Quarter 6 - Week 3

While almost every Sunday goes off in some project, or exams for the coming week, this one was one of those annual occurrences that you just have to watch out for. Because of Gandhi Jayanthi next week, since we'd have had a holiday on Saturday (Oct 2nd), our beloved institution figured that we should instead have classes on a Sunday as compensation. In the words of one of our professors, that great man would have been mortified if he got to know that most of the country was planning to chill out on the basis that it was his birthday, and that he probably would have rather wanted us to work on it! All good intentions of our profs aside, and also leaving aside the messups that such holidays can have with our sturdy college annual timetable, let's do some simple math.

In my case, right now, I have taken four subjects. Each subject has two sessions in a regular week - therefore 4 X 2 = 8 sessions. When you move another half-week's sessions (Friday's still on btw!) to a previous Sunday, we then have an additional 4 sessions in the previous week. Therefore, that makes a total of 12 (Yes, I know mathematics). Here's the kicker.. the full time students typically have 6 subjects in each quarter. That makes 12 sessions for them in a general week. THEREFORE, I just had to do the schedule of a full-time student this week, even though I spent a major portion of my time working. I'm happy to report that I'm alive, and that only the left half of my brain has stopped working, while the right half is contemplating different methods to fall asleep, unchecked by its neighbouring twin.

Let me help you out with this loooong post here. I like the experience from the Social Entrepreneurship and B2B class best. So I'd recommend that you check these out for certain!

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

This week we delved a little more into HOW a person goes about starting a venture. This covered the basic attributes of an entrepreneur and his style of execution, the kind of people he mixes with to start something, and how he reacts to situations as and when they come into play. And finally, how he prepares a business plan if he was to convince someone to put some moolah into his venture (here's four litres of my sweat, "show me the money!", Jerry Maguire-ishtyle).

The first session was about how a person got involved in a venture, with two other people, all because he hit it off well with them and liked their attitude. They got into a field where none of them had any expertise, yet they did have the relevant expertise in their actual tasks. That means, I don't know jack about call centres, but I have been in marketing in my previous company, therefore I can market my good. etc. etc. So we analysed how he should choose to get into the next business, and what kind of thought processes run through his head. The next session was all about effectual entrepreneurship. This is typically a characteristic of serial/expert entrepreneurs. As it turns out, these guys just depend on who they are, what they know and who they know. So they just catch people along saying "Hey, you want to do something together? Cool.. get on board this ship", and then before you know it, they've got a Viking ship hurtling through a storm, with someone manning the sails, someone steering, someone cooking, someone rowing etc. Now this sounds counter-intuitive, I mean, do we really think one tender idea can be sufficiently grown in between multiple interests? Turns out that that the idea is constantly evolving due to the multiple partners... only the ones with interesting twists are being brought on board to lend a better shape to the idea, even if it is pulling the idea towards a different direction. Apparently, this has a better chance of success, and most serial entrepreneurs do stuff this way. I can see how it's successful... when multiple people are committed towards making an idea well, and the people are inherently good and proactive, there's a good chance of success. And that's what a VC banks on. He's not banking on the project, or the idea, he's banking on the team that's behind it... since he's sure they'll take his money someplace safe. And bring it back multiplied.

The third session was to do with the all-so-important business plan. Apparently, VCs have seen enough of the "We can change the world" business plans. Everyone seems to think their ideas are the best-est and they don't stop crowing about it. While pushing all the good points to the front, they quietly keep all the scary parts at the back. Why? Well, someone's gotta give them money, sure can't get money if you scare them away. The VCs must have learnt this trick early on, because they no longer buy sweet smelling poop. The VCs actually look to see if the team is good, again lending credence to the last idea of effectual entrepreneurship, as they know that no forecasts or planning can really be certain, because if it was, this world would have been a better place and all businesses would succeed. Sure, they are interested to know about your business and about where you plan to take it to, but they HATE it when someone puts all the nice stuff in front leaving out the bad. We need to remember that they care about the fact that their money should be put behind something good, and it's not their job to investigate our ideas. Instead, when we bring them the entire research, through their experience they know whether they should be backing this, or they give tips on which areas to watch out for. There was a whole lot more, but I can't cover that now. Only two things to remember - VCs look to see if the team can execute well, and one way they check it is by knowing if the team has sufficient experience in the arena they're pursuing. The second thing, VCs don't want to grow old and die with you and your company, so they're looking for an exit option (preferably within three-five years). Give them that option.

Social Entrepreneurship

After hearing enough criticism of microfinance over the last two weeks (well, the prof kind of feels that while some parts maybe good, for the most parts it's affecting more than helping. Remember that this comes out of experience of watching this on the field, and is not armchair theory) it was a little surprise to see someone come to talk to us about microfinance. Turns out that this person has been watching microfinance very closely, and a professor at another of India's best management institutions, so he comes with high credibility. One thing for sure, when we get guest lecturers here, they come armed with research and live field experience, nothing can be better than that. So he comes and talks to us about how microfinance works, explains the cogs and cracks, and then goes onto describe how the microfinance model has been evolving. In fact, while most people trumpet about the Grameen model and are implementing it everywhere, apparently Grameen itself has stopped using that model, and have moved on to Grameen 2. This seems to suggest that the optimal method has not yet arrived, and that the microfinance industry is slowly evolving. To the allegations that microfinance seems to be causing more pain in some areas, and that it's being exploited in yet other areas, the prof says that you can't help it when some people take control of a really good funda and use it for the bad. Yet, not to worry, a string of legislations and other legal clauses are on their way to set some of the things right in the microfinance arenas.

