Hello Again

It has been a while, I know. I have been trying to think integratively and adapting to my new group.

We finished our ‘Foundations of Integrative Thinking’ class. In the last six weeks we have been overloaded with mental models, and the whole concept of integratively thinking. To be honest, I can’t actually say I understand what the course was all about. I am trying to review it in my brain and so far this is what I have come up with
Question the status quo and the information when making decisions,
Don’t assume blindly, and don’t make judgments rashly
Framing is integral to everything (in marketing a product, or presenting information)
Don’t rely on first impressions (They have not convinced me of this one)

But aren’t these all common sense ideas? It seems so, however very few people carry this out in real life.

One of the fun things we got to do for this course was pick some sort of social cause and create a presentation for it. This assignment actually sold me on the course. If each of us as business people walk away trying to make the world a difference better place, then the school has taught us well. We will be better business leaders in the future.

My team chose to solve the problem of increasing donations to silent tragedies. We chose to focus on WaterAid, an organization that helps provide sustainable water and sanitation solutions in developing countries.

If you’d like to know more about WaterAid, click on the video above. (I love the guys’ voice – he sounds like Chris Martin from Coldplay).

Moving along.. Being creatures of habit, all of us are still adjusting to our new group members. My old group had a ‘method’ that worked just right. We understood each other’s working habits, and quirky personality traits. We got along. Then just to make things interesting, the school decided to switch us all around, and we are all still adapting. It’s not easy, I’ll tell you. I find myself comparing my new group to my old group. I also find myself being less enthusiastic to bond with my new group. The excitement of being immersed in new activities and the possibility of making new friends has evaporated. I am not alone in this sentiment. Most of my classmates feel the same way. We liked it the way it was.

I really have surprised myself in terms of my own resistance to the team change. I always thought of myself as very adaptable I have changed jobs every 2 years, moved schools more than a kid should (6 times before university) and I have moved homes so many times, that I should be used to it. Pick up and leave. Make new friends. Keep some of the old friends along the way. But these aren’t new people. We already know them. We have already formed our biases in our minds. Whether they are correct or not is irrelevant. We have made them and this is where it is tough. When you meet someone new for the first time, you are more inclined to make more of an effort to make a new friend.

I can’t help but compare these changes to corporate re-orgs, and how resistant most people are to them. None of it seems to make sense at the time, but over time you gradually accept it. Why? Because you have no choice.

Biz Law....

I was so sceptical about this class over the holidays. Just confirms my theory that you can't judge a class based on the syllabus. It is one of the best courses I have taken so far. Okay, the macroeconomics course in the fall comes close. One of my classmates told me that GREAT classes are more about the profs rather than the content. I concur.

We had an entertaining class last week. We had to discuss the charter of rights and freedom in different situations. The issues spanned a diverse range of topics from drug testing at work to assisted suicide. He split us up into pro and con groups to discuss an issue and then an appointed spokesperson voiced our opinions. The arguments for each side were quite diverse and good, considering we had to come up with them in half an hour. The professor was obviously impressed with us that he posted a ‘thank you for an enlightening and entertaining class’. He said that at dinner later than night, he couldn’t stop talking about us. That’s a first! I have to give my classmates the kudos. I simply played the part of the observer.

The highlight of the class discussion was when we had to discuss whether lap dancing should be allowed in strip clubs or not. The prof had the foresight to tackle this issue last. The pro arguments were hilarious. Of course, you can imagine which side the girls chose and which side the guys chose.

As some of you know I document the words I learn in Business school. Let’s just say this business school education is giving me an all rounded education. Well, when the opposition was giving their arguments against lap dancing, the girl (of course it had to be a girl!) claimed that she had never heard of champagne rooms. I immediately thought silently ‘Me too. What are they?’.... :)

Down 13 spots..

The FT Rankings came out today and they aren’t good at all. Rotman placed 40th this year... Down from placing 27th last year. (Rotman only participates in the FT and Business week business school rankings).

It is a small blow to the Rotman brand globally, as the FT rankings are the most global and diverse, unlike the Business Week rankings that are more US focussed.

What did we do wrong? The dean sent an email to the entire school discussing the ratings. You could tell he wasn’t pleased. Good reason too. The ranking drop was due to the ‘weighted salary increase’ category. Apparently it has to do with the fact that the starting salary for the class of 2004 was higher than the past year, etc..

The ratings that surprised me: LBS is 2nd. Indian School of Business placed 20th A lot more English business schools made the list.

I realized that after his email at 9:06 AM, not a single email was sent out till about 6 PM. Very unusual for a Monday. Perhaps everyone at school was mulling the bad news, and working on getting a higher spot next year...???

Oh well, it's still a good school, and we are still No.1 in Canada, and we placed 6th in Finance.

Suffering from Apathy

Yep.. finally all the excitement has worn itself out.. I had just enough to carry me through the holiday season, and now its over. I was recently told that I work too hard, and play too little. I think I agree. I think I am heading down the crashing phase. Need a vacation..

School started on Monday. Remember that team building event at the ROM? Well apparently they got too many complaints from the class of 2010. It was to be held on a Sat morning. So, they took our complaints into consideration and made us do a personality test and get to know our teams. For the record: I did not complain. I would have liked the scavenger hunt at the ROM. I went out on Monday night as I hadn’t seen my classmates for a while. Going out on a Monday night was a very bad choice. Thursday nights are better.

We started Foundations of Integrative Thinking.. They are trying to rewire our brain to think about what other people are thinking. hmmm.

