'Ten Much', the latest book by A. G. Krishnamurthy, the Founder of Mudra Communications and the man behind the setting up of Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad (MICA), and the author of 'The Invisible CEO', has hit the bookstores across India with aplomb.

Published by Tata McGraw-Hill the book is a collection of stories of people -- some famous, some fairly unknown -- who went on to be successful despite severe adversities being thrown at them; simply by following a few basic processes. Krishnamurthy himself captained the growth of Mudra Communications from a Rs. 35 lakh company to a Rs. 7 billion corporation in remarkably short span of 23 years.

In this exclusive interview with MBAUniverse.com, A. G. Krishnamurthy talks about his new book, ways to achieve success in life, importance of dreaming big and his experience of working under Late Dhirubhai Ambani.

Excerpts from the exclusive interview:

Q: What is the central message of your book ‘TEN MUCH’?

A: Live your dream. Make it happen. You can do it.

The book has proof of the many achievers who came from disadvantaged backgrounds who had nothing but determination and a dream. They too could have sat back accepted their lot in life and progressed a couple of steps or so – maybe our former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam could have become a better boat builder, perhaps even an owner of a fleet of ferry boats, but instead he chased a dream with single-minded focus and became a rocket scientist who later on was elected into the highest post in the land. I have tried to show the common traits among performers such as these.

Q: You have talked about the 10 ‘ordinary processes’ for extraordinary success. Which one do you rate as the most vital process?

A: Money is a by-product. If you think about it, consciously or unconsciously all of us engineer our entire existence around the creation and accumulation of wealth. Bettering our lot in life materially is why most of us strive hard to give our children the best education we can afford, marry off our daughters to ‘well-settled’ grooms and so on. That is why it is important to realize that pursuing Money in everything we do, or rather prioritizing Money in all our choices will not, ironically enough, bring us money.

The secret is superior product creation, be it an actual product or even professional skills of individuals, it is important to offer superior products or services which is the only magnet for money. Prioritizing money unfortunately can have dire consequences as this could result in compromising the quality by short-cut methods such as cost-cutting activities which in turn result in inferior products. So the most vital process is to know that money is a by-product and not the main.

Q: In your book you have written in the context of setting up of MICA that ‘Dreaming is one thing, executing is another kettle of fish altogether’. How can one make ‘execution’ a simple and enjoying experience just as dreaming?

A: Knowing that every little thing you do is an investment in making your dream a reality, transforms mundane chores into highly rewarding activities.

There is this oft repeated story about the happy brick layer. A stranger walked up to a line of brick layers at work and interviewed them about how they felt about their job. Bricklaying as we all know is a pretty mundane activity and as could be predicted, all of them uniformly complained about the routine, the lack of motivation, the lack of growth prospects and the harshness of their job. But there was one unusual reply from a brick layer who was taking great pleasure in laying out each brick. Curious the interviewer asked him what the secret of his happiness was. He replied joyfully “Oh, you see I am not just laying out bricks in a row. I am building a cathedral!”

It is important to have a vision and even more critical is to know that every thing you do is a step that takes you closer to it becoming reality.

Q: What is ‘Luck’ according to your dictionary? Do you believe in words like ‘Fate’ and ‘Destiny’?

A: Luck is a chance happening. If you work hard, your chances increase. And you become ‘lucky’! Samuel Goldwin is supposed to have said “The harder I work, the luckier I get!” He is, as you all know one of the premier American film producers, the G in MGM, today one of the most recognized studios logos in Hollywood. So words like ‘luck’, ‘fate’ and ‘destiny’ are happy exit routes for those unwilling to pursue their dream, against all odds. The key words here are ‘against all odds’, which is inevitable when you want to write your own future. Its rough terrain but the summit will not be denied you, if you don’t give up.

I don’t believe that destiny is something that happens to you – that is fatalistic thinking and unnecessary in a world that truly offers choices.  All the achievers I have quoted have created their own destiny. They have lifted themselves out of their circumstance by grit and hard work to create a totally unpredictable life for themselves.

Q: Tenacity, perseverance, hard work, credibility…which quality is the most important to emerge successful?

A: All. Success is only possible with all these traits working in tandem. You need to never give up, be determined and work hard towards your goal. All these traits are what add to your credibility as someone who is determined to make it. As they say, ‘The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going’.

Q: You have worked with Late Dhirubhai Ambani. What made him unique as a business leader?

A: Two qualities. The first was his ability to dream big despite all the odds he faced. And he faced quite a few of them in his life, as we are all aware. He had to swim against the tide in order to fulfill every vision of his. Despite the tremendous blows he received regarding his work and to his integrity, he continued to dream big unfazed by all the negativity that surrounded his progress. That was a truly unique quality that is quite hard to find.

The second quality was his truly admirable ability to trust people. He trusted even the ones who took advantage of it. His continued trust in them would eventually turn them around to becoming his partners, but it required amazing generosity of spirit to be able to keep trusting people.

Q: What were the key philosophies that were behind the setting up of MICA? How do you see its evolution so far?

A: MICA was set up as gesture to give back to an industry which gave Mudra so much. We recognized early on that there was no formal education for advertising in the country. It used to be a practice in the early days in order to employ professionals with caliber, to hire from MBA institutions and introduce them to the craft of advertising. This was invariably a long and tedious process and the need for professionals trained solely in the art and craft of advertising was sorely felt. MICA was set up to meet that need.

Today it has grown to become a premier institution in the field and since any institution’s reputation comes from its alums, I am pleased to note that many MICAns occupy senior positions in the industry today.

Q: Based on your MICA experience, what are some of the key learnings in the area of academic Institution-building? What should educationists and education sector entrepreneurs do, and also not do, to make their institutions flourish?

A: The key learning is, as I had mentioned earlier that an institution is only as good as its students.

The truth is that I am not an educationist and do not know much about it. But we did ensure one thing. To guarantee that we provide the industry with nothing but the best, we recruited via the IIM’s Common Admission Test (CAT) which instantly provided us with the brighter strata of the student community. We then honed them with a professional program which was a combination of a core faculty and senior practicing professionals from the industry. This judicious mix of academic knowledge and hands-on insights has proved tremendously rewarding in terms of advertising education.

Secondly, up to two decades ago, most institutions were governed by a strong sense of social responsibility. But lately the new crop seems to function more as money-spinning machines. Our determination to give back to the industry is evident in that MICA was supported by resources from Mudra for well over a decade, which is no mean feat.

Q: What message would you like to give to the young MBA aspirants of our country?

A: The very same I give to every other young aspirant….Go…live your dream.

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more exclusive interviews!