The Usual Suspects

Ever had an experience where you 'knew' someone was going to perform well in a test, a class task, a job interview or a group activity and you turned out right?

Ever guessed someone was not up to the mark and they proved you right?

Well, congratulations!

Or not.

As it turns out - you're not that great at guessing after all, and it was actually your preconceived notions and your expectation of your colleagues, subordinates, supervisors or peers that resulted in them performing well or poor.

The usual suspects come to be because of you and your perceptions!

Epicness!

Management Lesson #2: The Pygmalion & Golem Effects

The Pygmalion Effect is a psychological phenomenon that encompasses the idea that what one expects of an individual becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The definition above and the explanations given below heavily borrow from the research paper titled "The Pygmalion Effect: A Self-fulfilling Prophecy" written by a Amy Beth Kramer in 2002. Hope she doesn't mind. Google for the complete work.

Her introduction as to the roots of the term are especially good - Reading literature on the psychological phenomenon known as the Pygmalion effect leads one to the Greek myth Pylfmalia, Pygmalion (a play by George Bernard Shaw), and the musical My Fair Lady. In the Greek myth, Pygmalion, a prince of Cyprus,
carved an ivory statue of his ideal woman. He fell in love with the statue and named his love Galatea. The prince's expectations were realized when Galatea was given life by Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion, which was the foundation for the musical My Fair Lady. In My Fair Lady a character by the name of Eliza Doolittle is transformed from a flower girl into a sophisticated lady by
professor Higgins who believed in her. The common theme in all three of these stories is that the expectations of one person can impact the actions of another.

Imagine you join as a manager of a team in a new organization. First day at work you look at trivial things about your team mates/ subordinates and form your own judgments, and hence expectations about them. You expect the smart looking, punctual one that asks a lot of questions to be your most valuable resource, the best performer in your team. The Pygmalion effect says that the odds are that that person really goes on to shine in the company, thanks to you.

The lesser known corollary is the Golem effect, which states that lower expectations tend to bring about lower performances in people. So the next time you predict that silent guy at the back to fail to meet the quarterly targets and he does, you've again only yourself to blame.

I know, this basically turns inside out, that oft repeated saying - the more you expect, the more you lose. But a lot of research and experimenting has gone into these phenomenons, and all of them have confirmed the hypotheses. In fact, a study on the effect of higher or lower expectations of your boss/ supervisors/ professors bringing about higher or lower performances by them have also been proved to be right. This converse was studied by Feldman and Prohaska in 1979, and reaffirmed the concept of expectations turning into self-fulfilling prophecies, working in all directions.

So imagine the power of positive vibes and higher expectations in an organization. How it could lead to a significant increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of a team. Similarly consider for a moment how a pessimistic or biased teacher could easily pull down the grades of his/her students. Think about it, and its implications in an organization, or an educational institute, or even the society at large. Negativity would achieve nothing but failure, while a genuinely positive view of the people around you, and kind, encouraging and appreciating words or thoughts communicated to them could work wonders for you.

So next time you're gonna form a premature negative perception about that silent, eccentric guy at the back of the room, think again about your quarterly targets. And bring him to the front.

For his sake, and yours!

Cheers!

First Class

After over 4 years of preparation, lack of preparation, hard work & laziness, long nights, longer nights, sleepless nights & dreamless nights, good results, bad results, wrong results & no results, mock CATs, mocking CATs, tabby cats & flabby cats, applications, rejections, selections & wait lists, semester exams, projects, interviews & results, farewells, beginnings, consulting & compensation, new friends, new crushes, old friends & old crushes, more CATs, more waiting, better luck & bitter love, indecision, important decisions, frustration & resignation, packing, travelling, unpacking, & marveling, room allocation, rain, registration & rain, mess food, messy rooms, midnight noodles & rain, team IMPACT, team work, assignments & rain, and rain, rain, rain & rain, I finally woke up at 8.40 am on a foggy Friday morning in my hostel room at the National Institute of Industrial Engineering in Mumbai and knew it was going to be one of the most important days of my life - 

The latest Christopher Nolan project was to hit the theaters that morning, and I was going First Day (but not quite) First Show!! Man of Steel was Awesome!! B-)

One of the iconic scenes from the movie!

