A transformation experience

Another round of midterms are over and in a matter of few weeks two more courses will be done. When I was applying last year, most students would say that the MBA is a transformational experience. I quite did not know what to make of it a year back. As I am going through the first year, I do think that one goes through a transformational experience.

As I am going through the marketing classes, I am developing the real problem where I keep looking for "superior perceived value" in almost everything I buy. Every time I am at Target or Safeway, I pick up products and think, which market segment do I belong in, what differentiates this product from a competitor and why am I choosing it. It is turning out to quite a "transformational" experience because now I keep spending more time looking at things in the store. This is not exactly the best outcome, but on a more serious note, I feel that I am looking at seemingly ordinary things with a different set of eyes.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone !!

What am I Learning...

Discussions are a big part of any MBA class. The professors try to get a good discussion going and of course the students follow - there are participation points at hand right!! Interestingly though, a lot of times as I am listening to the comments, a thought goes through my head - This is just common sense.

So why am I sitting in the class and spending my time, if this is all common sense.

The thing is, while a lot of material may look like common sense, I have come to realize that the courses provide a very good framework to think through the problems and apply "common sense" in the right places. Apart from arriving at logical conclusions, the frameworks also provide a good stopping point preventing "analysis paralysis". Nevertheless, I now tremendously appreciate frameworks and models.

In other MBA news, the Israel trip is shaping up gradually. An elective survey was sent out recently and that got me seriously thinking about electives. The problem is that all of them seem interesting but a choice has to be made at some time. The good news is that I still have some time left to make these choices.