INSEAD insight

Stress levels all around seem to be rising as we wind down to the final week before P2 exams. This week for me has been one of improving relationships with classmates I didn’t know so well, and confronting a couple of sensitive incidents, which is also good training for me.

My style is more collaborative than confrontational. I usually do not go heads-on with people unless I feel very strongly against something. And those of you who’ve been my colleagues will know quite well that I can be quite outspoken.

At INSEAD I’m toned down because there are a lot of issues my classmates know more about. One thing I hate is talking rubbish when there are experts at the table. However in other cases there comes a time when the line has to be drawn. If I feel something unfair is happening, or if I really don’t agree with something, I must speak up even if it could become ugly. I’ve spoken up for other people in weaker positions even though their aggressors didn’t like it. I didn’t give a s*** what they thought of me, at that point. Likewise, now I should be doing more to help myself!

Future business leaders of the world can be nice, but they shouldn’t be pushovers, either. That’s all I can say about this week.

As INSEADers are aware, we need at least 3 languages to graduate with our MBA. This is my second (and hopefully last) attempt to pass French at basic level.

I took my Delf A2 exam at Alliance Françise today. It started at 9am and my oral component ended at around 12.40pm. I was there with HT, another INSEAD classmate. We’ve been going for private French lessons together. I was fairly confident it would be better than the RELC exam we took, which was more like B1 standard as it was meant to test French as a second language as well.

Today, we were supposed to do the Listening Comprehension first, but some students arrived late, and after waiting a few minutes in vain, my coordinator said we would all do the written comprehension first. I found it fairly easy and finished with time to pre-read the topics listed in the Listening Comprehension and the Essay section. I thought it was quite doable.

Then the last student came in and we all listened to announcements in French. I thought that was also straightforward though after discussing my answers with HT I might have made a few mistakes. However I am sure I will get at least 50% for these two sections.

HT’s coordinator, in the next room, warned the students that there was a final question at the back of the exam paper. Mine didn’t say anything and I discovered to my chagrin that I had to write a second letter. This last question had two words in the instructions I was not sure about! However I learnt that I made the right guesses - I had to ask for information and also send gifts. I’m not sure if I made the word requirement but oh well, hopefully my first essay will get a higher grade to make up for it.

The oral component was harder than expected. We had 10 minutes to choose which topics and pictures to talk about and describe. I waited for what felt like another 10 minutes outside my examiner’s door before he called me in. We greeted each other. I misheard his first question but he repeated himself and I began talking about myself. I went straight to life at INSEAD and complained happily about how much homework there was to do, how tired I was and how I wanted to become a manager. He understood that clearly. He asked me what am I studying exactly and I said, en anglais, it is called “MBA” which he understood - no way could I remember the French equivalent!

He did not ask specific questions during this segment and when I stopped talking, he asked me to continue sharing even more about myself! After a while you do run out of things that you’ve practised saying, so I took the opportunity to ask him questions about himself! I said je suis celebataire, et vous? He said he was married to a Singaporean and I asked if his wife was Chinese. Now I even know where she works! I praised her company which is a ‘grand hotel’. He seemed happy with that and moved on to the next topic.

That was tougher as I had to talk about TV programs or my favourite recipe! While I knew I could name a number of vegetables to make minestrone, I felt more comfortable talking about CNN which I watch frequently. I ended up discussing American politics, how I was happy that Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, and why I like Barack Obama. It so happened that my examiner was a black guy who also had an international background. Again, he wanted me to say more than I could say. I started insulting George Bush as not having an interest in other people’s lives (I didn’t know how to say ‘warmonger’ in French). There were awkward pauses in between as I grappled for the words.

Things got trickier when he asked me what I thought of CNN. In English I’d have said it’s not bad but still US-centric sometimes. All I could say was pas mal, but I also watched the BBC (thank God for acronyms and recognizable names) and groped for a word in French, saying in English “neutral” - which he offered as ‘neutrale’ in French. I repeated that word. We moved on to the final topic… role play! I was the buyer and the examiner was the seller.