The last session for the week covered co-operatives, and how they've come to be in today's state. The shining example that was spoken about was Amul, one of the few successes (and might I add, what a scale!) and how it came to be. While the prof seemed to suggest that most of the co-operatives today are toothless sheep masquerading as tigers, there are quite a few that are having the intended results. Now why would he say that most of the co-operatives are pawns? Turns out that these are controlled by govermental bodies, and that the legislations that are currently in effect seem to actually hamper the true growth and acceptance rates of such movements. When the whole objective of co-operatives is to empower the society, and its constituents by bringing forth solidarity, when you take away the control from the people and leave it with a governing body that is far from facing a similar lifestyle (however well meaning, under claims of "They're illiterate, and don't know how to manage, we need to help them.." etc), you invariably dumb down the essential funda of societal empowerment. People are more likely to take something forward in a motivated manner, when they're in control. They don't know something? Teach them, and then let them be... trust them enough to be in charge of their fate. The prof however agrees that you can't suddenly tell people to wake up and start a co-operative. More often than not, an external impetus (maybe in monetary terms) is required to get things moving. But taking that off after a while, and avoiding steering the whole way is important.

An anecdote that was mentioned comes to mind. Apparently, one of our earliest Prime Ministers once wanted to visit Anand (the area from where AMUL began), and Dr. Verghese Kurien (the Father of the White revolution in India) urged him to spend a night in one of the villages nearby, before dropping in to meet him. Since this was the time when we didn't have reporters falling out of helicopters to cover every damn thing, not many people were really aware that the PM was coming down. All that the host in the village was told is that a foreign guest is coming to town, so keep your house clean, but don't have to do much else. But sooner or later, the village got to know the PM's in town, and so instead of sleeping, the PM actually spent the night talking to the people to know what's up.

Now I wasn't there when this happened, I dont think my mom was born yet, so this is not a direct quote, but try to get the gist. The next morning, when he went to meet Dr. Kurien, he asks him.. "Dr., I was very curious to know why the co-operative in Gujarat seems to be doing so well, while it's struggling in other states. I first thought it had to do with the land, or weather, or people here. But there are other states with far better tillable land, with more amenable weather. Last night, I find that the villagers are also very similar. So I dont get it, how?". Dr. Kurien replies "In Gujarat, the villagers are in charge of the co-operative. That's why it works here." Again, long before B-schools, this visionary man seems to have understood the power and connection between giving the responsibility to the people and its resulting motivation. He spent a long time fighting the powers that be, to get this in place. 60 years he's been there. AMUL is now recognized as the most successful example of co-operatives across the world. India, from a milk-deficit country at the time, is now the world's leading exporter in milk. Now, that's social entrepreneurship.

Business 2 Business Market Management

The last two weeks, all I've been hearing is Value, Value and more Value. This kind of value, that kind of value. So much so in fact, that I've been dreaming value. For real! My alarm's ringing, and I'm thinking "What is the value that I get out of an extra half hour of sleep? What is the value I get by reading the rest of the case that I have left in that half hour? Which one is more?". I actually woke up frightened because I realized that this was one of those instances when the "engineer" was slowly being transformed into the "businessman". Anyway, not like you care much about my fears... your time is more valuable than this. SEE??! I did it again!

Anyway, this week didn't really have too much. I'm serious. I've got the funda now. While the word "Value" is being twisted into different phrases for different meanings, and we've moved from chapter 2 to chapter 3, the funda still remains the same. When you're trying to sell something different, and want to know the price, see how much benefit is accrued to the customer because he uses your product. Then, based on that extra moolah he makes, you get to take a partial share in the name of "But, I've given you much more value!". This week started out no different. New product, this much savings, that much extra work, everyone happy, my share -> ka-ching!

The last session seemed to be no different. This was a cool guest lecturer, who had a different style of teaching. His energy seemed to be constantly high. Anyway, some yada-yada about how one company found an ingenious way to save some time and money for its customers by modifying the build structure of a tool being used. They then do a couple of field trials, and they can't believe their eyes when they see the amount that it saves their customer. Apparently, the previous tool weathered out quite soon, and had to replaced 40 times during a particular job, but with the new and improved tool, this came down to 1 replacement or so. And so, we get into how much money do they save, how much time do they save (changing the tool each time it wears out, and the increased effectiveness of the new tool), and then we find that for a piece that used to cost around 2$, our new costs are 25$. Bummer we say. But hey, look at the revenues for a second. We just got the client an extra 950$! OMG! Therefore, the benefits I'm giving is 950, the cost increase is 23, can you see the value? So, the final question turned out to be, "How much do you charge the customer now?". Here's the awesome part. The part for which I'm paying through my nose. (Why am I giving it out for free?)

