- Varun Sharma
Team Name – Voyagers
Teammate – Ketan Bagga
Article that I am rebutting -
http://insideiim.com/learnings-from-the-first-year-of-mba/
“Well begun is half done.”
~ Aristotle
As I continue my journey on this path called MBA for the 2
nd year, there are memories flashing in front of my eyes. Memories which are pleasing, memories which have left me awestruck, memories which have made me have a sense of belongingness, and memories which I feel proud of. All in all, there have been quite a few key takeaways so far from my 1
st year experience of MBA at IIT Kanpur, some of which I would like to share with the readers.
The Suit
Though you are likely to wear it more often, there are visionary businessmen like Mr. Kishore Biyani of Future Group who has never been seen in a tie & jacket. So essentially it tells you that what matters more than your attire is how you carry yourself (read attitude). However, you need to remember that 70% of the world’s perception about you will be based on your talent/knowledge/status, but presentation will make up the remaining 30% (remember Oscar Schindler in “The Schindler’s List”).
Social Loafing
The most important learning in an MBA is to manage a group of individuals (most assignments are group activities) and motivate them towards a goal. You are bound to have one or two free-riders in your team, but that’s where the challenge lies. Skipping a few assignments is the cowards’ strategy. If you do that in a corporate world, your manager will kick you out of the company. Manage your work yourself or even better, communicate the situation to your manager.
Every HBR case has a solution online
Wait a minute.
Do you intend to getting just a good grade or are you in MBA to acquire some learning & give a direction to your career? Quite expectedly, the first thing is what most of us would have done in our engineering days. But we all know the result and wonder if the outcome would have been different (or shall I say better) had we chosen the path of learning. Always remember, either you take the shortcut now and success will evade you for a long time, or you work hard now to reap sweeter benefits later.
Food finishes before drinks
You hardly go to a party for food. The most important purpose is to network and of course to party hard (at least that’s what I do).
A lot depends on luck
Luck is definitely a factor, but not a major one. At maximum, it decides 50% of your future. Rest is your effort. As Benjamin Disraeli once said,
“Hope for the best and prepare for the worst”
Last and above all, the most important learning is that you have to learn, unlearn & then relearn to capture the bigger picture clearly in your head because -
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
~Alvin Toffler