"Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.”
- Definition by Wiki
Scene 1: Act 1:
Location: A desolated flat in Powai!
Actors: 4 Musketeers and a Ranter!
Play:
There are always Two Kinds in all aspects:
Here I am speaking of the most talked about category of Alcoholics & the often forgotten category of Workaholics…...
Well I belong to the Dividing Border!
And I was under influence……No…Not Alcohol….But Work….YES…gives you the same high…if you consider to take constant shots…just too much of it can spoil the brain…If it hasn’t been already!
So I was under the influence…when the so-called discussion started…..
‘Boss ye MBA kisi use ka nahi hai’
‘Haan yaar….pehle hi sahi tha apna…..
Btw....You know….I got to know some facts….
Like????
Ye sun…....And the sleepy musketeer started murmuring from a website he had opened…along with others which were remotely related to any management work!
* Two-thirds of world’s CEOs do not have MBA degrees
* Of the remaining one-third with MBA degrees, no more than half of them did anything great that they could not have done without the MBA!
* Of the several hundred MBAs that many of India’s best B-Schools churn out each year, no more than a third or half of them make it to the top slots (CEO and CXO jobs).
* A third of MBAs passing out of the premier B-Schools never crossed the middle management jobs
* A third of these MBAs found non-corporate jobs more exciting like teaching and research.
Ab Bol……Is it Worth??????? (Like I was the Flag bearer for the Indian MBA Education)
But then….This was My Moment!
To give a speech. To Influence. To Rant!!!!
I woke up. Stood behind the desk as a lecturer prepares for his last session after a tiring day of correcting numerous papers….
So I was standing….and I started…..
And then I Stopped….I couldn’t decide if I was in favor or against….
But What’da heck!!!
I started….
MBA…I paused….is an Optional degree….
GSD….is Mandatory…if you want to become what you want to be-come!
GSD….Abbey ye kya hai?? ( WTF is this GSD?)
Getting Stuff Done….Yes…Now that’s what I call Order-of-the-Day.
How do you do that then??? A rusky voice compelled me to look in the other direction…
My audience was listening! Good signs!
Well…as for starters You can ponder over these thoughts which some thinkers have been suggesting….
Firstly, Management as a practice has to blend a good deal of craft (experience) with a certain amount of art (insight) and some science (analysis).
Secondly, using a classroom to help develop people already practicing management is a fine idea, but pretending to create managers out of people who have never managed is a sham! (Executive MBAs, can take some solace!)
It comes through certain trends: MBAs without management experience have encouraged two dysfunctional styles in practice: calculating (overly analytical) and heroic (pretend art).
And a Great Man once quoted: Successful managing is not about one’s own success but about fostering success in others!
Ye tune bola tha kya??? And the musketeers burst into laughter!!!!!!!!
But I continued…there was More…And I was not finished…..
There is this context that MBA programs are great and helpful, but not sufficient to be successful. One has to demonstrate certain attributes and credentials to be able to make a difference.
Most of the aspirants sign up for these courses because they believe they can augment their career growth either with their current employers or possibly by changing their employer. It is some kind of hope to be CEO-ing sometime in the future with these degrees and diplomas! Nothing is wrong with the ambitions. In fact, without ambition, no progress will ever be made.
But the catch is….that ambitions will lead to success when accompanied by a right measure of two companions, viz., ability and engagement.
Pursuing an MBA is one of the wiser ways of spending time, if you did not have a job to stick on. So, registrations increase manifold. Also, many aspiring first line and middle managers going strong in their organizations also pursue executive MBAs as they perceive this as a career-expanding investment. In many progressive organizations, there are policies to encourage, nominate and reimburse for these programs as well. Long live the MBAs!
While MBA programs do serve as a “ladder to be a leader” – (Whoa that can surely be a Tagline)…my view is that it is not enough to find a ladder to be a leader, but it is important to find ladder to become a ‘result-oriented’ leader.
We can create models, cite SWOT analysis and projections, suggest strategies….and what Not!
But when it comes to the Results..MBA’s are found gasping for breath!!!
So, what exactly should We do??
Ohh No…that is not my Forte..I can Yak….But Can’t Preach….
There is no gainsaying the fact that MBAs have their role to play in accomplishing career success for their aspirants and corporate success for their employers and the multiple stakeholders. But in the absence of certain critical competencies and attributes that need to be built over time and demonstrated at work, these MBA will not help.
So Take your call….After All MBA’s are a Confused Lot! So Am I!
“Management is the Art of Getting Stuff Done”
- Definition by a Self-Professed Ranter!
