P1 coming to an end and a time for reflection...

In less than two weeks from now, we face the finals of our first of five periods. As always, I remain perpetually amazed at the ability of time to fly by. Does seem like just yesterday that I had arrived at INSEAD, gotten introduced to my groupmates...

How do I look at these first 6 weeks? Tough one. From a coursework point of view, after being virtually crushed by the workload in the first few weeks, things have eased up a bit now in terms of the pace of the coursework. Then again, the finals are around the corner.

For many of my classmates, this period has been a breeze. Not surprising, considering their backgrounds...investment bankers, management consultants. For me, while the course has not been very tough, the sheer pace and volume of material presented in class has been challenging. The good point is that I have learnt a lot, both from the coursework and my classmates. And the experience has been nearly everything I had expected.

That said, there has been no time at all to reflect and allow the knowledge to sink in. And I get a feeling that business education requires a significant amount of reflection. As an example, I think I need to come out with a set of "take-aways" from each of the five courses. Perhaps I will get aound to this eventually. I see this as a potential disadvantage of a 1-year MBA...although professionals with a good depth of prior experience should be able to get nearly as much out of such a program as with a conventional 2-year program.

Well, random thoughts...penned down in the midst of a "Leading People & Groups" class where we are beating to death a case about whether a fictional company should launch a shampoo that is a POTENTIAL health rish. Except that the case is not trivial at all...and as I am writing this, there is a very sensitive issue that is being debated. More about this in my next post...which I already know I am gonna enjoy talking about!