Learnings Over 40 Years

 The first step after my MBA in 1984 was into advertising, and then into Marketing Research. Followed by a trip to the U.S. that lasted 5 years, including a Ph.D. and a lot of teaching experience. And driving too, on beautiful 4 lane roads and 2 lane country roads. A couple of pics, from Niagara Falls and Bryce Canyon, below-

Then, my academic journey started in India with XIMB, followed by VJIM, KIAMS Harihar, IIM Lucknow, IIM Kozhikode, PES Bangalore, IFIM, IMT Nagpur and Ghaziabad, IIM Indore, NMIMS Bangalore and now, Prestige University Indore.

My learnings are not easy to summarise, but let me try-

1. Learning never ends, whether you are a student or a teacher. Unless you close your mind.
2. People are generally nice, except for a toxic minority. If unchecked, the toxic ones spoil the environment for others. 
3. Productivity is hard to measure, and so is success. Sales figures can also deceive, because quality of customers matters.
4. Advertising is losing its credibility, but over a long period, brands can achieve credibility through good performance as per customer expectations.
5. Hard work does help, in various phases of a long career.
6. Conceptual skills and problem-formulation skills separate a leader from others.
7. People skills too, sometimes. 
8. Most employees are confused by contradictions in the workplace. Advice? If you have control over things, be consistent.
9. How to succeed? Have multiple goals, and achieve as many as you can. If you cannot achieve some, it may not matter. Refer to No. 3 above.
10. Chill, have a hobby, travel, meet friends. This always works, no matter your situation.