note: this post is a bit personal in nature, so ppl who reached here accidently may want to avoid reading thisYes, the curtains have come to my 2-yr PGDBM program at XLRI. Now there are many for whom this journey has been life-altering and all that. Or at least they claim to be so. The other day one of my friend asked me a question on similar lines i.e. to sum up the entire experience in a word. In my attempt to be spontaneous I also blurted out the same two words ‘life-altering’. But later on while ruminating over that episode I thought: was it really? To answer this question objectively I will have to do a before-after analysis i.e. see if there in any ‘delta’ addition to my being (other than the diploma of course). Also such kind of question and attempts to answer them tend to have philosophical undertones. So you have to pardon if this post meanders into that territory.
To begin why does one go in pursuit of MBA at all?? The reasons could be many and varied depending on the background one comes from, career goals & to a considerable extent on ones personality, yes personality. There are some oft quoted reasons which you will get if you quiz any by wannabe MBA. They have been bandied around by umpteen sites dedicated to the whole MBA process that most of them have been tagged clichés by now. Don’t believe me?? Well then sample this , ‘MBA imparts one with generic skills not specific to any industry or sector’, ‘MBA gives a boost to your career growth rate’, ‘MBA helps you look at the big picture, holistically and thereby have and alternate perspective of things’ and not to mention ‘MBA jumpstarts your salary package’. Well, I would be lying if I claimed that my reasons for doing an MBA had nothing to any of the reasons mentioned above. It did. I too wanted a career boost, salary boost and also to have that elusive perspective that somehow the MBAs are believed to have. But in addition to that I also had a few of my personal reasons which for whatever reasons I felt that doing MBA would help me achieve. Some of them were (err … honestly I dun even remember all of em!!) * Improve my emotional Quotient * Improve my presentation skills. * Appreciate the market & economy * Explore my non-technical or rather creative side (if any) * Have fun :D. Now to many it may sound absurd. Leaving a job to pursue an expensive full-time MBA program to improve ones EQ?? Weird, I know. But that’s truth (which we all know is stranger than fiction).
Having set the objectives beforehand lets asses how much of those I have been able to achieve. So that would complete the after-analysis. Then we can let out a verdict. First the cliché part:
Generic skills: hmm lemme see … if making presentation out of any arbit topic within a few hours counts yes … if piling up loads of information googling on unheard of topic counts yes … if filling xl spreadsheet with dollops of data (not information) and then trying to force a pattern only to top it up with colorful charts, yes … well as you see it is all abt where u come from (or paradigm as steven covey would like to call it) … if u r the one who thinks that yes not everyone can make a 20-slide ppt on seemingly obscure topic and more so present it convincingly to a class full of fellas waiting to tear apart your theories … then MBA is for u …
Career Boost: Boost or no boost … MBA puts on a lane which will be totally different from where you came from … so whether to call that a boost or not will be determined by time … because u start as a novice there too and performance (& networking as many would like to believe) solely will determine your career trajectory … as u can see its no different without MBA … so its your call …
Salary boost: Well this may sound myth to many... but yes it does hikes your pre-tax (please note !!) or CTC … (in my case it nearly doubled !!) … so this is true … especially those coming to B-schools from our home grown IT MNCs (read Infy, TCS et all) … but those leaving heavy weight MNCs (e.g. Cisco, Philips, Moto !!) … a rethink may be in order … well my peers in Moto after two hikes draws almost equal CTC as mine and believe me their take-home would be much higher . how ?? well that’s subject for another post
Perspective: Well its debatable as many would say … but yes it does opens your mind to certain aspects which u mite not consider unless of course u r a born business-savvy (as many of my maru friends are) … to be more precise it exposes u to a structure framework in which to approach things … nw again there are multiple schools of thought abt the efficacy of frameworks … some counter it by saying it stifles your creativity …. May be .. but I m certainly a framework guy .. cant think without em …
Okay now coming to my softer goals …. Did these two years @ XL make ne difference to them ….
EQ: Yes … I was always this rigid & stiff guy … really felt difficult (& no need!!) to connect with others at emotional level … but I do find some signs of change in me … although its only a beginning but being @ XL has brought me in touch with this aspect of human beings …
Presentation skills: As some one very aptly said ‘Excellence is a habit’ … this MBA course gives you enough opportunity (1 in every course n there are 41 courses) to hone your presentation (& ppt making) skills …. Not to mention those competitions … So its up to individual students to use em or not … I did have my fair share of ppts … developed cold feet in the initial few ones … but gradually realized tht with little practice & preparation its really not that difficult … that realization itself is a gain 4 me …
Exploring ones creative side: Well in this respect a B-school is no different from any …. Ppl with talents will surface and get a platform … while others like me who doesn’t have a creative side (btw that was again a realization which was firmed during MBA) … things r no different ... the spotlight is something which has n will elude us …
Appreciate market & economy: Yes it does … MBA course does impart u some technical skills to appreciate some moves of corporate, be it their latest ad-campaign or their latest merger … some financial performance indicators … so yes there is indeed some positive delta here …
Fun: He he .. this is my favorite … as one of my classmates aptly put it … “MBA is one big party” … well in XL atleast ;-) … weekend parties … late-nite binges … dj nites .. regional culinary nites … fun & games nite ;) … it seems XL never sleeps … life cudnt me more merrier … as 4 me … frm a reserved party-phobic types … to … being tagged as a big partying & drinking guy … by the end of XL stint … the transformation cudnt hv been more pronounced …
And then there are the intangibles …. Those endless gossiping … those eating-out sessions … private late-nite binges …. Bdday celebs …. The summer experience … the alumni meets … the life-long friendships with some (partners for a fortunate few!!) … lunch/tea/dinner table discussions … nite-outs 2 make that so grade make/break presentation …. Endless manipulations of data ;)… detailed planning to conduct survey … finally ending up faking the responses … watching yet-to-be release movies … marathon viewing of episodes after episodes of ur favorite sitcom/TV series … these 2 yrs colored some moments of my life …. Will cherish em 4 ever … Thank u guyz .. Thank u XL …
So folks …MBA is an experience worth looking forward too … Is it expensive ?? Yes … but worth every penny (Well almost !! there are down-sides too … but abt tht some other day ) … so folks those still in dilemma … n hv age/experience on their side (this is important !!) … go for it !! … u will nt regret it .. amen …
