Looking back all the time

Both, the economics and Financial Management professors have remarked, as have dozens of op-ed columnists, that most financial/economic solutions target the last crisis, and lay the seeds for the next one.

I was wondering, aren't most MBAs also looking back, when the career-changers pick their new careers? Most would simply choose whatever is currently 'sexy'.

Anyone looking for jobs in Private Equity or Hedge Funds today ought to know that the crazy days are just about over. Not exactly mundane and normal, but not wild either. Sure, the average hedgie would still make a pile of money, but one would need to be a lot smarter to make as much money as in the heyday. Ditto for PE. Ditto for consulting. Ditto for whatever the fad !!

Picking your next job with an eye on the past isn't a really smart idea. Nonetheless, that is precisely what many of us will do.

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Bring it on

Done with the posts/assignments on Tech. !!
For the non-IMBA readers, those were our assignments. They're over and done with, and I'll be back to yakking about everything under this fine Spanish sun ...
These assignments were fun, to the extent that homework can be fun... on to the exams now.

I'll go out on a limb here, and say this now, before giving the exams...
The IE IMBA is hectic, no doubts about that.
Yet, the pre-exam stress is just not there!!

It's not even a patch on the prep-leave mania that I'd seen all around me, and to a lesser degree, experienced, while in college.


This shouldn't be interpreted to mean that I'm not worried because I'm all set to top the exams.
I'm not worried. Stop.
A big difference is the last minute cramming that we did back then. Now, apart from 'Financial Accounting', there's not much last minute work required.

Thank god for small mercies !!

PS: This is a personal observation.
There are a few going totally loco. That's OK. It's expected.

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Back to the 3-6-3 rule ??

'Accounting is Sexy, Accounting is Fun !'

... so goes the unofficial motto in our Financial Accountancy class.

Huh?? While we've gone through lots of BS, (not what you'd think. Balance Sheets. On second thought, maybe it really is just BS), I'm yet to see how could a wannabe MBA find accountancy sexy. Unless one thinks of Thandie Newton in Rock N Rolla, ha ha !

Maybe it's better this way. 'Coz when banking and accountancy get too sexy, and too much fun, then we all get into all sorts of trouble. Paul Krugman got this one right over a year ago.

Alas, the 3-6-3 rule is not an option, either.

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OST : the rise and fall of the wannabe MBA

The beginning of an MBA
when everybody's out to change the world, get filthy stinking rich, "give back", whatever !!
I want it all,
We are the champions,
We will rock you....

Sometime later, when the deliverables start piling up......
Under Pressure !!

Very soon, when the exams are around the corner....
I want to break free

The exam results roll in
Another one bites the dust

PS: There I was, working late into the night on a submission. A "Queen" playlist on.
And since I was thinking of everything under the sun other than the submission at hand, I came across this particular selection (If this were a hollywood flick, this would be the genius seeing patterns in coded messages/symbols)....

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Mea culpa - errors in judgement

One of the funniest things in the MBA that I've seen so far - the scramble for front row seats by otherwise sensible and smart adults.

Let me explain how it works...We'd got an email stating that we're free to choose our seats in the class on the first day, on a first-come first-serve basis. The catch, you're stuck with the seat you choose for the entire term. And the last line was, 'you better come early to get the seat you want'.

Error in judgement # 1

Now, since the classes begin at 1000 hrs, one would be justified in imagining that 0950 would be the time for some strategic positioning in the rearguard.

No sirree! Not for the overeager type-A personalities in the MBA program. My first error in judgement. These fine people booked their places at 0730 hrs, no later! I got this startling bit of info just as I was strolling into class at 0955 hrs.

Error in judgement # 2

My first reaction was "****, I'll have to sit in the first row now !". As it turned out, the early birds took all the pain to get to class really early, then just threw away this (sneakily, but hard earned, nonetheless) advantage to sit right down there, in the front in the class. That calmed me down, somewhat, and kept me amused throughout the day.

Methinks, the type-A's got it all wrong. The scramble should've been for the last rows.

Methinks, they're not the cool ones.

Methinks, the kids in my school (hell, all our schools) were smarter.

Anyhow, I'm good. I am where I belong. Up at the back.

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LAUNCH it

Tomorrow is the last day of the LAUNCH programme.

Our IMBA programme kicked off on April 13, at Segovia (a quaint, historic little town outside Madrid). There we were, all decked up in our business formals, already "networking" over coffee, and later over beer and wine as well (and for some reason I'll never understand, water too !). The ceremonies were in an ancient church. There were ruins all around. Awesome ambience!

Networking

The head spun a bit, keeping track of all the names, all the nationalities, accents and back-stories. Everybody was one their best behaviour, all charm and charisma. Pump a handshake here, flash a smile there, and voila, you're "connecting", like any MBA worth his salt should. Frankly, I'm already sick of this whole fake networking thing.

Spotting Pseudos - an art, not a science

Sure, not everyone is fake. I've already met a lot of very genuinely interesting people. A lot of people I'm going to be great friends with, over the next year and more. But the pseudos stand out easily enough. They're the jerks who're more concerned with the "breadth" of their network, the "depth" of their relationships be damned !!

Orientation & Launch

But, to get back to the topic at hand; the orientation went on for another 2 days. Then the Launch programme started. This was a pot-pourri of a lot of stuff, basically revolving around team-building and soft-skills/awareness. There were sessions on the Case Method, Team work, Action Learning, China, Japan, the Arab countries, and many more.

We tried to make a device (from straws and tape) that would prevent an egg from breaking when dropped, had some drills with a pro basketball player (formerly with the Chicago Bulls), worked with a theater artist (Shakespearean) on improving presentation skills. Did I say it was a pot-pourri?

And we're not done with the Launch, yet! It'll come around again at the end of every term.

Add-ons

In between, I managed to squeeze in a session on "Marketing for startups". Absolutely worth every minute of it! There were 2 IE graduates, one who'd set up busuu (an online language learning portal) and another who'd set up MasMovil (an upstart Telecom service provider). Inspiring stuff. I'd sure made the right choice, signing up for this one and ignoring another on Strategy Consulting that was going on at the same time. Who needs a classroom of would-be suits hanging on to every word uttered by a bunch of suits?

PS: We've got a quiz on Financial Accounting on the first class. W.T.F. !!

PPS: Each time I hear the word "Launch", I hear "Houston, we've got a problem!!" Can't get it out of my head. Man, I've got issues.

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