Not Taking Quick Decisions is a Mistake

Biggest mistake? Everyone  of my mistakes has come from not taking a decision quickly and at the right time. Whenever I have moved decisively and done something it has worked. Whenever I have postponed or procastinated, I have gotten into a deeper trouble.  I think being quick and decisive at the same time doing those desicisons that sound judgemental is very key on an ongoing basis.

Question: Any specific examples and lessons learnt?

I remember in 2001 when we had the crisis of the IT boom going out, I think we should have moved much faster, I mean,  I should have moved faster on reacting to it.  In the first 10 years of Infosys we could’ve been more ambitious. It took us almost 12 years before we took off.  I think we should have done that much faster.

About Nandan Nilekani:

Nandan Nilekani is the CoFounder and ex-CEO of Infosys Technologies. Nandan currently serves as the Chairman of the new Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).   There’s more about Nandan in this Wikipedia article about him.

http://www.kiruba.com/mistake/files/2009/08/Nandan_MyMistake.mp3