INSEAD insight

Flight of the Phoenix

2012-09-15T00:47:56Z

A lot has happened in the past few months, career-wise, as I was transferred from the organisation’s core strategy team into a department that was running like a startup, and tasked with managing thousands of people. Initially, my role in this new team was that of a planner, learning the ropes and putting the pieces together, while the others focused on running the operations.

Through a twist of events, I am now heading the department - with just two months to go before I give birth to my first child. A couple of people have compared my situation to that of the new female Yahoo! CEO’s - although her position is far higher and the expectations placed on her are truly daunting. For me, my focus is recruiting good new people to bring desired skill sets to the team; redefining our long-term strategy - and getting the blessings for it - and managing our multiple stakeholders from the community and corporations with minimal hitches.

In my last 3 years, post-MBA, I often had a role in some strategy formulation (or at least, coordination) but did not have the satisfaction of seeing the strategy being executed by my own hands. In my previous role in the organisation, I had the satisfaction of launching many new media projects in a relatively short period of time. But I was at the end of the production cycle, when the product or service was already planned and all my team had to do was communicate the message to the audience. Now, in my third ‘incarnation’ I am in the thick of things, with a mix of both strategy formulation and implementation. And much of this responsibility now falls on my shoulders.

I have always been averse to letting operations run on its own without being aligned to a long-term plan, and staff being told to work in their respective silos, without realising what impression this gives to external parties and how resources are duplicated and wasted. This aversion was made more pronounced after years of learning beyond my compressed MBA syllabus - mainly systems thinking, and having a ‘CRM’ mindset (beyond just an IT system). And of course, everything I studied in INSEAD about leading small groups and organisations, as well as the further learning on managing people, is turning out to be very useful as I re-orientate the core team and seek to engage our stakeholders as personably as we can. Nobody in the organisation has been short of feedback on how we can improve - the trick is to prioritise our plans, get some quick wins, boost morale and then aim for more ambitious targets.

It is still early days, but I think we can rise from the ashes. And if I survive, I may consider writing a case study on this…

Updates

2012-06-05T16:06:32Z

What’s been happening on the INSEAD front, on my side?

Nothing much, especially since I was having morning sickness the past 2 months and have been avoiding events that would tempt me with alcohol (which probably includes every social INSEAD event). In fact, I have been avoiding all large group gatherings because of my pregnancy.

But it’s not just me. The rest of my class is going through a baby boom too. I logged into Facebook just now and saw updates from two different classmates, holding their newborn babies. Many more have been born before this, since we graduated in the summer of 2009, and it does not look likely to stop…

While things have been quiet for me on the ‘party’ front, I still receive the occasional email from prospective INSEAD candidates, asking for tips. I also had a more philosophical email dialogue with another MBA student who decided to apply elsewhere, on the value of an MBA in general.

In other news I was also glad to have met up with INSEAD blogger supreme, Stefanos, last month. Time really flies - the first time we met was also at a coffee shop; I was the incoming student and he was the veteran. Now we are both alumni.

OB insights: Rewarding the effort, not just the outcome

2012-02-13T16:51:35Z

Back in one of my Organisational Behaviour classes called the Psychology of Management, we learned about how to motivate people the right way. Often we focus on the final outcome and don’t value as much the effort required to get there. That’s understandable, because usually what matters in the end, is the end.

But if you don’t see this as a once-off endeavour but something that repeats itself, then you need to lead with a different mindset. Rather than flogging the horse that isn’t able to win first prize, valuing the effort put into preparing for the race is important, too. If you think about it, in any competition, there is one winner - everyone else is second best or worse. Even if you do win, you can’t do it all the time.

So, all factors being equal, you have a higher chance of being disappointed. Some are resilient and soldier on, while others may grow discouraged at their lack of results and recognition for their efforts, and wither away. However, if you recognise the effort put in, you encourage them to try harder - and with renewed determination and practice, they may get better the next time round.

One classmate asked our professor AF whether he could apply this teaching to his own kids. He had a son taking part in a swimming contest the following day. His son had been training very hard but deep in his heart, he knew that there was another boy who was much better than anyone else. He knew his son would only come in second, at best. What should he do? The professor gave his advice: Reward the effort.

The following week I met my classmate and asked him how the swimming contest turned out. He replied, “My son came in second, and I said, ‘Good effort’.”

