Category Archives: ISB

570 unique dreams

Posted by on February 15, 2012 No comments

It’s almost done. A year during which 570 of us went through one giant roller-coaster, hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder. ISB has provided a fertile ground for 570 day dreamers who landed on campus with myriad aspirations. Every single student had a visual image of what they will look like once ISB ends. For most, the dream has already come through but for some its still in the works.

Placement season at ISB is in full swing. Days 1 and 2 are done and Day 3 of placements is lurking around the corner. The mood is mixed, with objectivity and emotions playing their part in making people laugh and cry both in happiness and sadness. It’s feels like it’s been really long since people on campus discussed anything other than jobs. This is the moment of reckoning. This is the time to put our ISB essays into action and materialize the thoughts we passionately spoke about in our interviews.

I got news today that I have been accepted into the Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (EDI) – ISB’s incubator. I spent a whole year exploring various business ideas, and now feel that I am very close to choosing one that will dominate the next 5-10 years of my life. It now feels as if ISB was just a start to an exciting new journey for me. Having spent the past 12 years in the US, this now feels like a whole new start. Here’s to the 570 dreamers and their unwavering resolve to turbo-charge their careers and as a result, their lives.

 

Fantastic end to a fantastic Strategy course

Posted by on February 11, 2012 No comments

One of my favourite courses at ISB has been a term 7 course called “Economics of Strategy”. When folks told me that an MBA can broaden your thinking and make you look at the same things in a very different way, I didn’t quite understand what that meant until I took this course.

The course took a very unique view on economic models and drew counter intuitive connections between economic models and business strategy as they play out in the real world. Heck, we even debated the role of game theory in promotion settings, especially in service intensive professions like Consulting, Investment Banking, and Law. We dealt with myriad industries such as aviation, breakfast cereals, microprocessors, human resources, and so on.

To top it all, we had our final exam for the course today and it was a well spent 2 hours. Not to risk giving out too much information on the final exam and getting into trouble with the school authorities, I can tell you that the exam dealt with how economic models are applied to the Web 2.0 industry, with a “very popular” website going up against a promising upstart from a search giant. Writing this exam made me think of this industry in ways I have never thought of before.

An MBA can do wonders to you if you get into it with the right attitude. I have found that taking diverse courses far away from my field of expertise or my liking has actually helped tremendously in widening my horizons. I have deliberately taken up *high risk* courses which promised to stretch my thinking and help me get the most out of this degree.

MBA students need to learn how to deal with uncertainty

Posted by on December 5, 2011 3 comments

A very important reason one goes to b-school is to expand their network, meet diverse and interesting people, and learn personal and professional best practices from the diverse set of people. Right?

I want to believe the above view is represented by a large percentage of MBA students, but sadly, I am observing the complete opposite. MBA students, some very smart ones, are rarely pro-active in working with *random* group of people, or taking up assignments/projects/competitions with a group of people they have not met before.

Instead, most people just flock to others who they know well and have worked with before. In some ridiculous cases, I have seen students request re-shuffling the entire set of class study groups just so they get to work with the 2-3 students who they are comfortable with.

I wish this was not the case. Folks need to realize that uncertainty, ambiguity, and diversity all go hand in hand. One can gain A LOT from working outside the comfort zone and trying to work with people who are different and I daresay, *hard* to work with.

 

So What?

Posted by on November 28, 2011 1 comment

These two seemingly mundane words wield tremendous power. Think about the following exchange between two MBA’s evaluating a healthcare business plan and a team of entrepreneurs:

  • Person 1: This looks like a good team because the individuals have a lot of industry experience. We should score them high on experience.
  • Person 2: They have lots of experience, so what?
Think about what just happened. By asking a simple “So what?”, person 2 has just made person 1 think much deeper as to what he/she feels is good about the team’s experience. Is the team’s experience relevant to this particular business idea? If you had to pick just one aspect about the team, would you pick their experience over other factors like motivation, team dynamics, network, etc?
Just these two powerful words can make us question unsubstantiated assumptions, tall claims, and any such construct which can lead us down the wrong path. Asking such “So what” questions is a trait I have recently observed in many good professors at ISB as well as some of the most successful people I have met in my life. 
Here is a simple task each of us can execute today which is guaranteed to help us with our own plans:
  1. List the top 3 activities you are doing today in your professional life (for example: taking a certain course, participating in a competition, working on a certain project) 
  2. For each activity, ask yourself “So what?” and jot down the thoughts that come in your head
I guarantee you, this little exercise will make you think in ways you never thought of before.

Placement season at ISB and my own plans

Posted by on November 18, 2011 No comments

Got word yesterday about job offers being made by a large global pharma company to a couple ISB students. Fantastic news and congratulations to both students. Things are heating up at ISB with tons of pre-placement talks and resume review sessions happening all around. There is a tense undertone around campus, and I bet things will get quite dynamic in the next couple months ad global placements end and domestic placements start pouring in.

On the other hand, I am out of the race; decided to opt out of placements as I want to start my own venture. Working on a couple ideas, will share more details in the coming months. I am feeling great as I had realized in the past 2 years that going the entrepreneurial route is where my true passion lies. Very excited about the way things are turning out. ISB is a great place to think, validate, and launch your venture due to the diverse audience, fantastic professors, and several other resources for potential entrepreneurs.