72 hours later, I woke up with a similar feeling of excitement and nervous energy - this time, I was facing my first day of MBA life. 

After a hurried breakfast of chapathi's and dhal (which the mess never seems to run out of), the journey up began. I mean literally. Maybe the builders back then thought that it would be poetic and apt and in line with the institute's vision, or maybe they didn't really think much about it. One thing's for sure - when they designed it such that the academic block could be reached from the hostel-mess setup only via a flight of 96 stairs or a 300 m curve of road (again, steeply inclined) they didn't account for the fact that the students had just had breakfast/lunch, and/or were late for class to begin with. Or maybe they did, and that was supposed to be the point. Either way, i was both full and late that morning, but a heavy supper the previous night meant that i was more late (or is it later?) than full. So the stairs it was.

Every Damned Morning!

One thing about NITIE hits you in each and every corner of the campus, the administration, the students and the whole set up for that matter - it is that the college is full of contradictions and contrasts and confusion. Or perhaps they are complements. I really don't know, but it struck me very odd that for a campus that is so green and wet and beautifully lush (we are perennially in war with K for the bragging rights to call it the 'God's Own Campus') classes take place in a concrete, air-conditioned, cell with all sounds and smells from the paradise outside cutoff mercilessly. We do have view of a portion of the block outside via nice 3' high glass windows but even that is broken by a set of cruel looking grills. It hurt.

Anyway, the nerd that I am, I took the seat in the first row, directly facing the blackboard and the teacher's table and waited. And waited. And then he came - Prof. Prasad for Principles of Organizational Management, covering for Prof. Mehta and his Communications class for the first two hours of Monday. Now, Prof. Prasad is not your usual professor. He thinks, speaks, teaches and conducts the class differently. His attitude and philosophy about education in India, the necessity of an MBA degree and colleges offering it for lakhs of Rupees, and how students should not go to their parents for funding, can really put one off guard immediately. I myself did not agree with some of them immediately, and the way he kept going back to hindi every now and then put me off a bit. But maybe I've not seen life as much as he has, or do not have the maturity to see things from a wider perspective. 

But the thing with Prof. Prasad is that he gets you thinking. 

"Think, my friend.. Every class costs you about 2,500 Rs!" 

He doesn't give up easily - he states a point, he gives numerous example and he stresses on them again and again, citing multiple experiences of his and his students'. And in the end, you sort of tend to agree with them - you see the deeper meaning, the underlying thought process, and the vision.

Management Lesson #1: Earn while you learn

Easy enough to understand, but easier said than done. While one cannot deny that the opportunity cost in pursuing one's MBA from a reputed institute in India ranges anywhere from Rs 15 Lakhs to Rs 30 Lakhs, it would not exactly be fair to expect us to try and earn a portion of that back while on campus itself. I see it as an investment of my time and money to acquire the necessary skills that would give me better odds at a high-paying job. And yes, it is my money as long as the Educational Loan is in my name, and even if it weren't, i still wouldn't be that guilty because its how things happen. My parents did depend on theirs for their education, as did my grandparents. And down the line, I would definitely have no qualms sponsoring my children's education. If they are as awesome as to not depend on me at all, well and (very) good. If not, so be it, no problem. That's how it works. After all, what do we save up for? Whom do we save it for? Besides, tomorrow when my father retires at the age of 60 and his income levels drop dramatically, would I not do everything in my ability to support him financially and keep him happy? Would I leave my parents to their pensions and leave it at that? Of course not.

