Goodbye P4

I'm forced to say goodbye to P4, I wouldn't if it were only possible to hold on. I'm such a nostalgic. Singapore was good fun in P4...I can only guess the atmosphere was less stressed than back in Fonty where the hardcore job seekers went. For all future students...make sure to take advantage of both campuses, I can't imagine missing this opportunity.

For those curious about the job market, I can share the following observations:
- tons of opportunities in Dubai
- high growth asain markets are more difficult, mostly closed to outsiders
- forget about finance for the moment
- an MBA doesn't guarantee a dream job, it takes hard work...and don't blame career services

My career aspirations received serious reaffirmation in the closing weeks of P4. While I started wondering if my desired path would pan out days before...a series of events played out which confirmed I was heading in the right direction. I had been gladly ignoring every single element of recruiting (except for an amazing dinner by McK :) but some (masochistic) part of me wanted to share in on all of the practice case interviews, 1st round madness, and anxiety waiting for call backs. I know it sounds stupid, I feel stupid even writing it out. It's true though, it is so easy to get caught up in the heard mentality...

Anyway, I'm more sure than ever that doing something entrepreneurial is the only path to happiness for me. While I'm sure happiness is the first priority of most...I wonder how this reconciles with begging for a job to sit over powerpoint and be a slide production machine...I guess the money is good and maybe this is happiness for some. Luckily (because my risk aversion is probably a bit too high), I'm finally confident that I'm on to a great idea, let's see if potential funders come through in p5...initial signs are positive.

So I'm moments away from hopping on a plane and seeing my loving partner. I have to admit that INSEAD (and probably all MBAs) have a reputation for being tough on relationships. I now see why. It has not been easy these past months. Distance is a killer. Intense personal growth can make the distance seem farther yet. Things happen for a reason, true happiness cannot come without short term pain. I'm confident the future is brighter as a result.

INSEAD MBA is life altering

I wish I could slow down the clock... So vividly I remember the initial days back in Fonty, with such intense happiness I reflect upon the experiences I’ve had over the blur of the past 7 months. I know, at this moment, that I am an in complete denial over the fact that this ride will have to end. But end it will, and all too soon if the next 2.5 months go as fast as the last 2.5; unfortunately though, I fear they will only go faster.

I think each and every one of us will walk away from the INSEAD MBA somehow different than the day when we arrived. If someone doesn’t leave this place changed in a very positive way, they would only have themselves to blame. But for those with decent emotional intelligence and a willingness to drop defenses and open up to a new way of seeing life, amazing levels of personal growth is possible.

Here are three key reasons my life will never be the same:

Friends: Can’t life always be like this? Surrounded by hundreds of smart, fun, ambitious people, dozens of whom you can get connect with really really well? I’m pretty private, so for me these things always take longer…but I love the relationships that I’ve made at this school, the intensity of some of these bonds have surprised me. While it is foolish to think you will stay close to everyone, I do know that I have made some amazing lifelong friends and business partners. The diversity of these bonds (thanks INSEAD) makes them even more special.

Self-awareness: This experience has been a great way to learn about oneself, learn what is important in life, learn what it is worth going after, and learn what is not worth a second thought. I have definitely gained deeper insight into all of these; I’m surer than ever of things, and have a sense of confidence that will follow me where ever I end up.

New perspective of what’s possible: The MBA creates for me a new reality of what’s possible in life. This is from hearing, seeing, dreaming about the millions of opportunities out there from professors, alumni, speakers, students, etc. The number of doors that have opened is mind boggling. I am more ambitious, my options for the future are limited only by my own lack of creativity.

Finally...electives!

I am loving P3; it's a combination of being in Asia and finally being able to choose courses. Here is a quick breakdown:

VOBM (Venture opportunities & business models)
Professor Phil Anderson is really incredible. The guy is the most efficient person I have ever met...I think he may have an agenda for each class broken down to half-minute intervals; not even 1 second in his class is misused. What's more, the class is so interesting. Many name it their favorite class of the period. The class is kind of an intro to venture capitalism. Phil puts a lot of effort into these classes. He writes several "live cases" for each period where you read of a current dilemma faced by an entrepreneur and then the case "comes to life" as the entrepreneurs come to discuss the case in class. The guy even personally takes ~14 pg transcripts of everything that was said during the visiting lecturers and sends them out in “less than 24hrs”…amazing.