Amazingly, it’s been nearly 3 years since we had that lesson but it’s one thing that’s been etched in my memory. It’s something that still isn’t done enough in workplaces. Employees can put their hearts into their work, only to find out that it wasn’t considered good enough - or, they may simply have neglected to dot an ‘i’ or cross a ‘t’. And think about it - that is far more deflating to an enthusiastic employee than to one who is already emotionally detached from his work. Ironically, by punishing them for not meeting the goal and ignoring the effort they put in, you alienate the people who care more for your company and customers. People then de-sensitise themselves and put in minimal effort, or look for a new job.

So I’m all for rewarding the effort and not just the result. Of course, the effort can’t be a blind one - it must be put in the right direction as well. But then it would also be your job to guide people back to the right path and cheer them on.

Let’s bear all this in mind as we go about our daily lives, as coworkers, bosses of other people, clients, mothers and fathers. Onward!

INSEAD weddings

2011-12-26T16:22:30Z

In November I got married to a fellow INSEAD alum. Within that week, one of my classmates got married. And in the past couple of years, I’ve attended the weddings of a few other INSEAD alums.

Early next year, we will be attending a wedding in another country, between 2 INSEAD alums in my cohort. Given their nationalities, I am quite certain if not for INSEAD they would never have met.

Similarly, I was introduced to my future husband by mutual friends, with one of the common points being that both of us were from INSEAD.

So: going to business school can sometimes do wonders for one’s love life…

Meeting the new INSEAD Dean

2011-05-29T15:27:22Z

This evening, we gathered at Amphi Mork in the Singapore campus to meet our new Dean, Dipak Jain. I’m listing out what I remembered from his speech to give you an idea of what he’s like, beyond the formal CV and press release. Fellow alums who were present - do chip in and let me know if I missed anything out, or recorded anything mistakenly.

Overall, Dipak came across as an unassuming man - thoughtful and perceptive. He is also a great storyteller. He told us of how, along the way, various people mentored and shaped his future to what he has become today. He had a strong mathematics background and was advised to apply for a teaching position at Kellogg. He didn’t think he had much chance of getting in, but managed to impress marketing guru Philip Kotler during his ‘test’ lecture, and was hired on the spot!

His own students proved to be another group of mentors, when they gave him suggestions to improve his lecturing style. I found this remarkable because it isn’t something you hear top professors talking about candidly. Yet, by listening to feedback from his students and peers, Dipak improved and became a consistently top-rated professor at Kellogg - and in marketing, at that.

His first stint as Dean of Kellogg came during a difficult period - September 11. Halfway through the students’ welcome reception he was informed of the tragedy that struck the twin towers, and the event had to be cut short. Some students lost the financial assistance/job assurances from their companies (?), and Dipak decided to ask the community for help, despite a peer believing he would tarnish his reputation by doing so. Dipak’s response was that he had not yet developed a reputation as a dean, and so had nothing to lose! :) His actions led to a surplus of jobs being offered to the affected students. His point was that relationships with his students were important to him. My sense: This is a leader who will take care of INSEAD.

Dipak mentioned his vision of the 4 pillars of INSEAD - I didn’t take notes, so am relying entirely on slightly dubious memory - but I recall his emphasis on the following:

Continuing the global heritage of INSEAD. He was proud that we had 80 nationalities in one cohort; it’s something that US schools cannot compare with. In fact, big US companies have realised that their staff need global experience, and this is an opportunity for us.

The Executive MBA programme is important and will be pursued more aggressively. These alums are in a better position to contribute back to INSEAD readily. Dipak noted that the top EMBA programmes are mainly from alliances of various schools and Kellogg came in tops. Our new Dean of Research, Ilian Mihov (whom many of us remember fondly as an outstanding macroecons professor and Bulgarian hero), threw in a comment that we can now test whether it was due to Dipak that Kellog became number one… we shall now wait and see if INSEAD takes top spot, with Dipak’s leadership!

Alliances will also be strengthened and new ones will be formed. How about a Wharton-INSEAD joint programme, not just an exchange? Recently, we paired up with Johns-Hopkins as well. He shared that other Ivy League schools are keen to partner with INSEAD. However, we must choose our partners wisely. Allying with one top MNC to provide them with a special EMBA programme may alienate our relationship with their rivals, who also send their staff to INSEAD for training.

Dipak firmly believes that research and teaching go together. When you teach, you also learn. So research will be beefed up. Thought leadership will be strengthened. One alum asked how would we measure thought leadership, and Dipak listed out some indicators: The strength of the faculty, whom he believes in continuously nurturing, our publications and the growing number of INSEAD alums in top management positions throughout the world. He cited the composition of the current INSEAD Board as an example.

Business school rankings were also another indicator, although he noted this was subject to the scoring criteria of the publication doing the ranking. Some schools fared more poorly simply because they had more social entrepreneurs than bankers. One alum was concerned about the poor rankings we had in the Economist, but Dipak said that this particular ranking should be read from bottom up :) Now it makes sense!

Given the risk-averse nature of business school faculty (who are used to calculating risks and usually prefer not to embark on new ventures), Dipak admires INSEAD’s bold move to open the Asia Campus in Singapore a decade ago. Not many schools can do it well in such a short space of time. The question that an alum had, were whether having classes on the third campus in Abu Dhabi would affect the relationship-building among the student body. Dipak believes that the students in the third campus can be limited to very small numbers, and they will test this out. The plans for this are very much a work in progress.

Dipak has a vision to move beyond the ‘cold, hard’ business world, and do good. He is planning to open a university for women in Bangladesh, teaching them entrepreneurship and other useful skills. Other universities in Angola and South America are possible as well. He feels that women will play a bigger influence on their children, and this is an area with greater room for impact. INDEVOR will be involved. I think this is a noble move and will definitely find support among many of us.

Another comment, sparked off by feedback from my classmate (our first Mongolian!), was made by a former Alumni club president: We should identify high-potential people in developing countries who would otherwise not afford to take the GMAT and apply to INSEAD. Dipak said he and his team are open to feedback; they would take suggestions from alums seriously.

So what’s the new org structure going to be like? Altogether there will be 3 deans under Dipak (MBA programme and other programmes; Research; and something else…). The new programme and research deans were present with us.

All in all, the session went well. It felt like we were part of the club; our opinions mattered and that’s why some of us get to interview applicants - to see if they belong with us. My sense was that people were satisfied with what they heard and saw.

Early into his speech, the power supply in Amphi Mork went off and we sat in darkness. Dipak continued talking to us, and technicians came in bringing coloured containers with candles in them. Dipak picked one of these containers up, and told us that this was what he was named after. His father was blind, and so when Dipak was born, he was named as such, to give ‘light’ to his father.

I certainly hope that Dipak will help shine a new, bright light onto INSEAD, and that we ourselves can use our talents and world-class education to be a shining light to the rest of the world.

Meeting the BBC's business editor

2011-04-22T15:05:36Z

Last week, I was invited, as part of a select group of bloggers, to dinner with bosses from the BBC.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable evening, with deep conversations about global and national issues, great ambience and food… very much like an INSEAD event, except that I didn’t touch any alcohol!

When I started this MBA blog nearly 3 years ago, I meant to use it mainly as a platform to share my INSEAD experiences, but it clearly has helped me in other ways as well.

More details over at my main blog.

Past the 1 year mark...

2010-08-30T15:41:30Z

It’s amazing how time flies when you’ve got a job and hit the ground running soon after graduation.

People ask me how I’m doing, 1 year after graduation. As always, being perfectionist and still psyched up about the career potential of INSEAD MBAs (ahem), I’d say things could be better, but they could also be much, much worse. Exposure is becoming more international, and I’m learning from frequent interactions with top management.

The biggest change for me so far is the way of thinking - from originally being at the tail end of marketing (where almost everything else has been thought through already and you just focus on being a good, tactical mouthpiece) to being the think tank, the core of every important thing that’s going on - or so we’d like to think.

Still, there are many more things I can do, that I want to do, but haven’t yet attained. We shall see how things pan out.

A super busy status update on life after INSEAD

2010-05-12T17:50:43Z

I have been rather busy (doing the work of 2 managers, leading a team of 17 relatives for a big family event, launching a big, international Tender, preparing an academic paper). Soon I will be flying to Hong Kong and then the UK for a reunion trip.

So, what have I been doing, INSEAD-wise?

I have been meeting up with my boyfriend (INSEAD Alum 06) and, every now and then, his very nice classmates, over a nice dinner party or drinks. I met up with my own classmates a number of times but have had to pass on the most recent ones - too many things happening concurrently!

As an alumna, I have also received invitations to attend various leadership talks, a couple of which I’ve attended so far. I maintain relations with the Singapore library (with the occasional email query or borrowed book), am still in touch with folks from the Career Services (met up with a senior manager, DY, who came over briefly from Fonty), and have added a few more classmates to our Singapore July 09 mailing list as they’ve moved here to work.

And I’ve only just realised my contact form has somehow gone kaput. This is weird because I obviously haven’t touched any code on my blogs in what feels like years. Anyway, I pasted in some new code and voila, people can write to me again. I was impressed with the resourcefulness of one INSEAD applicant who, last week, managed to track down my email address and contacted me there instead, after noticing that my form failed. She’d get bonus points for resourcefulness, if I were on the admissions committee!

However, I have been so busy that I’ve had to prioritise my office work, career development, family matters before I answer queries from people I haven’t met in person. So please be patient with me and if you must remind me, do so gently :)

Also, I am not obliged to reply to all queries, so do keep your emails succinct and do as much research as you can before asking me questions about INSEAD.

Am I glad to get one of these

2010-03-17T15:41:11Z

Support your local INSEAD alumni association by signing up as a member in your respective country.

I’ve joined the Singapore alumni association, which is pretty active. They organise a number of social activities, culminating in the annual Monsoon Ball which seems to be getting bigger every year. Usually, paid alumni members get a discount on tickets to these events.

And even though we’ve graduated, the learning continues (not just the partying!) as you also get invited to guest lectures. Also, this may sound nerdy, but you get to use the library services 24/7.

INSEAD cultural exchange: swearing

2010-02-03T14:32:05Z

Classmate K stopped by in Singapore, so some of us met up for dinner with her at Din Tai Fung. The restaurant was noisy and we had to talk loudly to be heard.

An amusing dialogue began between K (polite Japanese), C (Singaporean Fonty elf) and M (outspoken Aussie).

C: (to K) Can you teach me to swear in Japanese?

K: (can’t hear properly) “s-wear?”

Me: Like, to say really bad words.

M: (matter-of-factly) You know, like F**K?

:-D

Despite some cajoling, politeness won out. Gotta hand it to the Japanese…

Balancing different interests

2010-01-18T18:15:10Z

As an INSEAD alumnus in Singapore, I tend to receive a fair number of requests for help from current and incoming students, alumni/classmates and partners.

Specifically, when it comes to requests for getting a job in my workplace or with local companies I’m connected to, I’ve decided I can help with certain things.

The baseline is that I will help you get your foot through the door. I will forward your CV to the relevant decision makers and mention that you are a fellow INSEADer. If I’ve worked with you before, I’d be happy to add a few good words. I’ve already done so for two classmates I’ve worked with.

If time permits, I can also share with applicants (those interested in joining my organisation) some of my insights on the working culture and career prospects, and the wider context of the health and public sectors. So far I’ve done this with at least 3 people (a current student and 2 partners).

On the other hand, I also have to balance my desire to help INSEADers with the needs of my organisation and the public sector. Remember that I’m wearing two hats now - that of a fellow INSEADer and a prospective employer. So I need to know how you can contribute to our cause, not just how you hope to benefit from getting a job with us. I need to believe you’re serious about contributing and aren’t using us as a short-term stepping stone.

I say this partly because of recent experience shared by an alumnus who has experienced this attitude with other INSEAD grads. It saddens me, because our reputation deserves better than that. Even if we have MBAs, it doesn’t mean we’re automatically entitled to a cushy job - we have to prove our worth through our actions.

So I too will be more discerning in who I refer, and how much I will stick my neck out. In any case, our hiring process is fair, so if you’re the best fit, you will get the offer on your own merit. And that’s probably the best outcome for all of us.

Tough? Not if you've been through an INSEAD MBA

2010-01-11T13:06:45Z

At work today, I listened to two colleagues relating how they spent the past week doing a crash course. It involved situational analysis, defining and categorising the issues, writing and then presenting a proposal. They told me of how they worked past midnight every day. I learned that some of their groupmates came from other parts of the region, and one was even a Belgian who resided in Singapore.

I looked at both of them, and wasn’t greatly impressed. It was not that I was merciless or wanted to put them down - I respect my colleagues. It’s just because this sort of intense work is commonplace at INSEAD. Especially in the first two periods (P1 and P2) - that’s four months, not just 5 working days. And to top it off, we have exams!

