Reading and Contemplating

I haven’t been reading for a long time, mostly due to the excruciating nature of the application process. But lately I picked up a bunch of management and strategy books at work. The first one I read was the Strategy Game – a really fun experience to be a CEO of an acquired biomed company and turn it into a powerhouse within 5 years. The next one was Kawasaki’s “Rules for Revolutionaries” – another insightful book into the subtleties of strategy and the power of evangelism. [The phrase “Eat like a Bird, Poop like an elephant” really intrigued me.]
Currently, I am reading Collins’ “Built to Last” – a compilation of research work by two Stanford’s professors of the visionary companies of all times. [Saw that it was in Jeff Bezos’s all time Best List.] I also bought Geoffrey Moore’s “Crossing the Chasm” and Tsun Zhu’s “Art of War” from Barnes and Nobles. So, I am into that “reading frenzy” mode eating like a bird and imbibing as much information as I can. I know I have a few months in hand before I go to school and this is the opportunity to do some leisurely reading.

As you read these inspirational stories about the visionaries, you tend to think whether we would ever get the opportunity to create such an impact in this world. By “we” I mean the business school crowd – will we forever be imprisoned by the theoretical concepts of management and will we ever learn to think outside the box?

OK!! Lot of heavy stuff – now let’s talk about the lighter side. Most of the Michigan students and alumni have been really helpful in sharing their experiences with me – the more I mix with the crowd the more I feel how well I fight into this school. It is all about people, passion and perseverance – my magical 3P theory. I am really looking forward to go to the Go Blue Rendezvous Weekend in April and meet some of my fellow prospective classmates.

Here, Joey is on a roll – got admitted to Kellogg and got the interview invite from HBS – Way to go buddy, you make the MBA blogger community proud. [After all we are not a bunch of morons.] Same goes to Harry Potter who got the invite from MIT and Naveen for getting into USC. And Yogi, we need some more support from the blogger community before we could think about such an event. But I am all for it.

And lastly, to all the enthusiasts who are waiting for my MBA advisory series – it is on its way. I have started compiling some of the stuff in a consolidated document and once I have all my thoughts in place I would blog it. Maybe it would be my parting gift to the blogger community.

Love you all…