The world is divided into different kinds of people. One kind says "Charge them 900$". Yes, let's take all the money and leave them the extra 50$ in tips. The second kind says "No, charge them 500$", some for me, some for you. The third kind says "Naah.. we don't need so much, charge them 200$", we're business guys who're anyway going to make shitloads of money here... serve the deal to the customer! And the last set says "Charge them 30$, we need to protect ourselves from new entrants!". The 'let's-be-caution' gang, that sees that market penetration is more important than charging premium. So which would you go for? And here's where the prof says, "If you guys are going to charge 30$, or 200$ or something low, then what the hell do we need B2B marketing for? Your job, as marketers, is to educate the customer about the value that he's making by using your good, and to take a reasonable share of it, because you had a part to play in it. Do not underestimate the power of marketing. Marketing is all about knowing if (1) Do you have a value proposition? (2) Can this be explained by you to a non-PhD? and (3) Having understood this thing, can this be converted into the required sale?"

Because, if you're giving away the value for cheap, then you're avoiding the whole issue of value just because you're trying to play safe. Don't be afraid to charge your price for the value that you bring to the customer, that's what you're there for. It won't be too soon before you're fired, because you're giving away valuable expertise and technology for peanuts, while drawing a big fat salary. You're in B2B Marketing, don't undervalue the advantage you bring to your customer.

I like this guy.

International Business Negotiation Skills

This week was more to do with negotiations, or atleast that's what it seemed to be like. Like I've said before, the prof's in "moral of the story" mode, at a 40000 feet level. Yet, he did come down to our level a couple of times. For one thing, he explained how the process works out. Negotiations start even before you sit at the table, there's a lot at play. We then spoke about the people part. About the fact that companies don't negotiate, people do. It's extremely important to be hard on the problem at hand, and soft on the people. While the typical memory of negotiations seems to be "I win, you lose, sucker!" right out of high-profile English movies, the reality couldn't be further. Turns out, we're evolving to a point where creative solutions which turn out to be a win-win are coming to be far more present. To which the following addendum is highly important. While persuasion is key to a great negotiation experience, effective persuaders can be themselves persuaded. To be able to bend another's mind, it's supremely important that one's own mind should be capable of bending. As such, it provides the signal to the other party that this person is capable of accepting my points and is not all out to be aggressive. And effective negotiators dont plan the sequence of what happens at what stage. Only the stage is set for the game, and relevant chapters identified. But checkpoints are not maintained, because doing so would mean you've already planned out what is to happen, and by direct derivation, there is no room to negotiate.

In any case, he doesnt say that aggression is not present in negotiations. When you have powerful parties at the table, maybe one party gets away with just being dominant. But the true flavour seems to come about with well-matched parties. That's when aggression by itself does not work, or flexibility might end up being disastrous. And hence, the next important point and one I remember strongly, you need to perfect your strongest negotiation influence style, and just maintain a moderate level in all the other styles. You can not afford to neglect any of those weaknesses under the shadow of your strength. Because you never know when you need to switch from one to the other. If you're unable to play a moderate game in one of your weak areas, how in the world would you then be able to steer the style towards your strong area.

Quarter 6 - Week 2

I knew that having four subjects would mean more books, but this is ridiculous. Just because two profs don't give us text books, it's cruel to give us such HUGE binders! Our hearts had been so light for those 10 seconds when they said "No books". Well, yeaaaaaaah, the articles might be good, but still... I reserve the right to crib! We also had the Product Management Conclave happen this week, so a few of our batchmates could be seen running around before class, sleeping in class, getting psyched out after class, I felt so bad for them that I almost went and offered help. Thankfully, lethargy takes control just in time, and I think "Next time. For sure!"

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

A case discussion in the first session focussed on a scenario where people just got together to start something up, more often than not in their area of expertise. After doing something here and there for two years or so, they then begin to start focusing on what they really want to do. They had worked recently on things completely unconnected to their domain (which hints that you DONT have to work in the same field if you want to do something). Some lessons here and there.

I liked the second session a little more. The professor had invited a few incubatees from NSRCEL (The incubation centre at IIMB. For the record, you don't have to be a student to come here!) We had a person from our immediate senior batch out of PGSEM give us a talk on how he got started. We also had a much older PGP alumnus amongst this group. I couldn't help noticing that they all had some experience in that field before they quit to get into it full time, and that there had support from some powerful contacts. Networking apparently is a good thing! There was almost no time for questions, but I think people might go down to NSRCEL to get more doubts cleared.

Social Entrepreneurship

The prof first speaks to us about NGOs, and how the vast majority are more known as NFP (Not For Profit) orgs. So he tells us about how they try to achieve buy-in from the community, not by approaching them with the solution and trying to find a problem, but by really looking into the problems and doing something about it. He also spoke to us about how NGOs are answerable to the donors. This tends to go both good and bad, good because we get money for the cause, and bad because more often than not the bad guys think they're God's gifts to society and have the right to interfere in every small thing.

