One down, Three to go

Someone once told that instead of going by hearsay, we must experience life to its fullest. That there is a certain joy in knowing things first hand than trying to put on our thinking caps to paint a picture of the narration. Sure, we probably will not get to do everything that we come by, but there are these innate desires that you simply want to achieve no matter what. You hear stories, life experiences saying that most of it is over rated and that a normal life is all we crave for, but there is something that pushes you to say 'I have to do this myself'. Let's say one of your friends drives a Ferrari some time or you see Jeremy Clarkson singing it's songs of praise; there is always proof in the pudding, isn't there? Wouldn't you want to get your hands on that Ferrari some time despite knowing you can't use it in the city, probably not afford the insurance or rob a bank to get a new set of tires, but defying all logic, you want one.

While great minds will term the previous paragraph as one that is materialistic in nature, I'm sorry, many of you reading this will agree with me, so go easy philosophers out there. Now, for a while, I was with two big names in the IT space and life was chugging along quite smoothly. Blessed is he who has found work is something I read and I think its absolutely true. Work sets you free and helps focus on the task at hand. So why quit?

There seemed little to no reason to take any sort of risk and stop doing it. It gave me ample time to pursue music, buy things I really did not need, eat out more often than required, travel in more comfort than necessary, but and it is a big but; there was always the itch to do something beyond all of this.

When I started looking out for advice, everyone seemed to point to the fact that a Masters program is over rated and that there is not much value added especially since I have been working for a while and plenty of other jargon. Of course, since I am new to all of this, I listened patiently to everyone, but when it was time to take the call, there was not much to hold me back. It was an intangible feeling, one that could be quantified - 'On a scale of 1-10, how badly do you want your MBA?' Errr, 'I don't know; 11 maybe?!' Despite some well wishers telling me that it was more hype than reality, I recalled that there is nothing that explains this than giving it a shot myself. Putting quite a lot of things on the line; both professional and personal, I entered into a course, which was supposed to make me a better manager. Someone who can tackle situations and get things done. Yes, that is what managers do; they get things done. Simple as that.

The first three months that completed my first semester, time did not given me; well, time. Days flew past without even me knowing that I have not stuck to my routine. Similar to goals such as jogging regularly, maintaining a journal etc., there were disciplinary goals. Putting a time table on everything might not seem like the right school of thought, but some times, you just have to do it. It is probably better that way. So what was it that prevented me from me being irregular at all this? Let me try and explain.

A course in business admnistration teaches you some fundamentals. First is that everything is, and, can or should be quantified. Little scope is given for grey area discussions. Second, everything comes with an expiration date. Third, whatever you learn in class is of little use in the real world. Its very easy to sit in board rooms and discuss strategies that go way over other people's heads, but the truth is that in the end, it's just talk. Reality is too much to be represented in presentations, no matter how good you think you are. In fact, what it teaches you and this is very important is that; your efforts are always rewarded. The more proactive you are about something, the better. Else, it's just another subscription that goes down the drain in Coursera. For a large part of my career, I was shielded from such a profile mostly because I was housed in a comfrotable setting and the top brass was taking the heat.

It helps build people skills, get along with those whom you think you cannot relate to. It equips you with a skill set that is necessary to take on the outside world of reality where each has a potential problem no matter how good a product you have. A Rolex customer would still say its probably flawed. You get the drift. You live with the fact that the customer is the best critic and that their satisfaction index is your ultimate report card.

There does not seem to be much else that I have learnt in the past few months; leave alone the usual course structure, which should always be looked at from a macro perspective. How much has this aligned or will align with the things that I have been told will only be answered over time, but I am sure glad I took this up. It has allowed me to meet some amazing people, taught me to live by myself, given me a chance to travel and of course, helped me quantify when required. I guess some things are to be experienced rather than listen to stories.

Speaking of things to try, I did always want to become a musician and perform for a large audience. Let's see how that goes.