Pride of ‘not so great’ things
It is strange, there was a time not long ago that we used to be proud of things that were worth being proud of. Nowadays many people(including yours truly) is\are proud of strange things. We have pride of laziness, disheveled appearance, predominance of stupidity, ignorance, contempt for authority and very many small big obscure things. Is this something specific to Gen X? Is this necessarily a bad thing? How could it be bad… Can we not think of it as being proud or comfortable with ones own self, even though that self may not be conventionally thought of as ideal… I guess Gen X is exactly that… It is comfortable with it’s own self image… Well maybe not exactly comfortable but at least it is not in denial.
Coal & Diamond
I would like to share with you a quote that l like a lot. The quote goes something like “Diamond is just a piece of coal that did well under pressure”. The author of this quote, as many great quotes somehow chose to remain anonymous. Well, we all are stressed and tired right in the middle of our very first year of MBA or that all important project that is running behind schedule or the new boss that keeps hovering over your head while to slog . We are now a bit unsure of our abilities to excel in the chosen fields. This is perfect time to remember this quote; and understand that it is this pressure of the current situation that is going to transform us into diamonds.
It is the experiences that we have in our lives when were in school, in college, at our job or in our personal life that make us who were are.The “right” experiences help us remove our short comings and enhance our innate abilities.The “right” experiences also help us prepare for future challenges, generate confidence and inculcate that “Can Do” attitude in us. Life is a learning experience and by developing our qualities in this school called as life we can achieve great things.
But to take full advantage to this learning experience, we need to handle stress, which can make us implode. Rather than stress affecting our performance in a negative way we must utilize the pressure generated by stress as a motivator. This motivation will help us not only succeed at the task at hand but also reduce the negative effect of stress on future endeavors, as now we will have the ability to channel the effects of stress as a constructive force. So the newly cast positive effects of stress accelerate the learning process.
As a manufacturing process that adds value to the raw materials, the testing times in our life add value to our qualities and help us succeed, help us become a diamond by handling the pressure associated with life’s trials. Now any time you are feeling down, stressed, tired, remember this is just your metamorphosis in progress.
Back to school
The obsession with getting admission to an MBA, i think left me with very less time to think about the what going back to school will be like. It seemed as if my life would follow a set trajectory, as if my short and long term goals were perfectly aligned with everything i had done till now, and this all was so eloquently stated in my application essays. I had a consistent life story with a clear and elevating goal in which i believed passionately. But as I have come back to school, this master plan about which i thought almost everyday(or every other day) seems to slip my mind so very frequently. It seems counter productive at times that the I am forgetting the reason for which i am getting my MBA, all this happening due to the trials and tribulation of hectic b-school life. Anyways, I keep remembering from time to time and then I am back on course.
Many people say that coming back to school after having worked for a while is hard. I did not think so. Maybe this is because I never lost the habit of academic learning. Being in a ever changing field of IT, i always had to learn new things that came on the technology landscape, but my peers in other fields like marketing, sales and administration have lost this habit of academic learning .
Another aspect that also seems strange now is Grades. Getting an “B” grade in a class seems like a statement by the professor on your intellectual capability, your value. It seems like to you, a judgment on your worth. But it is no such think. It is just a grade like it was back when you first went to school, just a parameter to measure your academic performance, but that realization does not dawn on you ever quickly when you get a grade, at-least it did not dawn onto me till a few beers.
Talking about realizations, you now realize that the salary cheques and no loner coming in. You are spending and no longer earning. You bank balance is shrinking. It’s strange, now that you start thinking about conserving electricity and gas not because of any great sense duty towards the environment, but for the simple purpose of saving money. One more thing that is different is that once you come home from office, you had nothing to do… but when you are in school, the real work starts once you come home… team assignments, case presentations, readings .. blah blah… But it is all good fun… After all you get a long winter break only when you are in school.
Well… My first quarter of MBA is over… the grades were good (not exceptional… have to work on that in next quarter)… Learned a lot…. It was a big change going from writing PL\SQL packages to learning accounting, from creating web portals to understanding principles of demand and supply, from engineer to manager, from company to school….. But it is fun… Try it if you haven’t …
Wiki Vs Knol
It made me a bit sad when i heard about Google’s big announcement about “Knol“, which some said could be thought of as a competitor for Wiki. Why was I sad? I was sad, because i have come to love and admire everything Google has brought into the web, but there is a special place in my heart for Wiki.
When Google enters an arena, it overwhelms it’s competition by the sheer brilliance of the product\service that it offers. So if it was a fight of technical competencies between Google and Wiki. It would be no match… Google would trample Wiki. But, in reality “Knol” is not “Wiki”.
There is the obvious architectural difference between Knol & Wiki with the latter being author less collaboration with no individual owner for a article, while the former lacks both. It is not that Knol is bad because it lacks these characteristics, just that it is a different product and so not a direct competitor of Wiki.One more difference between Wiki and Knol will be advertisements. In Wiki, there is no provision for advertisement, while Knols will provide for advertisement to generate revenue.
Only future will tell how successful Knols will become, but i consider Wiki to be more that a just a piece of technology, it is the clay that has molded wikipedia and other thousands of non-profit initiatives, it has brought knowledge at our finger tips and moved far beyond the search engines that have provided us with heaps of information and mountains of data. Knol may be a huge commercial success in the near future, but it will never match Wiki in my mind and soul.
Selecting b-schools to apply to ~ A closer look
Deciding where to attend Business School can be an overwhelming experience. Not to mention that it will be one of the most important decisions that you will make in your life. To help you in your selection process I have outlined five key factors you should consider in your selection process called the five C’s.
The first of the five C’s to consider is the chance of acceptance. In other words, what are your chances of getting accepted into your business school(s) of interest. Before you get too far in the process, you must be honest with yourself and assess your situation. You need to assess your GPA, GMAT, and other related scholastic measurements against the respective average of the admitted students at the school(s) of interest. The key is to be honest with yourself.Take me for example, I received a 640 on the GMAT and my GPA was 3.3. I really wanted to apply to Northwestern’s MBA program, but I was honest with myself. I had absolutely no chance of getting accepted.
The second of the five C’s is costs.I am sure that you are already familiar with this consideration. However, it is an important consideration.In weighing schools you should consider the cost of tuition, cost of living, and financial aid. For example, if you are considering a school out of state then you need to consider out-of-state tuition. This could more than double your tuition expenses.Remember to consider cost of living differences between places such as Los Angeles and Columbus if you are considering UCLA and The Ohio State University.
The Third component of the five C’s is concentration of study.It is particularly important that you determine what area you plan to specialize in, if any.Some of the possible concentrations include: marketing, finance, and supply chain management. Do your research to determine what schools excel in the area you plan to specialize in.This may even lead you to eliminating a school from consideration because they do not have a concentration in your area of interest.
The fourth “C” to consider is career prospects.It is important that you investigate the schools’ placements rates and salary figures.You need to know that you will be able to increase your income and secure a good job after graduating. If you are interested in a particular industry or company then you need to investigate which companies recruit the schools’ students. Each company has a core group of schools that they recruit from.
The last “C” is climate.I don’t just mean the weather outside but also the climate inside. I recommend visiting the campus and with students at the school to uncover this.Also, if you don’t like snow then you probably shouldn’t apply to a school such as the University of Minnesota or the University of Michigan. But it really is important to get a good feel for what is going to be like to be a student at that school. You need to know if you will be comfortable at the school. After all, you will be there for 2 years out of your life. Remember to use the five C’s when considering schools business schools.
~ Thanks to my friend Jason for his views