Strategies for Asia Pacific
Fantastic look at doing business in Asia. Professor Michael Witt seems to be quite an expert on the region and makes even history lectures entertaining with his un-PC version of events. The first set of lectures were backgrounds of the larger countries (Japan, Korea, China) and then we moved onto case studies looking at how to partner and what to look out for. The professor’s explicit objective is to make sure we don’t get completely taken advantage of on business deals in the region. Seems that screwing people in Asia is popular in more than one way.

Negotiations:
OK, this is a good course and could make it into a core course. I think maybe it was a bit over hyped (as seen in that it is the only course that cost most people some of their bid points...even though there are 4 full sections offered). Professor Horacio Falcao is certainly entertaining, but the best part of the course is the frequent role-playing negotiation exercises that we carry out. Debrief discussions in lecture tend to drag on a bit too long for my liking. I think the course only needs 12 lectures rather than 16 ala IPA.

The last 2 core courses are also very good. International Political Analysis is relevant to business people…even if some people grew tired of Kapstein’s Davos name dropping. I liked the guy and found the course great. Apparently some of French students were offended by some of his views on politics in their country. E.g. France turned over monetary policy to Germany because they “needed adult supervision”. Probably most realize that French policy kills businesses and growth in their country, but I guess they don’t like being told that by an American.

Macro is also very good. I’ve had the course in undergrad, but it is a nice refresher and Ilian Mihov is a great professor…keeps it at an “Econ for MBAs” level.

P4 electives are shaping up to be just as good. Here are a few of the courses I’m looking at: Realizing Entrepreneurial Potential (basically a step-by-step guide to acquire a company), Private Equity, New Business Ventures (taking a venture idea from the P3 VOBM or Ent. Field Studies course to the next level).

10 month MBA???

INSEAD's 10 month program is less than half as long as most other top MBA programs. Such a shame that the tuition fees aren't adjusted accordingly!

There are the obvious advantages:
- less time out of the workforce
- less redundancy for those of us with business backgrounds

The are serious disadvantages:
- Shallow courses: the myth goes that we learn everything the other schools teach in half the time....while we probably are assigned readings on everything the other programs teach, there is no way we come away with the same depth of knowledge as students who have twice as much time to absorb the material and work on applying it. The periods here are so intense that we are lucky to be able to do a fraction of the assigned readings, let alone really get a firm grasp on all of it.
- Shallow networks: while we all make great friendships with a handful of people, it seems like I'm just getting to know many others when campus swaps means I may never cross paths with them again.
- No time to spare career wise: you needed to be ready to tell IBs exactly why you wanted to be a banker from day one of the program. If you missed that opportunity, you had approximately 5 months to polish up your "I wanna be a consultant" speech and practice calculating how many ping pong balls fit into a 747. For me, I'm desperately trying to iron out a workable entrepreneurial idea, probably at risk of not being critical enough given the lack of time to develop plans B, C, & D.
- No time to explore interests: from clubs to careers to electives, if you want a chance to look around and feel out what is best for you....too late, you really needed to have that figured out a month ago.

Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year that is (a.k.a CNY). Students on the Singapore campus are celebrating with trips all over the region given that the campus was shut down for 2 days last week. It is a welcomed break, although strange considering INSEAD's statement on the class schedule:

"INSEAD is international and its MBA programme is extremely intensive. Classes are therefore arranged in the evenings or on Saturdays when necessary and may occasionally run on Sundays. Neither local nor international public or religious holidays are observed."

Somehow INSEAD is better able to keep the French from observing traditional days off than they are able to keep the Chinese from observing them in Singapore. I'm not complaining, I just found it interesting.

The Singapore campus has been a great change from the French campus. On the one hand, I'm enjoying the courses here so much more. True, this is mostly because I have been able to choose my own courses now that we are in P3. But, being in Asia puts the whole Asian spin on all of the topics which I really enjoy. After all, this is where the excitement is going to be in the next decade. Forget about the US & Europe....an international MBA really needs to get exposure in Asia.

Secondly, being in a major business city makes it possible to gain exposure to amazing external resources. In most of my courses this period, we have had top quality outsiders come in for various topics. Plus, the school is able to put students into touch with great business people to help with various projects. It is quite a bit harder and less convenient to organize these things when you are out in the forests of France. It is a shame that so many students still don't take advantage of this dual-campus opportunity!