In the next session, the prof spoke about Agriculture related issues, and went a little closer to explain to us the state of a majority of people in agriculture. Apparently 70% of India's farm land is rain-fed and not irrigated. Therefore, it tends to give much lesser yields and much more pains. He spoke about how money lenders and even micro finance team in these places charge far higher interest than banks. And he's quite sure that such a finance model can not be sustained. The poor don't have enough money to repay the principal, and here we're trying to charge much higher interest. He gave us his take on the typical happenings in a full year, and it was a little easier to connect the dots at the end when you realize that the seeds are planted in May, the harvest collected around Oct/November, and then for the next three month you clear off your loans and all that by migrating to the city and getting a job for these months! There is no money left to carry on the next year! And then you take loans all over again. Even if people want to charge lesser, they can't.. because there's a cartelization of moneylenders in most of these districts, and such an action can create a shunning of the moneylender by the others. So the solution is not clear yet. Today at least.

B2B Market Management

The prof is trying to cover the basics of B2B Marketing, we were talking the difference between value, price and fitting it all together nicely with frameworks. The frame of reference was the cases given for reading, and surprisingly a LOT of people read the case. I'm not saying the common lot, I mean the LOT, everyone! Well, almost, but you get the point.

It's quite nice to see all our classmates pitch in for the discussions when things are being written on the board. We tried to take it apart based on all the numbers assigned in the case. And low and behold! 5 minutes before the class ends, we've decided exactly how to go about this case. Now just put us in charge of the company. Or maybe not... next time, for sure!

International Business Negotiation Skills

Walk into class and the sudden burst in headcount just catches you there. Apparently even the prof wasn't weak-sighted enough to notice this. As new people kept walking in, his eyebrows kept climbing higher and higher. Thankfully, not too many people entered again after that. Anyway, the prof begins as usual at 40000 feet. BUT, this time he tells us at the start that it's our responsibility to bring him down when he goes higher. If we have any doubts, we should speak up immediately! In fact, he's quite open to interruptions. The fact that few people interrupt him is a different thing altogether. But those that do... they get his time, and doubts clarified.

He is still talking more from a high-level funda-types OB side. He was trying to get us to understand the important of an open mind. And so he spoke to us about what we need to do if we want to enhance our abilities of receptivity and reflection. Imagine that if OB is typically funda based courses, then this is funda OB. Get it? And yet, he didnt leave it all qualitative. He stressed on the importance of process and discipline, that it's important to have such qualities under your control. A lot of tips for receptivity (I'm guessing he thinks mere mortals like us incapable of accepting other people's ideas. Well, I dont accept that!). As a glimpse into the type of process he was talking about, he told us about how do we know what triggers us to perform better and faster, and what pulls us down (swastha and aswastha). His solution was quite simple. From the previous evening till this morning, mark down whatever you did with the minutest of details on days when you feel at your top, and on days when you feel really low. After three such occasions, you may begin to see a pattern. Learn from it. And then avoid what causes the drain. He gave us an anecdote of how it worked for him, a live example. I'd dare not repeat it here. What happens within the institute, should stay within the institute! ;)

A good week overall. A little hazy, but hey, other than a library of readings, not much else to complain about!

Quarter 6 - Week 1

I love the first weeks of the quarters. The profs summarize what they're going to teach through the courses during these sessions. So essentially, it's like sitting through a talk about a topic that you find fascinating. It's only when you're halfway through the courses and you grapple with some individual demons within the course, that you begin to tire of the load. But the first week is always the most scintillating. It is typically in this week, that you get to know if you're going to pay attention to the course or the professor, and whether this is going to be a much rougher ride.

This quarter I am studying under some of the most celebrated profs at college. Make no mistake, while some of these professors come with experience in the field, some others have the distinct power of roaming in the hallowed upper corridors of organizations at critical junctures. Therefore, what they bring to the class is the mindset through which the decisions are made in the upper echelons. Every time when they talk of one of their experiences with head honchos, their distinct art of almost bringing you into that room (like the pensieve in Harry Potter??) gives you a peek into what goes through the minds of those above. And of course, distilled learning. Almost makes the heads look... human, vulnerable, not invincible. Like even I could one day reach there.

Entrepreneurship and New Venture Creation

The class opens with a simple "How many of you want to be entrepreneurs?". In the true-blue comsi-comsa style(That's french, look it up), very few hands rise up. So the prof immediately attacks the rest of the class "Why are you here?". Standard responses, well thought responses all pour onto the whiteboard. Then the prof goes ahead and tells us that our batch is normal(phew!) since every other batch tells him this. And then he goes on to tell us that even if we don't want to start new ventures, the spirit of entrepreneurship is now rising in organizations. Call it intrapreneurship, innovation, whatever. There is a rising need for diving into the unknown in orgs too, and so this will help us understand better about HOW to dive in.

We had a case already in the first week, a simple one where we talk about a particular person and his company. Apparently it started off well, but now he's facing some crises, so how should we tackle it. Through this we got to understand some fundamentals about entrepreneurship. About what drives a person into it, about what the road is typically paved like, and how to increase value of the company. A good appetizer for what's coming.

Social Entrepreneurship

What??! TWO entrepreneurship courses, you say!? Well, yeah. Some effects are beyond our causes. What can I do? I'm interested, I'll take! In any case, the prof is in very high standing in the IIMB community, and there must be some reason for that. We caught a glimpse of it this week. There appears to be an obvious lack of complete belief in the government and its actions towards society, and yet that does seem tempered by some afterthought... like the prof believes that they're doing SOMETHING. While a lot is wrong, he believes some is right.

