Post-PGPX part-II

My friend (See Ganesh N’s comments for the previous post) was wondering why I did not have a strong viewpoint in my earlier post. I take it that he is referring to the need of a stronger comment/feedback about PGPX or the Executive MBA program itself. (Even though later he clarified that he did not mean this interpretation, I go ahead with this post. As usual while I write this post too, I picture my audience tied to a post and me pushing down my views and perspectives down their throat).

DISCLAIMER: I firmly believe in the philosophy that our experiences and needs are so different that our answers and choices are also different. Something that fits my needs need not and will not fit someone else. So the below information is just for your consumption. More importantly – for my needs, these were the right answer; For you something else (including what you are currently doing) could be the right thing.

Let me take this in a Q&A style:

Why (Executive) MBA?

I can only answer for the MBA that people pursue after getting ample experience, after people have settled into a career – Not the one that freshers pursue after graduation.

a) ‘Quarter-Life crisis’ (mind it – not ‘mid-life’ 🙂 ) – Professional life is turning out to be mundane; You no longer have the anxiety/curiosity while you start the day and you no longer have the fulfillment when you end the day. You seem to have achieved a plateau in professional life. You know very well that in spite of the effort that you put in, even though you might get some promotion interspersed here and there in the future, the job description is going to be almost the same…

b) You are not really aware about what is happening ‘outside the well’. I used to feel that I was becoming a frog in the well, digging deeper and deeper into the well and not aware as to what is happening in the outside world.

c) You are not really sure to what extent this MBA thing is going to catch on – are all managers going to need some or the other MBA in the future? If so, then will I be able to do an MBA when I am 50+?

d) You are convinced that your career is worth investing some money into.

Why full time MBA and why not part time MBA?

a) Personal Discipline – If you are sure that you will be able to give enough importance for your study constantly and not just during the exam times alone then go ahead with a part-time MBA. I did not want to end up slogging during the exam times with no effort from my side during the study times (At least in this course).

b) If you are planning to continue with the same company or the same role in the same industry then part-time MBA can be the choice. I wanted a change out of the ‘IT Delivery’ role that was performing (When I chose MBA, I did not know exactly where I wanted to end, but knew that I needed a change)

Is it worth the Effort and Time Investment – What is the ROI?

It depends on what according to you is a ‘return’. It could be financial or it could be knowledge gained (I am serious) and there is nothing wrong if a person is looking for financial returns alone.

Financial Return: I can vouch for PGPX that it did provide (both) the returns. When I stepped into PGPX (the final decision was made in and around Sep 2008), I had told myself that even if I do not get any financial return in the short term, I will be happy as long as I am able to pay the EMI for the loan that I was taking. To that extent, I needed a change!!

During placement season, I realized that whether I chose to stay back in IT-Delivery or I chose a different role, the financial returns where good. To what extent is it good – each person has a different yardstick here. I would say that over a 5 year period there will be a comfortable return enough (more than comfortable I would say) to pay for the course and make up for the opportunity cost. And the salary was definitely better than for a person with the same experience but without the MBA.

Return on the effort: Enough opportunity is available to learn from the classroom, develop your network, contemplate about your experiences and fit it into the teachings… It all depends on how you utilize the opportunity available.

OK all that is fine. How different is your life now that you have gone through the grind?

This is a complex one… I hope that my answer is comprehensible and sounds simple and not philosophical.

First the philosophical answer – It is all within you; The course only helps to bring it out. For instance lets take a concept – ‘value based marketing’. All that the course provides is a nomenclature for something that you already believed in, something that you had already practiced – at least in a smaller level; This course provides an opportunity for you to hear the views of others and contemplate about ‘value based marketing’. In the real world the marketing opportunity will not knock at your door along with a name!!! The concept has to be imbibed within you and has to be part of you at a sub-conscious level so that you know when to use ‘value based marketing’. Would you still remember ‘value based monitoring’ when you hear that your competition is planning to cut the price and start a price-war?

So to summarize – whatever I learnt and still remember from the course are things that I already knew. PGPX did introduce me new concepts and made me understand how various other aspects of managing a business gets done (and I hope with experience, I slowly imbibe these new concepts into my thought process). But the biggest value add for me has been the opportunity that I got to fine tune the beliefs, experiences and knowledge that I had accumulated in the past 11+ years.

And second thing that this course provided was the confidence to take on new roles and the confidence to fit myself into a new context.

Coming back to the philosophical perspective – the journey is the same, but the experience is a bit different. This is not a completely different experience. A bit different, that is all.

Would you make the same decision if you have it make it again? Especially if you have read some blog with the information as above?

Definitely YES. Suggest you to read Disclaimer at the top again though.