Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
And now, three things to improve @ Kellogg
Wait, what? I am complaining about this wonderful place? Really? I believe that everything can be improved. So can Kellogg. There are some small but important things that the school can do better. Read on...
1. Less teamwork: Yes. Less teamwork. Teamwork is Kellogg's biggest strength. Yet forcing teamwork into almost very assignment and every course does not work. I feel that some courses like accounting, some types of accounting courses etc. do not have to have a team component. Let everyone master these hard skills on their own. Often teamwork is a distraction to these courses.
2. More debate and dissent: Kellogg people are nice. Super nice. I would say, sometimes too nice. In the real world people are ready to passionately debate your point of view, not just say 'Thats a great point, but....' We should encourage students to voice opinions openly, to call out a classmate when his/her comment adds zero value. We should encourage them to let the professor know when a group member is not contributing. So should the professors. Some of my favorite professors have told me point blank in class "You are wrong."
3. More study rooms and better food: everyone's favorite complaints
That's it. Three things at Kellogg that can be done better for sure.
1. Less teamwork: Yes. Less teamwork. Teamwork is Kellogg's biggest strength. Yet forcing teamwork into almost very assignment and every course does not work. I feel that some courses like accounting, some types of accounting courses etc. do not have to have a team component. Let everyone master these hard skills on their own. Often teamwork is a distraction to these courses.
2. More debate and dissent: Kellogg people are nice. Super nice. I would say, sometimes too nice. In the real world people are ready to passionately debate your point of view, not just say 'Thats a great point, but....' We should encourage students to voice opinions openly, to call out a classmate when his/her comment adds zero value. We should encourage them to let the professor know when a group member is not contributing. So should the professors. Some of my favorite professors have told me point blank in class "You are wrong."
3. More study rooms and better food: everyone's favorite complaints
That's it. Three things at Kellogg that can be done better for sure.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The most memorable quote for me from Kellogg PEVC Conference
"If you can quit your startup, do it."
In other words, if working on your startup is the only job that you can consider doing, only then is it for you.
In other words, if working on your startup is the only job that you can consider doing, only then is it for you.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
NYU Stern and Mercedes Benz Case co-opetition
I wanted to participate in a case competition before I graduated from Kellogg, so last Thursday to Sunday, I participated in the NYU Stern Mercedes Benz case co-opetition. What's a co-opetition, you say? Oh its competition + cooperation, in the sense that rather than competition as a team from your school, you compete in mixed teams with students from different schools. I had a team of five people; one from Kellogg (me), NYU Stern, Chicago Booth, Cornell Johnson and a Mercedes Benz employee.
The competition was an awesome experience for me, for several reasons:
1. Forming mixed teams instead of teams from schools was an awesome idea; I got to meet and work with some great people. Working with this team was great; we were able to take several ideas and mold them into a cohesive story. I was proud of our output.
2. The problem we were tasked with was not a theoretical case that we needed to analyze; its a real, near-term issue that Mercedes Benz is faced with. I am confident that several suggestions that teams suggested would be incorporated in some way or another in the near term.
3. The organizers took care of all food and accommodations; and we were very well fed throughout the competition :)
4. We got to test drive a Mercedes Benz car!
5. Another big part of the competition was our faculty advisor, Professor Luke Williams from NYU Stern. Luke is a Professor of Design and Innovation at NYU and a fellow at FROG Design. He gave us sound advise on how to think about the problem, how to structure our presentation so as to easily communicate our ideas to the judges, and how to be innovative. We also got signed copies of his book Disrupt, which I have started reading (and seems to be pretty interesting so far). As an example of an innovation, Luke talked about how you can combine disparate ideas to come up with something new. The video below shows this: it is a combination of a voiceover by Eddie Izzard and a video made using LEGO blocks.
The competition was an awesome experience for me, for several reasons:
1. Forming mixed teams instead of teams from schools was an awesome idea; I got to meet and work with some great people. Working with this team was great; we were able to take several ideas and mold them into a cohesive story. I was proud of our output.
