'B-schools take away your intuitive ability'

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL/ ASHWANI SINGLA

ASHWANI SINGLA

Unlike most management students, I joined B-school with almost six years of work experience in hand. So, I perhaps had an advantage "" I was clear about what I wanted out of my B-school education.

I had worked as a fairly senior manager at ITC Welcomgroup "" in fact, I was running a Rs 20 crore strategic business unit when I decided to go back to school "" and, thus, had a good understanding of business fundamentals.

But something was missing. When I read the financial dailies, there was a lot I wanted to understand; while there was no problem understanding basic economics (I'm also an economics post-graduate), from a business standpoint I needed to learn much more, particularly about marketing and communications, where I wasn't getting the desired inputs from my job. It was with this intent "" the MBA badge, job prospects and so on didn't matter much "" that I joined an MBA course.

There are two things that a B-school teaches you. First, it develops in you the ability to ask the right questions. Often the answers are hidden in the problem itself; so framing the right questions is critical.

For instance, unless you frame the questions that help define a business problem, you won't be able to discuss it properly. So that's one important skill that B-schools help you acquire. Second, management education teaches you to think in a structured manner.

This helps you attack a problem in a logical sequence. The discipline or the rigour that you apply to tackle business issues is a great learning.

But there's a flip side to that. B-schools take away from you your intuitive ability. Management students often sacrifice their intuitive ability on the altar of discipline.

Sometimes, that could well be the crucial difference between success and failure. Ask a big entrepreneur on his ability to make the right decisions, he'll say, "I trust my gut feeling." Logic may not always work.

Intuitive ability lets you explore different options and different ways to address an issue or problem, which you wouldn't probably explore if you think in a structured way.

An aspect that no B-school curriculum can cover is values "" only life can teach you those. What values do you bring to your work? With what values do you conduct yourself "" in your personal as well as professional life?

A B-school cannot teach you to be honest; it cannot teach you to be generous. In fact, somewhere down the line, the spirit of competitiveness that B-schools bring out in individuals forfeits the generosity that is inherent in human nature.

I strongly believe in harmony of the mind and the soul. Both are equally important for success "" whether personal or professional. B-schools do teach you to use your mind efficiently, but do they work on the soul as well? In fact, can they? The soul is all about values. And values are principles and beliefs so dear to you that no matter what, you'll never compromise on them.

B-schools teach you all about vision, mission, strategies and action, and also about the importance of principles in the scheme of things. That's all very well, but do they shape your values, help you practice and propagate the right ideals?

Often, we hear of great companies built on a great culture. Of course, successful businesses are about building great companies. But how do you build a great company? That's done by creating a great culture within the company. And culture is nothing but a set of demonstrated values by the people who work in the organisation over a period of time.

The only way these values get reflected in the organisation is when people act on them. A part of the value system in any organisation is integrity. If an employee bribes an electrician who comes to fix a connection in the office, and others see that, what message does that pass about the company's values?

Often, students graduating from B-schools get caught up in the rat race. Success to many is winning this race "" values can be compromised, they don't really matter. But does the world, or organisations, for that matter, grow because people are competing in a race?

I think it's never about a rat race, it never was. What if you choose not to run the race? Compete not with the world but with yourself; keep raising your own performance standard "" isn't that a better way to succeed than mindlessly falling in the rat-race trap?

It's not about who is first; it's about how people can succeed collectively. My experience as a chief executive is that unless people succeed together, there is no individual success. Take a glass of juice served at a restaurant "" even that's about teamwork.

One person squeezes the juice, another serves it, someone plays the music, someone else worked on the interiors "" they all collectively create a good experience for the customer. And that's where businesses succeed.

So, if values and great cultures make great businesses, I think B-schools aren't paying enough attention to these aspects. There are some forward-looking B-schools that are spending time on cultivating values in students, working on both the mind and the soul. And that's how the great business leaders of the future will be created.

(Ashwani Singla is CEO, Genesis Public Relations. He graduated from International Management Institute, Delhi, in 1994)