I had to choose between buying 6 types of bicycles or 6 types of cake/bonbons. As I wasn’t sure of technical terms I stuck to buying cakes, saying that it was for dinner tonight at my friends’ place. I noticed there were 2 chocolate cakes so I said my friends preferred chocolate, could he recommend a gâteau? (I might have mauled this question but he understood, so, moving on…) So I threw the ball back in his court and he recommended the two cakes as predicted, and then I asked ‘for this cake xxx’, combien ça coute? And he had to think of a price. It looked like the first time anyone had thrown the question back at him as he took some time to think of a number. Then I asked him how much was the other cake, and he gave a cheaper price. I asked him which was better and he recommended the second one. Since the price was lower and he said it was the specialité of the region, I asked him if it was delicieuse and he said yes! So I said ‘je voudrais acheter le [2nd cake]’. I asked if he accepted credit cards and he said oh yes, so I said voici! voila! We thanked each other and said goodbye. That ended it. Phew!

Of course on hindsight I could’ve done better and been more garrulous - if I really had more ideas to churn out and the vocabulary to go with it. And I was used to practising with more interactivity, and not having a soliloquy. Oh well. Moving on… to next week’s INSEAD exams! C’est tout!

While speaking to our MBA programme manager Aaron this afternoon I learnt that BusinessWeek 2008 rankings are just out, and INSEAD has moved up to third place in the international MBA category!

This is great news; we’ve been moving up the Financial Times rankings over the past few years and are current #6 on a worldwide MBA scale.

Well done, everyone!

Yesterday evening a journalist contacted me regarding the INSEAD Dash. Thanks to my earlier post on the Dash getting featured on Tomorrow.sg which drew lots of new visitors, we will now get coverage in a national newspaper!

It happened all in a rush. I and the INSEAD Corporate Communications team in Singapore were notified just half a day ago, while the Cabaret was taking place, and news being news (tight deadlines!) I had to mobilise help fast - photo contributions and more interviews with classmates.

There were lots of photos in our shared folder but we seemed to be short on road-crossing scenes. These would have been the funniest, especially from the point of a passer-by who’s on his way to work and is stunned by this tidal wave of costumed freaks running past. I found a few photos of such locals looking stunned, which is pretty hilarious!

I also notified the P5s (thanks to RBenson for relaying the message!) and one guy sent me really good road shots. I’ve noted wherever possible the names of all the photographers, and hope they will be credited.

Anyway, I shan’t mention more. I don’t know how much of what I said will be reported, and I don’t know which photos the newspaper is choosing, so we shall just have to wait and be surprised on Monday! :)

Like the Dash, Bar of the Week, Cabaret, Olympics, national weeks and Champagne Fines, logoff messages are a tradition at INSEAD. This is a prank which occurs when you forget to log off from a computer in school. Someone else discovers it and sends naughty emails using your name. Some even consider it an art to write a convincing message that gradually reveals itself to be a fake. My Greek groupmate in particular is a Master in this art.

Our batch has seen several good logoff messages so far. One of the best ones - right before the Dash - was sent from the account of a pretty Italian classmate who announced she was going in a bunny suit and asked if anyone wanted to accompany her as carrot. Immediately many men announced that they would be her carrot, a few even claiming have to purchased carrot suits already. Finally, the real girl replied to confirm it wasn’t her, with a humorous rebuttal. However it wasn’t the end of the story as our marketing professor got wind of it, and inserted a bunny and carrot in his lecture slides!

An Asian female classmate forgot to log off twice in a day. Both times, logoff messages were sent, e.g. about how she was so stressed and needed an Italian ‘stallion’ to comfort her. The message didn’t deride the victim but simply praised the sexy Italian men (which kind of indicated who exactly might have written the message!). Her rebuttals to both fake messages were impressively witty as well. It doesn’t just happen to girls. Guys who forget to log off are usually made to sound like sissies who need security blankets and children’s toys. Other logoff messages announced the victims’ supposedly secret feelings for unlikely people (like Accounting professors or admin staff).

