Economy of Social - Social Media Tips, Marketing and Business

"An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all." ~ Oscar Wilde. Before I begin talking about an idea, which I'd like to call the Chetan Bhagat Syndrome, I'd like you all to know that I love Chetan Bhagat and this is not meant to demean him or his work but to highlight an idea, an idea I think is seriously hindering the progress of economies world wide. The Chetan Bhagat Syndrome Anyone who has read Chetan Bhagat from his first book "five point someone" would find Chetan Bhagat's work now increasingly predictable, bordering on boring slowly distancing itself from creativity. His first book was good, but then Mr. Chetan Bhagat decided to get full time into the work of writing and that's when the problem started. To sustain himself he needs to write, something which he thinks he maybe good at, but the problem is that he is a product of an educational system that kills creativity. Here is how. It is a well establish...

Our education system breeds competition through things like relative grading, percentages, rewarding the best, and giving the toppers a chance to get into better institutions. If we look into this system from a Darwinian lens , the individuals best suited to their environments will survive and prosper. The only problem is that this system has a focus on survival rather than knowledge and development. If we study the human history it has evolved from sharing of expertise, knowledge and resources. This evolution wouldn't have happened if the doors of sharing were closed. Our system is competitive. It does not breed an educated individual, rather it breeds dogs and a dog never shares his bone. This system thus can never create true value. In the past century those that have created value are the ones who got a chance to be out of the system or in a system which fostered sharing and a degree of openness. Consider Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Dhirubhai Ambani etc. Present ...

A wise man has said, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Successful people are those who make the most of opportunities. But what is preparation? How do you know what kind of preparation is suitable for the opportunity that might come your way? The head of Harley Davidson India, Anoop Prakash gives us a good example of holistic preparation. In the last post on moving beyond education , I talked about experimenting with experiences. Anoop did the same. Annop's parents emigrated to the US in 1968. He completed his under-graduate studies from Stanford University. Then he joined the US marines and became an officer. In the marines he was one deployed to Kosovo (South eastern Europe) at a day's notice. Later on he went on to do an MBA from Harvard and later  joined McKinsey & Co. as a consultant. He then worked with George Bush administration at a time when the government was trying to recover from the housing crash. In 2009 a classmate from Harvard to...

The problem with an MBA degree/diploma today is serious and grave. Most B-schools have become a training camp that treats students like a military unit. It is giving them very little time to think and learn. The only output of an MBA program is a degree for the student. Moreover career choices after the completion of the course depends on the luck of a student to make it to a good organization. The students willing to learn are restricted by culture of the institute, a regimental schedule and a loan. I highly doubt this tradition. To top this is the new breed of B-schools treating education like a business. Will such a culture help in making leaders and effective managers ? Have they learned to think differently ?

Can a university degree guarantee financial security? A re-look at the correlation between financial security and education. A recent popular article at The Economist prompted me to write this entry. The article bluntly says "A university degree no longer guarantees financial security". It gives the following two arguments: 1. Improvements in technology and the evolution of computers have reduced the demand in mid-level jobs 2. Jobs in medicine, law, academia that earlier guaranteed a secure future no longer continue to do so. Their point of view is correct to a certain extent. My opinion of the current educated class is no different from the popular view - "They are following a herd". And this herd is slowly being destroyed through a simple demand-supply mismatch. When the herd gets more than what is required many have to be culled or left behind. Recession and the dip following it have fomented this reduction of requirement. With growth in number of univ...

We hardly think of quality these days. This fact is reiterated by the increasing of seats in educational institutes to accommodate the growing population. Quantity gives many hopes a chance to realize and quality (or the lack of it) extinguishes them. When we talk about admission and toughness, the competitive level is still increasing as the seats in colleges are not increasing in proportion with the number of aspirants. Well, quality still suffers. Seeds will help understand this concept better. In this article Amritanada Ma, she talks about the essence of utilizing the seed.She says, The seed contains the tree within it, but if it is content to lie in a storeroom somewhere, rats may eat it. Only by going under the soil will its true form emerge. It is to become the King of kings later on that the disciple takes on the role of a servant now. That explains the point of good soil and storeroom. We not only need more, we need better soil. The success of the seeds hoping to serve and be...