2. The problem we were tasked with was not a theoretical case that we needed to analyze; its a real, near-term issue that Mercedes Benz is faced with. I am confident that several suggestions that teams suggested would be incorporated in some way or another in the near term.
3. The organizers took care of all food and accommodations; and we were very well fed throughout the competition :)
4. We got to test drive a Mercedes Benz car!
5. Another big part of the competition was our faculty advisor, Professor Luke Williams from NYU Stern. Luke is a Professor of Design and Innovation at NYU and a fellow at FROG Design. He gave us sound advise on how to think about the problem, how to structure our presentation so as to easily communicate our ideas to the judges, and how to be innovative. We also got signed copies of his book Disrupt, which I have started reading (and seems to be pretty interesting so far). As an example of an innovation, Luke talked about how you can combine disparate ideas to come up with something new. The video below shows this: it is a combination of a voiceover by Eddie Izzard and a video made using LEGO blocks.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The crop circle etiquette
Recently, I met a friend from Chicago Booth who is recruiting for summer internships.He started talking to me about Crop Circle Etiquette and I was like "Crop Circle What?" Well, a 'Crop Circle' in their terminology is the circle that forms around a recruiter or a employee of a company who is recruiting on campus. My Business School friends will remember this time - when every candidate is talking to the recruiter, trying to ask a really intelligent question and trying to stand out.
Anyway, back to the story. My friend told me that they are taught exactly how to behave in a crop circle. For example, if a new person wants to join in, you make space, let the person in, pause and let him introduce himself/herself, and ask the next question. Similarly, when someone gets quiet and seems like he to leave, you get quiet, let him say bye, and then carry on a conversation. Three points came to mind.
1. First of all kudos to Booth to not only teaching this etiquette to its students, but by making it memorable. By calling it a memorable name like Crop Circle, students are much more likely to remember and follow the lessons. We were taught these lessons at Kellogg as well, just that it was called 'How to behave in front of the recruiter' and it did not quite stick as vividly.
2. Second, first years, keep this etiquette in mind. There are few opportunities to actually make yourself very memorable in front of recruiters, but it can be very easy to piss off your classmates. And that will stick with you.
3. Third, a funny story that my friend from Kellogg told me. He was standing in a crop circle with a partner from a major consulting firm. One person was completely hogging the spotlight and asking one question after another without pausing, and without letting anyone ask any questions. At one point, the partner turns to my friend and say 'So, would you like the chance to ask the questions.' He calmly said "Its OK. It doesn't matter who asks the questions as long as we all get to listen to the answers." Wow, well done buddy! Guess who the partner will really remember now?
Anyway, back to the story. My friend told me that they are taught exactly how to behave in a crop circle. For example, if a new person wants to join in, you make space, let the person in, pause and let him introduce himself/herself, and ask the next question. Similarly, when someone gets quiet and seems like he to leave, you get quiet, let him say bye, and then carry on a conversation. Three points came to mind.
1. First of all kudos to Booth to not only teaching this etiquette to its students, but by making it memorable. By calling it a memorable name like Crop Circle, students are much more likely to remember and follow the lessons. We were taught these lessons at Kellogg as well, just that it was called 'How to behave in front of the recruiter' and it did not quite stick as vividly.
2. Second, first years, keep this etiquette in mind. There are few opportunities to actually make yourself very memorable in front of recruiters, but it can be very easy to piss off your classmates. And that will stick with you.
3. Third, a funny story that my friend from Kellogg told me. He was standing in a crop circle with a partner from a major consulting firm. One person was completely hogging the spotlight and asking one question after another without pausing, and without letting anyone ask any questions. At one point, the partner turns to my friend and say 'So, would you like the chance to ask the questions.' He calmly said "Its OK. It doesn't matter who asks the questions as long as we all get to listen to the answers." Wow, well done buddy! Guess who the partner will really remember now?
Friday, January 7, 2011
10 business models that rocked 2010 - by @nickdemey
View more presentations from Board of Innovation (BOI).
Sunday, January 2, 2011
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