grid connecting all the rivers in North and South India to solve the problem, but nothing has been done. In 1983, a decision to build a thermal power plant to meet Bangalore's power requirements was taken, but it has still not been started. Moreover, the Milan subway in Bombay has been in a deplorable state for the last 40 years, but no action has been taken.
Narayana Murthy had suggested five years ago to have a 240-page passport to avoid frequent visits to the passport office and even offered to pay for it, but he had not heard from the Ministry of External Affairs yet. He quoted Thomas Hunter's words that "Idleness travels very slowly, and poverty soon overtakes it" and explained that Indians have been ruled by foreigners for over a thousand years, which led them to believe that public issues belonged to some foreign ruler and they had no role in solving them.
Narayana Murthy said that Indians had lost the will to solve their problems and were just used to executing someone else’s orders. He quoted Aristotle, saying that people become what they repeatedly do and that the decision-makers in their society were not trained to solve problems and looked to someone else to make decisions. He said that this was a tragedy, as there was nobody to look up to.
Narayana Murthy suggested that India's intellectual arrogance has not helped its society. Narayana Murthy has travelled widely and hasn't seen a society as contemptuous of others as ours, despite little progress. He cautioned that arrogance breeds hypocrisy. No other society boasts about the past as much, with so little current success.
Narayana Murthy said Indians have had this trait for at least a thousand years. He gave an example of Al Barouni, a 10th-century Arabic logician and traveller. Indian pundits considered it below their dignity to argue with him. On rare occasions when one did, he asked which Indian pundit taught Barouni. Murthy said a progressive society respects those who have accomplished more, but our leaders make us believe others don't know anything. He cited Thomas Carlyle's words, saying that the greatest of faults is to be conscious of none.
We must change our attitude to progress. We can learn from those who have done better than us, like Infosys. We often rationalize our failures. We have mastered this practice. This is an excuse for incompetence, corruption, and apathy. Sir Josiah Stamp said we cannot escape our responsibilities and the consequences of doing so. In the West, people are held accountable for their actions, regardless of their position. In India, those in higher positions are often not answerable for their actions. For example, a senior politician once "forgot" to file tax returns for 10 years yet got away with it. There are over 100 loss-making public sector units in India, however, no action has been taken against top managers for their poor performance.
Narayana Murthy said that the dignity of labour is important in the Western value system. People in the West take pride in their hard work. In India, however, we tend to not value those who do not have professional jobs. We have a mindset that only values intellectual work. Narayana Murthy said that many engineers fresh from college want to do cutting-edge work but not work of relevance to business and the country. He stressed that in an organization or society, different people have different roles and for success, everyone from the CEO to the person who serves tea is important and should be respected for their honest work. He encouraged a mindset that respects those who work hard.
Narayana Murthy said Indians become intimate without being friendly. He gave an example of when he was travelling and a fellow traveller asked for a favour after only 5 minutes of conversation.  This fellow traveller asked him to speak to his MD about removing him from the bottom 10% list in his company. Rudyard Kipling once said that westerners are friendly without being intimate while easterners are intimate without being friendly. He then said that people in the West prioritize the common good more than personal relationships and don't let it interfere with their professional dealings. They don't hesitate to punish a colleague, even if he is a personal friend, for incompetent work.
Narayana Murthy said that Indians tend to view work interactions from a personal perspective. He also said that Indians are the most 'thin-skinned' society in the world, as they often see insults where none is meant. He believes this may be because India was not free for most of the last thousand years. Narayana commented that Indians do not seem to respect other people's time, and lack professionalism in terms of punctuality. Narayana Murthy said that Indian Standard Time is usually late and deadlines are not met. Many public projects are not completed on time and this has become the norm rather than the exception. He said the West showed professionalism by embracing meritocracy. He said Western parents teach their children to be independent thinkers and in India, people are still stuck with feudal thinking. To succeed globally, this attitude needs to be overcome.
Narayana Murthy said that the Western value system emphasizes respecting contractual obligations and that these are rarely broken. He also said that enforcing legal rights and contracts is essential for increasing the credibility of our people and nation. Narayana Murthy said that marriage vows in India are considered sacred and people are willing to make sacrifices to uphold them. However, this same respect for personal commitments does not extend to the public domain. For example, India had an unfavourable contract with Enron and instead of punishing those responsible for the agreement, the contract was disregarded before any information about illegal activities at Enron was known.
Narayana Murthy said he had recommended various students for a national scholarship to pursue higher studies in US universities. However, most of them did not return to India after their degree, despite being contractually obliged to spend five years in India. Narayana Murthy said that the maximum default rate for student loans is among Indians, who have made it difficult for other students from India to obtain loans. He said that Indians do not display intellectual honesty and political leaders use mobile phones while saying they do not believe in technology. He said that to make progress, hypocrisy must be stopped. He then said that citizens must acknowledge their duty to the community as much as their duty to their families. He quoted Dwight Eisenhower saying that those who value their privileges over their principles will soon lose both.
Narayana Murthy said we should commit to the common good. To quote Henry Beecher, culture helps us work for the betterment of all. We should incorporate Western values into our culture for a better society. Most of our behaviour comes from greed, lack of self-confidence, and lack of respect. Gandhi said there is enough for everyone's needs, but not enough for everyone's greed. We should be responsible citizens to make our country great. Churchill said responsibility is the price of greatness. We should extend our family values beyond our homes. Narayana Murthy finally said that we should work towards the welfare of the maximum people. He also said that we should conduct ourselves as great citizens rather than just good people, to set a good example for the younger generation.

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