2 campus & 2 intake dynamics

There have been at least 2 awkward introductions in the past week when I've met someone on the Singapore campus, I've asked them how they liked Singapore over the first 4 months of the program, and they explain that they actually spent those 4 months with me in Fonty. This is bizarre for the Singapore intake to see. They started with 100 in their class and they all know each other by this point. Fonty was different, the environment didn't facilitate interaction like it does in Singapore. For one thing, there are many more people to get to know (300 vs 100). In addition, students disperse themselves over the French countryside as opposed to concentrating themselves in 2 high rise apartment buildings as happens with Dover/Heritage. In fonty, you always saw the exact same crowd out at the social events (maybe 60% of the class). There was another 40% who rarely, if ever, went to the standard events. If you didn't share a section with these people, it was possible that you never properly met them.

There are 3 distinct groups on campus these days. The P4s who started in Fonty, the P4s who started in Singapore, and the P1s who just arrived here. The interaction between the 3 groups isn't as fluid as you might expect. P3's mingle and slowly break down the walls between the campus intakes, but their seems to be very little interaction between the P1s & P3s. It isn't suprising, P3's are still tired from meeting hundreds of new faces over the past months and the P1s have enough name learning to do of the people that are in their own boat. Judging from our first periods in France, the most successful ones to break the P1-P3 divide will be the P3 guys. They seemed to have some sort of power to win the attention of our intake's P1 girls. I guess girls are always impressed by the older, confident guys. Let's see if our P3 guys are able to find the same keys to success.

A new beginning

Stepping onto the campus in Singapore was a bit cathartic. P1 & P2 in Fonty were great, but I feel my MBA experience now has a chance to truly begin.

P3 is the opportunity to break free from the shackles....of core courses, of pre-defined projects, of a herd like mentality. Up until now, it was all too easy to be swept away in a current of convention. While the current is still strong, I am serenely content with the idea of breaking free and swimming alone.

So, P2 was not a very successful blogging period for me. It started off hot, I found a lot of success with my Sex & the MBA entry! On the other hand, someone or two took strange pleasure in making my anonymous blog a little bit less so. Maybe having my identity known made blogging subconsciously a little less fun...or maybe the mountain of coursework and group work made blogging seem less of a priority. Either way, in P3 I will pick it back up and share my perspective on this whole strange experiment called the INSEAD MBA.

Week 1 in Singapore was really great! It is not easy getting back into the casework mode after spending a non-stop 2.5 weeks with the person I love most in life on an amazing holiday. Plus, the feeling of being at a resort seems inconsistent with work for me. Being able to swim and play tennis in the sun each day just outside my front door is associated with vacation, not school. I've just drawn up a schedule of all key deliverable dates to force myself to stay on top of the workload.

The most work in week 1 seemed related to weekend trips. Just 1 week in and loads of people have all weekends through the end of P2 booked...Thailand, Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, KL, HK, blah, blah, blah. I'm a bit slower to figure out exactly where I want to go and more importantly who I do and don't want to go with. Some location decisions area easy...I've never been a beach person, I enjoy the culture of the big cities or countryside much more. Plus, I hate group tours, that'll cross of lots of trips where half of the airplane is made up of INSEAD students. I've spent enough time on superficial relationships in the last 4 months, I look forward to building better and long lasting bonds in the next 4.

Blue Ocean Strategy

We had a very good class today in Strategy. It's sad to say, but it may be the only class I've really enjoyed this year at INSEAD. The core courses that we are required to take in P1 & P2 are so essential to anyone who will carry the MBA title but so mundane for anyone with a business background. On the other hand, I am so pumped for the electives I'll take in the last 3/5ths of the year & I'm sure they will more than make up for the lack of excitement felt until now.

To be fair, Strategy has been a winner all P2 long, but today I actually felt disappointment that the 90 min class had to come to an end. The professor, Peter Zemsky, is a really favorite among the class. He fits my stereotypical image of strategy professor. Very quirky, bouncing off the walls with energy, he is very much like a professor version of Jim Carrey.

