Opportunities do not wait for strategies and strategists

I am not an entrepreneur by choice. In 1966, at the age of 21, I was practically overnight thrust into the role of the CEO of a company about $4

Azim Premji

million in sales then, and not in the best of shape. I was trying to take charge of a role for which I had no training, no experience, no preparation and no demonstrated strength. We used to make vegetable oil. The journey from there on over the last four decades has not been easy. I learnt more from difficulties and failures than from successes.

The first lesson is that to be successful you have to be challenged by something, and then have the resolve to deal with it. This is the surest way forward. I learnt that challenges, determination and passion is what propel a person. I also learnt that often you have to go out seeking challenges because challenges may not come seeking you.
Rarely have I come across a successful entrepreneur, who became an entrepreneur only to make money. In practically all the cases, people became entrepreneurs because there is a challenge that excites them: A challenge to change the world, a challenge to invent, a challenge to create, etc—some deeply captivating challenge that appeals to them personally, but rarely is the desire to make money the prime driver.

The second learning is if you want something very much, you can actually make it happen, irrespective of the odds. As a living example, despite my age and the ageing grey cells, I did complete my Electrical Engineering degree at Stanford, 33 years later in 1999. Let us also know that there is no substitute to action. That to me is the starting and the ending point of being an entrepreneur. The most important thing is to deal with the here and now. And I learnt that, that can happen only through personal action. It has stayed with me forever.

The fourth learning, and it may seem very elementary, is that hard work and passion pays. With the passing years, I am even more convinced that, all the thinking, the best of strategy and greatest of intelligence, can achieve little in the absence of hard work and passion. Also, one has to go against the grain of common wisdom. I have learnt to respect wisdom more than strategy and intelligence. However, I have also learnt that to build something, to create something different one has to inevitably go against the grain of common wisdom. However daunting it may seem, there are times when one has to trust one’s instincts and act, ignoring all the wisdom around. Opportunities don’t wait for any one, certainly not for strategies or strategists.

Opportunities are here today and gone tomorrow. Also, while we may have our role in creating opportunities, the big opportunities are driven by changes in the world that we live in. We have to seize these opportunities. The sixth and most important learning is a deep unflinching commitment to values. I started off with this notion that I would not compromise on Integrity. The fact is that I did not face a conducive environment to practice Integrity, in those days. My notion was that values come first and business success follows.

I can candidly admit that my belief was deeply tested through many years of painful learning process that I went through. This ‘unflinching’ commitment that I talk about is not something that happens just because of overnight resolve. At least it did not happen with me.

We have seen the most severe economic meltdown the world has ever seen, unmatched both in its geographic spread as well as severity. I believe that however long it is, the core characteristic of the entrepreneur will prevail. And the core characteristic of the entrepreneur is hope.