HBS AMP 179 - Registration and the first lecture

Reached the HBS McArthur hall of Residence for the registration after a very short ride in a taxi from my hotel in Harvard Square. Got quite a warm welcome here with porters assisting all participants with the luggage. Registration process was quick, efficient and I was quickly taken to my room 54-2. The rooms are quite small, with the basic amenities and shelves are loaded with case studies – must be a 100 of them ! Some pictures of the room are given below. The living space is quite spacious with a large comfortable seating area, large flat TV, a conference room kind of seating table, with white boards, flip charts and the like. Group tours were organized at various times during the day for all participants to understand the HBS layout, various buildings and included a visit to the Gym located in Shad Hall. This is a fabulous place with three levels of facilities, which included free weights, various kinds of machines, squash courts, tennis courts, spinning, indoor running tracks (on the top floor) and a common facility for indoor soccer, badminton and volleyball. They also conduct various training programs in Yoga, Pilates, Spinning, cycling etc.

After a good buffet lunch, there was an optional Study Skills workshop – which is to help get started on the case study model of teaching. It was quite useful, as we learnt the art of speed reading, effective preparation, and how to speak effectively . Though it was recommended for people whose first language was not English, I think almost all participants attended it. Four basic learnings : how to read a case effectively, how to draw mindmaps, how to introduce yourself effectively in 30 seconds and language strategies for effective sharing of ideas

Five steps on how to read a case: 1. Read the assignment – specifically the questions, so that you are thinking about these when you read the details (2-5min) 2. Read the titles of the sections in bold and subsections. This will give an idea of the case, the issues and what the case is all about (2-5 min) 3. Read the introduction – mostly less than a page, and read the conclusion, which is in the end before the Exhibits. Think about the case and the questions. (5-10 min) 4. Read all the exhibits and understand the relevance of the data on the case and challenges (5-10 min) 5. Go back to the beginning and read the full case, highlighting the important facts and issues. (30-45 min)

It is expected that we will be reading 3-4 cases every day and most often we will have less than an hour to read a case. It is quite tough and when it comes to financial numbers, for financially challenged people like me, the numbers are daunting ! I think with concentration, I can manage to read a case in 45 min – will wait to see if I can continue with this.

Mindmaps: though I was familiar with mindmaps, the application of this concept to reading a case was quite interesting. Use the questions as the main branches of the case and as you read thru the case the sub-branches come alive. See a picture of case below:

Most of us find it tough to introduce ourselves in 30 seconds – either we don’t come across as interesting or end up giving a long winded speech and lose the audience ! Some questions to guide our thinking should be : what do I offer, what value I provide others, what problem is solved, what contributions I make. We experimented this by introducing ourselves in this manner to five others in the class. It was fun. I also realized that it was so difficult to apply new learnings to break away from the practices we are used to.

Language strategies were a lesson in effective communication. Many simple ideas were stressed upon, the effectiveness of which is backed by extensive research, it seems. These are : • Chunk points in threes. Example : “HBS faculty have drawn on their passion for teaching, their experience in working with organizations worldwide, and the insights gained from research.” Be sure to use consistent in using nouns or verbs in the three words – in the example above all three are nouns. • Dramatic contrasts to reinforce the message. “Ten years ago, we were 100 employees, today we are over 10000 employees” • Emphasize on key words • Tell short stories – very powerful if done well • Rapid fire : we worked, studied, prepared and talked to customers around the world

We ended the session with a brief introduction to multiple intelligences – I was aware of this phenomenal concept developed by Howard Gardner (incidentally in Harvard).

This packed day ended with a barbeque dinner in the patio and deserts were served in the living group lounges. Being a vegetarian is going to be tough here – I met the concerned people who have promised to ensure at least two vegetarian options in all meals. I also realized that there is enough in the form of salads , different type of breads and deserts to enjoy ! More later ...