Bustling Bengaluru
I hope i got that right.
Bangalore grooms its people to be managers.LIKE IT OR NOT!!!
I say this out of my personal experience.I went into MBA without work experience primarily because i felt that work experience as a manager post-MBA is much more valuable than to be a softy and do nothing(apart from probably training to represent the country in Table Tennis!!). I stand corrected. I shouldve spent a few months doing nothing but living in bangalore.Why??Here goes
1. Bangalore is a natural competitive landscape as far as the roads are concerned.And everyday is a new learning.You will have to start out with a roadmap(again literally too) everyday morning. A business starts with a vision.A vision is something that is overarching and difficult to achieve.One's vision is to reach the office and yes,it can be classified as a vision.And the road is one place where your competition will literally run you over if you dont move!!! Objectives are broad statements of intent.Like, "I wish to reach the office in one piece".And then come the goals that quantify or atleast very specifically state how to measure one's achievement of objectives.It could range from something as overtly ambitious as "I will reach the office in one piece within one hour without getting caught in more that 7 traffic jams(which in bangalore are long enough to make your bread and jam) and not getting frisked more than twice" to something that is very simple but notoriously difficult as "I will reach the office in one piece today without getting conned by the autowallah".
2.What Bschools dont teach.
Of late, bschools have become the favorite punching bag of many, right from the government to the common man who do not realise the extent to which MBAs solve the world's gas problems.So here is my disinterested attempt in violently lashing out at bschools and the grossly overpaid MBAs.
When you make a decision, you live with it.In bschools, you create a framework(even if you are asked for directions),then define the parameters and then go about to dissect in a arcane manner what was a simple thing before.And make a vague recommendation.Like "Restructure the distribution system" or "productise the intangibles linking the open border organisations without commoditizing the feedback mechanism".But then business world is one-way.Just like the traffic on bangalore roads is.Miss a turn and you could find yourself in a traffic jam at the wrong end of the city.And then reaching your destination(which is a vision)could involve necessary unwanted discussions in different languages(which is pretty much like trying to talk to all the divisional managers for a course-correction of the business activities)
3. Why couldnt the chicken cross the road??
Guess why.Because it was in Bangalore!!Leave the chicken.Even the homosapiens and nomads find it difficult to cross the road here and this is an ideal training ground for the wannabe manager. A manager in daily life has to deal with the expected and the unexpected, with what he can see and what he thinks he sees.Very much like when you are trying to guess the speed with which different vehicles are coming, how much time do you have before your suicidal tendencies begin to take you over, the angles at which the vehicles are being driven, anyone struggling out there with whom you could partner and struggle(also called partnerships in biz parlance). You will develop instincts over a period where your body parts will involutarily coordianate amaong themselves for the flee and fight, just like what experienced managers call gut feel when they have to take important decisions with inadequate information.
To sum it up all, "It cannot be summed up"
Bangalore grooms its people to be managers.LIKE IT OR NOT!!!
I say this out of my personal experience.I went into MBA without work experience primarily because i felt that work experience as a manager post-MBA is much more valuable than to be a softy and do nothing(apart from probably training to represent the country in Table Tennis!!). I stand corrected. I shouldve spent a few months doing nothing but living in bangalore.Why??Here goes
1. Bangalore is a natural competitive landscape as far as the roads are concerned.And everyday is a new learning.You will have to start out with a roadmap(again literally too) everyday morning. A business starts with a vision.A vision is something that is overarching and difficult to achieve.One's vision is to reach the office and yes,it can be classified as a vision.And the road is one place where your competition will literally run you over if you dont move!!! Objectives are broad statements of intent.Like, "I wish to reach the office in one piece".And then come the goals that quantify or atleast very specifically state how to measure one's achievement of objectives.It could range from something as overtly ambitious as "I will reach the office in one piece within one hour without getting caught in more that 7 traffic jams(which in bangalore are long enough to make your bread and jam) and not getting frisked more than twice" to something that is very simple but notoriously difficult as "I will reach the office in one piece today without getting conned by the autowallah".
2.What Bschools dont teach.
Of late, bschools have become the favorite punching bag of many, right from the government to the common man who do not realise the extent to which MBAs solve the world's gas problems.So here is my disinterested attempt in violently lashing out at bschools and the grossly overpaid MBAs.
When you make a decision, you live with it.In bschools, you create a framework(even if you are asked for directions),then define the parameters and then go about to dissect in a arcane manner what was a simple thing before.And make a vague recommendation.Like "Restructure the distribution system" or "productise the intangibles linking the open border organisations without commoditizing the feedback mechanism".But then business world is one-way.Just like the traffic on bangalore roads is.Miss a turn and you could find yourself in a traffic jam at the wrong end of the city.And then reaching your destination(which is a vision)could involve necessary unwanted discussions in different languages(which is pretty much like trying to talk to all the divisional managers for a course-correction of the business activities)
3. Why couldnt the chicken cross the road??
Guess why.Because it was in Bangalore!!Leave the chicken.Even the homosapiens and nomads find it difficult to cross the road here and this is an ideal training ground for the wannabe manager. A manager in daily life has to deal with the expected and the unexpected, with what he can see and what he thinks he sees.Very much like when you are trying to guess the speed with which different vehicles are coming, how much time do you have before your suicidal tendencies begin to take you over, the angles at which the vehicles are being driven, anyone struggling out there with whom you could partner and struggle(also called partnerships in biz parlance). You will develop instincts over a period where your body parts will involutarily coordianate amaong themselves for the flee and fight, just like what experienced managers call gut feel when they have to take important decisions with inadequate information.
To sum it up all, "It cannot be summed up"
posted by prad at 3:50 am
1 Comments:
:) , True Prad . Last year when we were in Bangalore for IIM B vista , santosh , bixie and me were stuck up in a traffic Jam @ 12 midnight :). what happened :) you can guess?
Post a Comment
<< Home