The topic of the day was Blue Ocean Strategy, a concept made famous by 2 INSEAD professors. According to Zemsky, it is one of the biggest developments in the Strategy field in the last decade and definitely the most important idea to come out if INSEAD in that time. We started the class with a look at a very clear case of successful use of Blue Ocean Strategy; that is Nintendo with their development of the Wii. It looks like this, if Nintendo would have done the traditional move and developed a product based on graphics and power like Sony & Microsoft, all 3 firms would be fighting it out in the same ocean that would be turned red from the bloodbath. Instead, by leaving those two firms to fight it out for the traditional customer set, Nintendo developed a system that went after an uncontested market and thus was able to enjoy its own blue ocean.

We went on to a very fun discussion of the circus industry and how Cirque du Soleil's model is another successful example of Blue Ocean Strategy. By developing this concept which is something of a cross between a traditional circus and a Broadway show, founder Guy Laliberte has created $1.5B of wealth for himself....not bad!!!

We have been learning some frameworks to assist with the thought process behind coming up with these types of strategies, such as the Non-Customer Opportunity and Value Curves. It is really cool seeing how such simple tools can add structure to strategic thought development. Who knows, maybe they will help me come up with the next Cirque du Soleil or Yellow Tail wine.

Private Equity, the incredible dream

PE is quite probably the most sexy career out there for us MBAs. It has such an alluring appeal that even those who have no clue what the hell it is claim that it is their #1 aspiration post INSEAD.

I am too drawn in by PE. In what other career can you incorporate so many interesting facets of business? It can potentially cover everything from technical analysis, strategic planning, organizational engineering, and operations to networking, deal sourcing/structuring, and negotiations. It really appeals to me given that I know that I have all the relevant analytic skills and have convinced at least myself that I have all the business sense required to build businesses and create value.

The bad news is that it is almost impossible getting a job in PE. There are no formal recruiting processes on campus. Most positions are filled informally or through headhunters. We had one of the top PE headhunters from the UK in to present last week. He painted a grim picture... First, given the current financial conditions, growth in the sector is questionable at best. Second, unless you have an IB background or at least top tier consulting with serious focus on transactions, then you can forget PE or at least go get the relevant feeder experience and then you can dream.

Recruiters from industries that leach off of PE have found a unique sales pitch...join us as a gateway into PE. Bain & Co.'s head of European PE practice was in today to introduce his practice, a subset of their traditional mgmt consulting group which slaves away on due diligence work for, fair enough, a lot of the big deals taking place in Europe.

So, what to do? I would love to do private equity type work, maybe even on a very small scale with a couple of colleagues. Just have to figure out how to scape together the capital. I'm really excited for the Realizing Entrepreneurial Potential (REP) course in P4 that essentially prepares you to do all of this (sourcing/financing/biz planning) and then the follow-up in P5, First 100 Days, which actually replicates the intensity of the days following a takeover in a close to reality type format.

Conniving INSEAD bloggers

This is a bit bizarre to have to say, but if anyone has received an email supposedly from the author of this blog....let me set the record straight...it wasn’t me.

Guess someone dreamt up this misconceived tactic to shut me up or punish me for the last post…

Sex & the MBA

In the interest of preparing for my marketing and strategy classes which begin on Monday, I've decided to implement the oldest marketing trick in the book. Let's see if sex sells in the blogoshpere as well it does elsewhere...thank god I still have my anonymity :)

The underdog
How is a guy supposed to get laid in the MBA? It feel likes mission impossible, given the gender mix at INSEAD, there about 3 guys chasing each girl. On top of this, you have "the heros" who go out and get more than their fair share leaving the average guy fighting it out for the scaps.

The overpriced asset
I already miss Econ god, Nikos Vettas. How would he diagnose this predicament. Well given my top marks on his quizzes, I will speak on his behalf. The INSEAD market for tail is behaving like a closed economy. In a free market, there exists a market clearing price of X representing the value a guy must bring to the table in order to walk away successful. This could be looks, personality, power, yes....money, etc. However in INSEAD's closed economy, where supply is restricted by about 66%....there is a shift in the supply curve which forces prices WELL above the efficient market price. Right, but what does that mean for everyone who hasn't had Prices & Markets....well it means that MBA chicks can expect more than they would in the open markets of say NY or London.

The bright side
(1)top quality girls: The girls at INSEAD are amazing. Most are super bright and ambitious, 5% are super beautiful, an additional 20-40% could be considered pretty by various standards, the rest are...well, smart at least:)

(2)relatively weak competition: if you're a guy of average looks on the outside...you are probably above average at INSEAD....

