An MBA - More 'Bout Attitude - than anything else

I took part recently in the MBA Advisory Group of my previous university where we discussed with alumni and staff on how to reposition the MBA to new students and potential employers.  There I again realised a belief I always hold in relation to MBA is that this degree is more of an attitude than a piece of paper. 

I think there are three variables working in a triangular relation that make a good MBA holder stand out from an extra ordinary one. They are - institution/environment, your own talent and external perceptions. 

If for example you naturally have some business acumen, entrepreneurial, with superior presentation, analytical and people handling skills and you happen to get a degree from IBA or NSU, chances are high that employers may have a better perception towards your capabilities or potentials. So all your three variables in the MBA triangle are strong and in your favour. If however you turn out to be basically an airhead with a lot of intellectual glamour but little or no flesh underneath, your institute's perception in the eyes of external parties like employers, your parents, friends, girlfriend can still save the day. Infact a strong institution has the power to teach a donkey how to run faster than other donkeys. However it can't still turn donkeys to horses as pure donkeys will not be able to figure out which race is for horses and which ones are for them. Worst is when you are planning to do an MBA and if you lack the talent or attitude and at the same time don't have the degree from a prestigious institute. I believe that if you have the right attitude between your eyes then you can always compensate not studying in IBA with a degree from 'left-right university' (one of any directional universities in Bangladesh will do). However even an MBA from Top B-school cant guarantee your long lasting success if you lack the basic attitude of an MBA. 

An MBA is not a prerequisite to succeed as an entrepreneur or a business leader. An attitude to succeed, innovate, initiate definitely are. Cultivate these first, a degree can follow later. There are too many examples in Bangladesh and abroad where businesses have been established and succeeded by people who didn't have any formal business education but had some basic attitude naturally or gained over time - all of which are attempted to be taught in a typical MBA course. So having the right attitude is important, then turn that into action.

the blur!

I always enjoyed writing something or the other. It never really had to be about something. At times they made sense, mostly didn't. But it really wasn't an issue, cause I thoroughly enjoyed the WRITING part!

Opposed to popular belief, productivity in terms of coming up with original content went up once I had started my career. Although a career in "servicing" in an advertising agency is not deemed creative, the company and its core services surely is. Even the well acclaimed and universally accepted creative ego is "creative" in nature, though it differs greatly from person to person with a greater scope!!!

Through the peaks and troughs of my career, I've kept my blog as something very cynical, delicate and mostly personal. If anything, over the years I've become so obsessed with "quality writing" that a thousand inspirations come and go, yet nothing ever gets posted. This pursuit of excellence has cost me no less than a dozen pieces in the past few years. And when you consider, I've barely managed to write forty odd pieces in last five years... that's just about two years hard work down the drain.

As the stressmeter intensifies... at work and at home, the crazier side of you starts taking a hit as well. As many peers and pundits of advertising keep pointing out (without a fail, every time), the fun of an industry where passion fuels productivity runs out as you mature to realize the value of money.

M O N E Y all of a sudden smells sweeter than honey. You regret how it ever was the root of all evil. And as for the so unique yet so sensitive, broad-minded creative side of you; all that matters is the Bangla saying "pete khele pithe shoy" (if your needs are fulfilled, the work never matters)!!!

Forget your family or the nagging wife, on a lazy weekend when you cannot afford the La-Z-Boy chair to enjoy The Godfather in high-definition, the blur between passion and reality is ever widening.

And I wonder, who will have the last laugh?

Soft talks about SoftExpo2012

Anderson: Rob how are you? What’s new?

Robertson: Busy times mate, I am travelling again, this time to Bangladesh next week.

Anderson: Bangla what? And why? What’s happening down there?

Robertson: Bangladesh. They’ve got a software expo coming up next week, supposedly their biggest and getting bigger every year…