Adobe CEO's Take On Narayana Murthy's 70-Hour Work Week: Do What Suits You

A week after Narayana Murthy’s suggestion that millennials should work 70 hours a week to contribute to nation-building stirred debates in corporate India, another tech leader, Shantanu Narayen, has shared his perspective.

What Happened: Shantanu Narayen, the 60-year-old chairman and CEO of Adobe, addressed a group of students at his alma mater, Osmania University, and encouraged young individuals to do what suits them best, Times of India reported.

When asked about Murthy’s suggestion that India’s youth could make great strides by working a 70-hour week, Narayen responded: “For me I work hard because I love what I do and want to accomplish things. For me in my career there are times when something is due and you work like crazy. At the same time, there are people in Adobe who work for me and with me and they want to take time off and I support them.”

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Narayen, who received an honorary doctorate at the Osmania convocation, emphasised that professionals should follow their own desires rather than seeing themselves as victims of external demands. He noted, “You are more in control of your career, your destiny, than you give yourself credit. At the same time, you only have yourself to blame if you don't like what you do.”

Reflecting on his time at the university, Narayen admitted he wasn’t an exceptional student and only became focused in his final year of engineering. In an increasingly competitive world, he encouraged students to adopt a long-term perspective and understand that it’s okay not to excel in everything, as there would always be some inevitable “ducks,” akin to Virat Kohli’s recent performance against England in the ongoing Cricket World Cup.

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