(3)adjusted gender split: after adjusting for seriously committed people (a category to which I belong), I think the odds become relatively better for single guys. There seems to be a much higher percentage of committed guys in the program than there are committed girls.

(4)alcohol...ok, we all know that relationships start or progress thanks to alcohol. At INSEAD and I guess all MBAs, rarely is there a night here where you can't find some sort of social event. And never is there a social event without plenty of wine or other booze. Of course this can be a good or bad thing...I've seen some super sloppy hook ups on dance floors and outside of parties this year that shouldn't have seen like a good idea under any condition.

(5)biological clocks...the single girls are LOOKING FOR A PARTNER, some have this as an explicit objective for the year...wonder if that made it into any of their application essays

The heros
There are some guys here who know how to clean up in the given marketplace. They are able to win more than their fare share and are nimble enough to elude any relationship trap that gets laid out for them. One strategy I've seen very successfully played is "the bad boy". I'm amazed how many girls this guy has drooling over him, some of them are pretty top notch. It's not that he is a great looking guy but I guess he does have a blue ocean strategy in that not too many others are playing the bad boy persona.

The fling
They happen A LOT! They happen more than any of us really know, because in general, they are pretty discrete. What I do know, however, is that of my single roomates who have had some sort of fling, I doubt many other people in the class know.

The relationship
Often elusive for those looking for it. I think as we get closer to P5, the flings will die out and be gradually replaced by these relationships. There are, however, serious couples that have developed already. One couple I know started up by the end of the first week of class and are already moving in together starting P3. I spoke to a couple on campus for a 10yr reunion...apparently there were 10 couples married from their class. I think the same will happen in our class and all others. As I mentioned before...this is an explicit goal of probably most of our single classmates.

Virtual sex
Some of those with long distance partners need to find ways to be creative. I've heard the words porno-skype used.

MBA (Married But Available?)
Yes, a lot of relationships fail in the MBA. There is A LOT that one side of the relationship is going through and it is not easy to relate this to the partner. There is the jealousy from the partner who is maybe working in a distant place and possibly feeling marginalized by the intense work and social schedule of the participant. However, for me and others who are very certain about their relationship, I think the risks are overblown. There are many "committed" people who have come into the program and were clearly looking for better. I have definitely seen it...from those dating and those married. There is more than one example of students with partners far away where the phrase "out of sight, out of mind" seems applicable.

One incredible story that I've heard about was the partner of an INSEAD student. Apparently she accompanied the student to campus and had the reputation for having A LOT of fun outside of her relationship...with other students & partners... Sounds over the top, but with so many people mentioning it, could it be true??

Blogger sex
Two of my fellow July 08 bloggers seem to be spending A LOT of time together...and have been from week 1. Seems that they hit it off so well in blogland before meeting in person...could blogging be the next big way to find dates??? Hmmm...could be the first INSEAD blogger couple ever!

Who cares about MBA exams

My first ever MBA final will held tomorrow morning followed shortly thereafter by a second in the afternoon. Tuesday looks the same and then by noon on Wednesday, we will be celebrating the end of P1 (or wondering where the hell it went).

But why, I wonder, is there so much anxiety about these final exams.

Did I pay 50,000EUR to stress out once every 2 months and try to cram cram cram....NO. Sure I want to learn, but anything I wasn't capable of absorbing in the past 2 months probably won't stick if I try to jam in in my head with 500 other concepts in a 72 cram session.

Is there a chance that any of us will walk away without a diploma...Ha! are you kidding. I stopped worrying about that after I passed my 3rd language requirment with a score of 50/100 where pass requirement was...well 50/100.

Don't I want to work my ass of to make dean's list...not a chance, and the day someone comes to my office looking for a job and claims that being on the dean's list makes them a good candidate....see ya...it's laughable that the likes of McK & some big banks can drive students to strive for the DL. Smart of them, now it they want to know who will be willing to sacrifice all aspects of their personal life for an overrated job, they have a good proxy.

Why are all these consultants, who already have guaranteed jobs to go back to, interupting class to ask if X & Y will be tested on the exam, or if the professor can provide 20 more practice tests for them to do!?!?!? Is it just some irrational competitive drive. For me, it shows a lack of touch with reality. Even the professors repeatedly tell these people that the tests are not what's important, most think there shouldn't even be final exams in a masters program.

