'Think fuzzily, and have an eclectic approach'

What they don't teach you at B-school

Rashesh Shah

I consider a management education an important part of one's career in the corporate world. However, there are things that are not taught at an MBA programme "" some because they cannot be taught (at least, so believe the current management programmes) and some because their importance is not realised until you have spent many years struggling in the corporate world. These are what I consider important:

First, learn to think fuzzily. There is a lot of specificity we are taught. But aspirations and our vision of the future are fairly fuzzy.

B-schools should emphasise non-linear thinking. At B-school, revenues scale up from 100 to 130, 160, 200, 250 and so on. In real life, things are a lot more chaotic and revenues are more likely to be 100, 90, 105, 225 and 400!

In real life, cause and effect are not as clear as they are at B-school. Luck and chance play their roles. Life is random and management education sees too many systematic patterns in this randomness.

The B-school model is too compartmentalised and orderly. In real life, most functions overlap and a good manager has to have an eclectic approach to doing things. I would love to see an MBA curriculum include poetry from Robert Frost, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the Bhagawad Gita.

And finally, remember, it is not a rational world out there. Unlike the economic models and management models, the real world is not made of logical, rational people. In real life, people have strong likes and dislikes; they have egos and anxieties. A good manager has to understand this along with his own sporadic irrationalities!

Rashesh Shah is CEO, Edelweiss. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, in 1989.