And with his position and authority on the subject, he tells us straight away that we're not going to get into an idealogical debate. I've come here to tell you what I know about the state of society today, and how the government alone can not perform miracles. You need to get into the trenches, see the environment for yourself. WE need to do something, so let's get started. So, no idealogical debates about "What is poor?", "God/Religion", "System should change".. I'll have none of that. You can't convince me to change my point of view, I wont change your inherent strong beliefs. It's upto you to see what you want to accept and imbibe, and what to leave. Agreed? The class just nods.

And immediately he dives right into some basic statistics about society. Information on literacy, monthly earnings, mortality rates, gender ratios, and those numbers hit you pretty strongly. It's in black and white (and a little colour) right there. When you see that the AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD gets Rs. 500 a month to survive on, and you think about the meal you had last night for the same amount per person, you just go a little slow. And you try to analyse what it's like there. Then the prof brings you back to class talking about female to male ratios of 900 to 1000, again average. And then you wonder, oh, so that's why most guys are not able to find girlfriends (Ok, that was unwarranted). And you see that some of the most well-off states are the ones that have such imbalance! And you wonder if saneness comes with capital, why does this happen. And then you go on to literacy levels, oh I can go on... trust me, you might not be shell-shocked, but you definitely will pause, and think.

And then the prof talks about how he'll not be talking about the movements like "Save the tiger" with a comment that "God bless them..", but that he'll talk about the social entrepreneurs who're making a difference for society, and that when he says "poor" he means "abject poverty", and he proceeds to widen the difference between poverty and "abject poverty" in our eyes. We also have a few exchange students in class (first time for PGSEM students), so they have clear objective questions... I wonder if they even understand the glimpse of stark reality that the professor is trying to convey. I'm sure they're trying hard to get it, though. Let's face it... quite a few foreigners have spent more time travelling through our villages than some of our urbanites, myself included. A lot to think about, and a definite understanding.. this course is not going to be like the ones before. We've already been told that for our projects, we're going to have to step into the trenches, not just read about poverty, but see it for real. This course is going to be like seeing over the shoulders of the professor, and the entrepreneurs he brings, the change agents... and then dabbling very mildly in those waters, for an instant.

B2B Market Management

Right, so if you dont know what B2B is, you're reading the wrong blog. Google it, and come back. The legend goes that no one should exit the PGSEM journey without undergoing this course. The prof has been hailed as one of the most influential ones in the minds of the PGSEM Student community. We heard him once before at our orientation, we've heard about him through our seniors, and now we're in his presence. Time to see if he's worth all that yakking.

And he starts off simply, and when he asks the expectations from this class... and hears all the above, he then tells us how it started off with just 6 students, and how he's happy to hear that students now consider this a rite of passage. And then, swoop! Dives right into the course. An immediate introduction to B2B and then we have a simple discussion about what is the difference between B2B and B2C. Then a message that we're going to see the VP(Non-linear growth) of Wipro the next day, and that we should read the case. When I go home and see that the cases are almost 50 pages... not to mention another 10 for the first course, and another 40 pages of reading for the second course, my heart just fell two notches. Anyway, I did what any self-respecting student would do... cram the case that was so important and sleep. Tomorrow's another day, let's face some risk then. And so we come for the second session, and we see the VP there, and we have a brief discussion about the aspects of the case. Apparently, this is our project.

You know, when you see the Wipro VP standing in front of you, like I said, they seem human. You actually know that hey, they're right here... they're people like you and me. There's a sense of confidence that just sweeps through you... God knows, Indians need it. But anyway, more about the case. After a little more discussion on why we need to start looking into the non-linear growth of companies, the time's up... and you come out thinking about the case. Very interesting that the professor is dabbling in a new method for the project. Making us all work on a live case does two things - 1, it gives us a chance to play with real data, and 2, it stakes our reputation as intelligent students and tomorrow's "leaders" (Ahem!! Cough, Cough!) on the line. Our profs like to take risks, I gather..

International Business Negotiation Skills

We've seen this prof before, he's our marketing prof! The one who some have found either MOST inspiring or MOST hateful. A little older, a little frailer than before, he went ahead and even broke an arm (flashbacks of me talking about him croaking come to mind, touch wood..) and then he just starts off with his usual mode of delivery. Constantly skimming at a very high level, he gives out these really vague statements, something that most people would consider common sense, but what most in this class write down. Especially when he says "Reflect on it". He's one of those profs who's not really shy about name-dropping, and he constantly talks about how this guy said this to him and how that guy said that to him. When I say guy here.. think the stalwarts in Indian business today. By telling us the circles he moves in, the prof indirectly also tells us the thought process that they have and how decisions are made.

But at times, I start getting a headache. His penchant for giving those heavy proverbial lines, and asking us to reflect on it takes a lot out of us. Because you KNOW that he's talking out of experience, and that he's skimming at the bird's eye level... and that it's upto you to see as far below as you can. And when you do too much of that, your head spins. Anyway, he does the standard "What do you want out of this course?" and proceeds to set his expectations.

