The good old days...

Speaker interference didn't happen in these days:



It is seriously starting to be a major problem. Please keep your phones, blackberries, pda's turned OFF!

Exploiting Chaos

Rotman has an impressive line up of speakers from all industries. MBA students are invited to audit the presentations.

Tonight, I sat in on a 'Business Experts' speaker series. The presenter was Jeremy Gutsche, author of "Exploiting Chaos - 150 ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change". He is also the founder of Trendhunter.com.

The presentation was light hearted with a few hidden gems.

Jeremy used the analogy of a frog that slowly cooks when the water is slowly heated to illustrate that the most important and dangerous trends are those that snak up on you. They happen so slowly, you barely notice them. Complacency will be your downfall.

Strategy is not enough, you need a cultural connection. Spend some quality time people watching (my favourite pass time). Plus, you need to understand markets adjacent to your own. And finally, relentlessly obsess about your story.

A sample from the book (see www.exploitingchaos.com to download the first chapter):

60% of the time, it works every time.

We have a statistics quiz on Friday which reminds me of one of my favourite lines in the movie Anchorman:

It stings the nostrils in a good way.

Business statistics is unlike the typical 'into to stats' class that many of us have previously taken. Sure, in terms of language, the usual suspects still apply: lots of mean, median and standard deviation. But unlike previous courses, we don't waste time calculating these things by hand - instead we've been introduced to a neat little program called mini-tab which calculates and prepares graphs at the click of a button. You would think this would make the course easy, but alas, that is not the case. Without even looking at any numbers or graphs, I can predict that studying for this quiz will take up much of my time this week. Not to mention another Econ quiz next Monday. The pace is unbelievably fast - already we're at the midpoint for these classes.

How I died in the arctic

It's a familiar team building exercise - you've been in a plane crash in the arctic. You have saved about 10-12 items and you must rank them in order of importance, first alone, then as a group. A video with a silly looking coast guard tells you what he would have selected.

My Scouting training taught me that when you're lost in the wilderness, you STAY PUT and wait to be rescued so I ranked the items accordingly. Fire (matches, hatched, a book to rip up for paper), then shelter (rope, plastic & sleeping bags) and everything else accordingly.

I was surprised when we got back into group and was outnumbered by my team who wanted to try and walk across the arctic to the nearest town - about 30 km away. I went along with the group and it's bugged me ever since.

The point of the task was to show that groups make better choices than the average of the members on the team. In fact, most of the time they do better than even the BEST person on the team. Not in our case - my team killed me and I still haven't forgiven them (HAHA, kidding!).

Today our case was on pursuading people on a team and I'm glad to have it. I joke that it is a manual on how to manipulate people. In truth, the entire class was meant to caution us against making rash group decisions.

The pursuasion techniques will come in handy the next time I am stranded in a harsh environment - perhaps in the desert next time.

Plays Well With Others

What do you get when you mix 2 engineers with a media planner and a sports account executive? Opposing ideas, different perspectives and (hopefully) an A+ statistics project!

Today I met with my group to refine our stats project model in what I would call a successful, collaborative effort. Our group has agreed to meet every Tuesday following our MPO class for 1 hour to review projects on the go and discuss next steps.

One of the benefits of the Rotman MBA program is the emphasis on group work. While we only have 1 team project thus far, I can already tell that I will see a lot of personal growth from this experience. Working with people from different industries (telecommunications, advertising, entertainment and IT) and from different countries (India, Canada) is one of the key reasons that I chose the Rotman School. I'm thrilled that the Rotman School chose me back!

A Promise Remembered

The most memorable definition of a brand that I've heard thus far is a 'promise remembered'. Some of my favourite promises are:

- Competition
- Strength
- Happiness
- Imagination

Marketing is my business soulmate and I've missed it these past few weeks. That's not to say that we've been in a marketing wasteland - there have been a couple of interesting market research examples in stats along with case examples in FIT.

That being said, tonight was the first rendevous of the Rotman Marketing Association (RMA) and it was good to be back on familiar footing. The RMA has promised us a year full of networking, case competitions, job shadowing & resume workshops, in addition to a speaker series featuring executives from well-known brands. Plus, like any good marketing/advertising meeting, dinner was provided (pizza & pop), plus there were prizes (thank you Kraft!).

I'm looking forward to the kick-off meetings for the other clubs I joined last week; the Entertainment and Media Association and the Business Design Club.

Green with envy

I've discovered a growing jealousy of people in the class who are either Economists or Accountants but for vastly different reasons.

Economists
Of the classes we are taking thus far, Economics is far and away my favourite. The material is interesting, plus the professor is EXTREMELY engaging. He practically oozes love of the subject and that enthusiasm has started to rub off. I am now jealous of the economists in the class because they have had YEARS to enjoy this stuff. Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to switch paths and become an economist, because I would be driven nuts with the math, but I am really loving the class. Next week is our second quiz which is based on only 2 lectures. You would think that would mean less material covered, thus easier quiz. Wrong. Based on what I saw today, it is going to be MUCH more challenging. Bad News: STUDYING. Good News: Very useful!

Accountants
I have to say that accounting thus far is my least favourite class. Not that I strongly dislike the subject or the lecturer, but in comparison to the others, this one is not keeping my attention as much as I would like. The reason I'm jealous of the accountants in the room is because they have somehow found a way to love the subject. They love it SO much that they actually pursued a profession in it. The class itself will be quite useful, so I am still going to try really hard to love it. But what have I learned so far boils down to this:

Hire an accountant.