Results on the finals will be correlated to absolutely nothing that's important in life, so let's stop stressing people.

Singapore Campus

Dean Fatas met will all P1s this week to discuss 2 things, the grading system at INSEAD (z-curve) and logistics behind this years campus exchange.

I have planned all along to spend at least 1 period in Singapore this year. What the dean had to say threw a small wrench in that for me and most of my fellow students. The problem is that it is becoming VERY popular for July intakes to spend the Jan-Feb term in the beautiful climate of Singapore in lieu of the the cold dreary forest of Fontainebleau. Last year, the school accomodated every student who wanted to do this, meaning a very full Asian campus. While the school apparently has the capacity to handle this (professors are flown out to handle the demand), the Singapore short term Real Estate market could not. As a result, apparently the biggest complaint the dean recieved from the graduating class was that the Singapore process needed to be fixed.

The result:
This year there will be a cap of 230 people from my class allowed in Sinagpore at any time. First priorty will be those in Singapore already, second priority will be to those students committing to spend more than 1 period there. The remaining spots will be given away lottery style to all of us preferring to spend only P3 in Asia. Given that there are about 140 ppl there already, the Fonty intake has at least 90 slots available for P3. Unfortunatly, this will definilty fall short of demand. So....the tradional P3 holiday on the beaches of Asia is no longer a sure thing.

I am actually becoming more and more tempted spend 2 terms there. Working among the booming markets of Asia is looking very interesting compared to the stalling US market and the long time crippled European market. The key message from the INSEAD Asia campus career service this week: if you want to work in Asia, you better spend as much time on the Singapore campus as possible.

We have to make up our mind soon... we enter our preferences next week with the results soon to follow.

What have I learned?

When I started thinking about doing an MBA, a colleague with his MBA from Thunderbird told me that it would be a fun experience but I would learn nothing. Based on P1 classes, he is right...to an extent. From an analytical prospective, I have already had Stats, Accounting, Economics, & Finance courses much more comprehensive than what we are exposed to in the short 8 week modules at INSEAD. So I get to relax (relatively speaking) while those with "non-traditional" backgrounds like one of my roommates go into hysterics every now and then trying not to drown as we move at light speed from NPV formulas to DCF calculations to deriving the CAPM theory.

So why am I here? While I certainly do have plenty to learn from the courses themselves (looking to P3 when I can chose what I want to take) I have so many soft skills to be developing now and the MBA experience makes the perfect environment for this. First, our group of 5 setting is giving me A LOT of experience in trying to influence others and is now testing my ability to control my emotions (patience) on a daily basis. It's amazing how similar my brain works to that of the one consultant on the team....but the logic process used by some of the others can really boggle my mind. I started to lose my cool in a couple situations today...must get better at being 100% in control...we've now learned in LPG that good leaders have a high EQ which starts with knowing oneself and being able to completely control your emotions.

Also, I've been really working on improving my ability to plan. I am clearly a "P" for Perceiver on the Briggs Myers test. It is frustrating how difficult I find it to sit and structure out plans. In the last month, I have been able to take some steps towards building the planning skill. I have been able to plan and execute a couple large scale house dinners and also a few other social events. Going forward, I hope to use one of the INSEAD groups (such as the PE club) as a platform to plan something a bit larger.

One thing I must really push myself to improve on is networking. I made it out to the first career fair and chatted up a few of the HR reps. This of course was low value networking...these people grip and grin for a living and probably forget who you are seconds after you have thanked them for telling you about the great culture at company Z. I think the high value networking will come from the less frequented routes. E.g. professors, alumni, exec. program students, etc. I will make a first effort this weekend while attending the alumni reunion on campus. All students were invited to participate in a portion of the event, I'm guessing there won't be many of us actually there. As a side note, I've optimistically ordered myself 100 "business cards" through the bookstore, let's see how many of them I can get through by year end...I'll be very happy if it turns out I need to reorder!

Where did yesterday go?

Today the only class we had was the leadership course....but it was a 4.5hr megasession. Many hate this class and write the professor off as a bit of a lightweight. I like the course, and for the professor, well he does a good enough job. He isn't there to teach us leadership per se....but rather there to facilitate discussion and let us decide for ourselves how we will shape ourselves as leaders.