He first says that even though there are no exams here, nothing for us to whine about, the load is still heavy. There's a personal learning diary he wants us to maintain, since we're going to learn from ourselves. It's seeing this that I joined this course. If someone could talk in high circles, and get a mix of spirituality, idealogy and fundas.. this prof is in that group. And when we talk about abstract things like "Learn from yourself", I cant think of a more formidable guide. Profs in economics and statistics are far more microscopic for this kind of stuff (Have I made my first enemies here??! :P). I also joined because I thought this was going to be light, but looks like I'm going to stay even otherwise.

God help my soul this quarter. 4 courses, all of which have heavy binders of readings and reflection and introspection, sigh. My mind is going to get so !@%#-ed.

Quarter 5 - Week of Exams

This is probably the first quarter where I wasn't in shivers/fervently praying that I should pass. Probably due to a lack of quant based electives (either in finance or operations), I had quite little to actually mug up and run over. It was just about going over readings, trying to remember important notes/learnings, and second guessing where the questions might come from. Was wrong on all of them. But the exams themselves were quite different, one due to a prof with an innovative style of testing, another due to a prof who's serious about reflection, and a third due to a prof who's just had plain misfortune despite setting a remarkable paper.

MSP - Despite going through all the articles, I wasn't ready for what was about to happen. We actually had a case study that we had a full two hours to analyse. I confess that somebody who'd done brilliantly in our Strategy course in first quarter would probably have aced this test. I mean, we had the standard set of metrics with some additional ones that we learnt out here during this quarter. I was really expecting some brief answer types on "What's your take on Software Testing?" (To which I was not prepared), and "Give some spiel on Agile and when you would recommend it against Waterfall?" (To which I was vaguely prepared) etc. Anyway, I just submitted my scores and prayed to God that I get atleast a B. I'll need that for my electives going forward! Oh, and of course, it will tell me that I can be a halfway decent 'manager' who can blind his superiors by throwing numbers in their face while telling them why we estimated so high for the project.

LOC - Again, reading through all the articles, I was so sure that I was gonna be caught stunned (like the proverbial deer in the vehicle's headlights... why dont they run away again?) and that I'd have to rely on my inordinate ability to manufacture and string together words that would somehow convince the prof that I had an inkling of understanding of what I was saying. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we were asked to (amongst other options) summarize our learnings from the two books assigned to us for reading. We had already had enough time to reflect on our learnings, so we were able to easily make stuff up and put it on that. In addition, there was a simulation, if I can call it that, asking us to prioritize certain actions that we would take with regard to a situation. This used quite a bit from all our learning, so I could get away by saying that it was a "holistic experience" (Look Mommy, big words!). Writing this blog really helps me write spiel(hey, it's meaningful too!) a little more comfortably.

PM - Now this paper was more like what we've been seeing over the past four quarters. Some kind of mixing of whatever we've learnt and even then absolutely no clue on how to best attempt it (Caution: Average student talking here. Best students have already decided what marks they're getting when they see the paper, and are tweaking here and there to get more). Interestingly, the most important part of the paper, the exhibits, had mysteriously gotten delayed. This hasn't happened before! So our poor prof sitting in the New Delhi airport terminus doesn't have a copy that he can scan and send across, assuming he can find an internet connection there to send it from! So he came up with a different solution. One of the questions revolved around a case study (for which he had told us that he'd be expecting we prepare thoroughly and come forth with insights based on the question he phrases). This didnt need any other exhibits. So the whole paper was now only one question. And he clearly stated to go the entire mile, and explain in a detailed and yet direct manner as to what steps ought to be taken. Now this isn't an unheard solution. Some profs give question papers with only one question. It's a different thing altogether that the prof was forced to take this option without considering it as the actual paper.

Obviously, when the prof says study "THIS case", I misheard it as "THAT case". So when the case name is different, I spent half an hour reading the given case to analyse it. Time was enough, so I'm not complaining.

A very different exam week, one that will remain in my mind atleast till the next quarter begins. Oh, btw, 50% is done. I can tell my manager that I'm half-baked and ready to give half-assed solutions to all his problems. I can't wait to set the revenue to half of what it used to be! Wish my luck, half-heartedly! (Yes, I know, I'm just half-mad).

Quarter 5 - Week 10

The thunderclouds that were on the horizon last week, finally hung right over us this week. Literally too. It rained/drizzled through the weekend, and you had this constant urge that "Yaar, let's just chill for an hour.. the weather's nice". But after one year of successfully holding all temptations at bay, I can successfully, proudly and miserably say that we sat still and did our assignments/ projects/ test preparations. This weekend saw a bunch of PGSEM students yawning more than normal, far more red eyes, and a huge queue at the printer in the Computer Lab. We can take a guess at how badly it affected the latter, as when I asked the support staff at the CompLab to help me with the Novell login (we need this to print out stuff), he just muttered "Aiyyo, these PGSEM students..". While the manager-in-progress in me was sufficiently infuriated, the engineer in me was subsequently humbled bigtime when the required action was completed in three very-easy-to-do already-explained-before-five-times steps. Took the printout for the last project of this quarter, and beat a hasty retreat vowing to understand the damn login system next time.