Even the professor keeps reminding us that he's not an accountant. That being said, it is an important and necessary subject, so I may as well learn to love it because I can't escape it. Not now as a student, nor in the future as a business leader. Quiz next week in accounting too (5%).

"Everyone can do 'OR' but you can't win in a trade-off game" (A.G. Lafley from P&G)

Integrated Thinking Class Mantra - Everybody models and all models are wrong.

What is my model of Integrated Thinking? Part psychology, part philosophy, part imagination, but in the end, it’s all wrong because all models are wrong. The class material is fascinating with examples that are designed to make you THINK. I have noticed that unlike other classes, our discussions never end with the correct answer – or any conclusion at all. It is about thinking, not about concluding. This is a class in which you will get out what you put in.

In the very first class Dean Roger Martin introduced the concept and his research in a thoughful and inspiring lecture. He used examples that caused me to self-reflect. Who hasn't been guilty of choosing the lesser of the evils and moving on? The point of integrated thinking is not falling into this trap. A.G. Lafley indicated that he does not make an important decision or recommendation if everyone agrees. Consensus is an indication that they're missing something.

Interesting.

Today in class: Descriptive models versus Explanatory models – example was Mac’s market growth of 2% to 8% over the time it has been running the ‘Mac Guy’ ads. Was it due to advertising or was there other factors that played in?

- Vista launch made people frustrated with PC
- Better technology – Windows compatibility, better O/S, switch to Intel chips
- I-pod effect
- Apple Stores opening, therefore easier to buy
- Some PC manufacturers left the market

The point of the discussion was not to come to any conclusion, but to remind us to consider ALL of the models rather than the obvious.

As an ex-Advertising person, I have to say that I still think that Advertising was the MAIN reason for the market share growth. My model holds that while many of the above examples are true, the vast majority of people wouldn’t have known about them:

1. Vista --> Mac / PC joke about the Vista frustrations
2. Mac launched an ad a few years ago to announce the change in technology
3. I-Pod --> Cool ads, ‘nuff said

Remember though, everyone models and all models are wrong so my opinion is in no way right. What my classmates think is also not right. The point of the example was not to get a rise out of people like me, but to warn us against taking assumptions at face value.

A quotes from class that made me think: You can’t predict the shape of Jello until you’ve seen the mould (H. Simon, 1992).

The face behind the blog

I know by now you're probably asking yourself, who is the face befind the blog?

A bit about me - I grew up in Barrie, Ontario which is about 100 km north of Toronto. I graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an honours BA in Kinesiology.

Since then, I was working at one of the largest advertising agencies in Toronto as a Senior Communications Strategist. I have experience media planning for brands such as Intel, Dairy Farmers of Canada and Staples Business Depot. I have also worked in the promotions department at a couple of radio stations in Ontario.

I also love sports, but unlike some of you, mine are a bit more obscure. I compete in sprint canoe, which is a real challenge. Basically, I have to try to balance on one knee in a really tippy boat and attempt to make my way down a course without swimming. Oh, and I can only paddle on one side of the boat. For those of you who have paddled in the past, I’m sure you can imagine the steering issues. In the winter I curl in a ladies league which is also more fun than you might guess – think bowling/shuffleboard on ice.

I also love camping/hiking/outdoors and was once a canoe guide for a summer in Northern Ontario near Thunder Bay. For the past couple of years I've been a leader with Scouts Canada working with youth age 14-17. Most recently I was appointed to a National Task Force with the mandate of ensuring future growth of the organization.

I am thrilled to be a member of Rotman's 2011 Class!

Whew, what a mouthful!

The Ultimate Corporate Retreat... Summer Camp?

What better way to initiate future MBAs than by sending them to the ultimate corporate retreat... a children's camp?

As a leader with Scouts Canada, I was thrilled when I saw the word 'camp' in our welcome package!

On Tuesday morning we donned our matching red, green, blue and gold t-shirts and descended upon Camp Northland in droves - 200+ eager 1st years accompanied by 80+ 2nd year volunteers. We arrived hungry, not just for french-fry laden stir fry, but hungry for fun, competition and most-importantly, for cocktails.

Camp was well organized with a detailed structure. Events included: a trading game, Olympics, campfires, happy-hour, casino night and the crown-jewel, the costume party.

I rubbed shoulders with the Beastie Boys, Mick Jagger, Elvis, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Tina Turner and many others. People were all over the 'rock n roll' theme and did not disappoint!

Some helpful hints -

1. I joke that Canada has only 2 seasons: winter and bugs. Camp was no exception. There were some tiny mosquitoes that were nearly impossible to see so bring bug spray. Plus, it really did get cold at night so don't cheap out on your sleeping bag.

2. There is only 1 plug in the cabin and no mirror. This will become important when it comes time to dress for the costume party.

3. Cell service is spotty at best. Don't bother - you're a student now, you can disengage from your blackberry for 3 days, I promise, it won't kill you!

Whether you are outdoorsy or not, Orientation Camp is one event that is not to be missed.

To Jean or Not to Jean, That is the Question

It's the first day of class - or at least it was a couple of weeks ago - and the question on everyone's mind? To jean or not to jean?

I think this is an appropriate beginning to a blog about student life at the Rotman School of Management. My intention is to share with you my experiences as a newly minted 'Rotmanite' complete with random musings, classroom reflection and the occasional humourous anecdote. That is to say that beyond the chronology of events, I hope to share a little bit of insight into the everyday.

On that happy note, rest assured that while it is not unusual to see young professionals strutting around in well-cut suits, the majority of students are not afraid to let their casual show. So wear those blues with pride!