Topic of the day was feedback. In the end, we spend 1.5hrs with our 5 ppl groups giving each member 2 positive and 2 negative feedback points. For most groups, this was very valuable. It is true, this may be the toughest assignment we have this period. Many are not used to or comfortable giving or receiving negative comments. Some people were surprised to hear others perceptions of themselves, I wasn't really. Some of the points for me... I take the lead and encourage all members of the team to contribute, I could do a better job of teaching the topics I'm strong in to the other members, I should be careful to not brush off others opinions when I already have my mind made up.

One thing I didn't hear but I know to be true is that I'm struggling with time management. There is soooo much going on and the days are rolling off before I even realize they began. Wow, tomorrow is Friday already....professors are talking about final papers and exams.....there are 3 company presentations every day from last month until I don't know when....there are parties and other socializing opportunities every evening...there are classes, cases, and group work....I have a partner who deserves so much attention but I can barely keep my head straight. Taking a step back....10% of the program is over; am I closer to realizing the goals I had before coming here? Am I just getting swept away in the current and not taking time to regroup and reprioritize?

This is a really trying time...I need to take a moment to breathe and reset my sights on what is important to me.

INSEAD Transportation

Having a car in Fonty is practically a must. Some try to get by without which requires not only living in Fonty proper but also constantly relying on friends for lifts to house dinners/parties or missing out on the fun.

Most students take up a lease for the year of a Citroen or Peugeut (see pic for the standard issue silver C3). This runs about 4k EUR for the year but takes care of all insurance and registration issues that I for one wanted to avoid. You can also buy a wreck from a graduating student for the 1-3k EUR range, but then you should be a risk taker because these things are really on their last legs. Plus you must consider the addt'l costs of insurance and registration.

One other strategy I've seen is buying a nice used car w/ the intention of selling it at the end of the year for a write down of less than a leased car would cost. Not such a bad idea if you have the extra 15k EUR laying around for the 5 yr old Mercedes CLK convertable. Looks a lot more fun to drive than these Citroens.

Insurance is a must out here! I think the number of accidents in the forest each year w/ wild boars and the occasional stop sign impact a huge percentage of the class, I know one of our classmates is already driving arround in a Peugeot mini-van while his crashed car is in the shop.

P1 Profs

I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews of the professors so far this period. We have 5 of them. They are teaching the P1 core courses which are valuable but by their nature are definitely not the most exciting topics to teach or to learn. The professors are as diverse as the students and you can see that in their teaching styles. Here are some of my initial impressions:

Uncertainty, Data & Judgment (aka Stats), Professor Miguel Lobo : Miguel does a good job of keeping the energy level up in class for such a dry topic. He is teaching a discipline that is not as practical in the business world as, say finance or accounting, but does a nice job at narrowing the scope to what is relevant for a business manager to know. Class is purely lecture format.

Financial Markets and Valuation, Professor Harald “ja” Hau: Harald started off a bit rocky on student sentiment. Pure lecture format. Explanations in the first couple of classes were too reliant on mathematical formulas and would lose most of the class. He tries to insert his German humour into the lectures which is actually funny, just not in a traditional way.

Prices & Markets (aka Econ), Professor Nikos Veltas: Definitely the most humorous prof. Nikos is Greek and is just as likely to start class 5 min. late as on time. He keeps the lectures light with his humour but shows genuine interest that the students are getting value out of the class. There are several practical examples used in class to keep the theory tied to reality.

Financial Accounting, David Young: American. Runs the class like a boot camp. The second day, at least 10 students turned away from class with the phrase “you’re late”. David starts class the second the clock hits the hour and refuses to admit anyone after this point. He also does extreme cold calling where you can expect a string of 5-10 questions before you are granted a reprieve. It is effective though, great on-time attendance now and lots of students prepare for this class before any others.

Leading People & Groups: William Maddux. Another American. This class is the only non analytical class of the period. Professor Maddux seems to be more of a facilitator than a teacher. This is probably a good thing as, in this subject, there is often not a right answer to questions, and the class has more practical experience in the topics than does the professor. Some of those from technical backgrounds are struggling to figure out what to do in this “soft” skill type of course and feel like it is a waist of time. For me, I think it is one of the classes I can learn the most from this period. There is a lot of role playing and other non-traditional teaching methods which keep the 3 hour weekly sessions interesting.