It’s just as gruelling if you took the optional INSEAD Business Foundations course prior to P1. In fact I suspect Business Foundations doesn’t just give you a grounding in the basics (for those of us with no business backgrounds) but jolts you into realising, “What have I got myself into??” as you plough through your notes into the wee hours of the night, trying to complete your assignments with your groupmates. It’s not an experience for the faint-hearted.

With crash courses, you don’t just gain vast quantities of insights in a short space of time. Because of the brutal pace of learning, you also bond with your groupmates quickly. One of my colleagues befriended a foreign participant in her group and is meeting up with him tomorrow. And so classmates become friends, across different continents and cultures.

If such international friendships can develop in the space of a working week, with just 18 people, imagine what can happen at an accelerated full-time MBA at INSEAD over a period of 10 months or more, between 450+ students around the world.

Afternote: I have to write a paper involving bilateral relationships (i.e. international relations between countries) within the next day, present and get it approved by senior management by this week, submit it to my Ministry for approval, after which it will be will proposed to the WHO. Is it daunting?? Not quite, because we’ve done this kind of work at INSEAD already.

I look at such challenges through a very difference lens now. And after INSEAD, you will, too.

Mailing list for J09ers in Singapore

2009-12-19T05:15:27Z

I’ve created a Google Groups mailing list for those in my cohort (July 2009) who are based in Singapore. This is to reduce the chances of anyone being left out in a mass mailing.

Now we only need to email a single address for everyone to be updated. Members can also choose their preferred format - to receive emails as they come, as a daily digest, or view all discussions via the web only. They can also unsubscribe themselves if they leave Singapore and invite newcomers to join the list. The list is private so only members can view our discussions.

Currently, there are over 40 of us on this list. Most are working in Singapore while a few are living in the region and visit Singapore frequently, so they don’t seem to mind being kept in the loop.

So if you’re moving to Singapore for the long haul, let us know, and we’ll invite you to join our mailing list. If you’re just popping by for a short visit, let us know as well and we can arrange a get-together.

Instead of publicising the link to our Google Groups page on this blog, I’ll post it on my Facebook profile, to minimise the chance of getting spammed.

Welcoming back an old groupmate

2009-12-12T09:26:45Z

Last evening I organised a big INSEAD get-together to welcome back my P1-P2 groupmate, RB, otherwise known as ‘the Professor’ - for giving some of us Finance tuition and also for topping the entire INSEAD cohort via mastery of the Z-curve. After travelling the world and making the rest of us jealous, he has taken on a ‘new look’ which will surprise you all.

It was heartwarming to see everyone again and meet a few new people - i.e. the ones who were mostly in Fonty whom I never really got to know. I’m convinced that, with such a large cohort split across 2 campuses (3 if you count Wharton) and relatively little time, it’s not possible to know everyone. But you can still try…

And I used to be paranoid about hosting anything on a large scale, because I didn’t think I was a natural at such things. But it isn’t so bad after all if you can simplify the work, like the choosing of food (we had an Indonesian buffet at Rice Table which catered to all diets) and getting others to help out.

Meanwhile I hear other INSEADers in other parts of the world are pining for some familiar company ;-) If things aren’t so happening where you are, then why not organise a gathering of your own? Or, maybe it’s time to pay some of us a visit!

INSEAD Meeting in Asia 2009

2009-11-09T14:44:37Z

Every year, INSEAD alumni are invited to a Meeting in Asia where they are updated on what’s happening with the school, ask questions and network.

I surreptitiously took some photos, sans flash (not wanting to look like a tourist, but still a blogger at heart). Let me give you a glimpse into the life of an alumnus:

Prof Ilian Mihov, who taught many of us J09ers and also won the best teaching award, gives us an update on the state of the economy.

Dean Frank Brown speaks.

INSEAD co-founder and Honorary Chairman, Claude Janssen, speaks in the auditorium named after him.

I was moved by a current P2’s speech on how important it is that we keep alumni scholarships going. Many students in my batch gave to the Robin Hood fund, breaking the previous year’s record if I’m not mistaken.

It was nice seeing one of my INSEAD interviewers, SA, speaking next. It’s been over a year since we first met, and she looked and sounded fabulous.

Unfortunately I had to dash off for an appointment, and missed the rest of her panel as well as the final talk by Prof JC Larreche on the Momentum Effect, which seems to be the next big thing after Blue Ocean (at least, from the publicity it’s been getting). Time will tell…

Then in the evening we headed to the Ball. But that is worthy of a separate post in itself!