MSP - The first session dealt with software metrics, and why they were necessary. I thought it was nice that this came at the end of the course, because when you ask yourself each week "Why the hell am I studying this?", at the end there's a "Aah! So that's why I studied all of that..". It's a perfect way to make you look at the entire subject from a high overview, so you realize the importance of all of the learning you went through for the last ten weeks. The last session had a quiz based on what seemed like half the course content, probably meant to remind you that you should study for the exam, and so I very proudly look at my 10% score thinking "If I leave this prep for the last day I'm so definitely screwed." I think our profs like to remind us just how dumb and ill-prepared we are. Their own way of saying "Just because you got in here didn't make you super-awesome. Morons.". Anyway, the course ended on a very good note, not much complaints or suggestions on what to improve next quarter. This was one course that was handed to us on a silver platter, considering we have just been taught what we should do at work everyday. No marketing, leadership, finance fundas... just plain ol' project management, done right with stats and metrics.

LOC - Both the sessions were presentation sessions based on the book we were supposed to read - "The India Way". You should read it too! It makes you feel good about the way Indians work. The subliminal message of what we need to improve on requires more reflection, but even if you don't get it, you will atleast have understood what many of India's current leaders think and believe about us. Assuming that nobody had read the book, this week they had for certain assimilated the gist of the book. Every batch came forward, every batch explained their understanding of the India Way and every batch took longer than the time they were assigned. Oh, we Indians! (false laughter and disapproving smile/grimace), We will never understand the concept of time... Either it is our "baap ka maal", or we have very important stuff to share with the world since enlightenment just dawned on us, and only we hold the true key to life in the future. Yes, I was pissed here! We could have finished everything in one hour and gone home! But no, we sat, we listened, we yawned, and then we left.

Leaving the last week aside, I thought there was enough interesting material this quarter on what constitutes effective leadership, and how we can enable people to not just work but be empowered. Make leaders and followers out of everyone. That's what I took away.

PM - I would just do a copy-paste here. While we atleast had the mercy of the presentations in LOC being done in two distinct 1.5 hour sessions, this was a long drawn three hours! Dont get me wrong, I liked listening about what the different companies do with their products, but listening to product diffusion and the Kano models 10 times just makes you go "Why dont we have other models? The Kano model is just dripping out of my head now!" Luckily, there was a semblance of time control, as one of our classmates enthusiastically and loudly reminded each presenter that "YOU HAVE TWO MINUTES LEFT!" or my absolute favourite "TIME UP!!! (Pause for a second) TIME UP!!! (See if presenter is ignoring you) TIIIIMMMMMEEEE UUUPPPPPP!!!". Very effective. At the last one, the presenter finally gives an acknowledgement and wraps up in under 30 seconds! I wonder if people were just struggling to stay propped up in their chairs when the last presenter came on. I know I was. Finally, after that, the prof also came up and you could see the happiness on his face. He thanked us for our participation (apparently we were the most involved class thus far, woohoo! Awesome!! Yes, it dawns on me that he might be telling it to all his classes...) and then proceeded to give us a very short comment on how he wished a better future of us. And then... wrap!

I have never seen a class empty up that quickly at the end.

On to the final leg of the journey and into the storm! Exams next week!

Quarter 5 - Week 9

The penultimate week of classes, and even after having two guest lectures, an entrepreneurship fest on the side, the soft-closing of one of the three subjects, there is a nagging feeling that all of it was oh-so-ordinary.

MSP - We had a couple of guys (actually one guy and one gal) come over from Thoughtworks and explain the Mingle tool to us. Either the prof must have thought that we (being the lazy bums that we are) wouldn't be exploring the tool, or he thought spread the word about tools like Mingle. In any case, it was a pretty good thing to do... they took the class with aplomb! Sometimes, I wonder what's going through their mind. The fact that they're talking at IIMB to a bunch of apparently "high-value" students (information asymmetry at its best), must definitely want to make them ask for a promotion or hike at office. Or maybe they have loftier achievements in life, and are hopefully not truly living out the delusions that I have.

The next session was about Software Testing. The prof took us on a recap of the readings of the day, and before we knew it, the class was over. But throughout, I couldnt help thinking that he was pulling a Trojan Horse on us. He was still quite hung up on metrics, and how that should define how we run our projects. I wouldn't be surprised if we one day saw a paper that explains the exact way to estimate project, complete with the dels and the phis.

LOC - The first day was a pure discussion on how to handle the difficult parts of running a company - the restructuring effort, and how you would communicate the message to the others in the company. We pulled out all the plugs on compassion and ethics, etc. in this one.

The next session, surprisingly, skips my mind. I briefly recollect something about how the company should handle the transition after delivering bad news like job losses and continuing by tracking the changes implemented in the system.

Anyway, after the class - feedback forms were distributed. Now, this is a little out of the standard protocol. We all remember that just before / after the last class, survey forms are brought in to give feedback on the subject and the prof. This is typically added with applause. Those who like the guy will give a standing ovation, those who dont think the same will politely acknowledge his hard work.

In any case, our prof was pretty good - and when giving the standing ovation by the majority, a simple smile came on his face, and he reciprocated by acknowledging it lightly. It feels good when you make someone else happy, his smile was worth it.

