Kris Gopalakrishnan, one of the Infosys founders, asked young techies to aspire for lifelong learning, which includes just-in-time and micro-learning. Giving them a peek view into the future, he said every aspect of life, every field of study and every business sector, is getting disrupted.
Addressing a crowd of 423 graduating students at the 17th Convocation of the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) here on Saturday, Kris wants them to work on acquiring capabilities in order to face the ever changing world, which is getting disrupted by the day.
How can you face a disruptive future? Here are Kris’s five-point advisory for the students:
The first capability Kris wants students to work on is understanding and foreseeing the role of technology in their lives.“You need to be productive despite the information overload. The concept of ‘pass out today and that’s your education life’ is not valid any longer. You need to learn continuously throughout your life,” he said. “Remember, the jobs of data cleansing, massaging and tagging and writing the Artificial Intelligence programme had not existed about 10 years ago.”
Problem-solving techniques
The second capability is about learning new problem-solving capabilities. “Keep in mind that biases will impact your ability to solve problems,” he said.He gave an example for the Confirmation Bias. “During a product launch, people tend to seek out positive information that puts their company product in a good light,” he observed. “Creative techniques like brainstorming, lateral thinking and design thinking would help us think out of the box.”
Being a leader
Third capability, he said, is acquiring leadership capabilities. “You are never too young to be a leader. You may soon be starting your careers. And you may wonder how you can be a leader if you are occupying a low spot in the office hierarchy. Understand that leadership is not a position or tile. Leadership is about inspiring other leaders,” he said.
Citing the examples of Sourav Ganguly, Virat Kohli and Mahndra Singh Dhoni to dwell on how to inspire others by being aggressive, by standing as an example and how to dream big, Kris said, “Leadership is not rank or privilege. It is situational. There is no single best leadership style. Practice leadership in the workforce or in your personal life. Identify areas where you are good and offer to help others in that areas. Find a mentor at your workplace and in life, who can show you the ropes of life.”
Values and ethics
The fourth capability, according to him, is developing a set of consistent values and ethics in life. “Your core values will guide the way you live and lead your work life. When we started Infosys, we were very clear that we wanted to create an exemplary company that the world trusts and respects. Our then tagline—Powered by intellect and driven by values—reflects this thought,” he pointed out.
The six values that you must imbibe in life are—Integrity, Fairness, Transparency, Excellence, Compassion, and Innovation. “Live these values every day of your life and in every transaction,” he advises the students.
“Most of us are obsessed with breakthrough innovations or disruptive ideas. They are important. But remember that the incremental innovations too are important. Smartphone is a disruptive innovation as compared to the PC. But every year, the smartphones get a little faster, the screens get a little brighter, the cameras get a few more megapixels. These are examples of incremental innovations,” he pointedout.
Customer centric mindset
The fifth capability, according to Kris, is to be customer centric and business aware. “Understand who your customers are and carefully listen to them. Be aware of the business fundamentals—like setting the price, cost structures, profitability of your product or service, how branding works and how to negotiate,” he said. “No matter what role you play in your organisation, you must learn to be a sales person, be a finance person and be an economist,” he advises.
“You must develop a customer centric mindset and must be curious and listen to your customers and other stakeholders more,” he said.
Kris Gopalakrishnan’s five-point formula for success are:
* Understand and foresee the role of technology in your lives
* Learn new problem-solving capabilities
* Acquire new leadership capabilities
* Develop a set of consistent values and ethics in your life
* Be customer centric and business aware