Management institutes give you an education in the science of management "" they change the way you think and give you the "what" of management. Where we need to now concentrate is the art of management "" the "how" factor.
Where does one acquire the skill to be a successful manager? I've compiled a list of subjects that I believe are critical to success, and that need more attention from B-schools.
How to get "buy in" from seniors for your ideas It's somewhat like sex "" we know about it, we study the science in our biology classes and then we leave the rest to the world to teach us: we learn from friends, books and articles, the tips we get from someone "experienced", movies and videos and, finally, from the mistakes we make! All this adds up to the skills we acquire and many go through life without much acumen either.
Modern, result-delivery demands leave little margin for experimentation and error. We talk a lot about risk-taking and mistakes being an essential part of management "" but show me one business plan that has actually put a number to this.
Everyone wants only success and there is no time today for failures. The competition is right there waiting to grab your people, projects, market share and profits.
Meanwhile, the stock market analysts are driving you crazy with expectations. There are few protected "secrets" that can give us comfort.
The tangible assets are now freely available and of consistent good quality "" it's the intangibles that make the difference and that need more attention and study. The science is there for everyone, the skill makes the difference and more attention is needed to develop that.
Armed with the enthusiasm of recently-acquired knowledge, I remember that on my return from B-school, I was so eager to put my learnings to practice that I became a serious threat to many of my colleagues "" they thought I was showing off and trying to impress the brass.
Suddenly, I became somewhat unpopular within the organisation. I got the boss's ear, since I did have some ideas that were worth taking forward "" but there was a lot of labelling that took place and there was a fair amount of scepticism. No one had warned us about this.
I went back to the basics "" and began concentrating on developing the art of team building, consensus and creative thinking. From trying to outshine those around me I began to work with others, helping them become more successful. I ensured I had a buy-in from my boss and the time to get this done.
In a sense, from being "knowledgeable" I became more "artful". I also began to delegate more than I used to. Over a period of time, decisions in the organisation seemed to have a wider ownership and I was particular about recognising this publicly.
An issue I remember raising in my final submission at this school was the fact that all the case studies and material had a western orientation. All of us have done the Canon-Xerox case and the Caterpillar-Kimatsu story.
But there are no cases that have been developed in the Asian subcontinent "" particularly India. In today's global context, this is a gaping hole in terms of understanding the geography of success! It smacks of universalism, where it is assumed that one philosophy or approach must apply across the board to various cultures.
That is a "colonial" approach and is fraught with the possibilities of failure. I am surprised that even today, culture as a means of competitive advantage is a subject that does not find mention in many curricula and, to my mind, it is the single most important factor contributing to success in multinational operations. Managing the cultural sensitivities of the consumer, the employees, the partners and other constituents is vital for success.
For instance, in India, we know much more about the streets of London than most Britishers know about Delhi! We have studied in "their" schools and colleges, have been to these countries several times, known their habits, living style, music and much else.
In contrast, they know very little about us. And yet we are now connected closely by commerce. This reality needs to be blended into the curricula of B-schools.
The great advantage of a B-school education is the transformation that it brings in your thinking process and the confidence that it builds in your own creativity, ability to find answers and think out the what and how of meeting challenges.
Earlier, I was not comfortable with delegation and used to waste time on completing mundane tasks. My years at B-school ensured that I became more secure hiving off the unnecessary, leaving more time to think "" I became more of an ideas man!
This also allowed other managers the space to develop. These are subtle changes. It is not that one can immediately connect a given business challenge to a case study: no, we would have forgotten most of that in two months.
What remains embedded forever is what the rigorous process of learning manifests itself into, in terms of the way of approaching a challenge and the methodology that you adopt to find solutions, and then sell the concept to the rest of the organisation.
In brief, B-schools need to develop local case studies "" especially those relevant to the Asian sub-continent. They need to provide more time for skills development "" a kind of "lab practicals" for the art of management. This would be the best strategy for the future.
(Amar Raj Singh is managing director, GuinnessUDV, India and south Asia. He completed an senior executive programme from the London Business School in 1992 and specialised in strategy at Stanford Business School in 1994.)
