My 50th review
I need one more run to complete my first half-century on MS. I am on a sticky wicket – I have never written a book review. I am nervous. I took my guard – leg and middle – surveyed the field – noticed the gap between cover and extra-cover – mentally practiced my favorite cover drive – the bowler had his shirt tails flying in the wind while approaching me – I closed my eyes – I briefly saw the ball for a split second – I guess I must have got a nick and the next thing I knew I was racing down the wicket for the single and then there was applause…a major milestone - 50, half-century, ardh-shatak
I present before you my 50th review, on a book which has been my constant companion in my working life – “What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School” – abbreviated as WTDTYAHBS – in the Bollywood spirit.
WTDTYAHBS is a cookbook – for professional life and it also has some recipes for the personal life.
What is it?
Oh no, not another management textbook. They are so boring. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Please wake up. Even though it appears to be a management book, with a lot of mumbo-jumbo, it has been written by a street smart (sadak chaap) person – Mark McCormack.. The three main sections on People, Sales and Negotiations and Running a Business (heavy management topics by themselves) are succinctly divided into logical sub sections. Each sub section is further broken into neat topics with a meaningful heading followed by explanations in a lucid, easy-to-read style and sprinkled with ample examples. The beauty of the book lies in the fact that you can start with any topic and read the brief discussion following it.
Generic management topics on time management, the art of listening, the power of observation, how to create impressions, dressing for success, using common sense etc are well described and the more you read, the more you understand and the more your understand the more you put it into practice.
Why is it a cookbook?
I found it to be like a recipe for success. For every situation one faces in the day-to-day operational existence, there is a discussion item e.g. conducting meetings. One needs to go to the relevant topic and get some guidance.
My takeaways
If I need to summarize my top three takeaways from this book, these would be how to say “I don’t Know, “I need Help” and “I was Wrong”. If one have mastered the art of saying these three sentences at the appropriate time of course (you would not dream of saying this in front of your spouse) you will definitely have a long and successful career.
Tips to reading the book
# First read the entire book – it is like a bed time story (maybe I am exaggerating) – it is only 256 pages.
# Identify areas which are applicable to you – both in your professional and personal life.
# As an when you are faced with a situation, just refer the relevant topic and the related discussion and see how clearly you can think or at least it will make you feel better that you are not the only one faced with these kind of issues.
After Thought
After reading and “trying” to practice this book, I always wondered at how the “street smart” businessmen in India operated e.g. the family owned kirana shop by the gujarathi () or the cloth shop by the sindhi () or the auto garage by the sardarji (*). They have not attended any B school – but they have the business acumen and it is passed on from father to son - notice how as soon as you walk into any of the above mentioned shops – they can immediately judge whether you are a prospective customer and then you will be asked - “kuch thanda ya garam”. Once you accept the hospitality, you are obliged and end up buying something. These techniques are neither taught in any B school nor covered in WTDTYAHBS. I smell a business opportunity. Any publisher out there willing to sponsor me?. The title of my book will be “What They Still Still Don’t Teach you at HBS – the Indian angle”. (I had to use two stills as Mark has already written the sequel “What They Still Don’t Teach You at HBS”.)
- These Indian communities are mentioned only for illustration purposes.
I would recommend this book to be read at least once, from the office receptionist to the CEO – there is a takeaway for every one. Happy Reading.