My wife is wonderful; I love staring at her: Anand Mahindra on 90-hr work week debate

New Delhi: Focus on the quality of work and not on the quantity, as one can change the world in 10 hours, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on Saturday, joining the debate on a 90-hour work week.

Speaking at the National Youth Festival in the national capital, Mahindra asserted that he is on social media not because he is lonely and quipped, "My wife is wonderful. I love staring at her".

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) Chairman SN Subrahmanyan has sparked an online outrage with his comments, asking, "How long can you stare at your wife" while advocating a 90-hour work week and suggesting that employees should even give up Sundays.

Responding to a query on the 90-hour work week, Mahindra, while reiterating his respect for Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy and others, said, "Let me not get this wrong, of course, but I have to say something. I think this debate is in the wrong direction because this debate is about the quantity of work".

"My point is we have to focus on the quality of work, not on the quantity of work. So, it's not about 40 hours, it's not about 70 hours, it's not about 90 hours. What output are you doing? Even if it's 10 hours, you can change the world in 10 hours," he added.

Mahindra further said he "always believed that you have to have leaders and people in your company who make wise decisions, wise choices. So, the question is, which kind of mind makes the right choices and right decisions?" He also stressed the need to have a mind that is "exposed to holistic thinking, that is open to inputs from around the world" and also the need for people from different backgrounds like engineers and MBAs to study arts and culture to be able to make better decisions.

"...because I think you make better decisions when you have a whole brain, when you are informed about arts, culture, that's when you make a good decision," Mahindra said.

Highlighting the need to spend time with family and friends, he said, "If you're not spending time at home, if you're not spending time with friends, if you're not reading, if you don't have time to reflect, how will you bring the right inputs into making a decision?" Taking the example of M&M, which makes automobiles, he said, "We have to decide what a customer wants in a car. If we are only in the office all the time, we are not with our families, we are not with other families. How are we going to understand what people want to buy? What kind of car do they want to sit in?" He further said, "I'm not going to say you need to work so many hours of that. I don't want it to be. Ask me what's the quality of my work. Don't ask me how many hours I work".

Referring to his followers on X, who often ask how much time he has and why he spends so much time on social media instead of working, Mahindra said, "I want to tell people I'm on X on social media not because I'm lonely... My wife is wonderful. I love staring at her. I spend more time. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here because people don't understand it is an amazing business tool, how in one platform I get feedback from 11 million people..." Last month, billionaire Gautam Adani also waded into the work-life balance debate when he said the spouse would leave if one was to spend eight hours with the family.

He had reportedly stated that work-life balance is a matter of personal choice.

"Your idea of work-life balance should not be imposed on me, and my idea shouldn't be imposed on you. Say, someone spends 4 hours with family and finds joy in it, or if someone else spends 8 hours and enjoys it, that is their work-life balance".

"Aath ghanta family ke saath bitayega tho biwi bhaag jaayegi (Wife will leave if one spends eight hours with family)," he had said.

Last year, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy stirred up a storm on the internet when he suggested the need for a change in India's work, stating youngsters should be prepared to work for 70 hours a week.

Murthy had found support from Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal.