Memories That Stay

 Saw this pic again, from December 2013 when I was leaving Delhi for Indore. What's remarkable about this farewell, was that our Prof. Dr. J.D. Singh joined us at this club. Along with classmates, Himanshu Manglik, Pradip Acharya, Harish Chaudhary and Sunil Gupta. Anil Shrivastava too. Some memories stay with you! Dr. Singh taught us marketing at IIMB, but remained a friend forever.. he is in Canada now, but in touch through Linkedin!



Meeting Suhasini Barman

 Met this bubbly entrepreneur who happens to be connected through a classmate too, and a very warm, talkative personality. Though it was our first meeting (courtesy Linkedin), we got along really well. She parks herself on Park Street (that's where her office is), but moves around doing multiple things. Like meeting clients, offering guest lectures at some local colleges in Kolkata, and meeting strange people like me. Meet Suhasini Barman, who runs a company named after herself. She is also joining the Goldman Sachs-sponsored program for Women Entrepreneurs at IIMB soon. So we will be co-alums too!

Classes and Classy Students

 Some classes have class, and some students too. Sample from different places, in class and out of class -

















Contingency Theory of Academic Leadership

 I know, unlike Trump, I shall not be nominated for a Nobel for this, but it's still worth trying to put my thoughts out. At least, they will not cause wars.. maybe a war of words, at most.

Academic leadership is different from its corporate version, in my view, after having been in 3-4 such situations. The top institutions in any discipline have motivated faculty who only need opportunities, and autonomy to thrive. Some incentives can help. But if you try too much to assert yourself as a leader, it has the opposite of the intended effect- they lose their motivation. They are put off, and stop excelling. They may even quit.

Of course, every institution may not be the same, so you may need to tweak this a bit based on the situation - the contingency part of the theory. But in general, the corporate version of push, push till the subordinate performs- or drops dead (I am not kidding, it happens)- will not work too well in academia. 

Which is why, I think Publish or Perish is a bad idea. Incentivise publications, or case writing, or whatever is your organisational goal, but also recognise teaching excellence. Faculty can innovate in learning methodologies instead of publishing for its own sake. That could be incentivised too. Admin. work usually goes unrecognised. For me, a placement chair or an Alumni affairs chair who does well in a B school is also valuable, just like a guy who publishes a good paper. Or teaches well consistently, and in tune with the times.


Offices- Current and Past

 My offices in pics, over the years-







Essay on Personal and Organizational Inertia

 Inertia is a concept well-known, thanks to Newton and his first Law. 

It is hard to wake up in the morning, we all know. We have to galvanise ourselves into waking up, and making that cup of tea. I have now mastered the art- of doing both. I usually wake up at 5 am, coz the Sun rises early in Kolkata, and I feel I have a duty to keep up with it.

Getting ourselves to do anything of significance- making up the bed, or writing a work email- sounds like a chore. Somewhat like washing dishes. So we generally delay, or to use a Tharoorian word, procrastinate. And this goes on, with various To Do lists in life.

We generally don't forget to marry, because of a constant push from parents, in accordance with Newton's First Law. But do you know that organizations also have inertia? Because humans make up most organizations- for now, until robots throw them out. 

They should be doing things like strategising, right-sizing, growing, implementing strategies, and many other things, to keep owners, or shareholders, happy. But they don't. They get caught up in an inertia vortex, and 'This is how we do things around here syndrome, and forget to do the few essential things for survival and growth. So some remain sleeping giants, like those mythical entities. And some slip into a coma, never to come out.

Those organizations that remain agile, beat them by a mile. Happened to K Mart in the US when Wal-Mart came along. Happened to Biyani (Future became Past?), when D Mart came along. And will happen to many others..

Debating- A Dying Art?

 I am not talking of the loud antics on television channels that pass off as debates. The well-prepared speeches for 3-5 minutes by good speakers, that we used to see or take part in. 

Some people speaking For the Motion, and some, against. One such tradition at the Tollygunge Club in Kolkata I was witness to, on Sunday. It was also well-attended, and had a good controversial topic- that the Institution of Marriage has lost its Relevance.

 Lively speakers, sometimes quoting research, and sometimes taking pot-shots at each other. There were lawyers, doctors and professors. A journalist too, and a couple of audience members chipped in. But the real star of the show was Kunal Sarkar, who moderated. Himself a doctor, he added a lot of witty comments and remarks, to keep the House engaged.

A pic or two from Tolly-

A view of the stage, above, and us relaxing before the event started.

Bibhuti Dash, and Anuradha Nargundkar, with a view of the Golf course behind.



Memories That Stay

 Saw this pic again, from December 2013 when I was leaving Delhi for Indore. What's remarkable about this farewell, was that our Prof. D...

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