But that doesn't mean Prof. Prasad's argument doesn't have merit. While it would not be feasible for me to earn like 3 times the amount I earned while i put in 10 hrs a day in my full time job until last month while at Beroe, it would do me a world of good to save/earn wherever I can. In the little things that matter. Refraining from spending too much in these two years, avoiding expensive outings and treats, giving my best shot at competitions that offer lucrative prizes for the winners, limiting myself to the mess food as much as I can, etc. are all very feasible and valid points. Starting and sustaining a successful entrepreneurship venture would obviously be the peak, the ideal solution and heights of awesomeness. And I will be on the look out. Meanwhile, cost-cutting is the key, and I will not forget that while I attend my classes and study the theories of management.

P.S. I suppose not watching more than 10 must-watches that I've marked in my calender for the next 2 years (includes Hobbit 2, Elysium, Transcendence, Lone Ranger, Catching Fire, Kick Ass-2, Days of Future Past, etc.) in the theaters would help too! :D

Anyways, the class continued, and we learnt more. In subsequent classes, Prof. Prasad demonstrated to us the importance of being a good salesman - it has a number of applications - via a practical task, explained to us the basic concepts of organizational management by a tower-building exercise - Shabaz, if you're reading this, where are the chocolates?? - illustrated with examples, the difference between craftsmanship (single man job) and company - and the differences/ different managerial requirements for the two and how to scale up from the former to the latter, among other things. His innovative teaching tools, positive, friendly attitude, coupled with a sense of humor has instantly made him one of the most popular professors with most of the students, besides making Monday morning hours that much more bearable.

It was his idea for each of us to write these blogs, with a vision that management education one day would not entail spending lakhs and enrolling in one of top B-schools of the country. The concept is for us to write these posts and sharing it with our friend circles, spreading management education to one and all, and free of cost. He realizes the power of the internet and his doing his best, with the help of his students, to help getting to his vision of the IIMs and XLRIs and the NITIEs obsolete some day in the future. He thinks it's outrageous that we are in a system where one has to spend lakhs to learn how to manage a business!

My fellow Mutants! The real enemy is out there!

While most of us do not see it practically possible, I'm sure we agree with the need for it, the point of the vision. That, coupled with his energy and persuasive skills is driving us NITIE students into starting these blogs. I say let's believe in him and give our honest shots at it. I say let's keep writing and sharing these blogs with as many people as possible, and hope. Maybe someday it will work, maybe other professors/ colleges will catch on too. Or maybe it won't. But it's definitely worth the shot I feel, and hence this post. 

At the very least, it has given me the push to start blogging, and will help with my networking, communication skills, and grades at POM. Those who know me well enough know that I usually don't need much persuasion to write long posts, emails and reviews. Blogging should've come natural. But I hadn't done anything about it thus far, and hence I'm thankful for Prof. Prasad. Maybe I'll diversify and start blogging about other, informal, non-academic stuff as well going forward. Let's see. I'm certainly thinking about it. 

Anyways, this is my very first blog post, and I've tried my best to not make it too dry and academic that it should put people off. As a compromise, I haven't included that much of the subject as I'd have liked to this time, apologies for that. And as usual, the post is probably too long for the less patient ones out there! Anyways, I sign off with the promise that the subsequent posts will be shorter, crisper and more to the point. Watch out for them. Do leave your feedback. I'll thank you for your encouragement and praise, and welcome you with a red carpet if you've any criticism, complaints or arguments challenging any of my thoughts.

As far as POM goes, I've already learnt a lot in class, and have come to appreciate the teaching effectiveness of my professor, even while I remain skeptic about some of his philosophies on life and stuff. I certainly did not expect to be typing this post on a Saturday night on my very first weekend at NITIE. But out of respect and hope and trust in my professor, here I am. Well, as they say, the Prof. always wins. Or will we be the ultimate winners, for having imbibed all those key life lessons that they teach us? I guess I don't care as long as we have fun singing Pink Floyd in Karaoke in the middle of class!

"We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey! Teachers! Leave the kids alone!
All in all you're just another brick in the wall.
All in all you're just another brick in the wall."

Cheers!

Gopal