Hello Kirti

the blog about everything

Cordon Bleu in Fontainebleau?

Photo

I had big plans to blog regularly during my MBA but so far I have done nothing. I will take some time this winter break to write more about my wonderful experiences at INSEAD. It is fondly called "life in a bubble". You are oblivious to everything outside it. Something akin to the life people led in the M.Night Shyamalan movie, the Village.  INSEAD is a fairytale land, but a fairytale land where the food has no spice. I consider it a problem when salt is considered an optional seasoning! Desserts are the only saving grace. Finding good food in Fontainebleau is a task. I cook every now and then but lately my stomach is bored of the same old things. So it is time to learn something new. I met an INSEAD student's wife who is taking baking lessons at the Cordon Bleu. I am so tempted but then baking is not my forte. Some day! A couple of weeks back Dave Schappell shared with me a link on cooking classes in Seattle on teachstreet. Wish it were this easy to find some cooking classes in Fonty! Dave...are you listening?!

Driving in India 1-2-3

If you are considering driving in India just remember the following unofficial rules and you will be set.
  1. All way is freeway - Traffic lights and signs such as one way, no entry, pedestrians only are more of guidelines than rules so not everyone follows them. You should play safe and follow them if you are new to the Indian driving scene. Roads and footpaths are open to all - pedestrians, hitchhikers, bullock carts, horse carriages, elephants, hand carts, two wheelers, three wheelers, four wheelers, n-wheelers, no-wheelers and anything that can move on its own or with or when pushed. Assume that anybody can come from any direction without any sign or indication. Any road can end at any point, have blockades or other disruptions. Be prepared to expect the unexpected and you will be a happy and safe driver.
  2. Flash headlights to get your right of way - No matter what kind of a vehicle you are on board if you as the driver want the right of way to pass/overtake a vehicle, cross a road, go in the opposite direction on a one way (don't do it) or just scare folks so that they vacate your path (bad idea) and you are willing to take the risk that the others will not ignore it then flash your vehicle's headlights. Folks will make way for you.
  3. Horn is always ok - You can use the horn to alert others (vehicles/pedestrians/carts) that you are coming, to prod slow vehicles to move faster or just because you love the sound of it (not recommended though observed often). If you do not follow the honking protocol and as a result an accident happens even if it was not your fault (or so you think), you are responsible. So honk honk!
That's it. Get a driver's license and enjoy the drive. 

p.s. Some cities in India such as Mumbai and Delhi may be stricter so just observe and follow or ask the locals. 

Keeping the Goal in mind

I just got done reading The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement
Media_httpwwwassocama_xjwmh
 by Eliyahu Goldratt. I really liked the book and wanted to share what I took away from it. Spoiler Alert!

It is based in the eighties. Its protagonist, Alex Rogo is a manager of a failing plant that is behind on schedule, loss making and always over-worked. The gist of the story is how Alex turns things around to become a role model for the rest of the plants in his company's division and is promoted as a result to lead the entire division itself all with the help of his Physics professor, Jonah, as a de facto management consultant.

The daily problems faced by Alex are native to the manufacturing industry - labor issues, raw material supply delays, fluctuating raw material prices, process and physical bottlenecks, rising inventory, delinquencies etc. I could really relate to them since it is a problem close to my family. My father owns and runs a manufacturing unit and is currently undertaking major productivity improvements. He is on the shop floor everyday making process changes. I could at times almost visualize my dad in place of Alex who was obsessed with turning things around in the plant.

While I felt that Alex sometimes relied too much on Jonah's advice and that he could somehow sit down and identify the problems himself, once Jonah gave him the pointers Alex left no stone unturned to resolve the issues. An admirable skill that Alex demonstrated was how to get a set of jaded employees really involved and excited about the plant and the company by involving them deeply in solving the problems at hand. Very few managers enlist the participation of their reports to solve large chronic problems. This means employees are mostly at the receiving end of the strategy and can provide very little or unsubstantial input.

Goldratt effectively teaches systems management theories without once making it sound didactic or for lack of a better word, theoretical. If only there were more textbooks like these learning would be so much more fun.

Alex faces problems in his personal life as he is overwhelmed by the work at the plant which is subject to close if it does not perform. But those personal events still stay aligned to Alex's goal and help move the story along.

The Goal could be rewritten to be aligned to fit the state of current world where mobile phones and other technologies have made business simpler but the theory of constraints still apply. All in all a thrilling read but it could have be shorter towards the end.

I recommend - READ IT!

MBA and I - Series

I am off to INSEAD to pursue a full-time MBA. The course is 10 months long and I graduate in July 2011. I want to share some of my experiences applying to business school, the motivations behind it, as I go through it, the experience at business school itself and how it helps me afterwards in my career and life. Hopefully, these posts should help people who are considering going to business school to make more informed decisions, learn from the mistakes I made and also possibly get useful tips to navigate through the application process and school easily.

