Srinivasan Raghavan has a post that captures some of his perspectives on Jack Welch’s book as well as a Q&A that Welch did at my alma mater. Apparently during the Q&A, Welch said:
"Business schools need to teach more organizational dynamics and human resources …"
I agree with placing additional value there. As I’ve mentioned before, things like negotiations courses and organizational design are way too underrated by students at business schools. To butress my point annecdotally, this Columbia MBA alum also weighs things like negotiations classes very high. Maybe we have skewed opinions having both done business development work, but I could still make a case for rating this type of "soft stuff" as important.
Also as captured by Srinivasan on the topic of career advice,
[Welch] also recommended taking risks. “Be adventuresome,” Welch said.
“You’ve got lots of years to be cautious.” Resiliency is a critical
attribute, he continued. “You’re going to get knocked off the horse at
least five times in the course of a career. Know you’re going to make
mistakes, be humbled by it, learn from it, and get back on the horse.
But don’t be frightened by it, don’t live in fear.”
Very coincidental that I ran into this passage. A prospective MBA student just posed a question to me today on my other blog as to whether I wish I could do something over in my career. In the comments section, I responded by closing with something to the effect of, "I wish I had taken more risks when I was younger."
Boy, you manage to come off as pretty arrogant and dull in your writings. So…adult! So uninspired. I hope I *never* grow up to speak this way, dropping brand names and titles and shortcuts everywhere that add little substance towards the message that you’re actually saying. “Buttress my point anecdotally” smacks of showing off. Okay yeah, so I’m dissing you for no apparent reason, and you’re a smart guy content with who he is. Dammit, be genuine and write about how real lives are affected. Make people feel like business and technology are powerful catalysts for creating access for people who need it. Access to knowledge, access to goods/services, and access to people. Some people like to throw around their titles, positions, connections, and glory just to establish that they’re legit. Some people write about themselves in third person. I call it unauthentic. :-/ I’m childish, I know. But you needed to hear this.
Well dissing me is your choice. I can’t say that I would say outright that if you knew me better, you would know that I’m by no means a person content with who he is. As for taking shortcuts, being arrogant and dull … well taking shortcuts is sometimes an aspect of blogging. Just not enough time sometimes. Arrogance and dull are a bit unintentional, but I’ll think twice in the future. If I come across that way to you, I’m sure I come across that way to others as well. If you found my writings so offensive, I would be more than happy to speak with directly though.
*laughs* Well I could say that I figured you’d write back. But hey, how’s your Saturday? I hope it’s well, buddy.
Your writings aren’t offensive…I would wish it *were* offensive so I could at least respond to it and change my attitude/behavior instead of being bored by it. Is this what management consulting teaches you? That business isn’t about engaging regular people? Instead it sounds presumptious and name-drops brands & titles from here to Argentina, even though those Ivory Tower schools don’t enforce what point you’re trying to make. Writing in vague business-speak doesn’t make your point applicable to lotsa cases, it just makes me skim it. Concrete examples = good.
Real human beings = good.
The apathy of most generic academic papers and stuff like this unnerves me. Totally uninspired. “Get a life! Say something that was worth my reading!” Most of all, you don’t come across as sincere, and that is true even with this email. “The high road” of complimenting you (“oh I was intrigued by your argument…”) might be classy and I’m not taking it, but still I think frankness and a good genuine smackdown is in order here.
Well I won’t email you back in the future. While I was once somewhat receptive to your comments, your second comment has just turned me off. And since I’ve wasted your time, and you’ve wasted mine, you don’t have to visit anymore. In fact, I would appreciate it.
Random Thoughts On What Is OK To Post, What Is Not, And When To Disguise Posts
Comments from a recent reader have made me think a little bit more about how I post as a management consultant. I suppose that these are some of the factors that I consider (a bit of a work in progress