We did have to read an interesting article called ‘The Odds of That’. The article quoted the famous Casablanca line ‘of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the worlds....’ Apparently Bogart was clueless. The chance of Bergman walking into his bar was actually very likely. The article says that everything that happens in our lives are random events. We think occurrences and events mean something because of our personal bias. The more personal it is, the more ‘meaning’ we assign it. There is no master plan. There are only coincidences. Nothing is fate, or destiny. It’s just a fluke. Great! So the crazy living in my building is random….. :) Already my thinking is changing..

Off to Business Law.. sounds boring, but the prof is supposed to be interesting.. We had to read an article about a guy who sues a water company because he found a fly in it. Apparently he won, and then lost in the appeals..Should make for an interesting discussion.

View from the 56th floor.

I attended the CIBC women in capital markets event that was held on the 56th floor of the CIBC building. For those who don’t live in Toronto, a part of the CIBC sign fell off the skyscraper yesterday evening. Surprisingly I was not scared for my safety, considering this is the second time something fell from a very tall building in Toronto in a span of a year. Anyway, the event was good. The most interesting part was that they had invited undergrad and MBA students from both Schulich and Rotman. It was interesting to see the dynamics play out as a result. We tended to huddle by school instead of by MBA and undergrad.

They had an executive MD talk about her experiences, and then they had us mingle. Her underlying message in the words of her 13 year old was ‘job is cool and the money is good’. My takeaway: There is never a dull day in the market and have an opinion and express it. She said well work hard now, put in your dues and it will pay off. Secret: You don’t work the crazy hours forever. AND she said that she worked a 4 day week when her kids were small. Nanny hiring was not discussed. In the mingle session, I joined the trading Q&A group. Their advice was to develop a thick skin, and know that you can’t win in the markets all the time.

One of the other points the speaker made was to move around early in your career and to try different things. I agree. The problem is I have tried different things and I can’t decide. Over the past two months, I have rekindled my love for the markets all over again. I absolutely love the markets. I can stare at the screen flicker stock upticks and downticks for hours. You can NEVER know enough about the market. There is something humbling and challenging in that. The problem is I also really like private equity or corporate lending (fundamentally similar). I like the idea of lending money to a company by assessing their potential and future profitability. I can ALSO look at pro formas and business plans all day. I guess I still have time to decide.

I am going to a few more career info events next week. I am not looking for a summer job or a full time job; however I think you always learn more about the companies at these events. At the very least it is good to go and check out the competition...

We are the sum of our choices

I am sitting here on the eve of a brand new year, and the above Albert Camus line seems to echo in my mind. Choices. I look back at 2007, and realize I made a lot of choices, both personally and professionally. Some of the choices have been life changing and some inconsequential. There have been a few bad choices, and some stellar choices. Those choices brought about some incredible highs and lows. I made the choice to apply and go to MBA school despite the cost, and despite the naysayers who told me that an MBA wasn’t worth it. I made the choice to take a film production course in the middle of business school applications and interviews, while working a full time job. This despite everyone thinking I was crazy.

People always think they don’t have choices in life, and think life is something that happens to them. But we do have choices. We have the choice to do the right thing. We have the choice to make a difference in the lives of others. We have the choice to go after our dreams or park them on the unfulfilled shelf in our life. We have a lot more choices than people living in different parts of the world. You have a choice, and I wish you good luck in making your choices in 2008.

Another semester done!

Well nearly done. I have the Macro economics final tomorrow, and it should go well. I’ve been in the MBA program for 8 months now, and it has gone by so quickly. Can’t believe it.

This last semester has been intense. They overloaded us on the courses, and there were a whirlwind of activities at school, of which I only attended a handful. Just reading the emails and the portal updates on school activities took up so much valuable (work) time. Juggling a full time job, and school has been tough. Having worked and studied constantly for longer than I care to remember, I feel that the MBA is a lot more work than any of the previous courses I’ve taken. I think it’s the twice-a-week classes combined with the extra-curricular. There were tons of speaker and workshop events that I would have loved to attend but it meant taking a day off work or leaving work early, and when you take vacation days just to finish assignments or study for an exam, you’d like to keep a few vacation days for an actual vacation! And then there were the ‘extra-curricular’ competitions. The Investment challenge kept me busy. We met with our Investment mentor about a week ago. He told us that he was impressed with our portfolio, as we had made 5% in 3 weeks. Good thing, we didn’t meet up with him this week, the market downturn wiped out our gains! I also signed up for the Loreal Strategy challenge. Unfortunately my group got booted out in the first round. A bit disheartening, but there is always next year! There were a lot of social events in school as well. I’ve barely been out with the school crowd. It has been hard trying to manage all of it.

Alright, enough complaining on my part! Next semester is going to be better. It’s a lighter load. We have Foundations of Integrative Thinking, and because the semester was so light I signed up for Business Law. Yes, I am a glutton for more school work.
They switch our group members next semester, and we are having another team building event in Jan. Considering we already know our classmates, we aren’t sure why they are doing this. However, there are a few people in class that aren’t too friendly, and part of me has the urge to walk over to a certain person and say ‘Hello, I don’t think we’ve met!’ :) It should be fun though as they are holding it in the ghastly crystal structure, otherwise known as the ROM(Royal Ontario Museum).

We get a month off school! I will be sleeping A LOT, and I hope to get in some reading.. those books from the summer are still waiting to be read. The film production schedule might be pushed back a week or two as I am now working on the second draft of the script (it came back with ‘suggestions’). Fortunately, everyone involved with the film is very patient, and keeps volunteering their help! Phew! Okay must stop procrastinating and start studying...Merry Christmas!!!