Here are some of the posts I have lined up so far. These may change depending on what topics arise and how detailed I think they should be. I will keep updating this post as a placeholder to link to all the posts related to business school.

  1. MBA or not MBA - Do you need it? (I will do a before and after of this post.)
  2. GMAT and MBA
  3. Picking the right school
  4. Getting the recommendations right
  5. Telling your story through the essays
  6. Life at INSEAD (may span several blog posts)
  7. Applying what I learned - life after (may span several blog posts)
Cheers!
Kirti

To Blink or not to Blink

This is my first book review on Hello Kirti. The book I am covering is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Media_httpwwwassocama_bhayj
 by Malcolm Gladwell. I want to make it a habit to just jot down my thoughts after I read any book so blogging about it should be a good forcing function. I will keep 'em short and sweet.

I really loved Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Media_httpwwwassocama_geqdz
 that covered how small actions or Tipping Points brought about big social changes. Outliers: The Story of Success
Media_httpwwwassocama_dmvge
 was also a good story book that chronicled why favorable conditions helped some folks achieve exponential success or exhibit exceptional behaviors in spite of not been very different from others.

Blink seems to be a book in search of a purpose. It meanders through a bunch of stories making small points here and there but not really weaving them together. Some of the conclusions drawn seem fairly obvious.

Here is what I took away:

  • People's conscious and unconscious states of mind differ widely. Their conscious state is based on what they believe in and want to be. Their unconscious is based on their experiences - immediate or over a certain period. The best way to separate the two is use a method called thin slicing - coming to a conclusion about someone or something based on very little data and in a very short period of time, making minute observations. One way to explore your unconscious is to play the game  where you are provided a set of words and after each word you are supposed to come up with a word that comes to your mind immediately. What you will say right away would be coming from your unconscious mind and will surprise you profoundly. "How could I have thought that way?!"
  • You need great experience in particular field to cast "blink" judgments. Blink is basically your intuition and it cannot be scientifically dissected. More data does not help. You are able to draw the right conclusions just by virtue of your expertise.
  • If in an excited, panicked or aroused mode people become autistic and are unable to detect non-verbal cues and make irrational moves.
I agree with Gladwell's suggestion that the legal system could be made more just by minimizing the interference of the unconscious mind when evaluating criminals. Those judgments unknowingly exploit prejudices and result in unfairness. 

I would recommend a cursory read of Blink
Media_httpwwwassocama_bhayj
 for some of the stories are interesting. I did not find anything very eye opening in the book, metaphorically and literally speaking. 

To Blink or not to Blink

This is my first book review on Hello Kirti. The book I am covering is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Media_httpwwwassocama_foitp
 by Malcolm Gladwell. I want to make it a habit to just jot down my thoughts after I read any book so blogging about it should be a good forcing function. I will keep 'em short and sweet.

I really loved Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Media_httpwwwassocama_bajfd
 that covered how small actions or Tipping Points brought about big social changes. Outliers: The Story of Success
Media_httpwwwassocama_welti
 was also a good story book that chronicled why favorable conditions helped some folks achieve exponential success or exhibit exceptional behaviors in spite of not been very different from others.

Blink seems to be a book in search of a purpose. It meanders through a bunch of stories making small points here and there but not really weaving them together. Some of the conclusions drawn seem fairly obvious.

Here is what I took away:

  • People's conscious and unconscious states of mind differ widely. Their conscious state is based on what they believe in and want to be. Their unconscious is based on their experiences - immediate or over a certain period. The best way to separate the two is use a method called thin slicing - coming to a conclusion about someone or something based on very little data and in a very short period of time, making minute observations. One way to explore your unconscious is to play the game  where you are provided a set of words and after each word you are supposed to come up with a word that comes to your mind immediately. What you will say right away would be coming from your unconscious mind and will surprise you profoundly. "How could I have thought that way?!"
  • You need great experience in particular field to cast "blink" judgments. Blink is basically your intuition and it cannot be scientifically dissected. More data does not help. You are able to draw the right conclusions just by virtue of your expertise.
  • If in an excited, panicked or aroused mode people become autistic and are unable to detect non-verbal cues and make irrational moves.
I agree with Gladwell's suggestion that the legal system could be made more just by minimizing the interference of the unconscious mind when evaluating criminals. Those judgments unknowingly exploit prejudices and result in unfairness. 

I would recommend a cursory read of Blink
Media_httpwwwassocama_foitp
 for some of the stories are interesting. I did not find anything very eye opening in the book, metaphorically and literally speaking.