The first half of the Spirit of Wipro workshop was winding up, and Hardy was filled with conflicting emotions… excitement and confusion, hope and scepticism. He had been enthused when the Spirit was unveiled, and had enrolled for this workshop… it was meant to help Wiproites understand and practice the Spirit of Wipro.


Hardy (Hriday Dhawan) joined Wipro a year ago from college. Since then, he had been working as a software engineer on a project for a large Australian client. For him, the last year had been a period of churn. He had learnt much about programming, about how projects are managed, about working in teams, and about the pressures and pleasures of doing business.
In his team, he was known for his ability to think clearly and logically. Often, his colleagues would approach him to iron out design issues in their work. Anjali, his project manager, liked Hardy for he consistently produced high quality work while meeting time commitments.

However, things were not all rosy. Hardy was prone to be argumentative, and would often get into tiffs with Anjali. One altercation happened when project exigency forced Anjali to push the team hard. On that occasion, they worked long hours to meet the customer’s demands. Hardy was hurt, and felt Anjali should have been more firm in dealing with the customer. He felt this conflicted with Wipro’s high standards of Integrity, especially when it came to serving Customers. 
Anjali realised Hardy needed greater understanding of the Spirit of Wipro, and suggested he enrol for the workshop.


With these memories flickering in his mind, Hardy stood up to leave for lunch. Does the Spirit of Wipro, he wondered with some scepticism, have any bearing on actual work? The Spirit of Wipro workshop had participants from Wipro’s different businesses and functions. Walking out, Hardy ran into Vidya. Vidya was from Wipro’s Community Initiatives team, and Hardy had first met her during a tree plantation event a few months back. He reintroduced himself and they began walking to lunch.

Vidya: Well Hardy, what did you think of the morning session?

Hardy: I like the 3 Values that make up the Spirit of Wipro – Intensity to Win, Act with Sensitivity, and Unyielding Integrity. But I don’t know if this has any relevance to my work. These are nice things to talk about, but on the ground, it means little.

Vidya: Why do you say that?

Hardy: Because I don’t see any of this manifested in my project. I know Wipro has always stood for integrity and sensitivity, but…

Vidya: Are you saying you do not have Integrity? Or that you are not humane in your workplace behaviour?

Hardy: No Vidya, it is not about me…

Vidya: Many youngsters I meet these days seem to be saying: I believe in all of this, the problem is with someone else. I have been in Wipro for over 10 years now, and I try to live by these Values every moment. And when I set the example, I know it influences how my team acts. I have seen leaders in Wipro who have been steadfast on Integrity every time they faced a dilemma…

Hardy: Vidya, believe me, I try. But somehow in the pressures of doing business, such things seem to collapse. You could say I’m being idealistic, but…

Vidya: Who is an idealist, Hardy? Someone who expects an ideal world? No, I think an idealist is someone who strives to create a better world. I see the Spirit of Wipro as a personal challenge – it is not about anyone else, it is about me. Can I be a person who manifests intensity to win, acts with sensitivity and is unyielding on integrity all the time? First and foremost, it is about me.

Hardy: But what about business pressures? What about how my manager behaves?

Vidya: You have a golden opportunity, Hardy. Living the Spirit of Wipro is easy when one’s environment is conducive….

Hardy: I see what you are saying, Vidya. You are saying I have the ideal opportunity to demonstrate the Spirit. No matter how difficult the circumstance, do I have the strength to still be true to the Spirit?
Vidya: Yes! Remember Mahatma Gandhi’s words: you must be the change you wish to see in the world. You must take it upon yourself to believe in the Spirit, and then become a living example of what it means – what better way to influence your environment, your organisation!


The conversation with Vidya had truly invigorated Hardy. He returned to the workshop after lunch with a more open mind, and looked forward to the rest of the day. Already, he was brimming with ideas of what he could do on returning to his project. He realised not all of them were practical, but that did not deter his imagination.
At the workshop, the facilitator broke the participants into small groups and gave them a very broad task: discuss what the Spirit of Wipro means to you. Hardy moved around trying to find his group members, and found them assembled outside the conference room. Quickly, they introduced themselves:

• Sundar was a sales manager from Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting. He was with Wipro for 5 years.
• Vivienne was a strategic consultant from Wipro Technologies, 2 years into Wipro.
• IMeenal was a young HR executive who had recently joined Wipro BPO.
• Manish was an operations manager at Wipro Infrastructure Engineering. He had been with Wipro for 12 years.

The group found themselves a quiet corner and settled down.



Manish: Why don’t we take each of the Values and discuss them? Should we begin with Intensity to Win?

Sundar: Sure, I am completely kicked about this. I always felt winning should be a Wipro Value, and I am glad to see it put up here.

Vivienne: Well, I don’t see it quite like that! Intensity to Win is not the same as winning.

Sundar: But in effect it is the same thing. You want Intensity to Win because you want to win, right?

Meenal: Yes, I agree with Sundar. Practically, it is the same thing… whatever words we use.

Vivienne: I’ve been thinking about this since morning, and I feel they are different. The desire to win must come first. It will lead to winning, if the desire is intense enough. So, another way of looking at it is: desire is the cause, and winning is the outcome.

Meenal: How does it matter? Finally, you are winning.

Vivienne: Not really… I might have Intensity to Win and still lose. But in final analysis, I win more times than I lose.

Manish: I am reminded of a young sales manager in my organisation many years ago. He was very ambitious. To him, winning was all that mattered! …how he won, the means of winning, did not matter. He wanted to win at any cost and all the time, even if it was at the expense of others. I think this kind of winning goes against the Spirit of Wipro. The essence of the Intensity of Win lies in how one strives to win.