However today I was informed of a more malicious type of logoff message that wasn’t so funny. It was sent from the account of another Asian classmate and implied that sexual favours would be given in exchange for a place in an elective. However many times I re-read the message, it didn’t look funny at all. My female classmate replied to tell everyone on the list that this was not in very good taste. The thing is, the message was sent while my section was in class, and a lot of unfamiliar names were CC’d as well - presumably our P5 seniors. I think it’s not so bad if the joke’s sent to people you know, who will understand it’s a prank and laugh it off, but it’s worse if it’s sent to people who don’t know you.

Thing is, I didn’t even receive the email myself, as I was in French class this afternoon. I guess the IT Department deleted it off the server before the rest of us could see it. I don’t think we need to ban the logoff message tradition because 99% of the messages have been roaringly funny so far, and rather harmless as we all know it’s fake. However, one requires a certain skill to craft such messages well. Even if you want it to sound kinky it should be done with class.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that my post on the INSEAD Dash has been featured on Tomorrow.sg. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it’s Singapore’s premier blog community portal. It’s possibly the equivalent of getting linked from BoingBoing (for want of a closer example).

My analytics is now reporting an overwhelming number of visits from Tomorrow.sg readers.

Thanks to Tinkertailor for the link love :)

Got my first job application ding from my #1 favourite company of many zeros. I was not too surprised, and in a way I feel almost relieved. During the phone interview last Friday, I had the impression that they wanted more senior. Even if I did have the potential to lead this new team (which I still believe I do), I sensed they wanted someone with lobbyist experience, which I do not have. I nearly wanted to reply, “Here in Singapore you don’t exactly do that sort of thing, and if you asked any other local candidates they’d say the same thing too” but thought that would sound a bit rude.

As for the job itself, I had lots of ideas on forming a strategy, and did research on each country in the portfolio. However I wasn’t asked about my plans at all. The good thing about being in such a diverse school, however, is that you will find classmates from the country/industry you’re targetting. Plus, everyone was very supportive of my interview. I must thank G, H, N and Z for advice on their countries.

I was also curious as to how the position has been advertised since at least Nov 2007 and has yet to be filled. Obviously there were very particular needs and I am not sure if all the checkboxes can be ticked, because it will be very hard to find someone with all the required experience and qualifications in this region. Not that it’s impossible; just very difficult. I would not be surprised if this position is still unfilled a few months down the road. But I understand the company’s need to find the right boss who will then form a team. Having the right manager/leader is so important.

In response to their questions on my rank/experience, I explained that despite being relatively junior, my input was consistently sought at much bigger agencies and that was an achievement. However I respect their decision and will remain on their file for other positions, so it’s not the end of the world. I have many more months to go. Most classmates were surprised that I was being called for interviews so early.

As for school - while I understand P2 topics better, that isn’t going to be enough. I need lots more practice and re-iteration to improve my scores. So as much as I’d like to enjoy myself I have to cut down on events. INSEAD Cabaret beckons but … most likely I will not even show up. There’s the INSEAD Olympics at Sentosa which I will skip in favour of French lessons over Saturday and Sunday, as well as the Lexus Cup golf tournament which I shall tryyyy to attend briefly.

I’ve had second thoughts on whether I made the right choice - whether rushing through 10 months of business studies just to re-enter the workforce quickly was the best idea. If my priority was to learn and enjoy new friendships, then I could’ve given myself a longer time. Quite often we classmates talk about how we’d love to do more things but there’s just not enough time. I told an academic rep that if you graded me on how much I actually learnt, my score would be infinite. From having zero knowledge on Finance, Accounting etc to having some knowledge which I can apply to my work and personal life, means I have achieved my personal goals.

Also, I wonder if I’d have chosen INSEAD if I knew what I was going through now. In case you’re still contemplating which business schools to go to, let me elaborate on the grading system. Here, you aren’t graded by absolute scores but on how the rest of the cohort did. You can get a good percentage, but if the majority of your cohort has better grades, you will fall below the average and this will affect your GPA. You thus need to be even better in other subjects to make up for this. On the other extreme, if you kick ass, you may get a GPA of 4+ or even 5+ which sounds crazy, as we are used to having a maximum of 4 only. As you can imagine this also means that some of us have grades of less than 2 or 1, because the system just makes grades more extreme.

