A year of management education

As my first year of MBA almost comes to a close (just two more days remain), the first thought that comes to my mind is "Is this it?"
Is this all that the great Indian obsession, the much vaunted term "Management Education", adds up to?

How much of management have I really learned, in comparison to what I might have learned if I had stayed back at my old job is an interesting question. Not that I would have really stayed back in my old job but that's because my old company is currently in a pretty bad shape. Rather, if I had continued to be in IT.

Sure there was a slim chance that considering the current economic scenario I might have been laid off, but self-deprecating though I am, I do have enough self-confidence to believe that I wouldn't have been thrown out.

I must confess that I possess little of what are generally acknowledged to be "Management Skills". That is something that you pick up eventually with experience. All I have been equipped with is an uncertain sense of jargon. I am vaguely aware of what most of the terms mean. Also, after a year, I can now confidently sift through the Economic Times and understand the nuances behind the articles, and not be bewildered by the unfamiliar terms, as was the case pre-MBA.

So now, after these two days are over and a 5 day break in between, I move into my Summer Internship phase. Ah! Now this is where the real challenge is going to lie. I have been given a Sales profile and I am uncertain as to how adequately I am prepared for it. Firstly, throughout this past year, I have been somewhat of a social recluse, happy to stick to my room surfing the internet, rather then going out there and networking.

I have managed to make few good friends, but not nearly enough. Now being in sales, my attitude will need to show a 90 degree shift. I cannot afford to be a recluse anymore or I might as well kiss the chances of a Pre Placement Offer goodbye. But this past year I have done little to develop this skill, nor is it something that comes to me naturally.

Anyhow, there's no sense worrying about it now and I guess it is going to be a case of Baptism by fire. I am not unduly stressed about it. One thing I have realized is, I do manage to accomplish stuff in my own special, bumbling and diffident manner. But Boy! Is this internship going to be completely different from anything that I have endeavoured before!
But then this is why I joined to do an MBA in the first place!

Today, when I read my post "Chala Murari hero banane", written just before I had joined my b-school, I find a curious sense of optimism that seems to have somehow, just diminished a little. Mind you, it's just a little dip. I do not think I will be posting again till my Internships are over.

How will it all turn out? What experiences will I have? I am damn curious to peek into the future and find out but unfortunately I have no recourse but to allow things to take their own sweet time.

So until next time, Sayonara!

An ode

I came across this beautiful poem by Arthur O'Shaughnessy during my travels on the Internet.

I think I know what it means, but I am not sure. I somehow am entranced by it and a whole world of imagination opens in front of my eyes.

WE are the music-makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.

With wonderful deathless ditties
We build up the world's great cities,
And out of a fabulous story
We fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
Shall go forth and conquer a crown;
And three with a new song's measure
Can trample an empire down.

We, in the ages lying
In the buried past of the earth,
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
And Babel itself with our mirth;
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
To the old of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying,
Or one that is coming to birth.

Raw poetry from Trainspotting

Choose Life.

Choose a job.
Choose a career.
Choose a family.

Choose a fucking big television,
choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers.
Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance.
Choose fixed interest mortage repayments.
Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends.
Choose leisurewear and matching luggage.
Choose a three-piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics.
Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows,
stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth.
Choose rotting away at the end of it all,
pishing your last in a miserable home,
nothing more than an embarrassment
to the selfish, fucked up brats you spawned to replace yourself.

Choose your future.

Choose life.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJzX9i24IKs

Marketing

If there is one subject which is full of self-important jargon it is marketing.

Try some of these on for size.
We should leverage our core competencies to target the value for money segment.
By optimizing the usage of the 4Ps we shall provide a value proposition to all our stakeholders.
We will position our brand to attain relevant synergies with the consumer.

I could go on. One year in MBA has given me this tool with which I can "pfaff" with ease. Pfaff(P silent) - the latest word added to my vocabulary. One which in its simple structure covers the entire course of MBA.

MBA is all Pfaff. What does Pfaff mean? It means making stuff up as you go along, all the while enclosing it in a mist of meaningful sounding jargon to hide the fact that all you are saying is utter bullshit. In a way all MBAs learn to be confidence men or shysters. Some get better at it. Some like me initially rebel against it but later join in the flow.

Because its easier to do so and more practical.