Vivienne: Yes, Manish, I agree. I think the supplemental points validate what you say. The first is: Make customers successful; and the second is…

Hardy: Team, innovate, excel. Yes, clearly this points to the ‘how’. In fact, this is what makes this Value so energising for me. To me, it means the desire to stretch, to achieve something that seems beyond my grasp. So in a sense, it is winning against myself, against my limitations. I think this is a very personal statement… by aiming for maximum, I challenge my limits, I expand and realise my potential.

Sundar: I see the wisdom in what you all are saying. I would like to give this idea some more shape. I have spent many years in sales. And here, we don’t talk of the best sales person or the best sales manager… we only talk of the best sales team. Hardy, I agree that the best way of expanding your potential is to attempt for the highest target… but the only way to climb Mount Everest is to climb as a team. I feel that for a company like Wipro, realising the synergy of teams is the key to scaling even greater heights.

Meenal: I like this point: Make customers successful. I feel this has direct linkage to my business, BPO. Here, it is very clear that we will win only if we deliver great service at low cost to our customer – this encourages them to give us more business. It then leads to this virtuous cycle where Wipro wins by making the customer win.

Vivienne: This is quite something! I thought Intensity to Win was such a simple and clear value. But the more we discuss this, the deeper I am able to understand its many nuances. For instance, look at: Team, innovate, excel. One way to read this is, we excel by teaming and innovating!

Hardy: Here’s another way of looking at it. Why do we innovate? We innovate because we hunger for excellence. And the fuel of innovation is imagination… the ability to look beyond the apparent.

Manish: There are so many ways of looking at and understanding what Intensity to Win really means. But I also think that at the root, this is a very direct and simple Value… given that each of us has been able to directly relate to it, work out our own interpretations, and feel energised by it.


As the discussion progressed, the group slowly warmed up to each other. They got up and began strolling around the campus.

Manish: Sensitivity has always existed in Wipro. My first manager… he would insist on walking around the factory switching off unnecessary lights. At first I thought he was just trying to save money. Later I realised he did this to prevent wastage of electricity… he used to say that waste of any sort is a sin. How can you waste food when children die of starvation every day? How can you waste electricity, when it is produced at such a high cost to the environment?

Sundar: Sensitivity is prone to so much misinterpretation. One of my team members thought I was insensitive because I gave him a poor performance rating. Well, he had great potential, but was just not tapping into it. And I felt he needed such a strong feedback so he could begin to fundamentally re-look at himself. As I see it, Sensitivity means creating conditions in which people can grow.

Manish: I agree, Sundar. But at the same time, I think one can Act with Sensitivity only when one is empathetic. True empathy comes from respect, and respect comes from trust. Trusting that every individual is driven by learning, that each individual would like to grow, that every individual strives for a meaningful life and is intrinsically driven to do his or her best…

Meenal: Manish, that went completely over me!

Manish: Ok, let me illustrate. Look at the gardener there. Would you say he and I are equals?

Meenal: Of course not! He is only a gardener… you are senior manager in Wipro. You have achieved so much more than him!

Manish: This thought, Meenal, lies at the root of all insensitivity and inequity. He has his role, I mine. We must begin by realising that all of us are equal, no matter who we are… this is the basic premise of a democratic society. As a human being, I want to learn, to grow, to do purposeful work… and I have to believe that every human being wants to be this way. And within my sphere of influence, it is my role to help each person to grow to his or her full potential.

Vivienne: Yes, I understand this. But we have to expand this view. Sensitivity is not just about how I am in my relationship with other people. It is also about how I am in relationship to all living beings, to ecology… sensitivity is what makes me act when I see an injured animal. So in a sense, it is about being a thoughtful and responsible citizen.


The group were engrossed in conversation, and did not notice the facilitator gesturing to the groups to return to the workshop.

Sundar: Folks, we are running out of time. Should we discuss Unyielding Integrity now? 

Hardy: To me this is the simplest of the three. Do not do anything that you do not want others to know about.

Manish: You know, if you went around asking what is the one thing Wipro stood for, the first response will be Integrity. This is so ingrained in our history… this is what makes me proud to be a Wiproite.

Sundar: In my first day at Wipro, I was given this litmus test. If your action is published in tomorrow’s newspaper, will it make you uncomfortable? Will your action make you uncomfortable when you look at yourself in the mirror? If yes, don’t do it.

Vivienne: Well, is that it? A simple filter of what to do and what not to do? Yes, this filter is very useful, but it doesn’t capture every dimension of Unyielding Integrity.

Sundar: I agree it is not a straitjacketing laundry list of do’s and don’ts. Integrity is being ethical beyond doubt. It is living the law of the land in spirit. It is what will give us the confidence to stand up to any scrutiny.

Meenal: Yes, all of this is right. Let me also add that integrity means delivering on the commitments we make.

Vivienne: To me, Integrity also has a higher meaning… and that is a commitment to searching for and acting on the truth. “Truth” is a word with many manifestations… to Meenal, it means keeping one’s word. I think it also means understanding and realising one’s highest vision of oneself. I know this is not easy… but this has to be the endeavour. Only then can we claim to have unyielding integrity.

Manish: I agree fully with Vivienne. And as a Wiproite, I always try to establish the foremost standards of honesty and fairness. I think of Integrity as a beacon… it is what guides me, gives me direction. And finally, I am my own litmus test of integrity. For integrity is the manifestation of conscience.


The group began walking back to the venue. The discussion had stimulated them, but it had also sapped their energy. They were quiet, and each person seemed lost in thought.

The dialogues had clarified many things in Hardy’s mind. For instance, it helped him gain a wider appreciation of the Spirit of Wipro.

Almost by design, it seemed these Values were prone to varied interpretations. But he also realised that every interpretation is right.

And he reflected, “Ultimately, I guess it is up to me to figure out what the Spirit of Wipro means to me, and then try to live it.”