Life in a Chateau

Despite my initial frustration, I managed to find a great place to live this year in a large shared place outside of Fonty. Maybe I was just lucky, but in the end, I can honestly and completely objectively say that I live in the best large house this year...

It seems that there is a theme among this years bloggers; many of us live in one of the large (8+ ppl) shared houses scattered throughout the French countryside. I'm in one, I’m pretty sure that D.T.L.F. lives in Monty, Res I(p)sa is in the newly christened "Club 16". Living in these large shared places adds a lot to the INSEAD student experience. For example, at most of the houses, there are regular dinners where all houseguests invite 1+ other INSEAD participants over for dinner & drinks. We have done a few of these already; they are a weekly tradition at my house. Since my housemates are scattered throughout the 4 sections (our Fonty intake is divided by 4 and we remain with the same group of 70 for the first 4 months of classes), these dinners are a great way for us to meet new people from the other sections.

The large houses provide a non-stop social element that is an important part of my MBA experience. If I ever need a break from the studies, there is guaranteed to be one of my roommates up for a drink. Every night, there is at least one of us out at a party or some sort of late night event. There are lots of house activities going on throughout the week; movie nights, “family dinners”, sporting, etc. The best part is, each roommate is completely different from the next, together we represent N. America, Europe, & Asia with equally diverse professional backgrounds. Of course not all of the large houses are as cohesive as this one, but I would probably take a spot at any of them rather than to live alone.

Welcome Week

Wow, what a week. It is Saturday evening and the general consensus among me and my fellow students is relief that tonight we can sleep for as long as we want. But definitly not until after tonights week closing party in a nearby chateau sponsored by Bain! Here's a recap of my week.


1 house dinner
1 house party
1 group project (we took ~3 hrs to prepare, range from what I've heard is 2hr - 9hr...)
1 class presentation given
1 full day of outward bound (my group is so laid back, similar expectations, a bit supprised by lack of difficulties interpersonally but we'll have to see how we feel in a few months)
2 full days of lectures
1 language exam
2 student clubs booths visited
2 cases read
1 case not read
5hrs sleep per night avg
50-75 people met

I'm leaving out a lot, especailly the painful admin stuff. But it has been a great week. Tiring mentally, physically, and emotionally. You can see lots of people who are putting on acts, trying to invent their new image that starts at INSEAD. But lots and lots of genuine and very interesting people as well.

Well, I'm not proud, but that's all the time I could scrap together for my first weeks blog entry. But guess thats life now, time is my rarest comodity! I must do a better of time mgmt in the next few weeks.

Nervous anticipation

My INSEAD life begins in a matter of days; this morning I am starting to realize it. I have a bit of a knot in my stomach...not sure if it is more nerves or excitement. Nerves because I am going from a VERY relaxed summer break to a VERY hectic INSEAD schedule where even Saturdays and Sundays are fair game for scheduled classes. It feels like I'm waiting for the starters gun at a big race...I can't even enjoy these last moments of tranquility.

The nerves also come from the huge expectations I have for myself to come away from this experience with not only great memories and friends, but a career that I am for once fulfilled by. For me, at this moment, this means something very entrepreneurial. IDEAL SCENARIO: I meet the partner of my dreams (business partner that is) and launch some business or start a small turnaround operation. A less risky alternative would be to do a stint in Private Equity although I'm not sure how many openings for these jobs will be around next year (it is a very closed industry and no formal recruiting programs on campus, plus the industry has peaked and there's no telling what toll the credit crunch will play on upcoming deals). A more practical alternative would be to do a stint in a corporation in business development. So where do I dedicate my energy over the next year... how do I juggle my dream with what's practical so that I don't fall short on all options???

Also nervous because I move away from my true partner, the most important person in my life! Luckily she is incredibly supportive and we will no doubt make it through the MBA (a.k.a. divorce degree) as we have made it through similar challenges in the past. Finally, that 3rd language test lingers in my mind...test is one week from tomorrow, let's see how it goes!

But finally, I think it is more excitement than anything. I'm already hearing (and seeing on youtube) great stories from the Fundamentals program which I chose not to attend. Plus, many of my roommates have already moved in leaving me now very anxious to join the fun. The packing is almost complete, France here I come!