PM - We spoke about brand management. I really dont remember any ahaah moments from this. But in session 2, we had the former director in a large apparel brand come and talk to us about the role of a brand manager. While everything went fine, sometimes you still feel like sometihng's missing. That's what it felt like. Oh well... quarter's almost done.

And even after all the classes, all the students could be seen scurrying towards the EB lounge to put the starting touches on their assignments. Too bad that we had the Eximius fest running at the same time. The only slot we could attend was the Panel Discussion on Going Green. A few interesting personalities, and you enjoy listening to what they have to say. Kind of reminds you that talking from a position of power, isn't that easy to imagine. You really have to see it, to understand it.

I'm way too sleepy too. I think I remember four rambles in this post. And the eternal question rises again: What did I drag myself into?

Quarter 5 - Week 8

The excitement that surrounded this week pretty much drowned out the thunder of impending doom. The juniors (I keep thinking of kids concentrating on their gold-digging activities, wonder why) brought out the first fest of the year - 'Pehel'. Heralded as the first fest of the PGSEM calender year organized by the first year students, it's name pretty much suggests how original we are. Or rather how original our seniors were. The elections for the SAC are in progress, so there are some very interesting things that the nominees are doing to get votes. All of a sudden, a whole bunch of people have come forth, articulating how they'd like to change the way things are run. Good thing for us that there is enough to be improved. Maybe next year, our juniors will have some work left... in fact, I'm sure our batch will somehow manage to double whatever work we can hand over to them next year. In any case, all of this seems to have allowed everyone a chance to conveniently forget that this quarter will be done in 3 weeks, including exams. So if you haven't realized it, then you should atleast wake up now.

MSP - Estimation. The art of convincing your boss as to why a task that looks like it can be done by a one-handed monkey (who's on a unicylce) in 2 days actually requires 12 monkeys a whole week to do. With free bananas. Naah, we're studying consensus building. That means the TEAM together decides how long they'll need to complete the task. So basically if the schedule slips, everyone's chill because you cant put the blame on any one person. Either that, or the entire team gets fired. Moral of the story: Leave a couple of bananas for your boss as well.

Jokes apart, what we actually did was learn more about Poker planning and how arriving at a team-based consensus can help figure out any issues unknown to individuals. Power of group thinking and all that. This was even tied in to historic data, so we knew on average how much time a particular project might take, given the number of employees and lines of code. This is pure empirical data, so you can't really argue too much. This also helps you figure out (to an extent!) if your team's trying to pull a fast one on you. The next session, we actually did a hands-on, wherein our teams sat together with poker cards and estimated the projects we were going to be working on. A little slow at first, but once people got the hang of it, the project actually came to life. We got to know what others thought the project would look like (the nitty gritties), so now everyone SEEMS to have very similar pictures in their head.

LOC - The first session involved a study of Goldman Sachs. These guys have a pretty good leadership development strategy. First, they make sure they get awesome people. Next, they dump them in the world of finance, in the care of an older person and call the newbie "The Apprentice". Newbie better learn well, and imbibe culture of the company, because these oldies are an experienced lot in the world of finance. Keep up or stay out of the race! But looks like they've been doing quite well, so no complaints. The problems that Goldman Sachs seem to have faced is that they started growing really quickly, which means too many apprentices and too few gurus. So they were wondering if there's a way that leadership could be propagated through the organization (because that's today's mantra!). A council was tasked with trying to figure out what to do, and they studied other organizations known for their leadership training, brought in some quant so that they could actually measure any tangible effect of this training, etc. So the case discussion was about how Goldman Sachs should propose such a plan to senior management, so that leadership is nurtured and training sustained in the organization.

The next session was a guest lecture by a senior head at Cosco India. He spoke about the leadership development practices there, and tried to help us understand what goes into the grooming of a leader. Very intelligently articulated, it was a very thoughtprovoking talk for us all. His reliance on a bunch of models actually made it seem a little too educative, but in the end, his frameworks might end up being something we'll all be needing.

PM - I was actually quite disappointed with PM this week. I really expected a guest lecture from a head at TVS. Yet, the class dealt more with the practical problems faced by a company which was in TVS' position. We had a case study, and people discussed the pros and cons about the relevant exercise. The standard issues about expansion, product placement, branding etc. The prof brought in a very specific instance to the classroom. He spoke about how he had been part of the organization and had gone about a product launch. You remember the Conjoint Analysis from last week? well, this time it was implemented for real. So they do a whole bunch of things and then release the product.

Say what you want about this prof, but from what I've seen so far he's probably more interested in the broader level picture than explaining the intricacies of the numbers to us. He actually tells us that you can't just run a Porter's analysis as and when somebody asks you to come up with a strategy. He says use your tools as and when you need them. Most of them have a specific purpose, use them wisely. He's more like that entrepreneurial guest lecturer, who comes in, talks a lot about some very focussed thing and then tells you that keep theory aside, and THINK. There's no doubt in my mind as to why our class finds it so easy... he just makes it so. I'm just hoping that all the unspoken words that he has is atleast finding some place in my head (somewhere far behind), because it's obvious that he knows quite a bit. What's not obvious is... are we getting it?

Three weeks left.