Today my class started at 10.15am so I thought I had enough time to get to school. However on my way out, I found a silly car parked in front of my gate. At first I thought the driver wasn’t in his car, but when I sounded the horn he jerked his head up and I realised he had been slouching in his seat. Still he took a looong time to move off. I was so mad. I called up one of my Social reps to let him know that I had a legit reason to be late (so I didn’t get a champagne fine!) and dashed off the moment my path was unblocked.
As a result, I was several minutes late and quickly walked in to class, trying my best not to disturb anybody. Our marketing professor didn’t look too pleased and I thought I had better explain my tardiness to him after class. It didn’t seem to make a good impression. Maybe I was being too sensitive but initially when I raised my hand to speak a couple of times, he would call someone else near me instead, and not get back to me. Anyway the questioning became more complex and there was silence… and I did have some specific insight to share on the music software case we were working on, that would add value to the marketing proposal. It seemed to make an impact as later on he referred back positively to my point.
After class, I quickly went to the professor and apologised for my late arrival, explaining what happened. He was amused and acknowledged the irony that those driving in Singapore sometimes have more difficulties than those who don’t! He extended his hand, and we shook on it. I told him I enjoy his classes (which was true, and what other people have been saying as well).
As we barely finished speaking, one of the visitors (prospective students who get to attend a sample class at INSEAD) asked me for advice about INSEAD. I spent my break time telling him about the pros and cons. I didn’t realise that beside him was a lady who I thought was a P5 senior, but turns out she was from INSEAD’s Marketing department. She thanked me for being able to advice this prospective student at such short notice. I didn’t mind at all.
I quite like marketing, naturally, because it’s the closest subject to what I was doing in my previous life. But after reading the course materials, I realise what I’ve done has been relatively tactical compared to what I’m learning now.
The visitor asked me if an INSEAD MBA was worth it. I told him that how ‘value-added’ an MBA is, depends on what you make of it, and where you’re starting from. For me, even though the quant can kill, I wouldn’t have learnt this at work on my own, so there is a lot of value-added for me. The question specifically for those interested in INSEAD, would be whether they want a truly international experience, and whether they can handle a really compressed MBA and all its sacrifices. Another question of course is the cost, and whether you feel INSEAD is worth it.
It is so interesting how, just months ago I’d look up to INSEAD alumni for advice, and now I am giving advice to juniors and visitors. They say time flies, but at INSEAD, it’s at Concord pace. If I had more time I’d have chatted more to that Marketing gal as well. I told her I had an INSEAD blog but never got to give her this URL, though I know other INSEAD staff are aware of this. We could do more with social media - but now I might hold myself back while I recalibrate my instincts with some more strategic training.
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