Why is it critical today to renew, refresh our knowledge base.
It was Perelman who said “Learning is what most adults do for a living in the 21st century.” And Bishop Greighton made this observation: “The one real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions.” And I cannot agree more.
Does learning have to end with an MBA?
When I started my career in advertising over 30 years ago, my colleague and the legendary art director Arun Kale asked me this question: “What do you fellows learn at IIMs? Why should you get paid so much?” I did not dare answer that question but bought him a copy of the book Practice of Management by Peter Drucker — and told him this is all that we learnt at IIM. It shut him up for a long time and later he did tell me that now he knows there is something useful called an MBA!
So does continued learning a necessity after a glorious MBA? Why are learning and developing new and enhanced skills all the more important today?
Our parents possibly did not go through any thing other than their formal education. Why is it therefore critical today to renew, refresh our knowledge base? And why is this going to become all the more important as we go along?
Let me try and put down what I think would be six or seven key trends for the next 15 years in our career span.
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The first trend is undoubtedly the increasing pace of change. The second challenge facing mid level managers is the necessity to develop a global perspective. The third challenge is for managers to develop a global work culture and skill sets. The fourth challenge all of us face is the growing complexities of corporate world. The fifth challenge is the changing Indian consumer. The sixth challenge is the war on talent.
So how can we prepare ourselves for the challenges of the future?
Let me try and draw an analogy by using a brand building model that I have presented in my book, Building Brand Value. The book was released in end-2005, and it presents a rationale for a model that is needed for building brands, from bottom-up in a developing country like India. At the core of the model are elements of the marketing mix, but more importantly the model has five stages enunciated for building brand value. You are a brand and how can you build value by using the five stages of brand building pentagon. The five stages are Brand Appraisal, Brand Definition, Brand Articulation, Brand Measurement and Brand Expansion.
Start with Brand Appraisal. This stage is about evaluating if there is an opportunity to create a brand. Do people need a Rs 1 lakh car? Do people need a more affordable shampoo? In your case what do you see yourself as? What role can you play going forward for your organisation?
The next step in Brand Definition. This step calls for marketing to define the brand — what is it about? What will be its positioning? It’s point of difference? In your case look at what can you add to the corporation? What are your unique skills? Mathematical? Behavioural? Technical? Financial? What is that one thing that you can do, that no one else in your company can do better?
The next step in Brand Articulation. Having decided what the brand will stand for, you will have to give it a name, an identity, a communication campaign. In your case, you know what you want to stand for, what you can do better than anyone else. How do you articulate this to your boss, your colleagues, your team? Will you offer to conduct training programmes? Will you articulate your skills a little more loudly?
The next, and vital step in Building Brand Value is Brand Measurement. Once you have created a new brand and launched it into the market, you need to set up measurement parameters to track its success or failure. These measurement metrics may be monthly, quarterly and annual. In the case of your career, you need to put in place measurement devices to tell you where you are succeeding and where you are falling short. The companies you work for may have performance appraisal systems — do not see them as just tools to get a good increment. They are a lot more than that. Understand the process and see how you can use the feedback to improve your performance. If you can get 360 degree feedback all the better. But make sure you get the feedback.
The fifth stage of Building Brand Value is Brand Expansion. Once the brand has been launched and has achieved a level of success, the quest is on to see what more can be done with the brand. New variants. New flavours. New sub brands. Or totally new categories to get into. Nirma went from washing powder to beauty soaps. Hero went from cycles to mopeds to mobikes. So in your case what can you become next? A lot of us have our own comfort zone. We like the same office, the same table and the same chair. Some things in life need to be stable but in the work environment you need to see what you can take on next as a challenge. A posting in a new area? A new additional responsibility? A new task to be done? Lookout to expand your horizons and that’s the only way you can grow.
So the Brand Building Pentagon can also help you build a successful career.
And for some final tips to help you stay on course for a learning career.
Let me call this 7-7-7 rule.
Try and spend atleast 7 days a year on training and learning. Enroll into useful programmes. Do not wait for your company to sponsor you. It is your career and your job and your life. Some companies have a training norm. And it takes effort to get people to enroll. You be the first. You may be aware that medical professionals in most parts of the world have to requalify every two years. And to take the test they have to show that in the two years they have accumulated 30 or so credits by attending programmes, in hospitals and outside. Accumulate your 30 credits every two years!
Now to the next tip. And let me tell you about an amusing exchange I read in Drayton Bird’s book, Common Sense Direct Marketing. Drayton Bird was interviewing a candidate for a job in his London DM agency. And this young man who claims to have five years’ experience, when asked what book on DM have you read said; “I don’t believe in book knowledge. I’ve learnt everything by observing.” Drayton Bird in his book points out, will you consult a doctor if you hear this response from him. So the next little tip — read seven business books a year. These need not necessarily be the latest best sellers. You could start with The Practice of Management by Drucker, or Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins or and this is my commercial message, books written by India authors on Indian brands.
The next seven rule is about movies, books and music. I believe people in marketing, definitely have to have a wide enough ‘taste spectrum’. You need to see seven movies, hits, offbeat, Mexican, but see at least seven different movies a year. Similarly, read atleast seven different fiction books a year. And seven different music albums a year. All these will help you take time to smell the flowers and in the process will give you a more global outlook.
A colleague of mine had this interesting observation to be good in your job. It is at times useful to have one other passion. Not two, not three but just one like photography, or teaching or trekking or movies. Cultivate a passion other than work.
You need to have one person who can be your mentor. Figure out who it is and let him be as frank as he can. As Peter Drucker said, “The question is not, do you make mistakes. It is, do you learn from them”.
Keep that in mind as you build your “learning career”.
We are indeed living in exciting times. And those of you in your mid 30s and late 20s have a very exciting career ahead. You have made the right beginning, and as they say a task well begun is half well done.
The challenge facing you is to keep up the learning momentum because the reward is going to be rich. As Dr Mashelkar, Director CSIR, who I think is 70 years of age, observed “we are living in exciting times. It is great to be an Indian. Living in India.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adapted from the address delivered by MG Parameswaran, executive director & CEO of Draftfcb-Ulka Advertising Mumbai, India’s fourth-largest advertising group, at the valedictory function of PGCSM Programme at IIM Kozhikode.
Parameswaran is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta and a member of the Board of Governors of IIMC.