To be fair, those who already have strong groundings in certain subjects can get exempted, but these classmates were told they needed to take another subject when they’re in P4, instead of being able to join their seniors immediately for an elective. So, this resulted in many whizzes in Finance/other subjects remaining in our class, scoring full marks. The only consolation is this widens the standard deviation which also affects the GPA. But many of us see this as a waste of our whiz classmates’ time and an unfair comparison for those with no such background and only 2 months (or less) to learn everything.

But don’t get me wrong - I do enjoy the classes, I like my classmates, and every day there are jokes and laughter and lots of participation, which is hard to find in most local schools. However, sometimes I wish I could upgrade the RAM in my head and also my hard disk space and write speed so I can simply take in everything that’s being hurled at us and regurgitate them at the right moments. When we graduate, will we remember everything we were force fed? I also learned that while my GMAT score is above the average, that doesn’t necessarily make a difference. And if you fall very sick during the exams, that isn’t taken into account by your markers. I found out the hard way. So keep yourself healthy when you come to INSEAD, especially when it’s time to perform.

It was a calm, clear morning in Singapore. Buona Vista Road was busy as usual. A steady stream of traffic droned by, adding to the humdrum of yet another working day.

It was, really, just a normal Friday.

And then a cluster of crazed students dressed as chickens, ducks, bears, bunnies, female fantasy figures (including cross-dressers), superheroes, warriors, scuba divers and other oddities streamed past, cheering all the way into school.

Exhibit 1:

Which brings up a familiar riddle:

Q. Why did the chicken cross the road? A. (Modified) Because it was part of the INSEAD Dash!!!

The Dash is something you CANNOT miss at INSEAD. It takes place in the Singapore campus. Being encased in furry suits, large headgear or capes also means you will end up rather sweaty, but still pretty happy, by the time you reach school.

INSEAD staff and faculty are fully aware of the Dash. So while ordinary passers-by may stare, inside the campus nobody would blink an eye. Which makes it all the more hilarious.

After the Dash, many remained in their costumes while engaging in discussions with our Processes & Operations professor. You’d see the seriousness of our questions and our rapt faces as we hang on to the professor’s every word, even if some peoples’ wigs were obscuring their vision (and of those sitting behind them).

In between class, other INSEADers opened our amphi door and squeeze a rubber duckie at us. Then a few furry beasts broke in, ran to the centre of our amphi, did a jig, and ran out. We also had a mystery guest, Fred Flintstone, who refused to unmask his true identity and thus the professor said he was unable to give a class participation score to him.

I took some high-definition footage which should be processed and uploaded eventually - when I have the time.

Friday is going to be a big day for me and others at INSEAD. First of all, at 8.27am at Heritage View, a motley group of MBA students dressed in costumes will be making the traditional INSEAD dash to school.

I am torn between volunteering to take photos/videos or wearing a costume. Some of us Singaporeans are looking for a Lion Dance troupe outfit, complete with lion head. If we find one, I want to be the cymbal crasher.

After the Dash, my section will probably have Operations class, which is supposed to begin at 8.30am but we will probably start late after all the revelry. And after class I will find a quiet room and await … a telephone call from Google!

Yes, my dream company has finally called, for a position which had very specific requirements which I happen to meet. It is not an easy job in terms of scope and depth, plus the vastness and diversity of the regions to be covered will probably require heavy multitasking and political savvy. I believe it is important for both sides to find a good fit and I hope to ask some salient questions about the job as well.

Send good vibes my way!

Just to let you know I’m still alive, running on adrenaline (actually, it’s sangria left over from dinner), checking on groupmates down the assembly line who are reviewing our Marketing and Strategy graded assignments for one final round of quality control. It is going to be a tough week ahead… and 3 more weeks before exams!!!