B-schools don't prepare you for the 'greys' in real life

WHAT THEY DON'T TEACH YOU AT B-SCHOOL/ ASHISH BHARGAVA

Ashish Bhargava

I have always wondered why an engineer is more of an engineer after an engineering course, compared to a manager being more of a manager post-MBA.

Is it the nature of the job after the course or the expectation that each course carries in the industry? Graduating from B-school, I felt almost well-equipped in technical know-how, but was I prepared for a life in the corporate world?

It wasn't until my stint as an area sales manager (ASM) in Bihar that I realised that I was far from ready. I wasn't prepared for the bumpy rides in the back of a truck, nor the train journey with a goat nibbling at my heels and certainly not for recovering outstanding payment from a wrestler, who would just say "NO". I thought I knew it all, but there were experiences that were still waiting to teach me.

In the workplace you need a good balance between the technical/ functional skills and people skills. The ratio changes depending on the role.

My engineering and MBA courses both equipped me with the relevant technical skills but did little to enhance the softer skills like people management and working in open and uncertain environments.

It's not as if this need is not understood by the B-schools, given that management graduates probably need superior softer skills than classical engineers. But the question remains, are they doing enough?

I remember an incident from my first year at Marico, when I was involved with increasing (secondary) sales for a certain product. Over a lunch meeting with 10-odd sales team members, I broached the idea of increasing next month's sales by nearly 10 times the current level.

They instantly brushed it aside as a whimsical thought from a person lacking in experience. It took three or four days and several different tactics to convince them before we hit the road. (I think it was finally the fourth drink that ensured unanimity!) It was not only the sales force but also the organisation that had to be convinced that it was a serious idea. There were a lot of setbacks, so it involved a lot of motivating, convincing and pushing the sales force to stick to the plan. But at the end of the month, we did achieve the target.

When I look back, I realise that this incident taught me that passion is an ingredient that actually helps achieve goals more than just good planning and execution skills. It may have been a good idea but if it were not sold to people, it would not have been of any use. The ability to influence and take people along with my plan was something that I missed learning in a B-school.

At B-school, one operates in a more protected and certain environment. There are deadlines, there is pressure but somewhere, there's an assurance of "another chance". A management student tends to carry that belief forward while stepping into his corporate career. So did I, in my first month at Marico.

On the day monthly sales close, I realised I had achieved 90 per cent of the target. I was delighted. Considering the odds (long arguments with the distributors, a set of retailers who ranged from indifferent to militant, and many episodes of high drama), it seemed like almost a coup.

The paradigm until then had been that achieving 90 per cent was excellent. So I happily informed my boss "" and received a look that said, "Here's a rookie yet to learn that 90 or 95 per cent may be good enough at B-school, but it's never enough in corporate life." The immediate learning: targets have to be achieved or surpassed from day one.

At B-school, there is a tendency to look at the skyscrapers when management and leadership is actually about being closer to the ground and getting your hands dirty. Perhaps, managing this expectation is an area where management institutions can play a larger role.

There is almost an informal caste system that exists between the thinkers and the doers. The paradigm is that thinkers are elite and doers passe. Personally, I have experienced that the loser is always the person who is not willing to get his hands dirty and engage in the finer details.

Moreover, the method of evaluation followed by B-schools always centres on black or white (although there are attempts being made to recognise the greys). B-school education does not prepare a future manager for the "greys" in real life.

In corporate life, there are no written tests where what you write in a few hours can help you pass or fail. There are paradoxes in the consumer's behaviour or the retailer's approach towards your products, which one has to deal with constantly. In these cases, the management education system is too structured.

The structured B-school education also limits, at times, our ability to see simpler patterns easily. The ability to innovate and think laterally will be the needs for the future, a challenge that B-schools need to take up. A case in point: some of the biggest businesses are developed by people who didn't see the need for an MBA.

Today with the MBA degree seen as a quick passport to success, there is an additional challenge for the B-school in the form of career counselling. I was fortunate to have found a good fit, but many others were not so lucky. Proper career counselling will ensure that students have more clear choices than compromises.

(Ashish Bhargava is marketing manager, Marico Industries. He graduated from S P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, in 1998).