"The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on hundred legs and one or two don't count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on, the organization will go on, the growth will go on"
About this Quote
The subtext is harder-edged. “One or two don’t count” is a managerial worldview where individuals are interchangeable units in a system optimized for continuity. It’s meant to read as robustness; it can also read as disposability. In high-growth conglomerates, “process” becomes the moral alibi: decisions, layoffs, or restructures are reframed as the organism’s necessary gait, not anyone’s choice. Ambani is asserting that the machine is what matters, not the leg.
Context matters because Ambani speaks from the position of a titan who has had to convince markets that expansion across telecom, retail, energy, and tech isn’t a risky bet but an infrastructural fact of Indian capitalism. The repetition of “will go on” isn’t accidental; it’s incantation. He’s building a narrative of inevitability that wards off anxiety about succession, disruption, or regulatory headwinds. The centipede is a corporate myth: scale as destiny, complexity as protection, growth as the natural state of the body.
Quote Details
| Topic | Management |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Ambani, Mukesh. (2026, January 15). The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on hundred legs and one or two don't count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on, the organization will go on, the growth will go on. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-organizational-architecture-is-really-that-a-151077/
Chicago Style
Ambani, Mukesh. "The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on hundred legs and one or two don't count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on, the organization will go on, the growth will go on." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-organizational-architecture-is-really-that-a-151077/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on hundred legs and one or two don't count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on, the organization will go on, the growth will go on." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/the-organizational-architecture-is-really-that-a-151077/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
