Think out of the box and ask the right questions

(Source: www.financialexpress.com)

"As I think about what IIM-Ahmedabad did for me, I recollect one of our marketing classes. We were reviewing a case study on marketing pens. I had spent long hours the previous evening doing various clever analyses around the costs of the products, different marketing approaches, impact for the management, brand creation etc. Wanting to make the most of this invested time, I was contributing maximum “CP” (Class Participation). In response to every fancy analysis I presented, the professor kept asking me the same question: “So what?”

While I did come out of this (and other!) marketing classes mentally exhausted, as I look back, this is what I think IIM-A taught me most effectively—to think outside the box, to think about higher level issues, to constantly assess everything with a “so what”. And it was not just the marketing classes, but all our courses, whether finance or economics or strategy or organisational behaviour. Our professors used the case methodology very effectively to impart this higher and more important skill. And I will be frank—I may not have realised the significance of this less tangible, but more broadly applicable skill during my time at IIM-A. At that time, I was probably focusing more on mastering the technical skills, getting the best grades and being among the gold medalists!

don’t, however, want to minimise the importance of the basic skill set that IIM-A imparted—the understanding of business concepts and frameworks, the ability to quickly grasp the facts and analyse a situation, conducting financial analyses, applying principles of economics, etc. These skills certainly helped me a lot in the earlier part of my career, to be a good analyst, and to build the foundation for my future professional growth. However, without the ability to ask “so-what”, I would not consider myself an effective senior executive today.

This was the entire premise on which we built Pipal’s delivery model. Research can provide just data and information or it can take the information to the next level by addressing the “so what”. Custom research is at the end of the day shaped by client demand, and if clients want just information, we are happy to even deliver just information. I always encourage my teams to ask the “so what”. For example, one of my clients wanted us to look at a company as an investment opportunity. We could have laid out the facts (for example, revenue, net income, costs, growth, strategy, operations, organization), but then the client would have had to do the rest of the work to analyse the facts to establish whether it’s a worthwhile investment.

We do not claim to advise clients on whether they should make an investment or not, but we can certainly analyse the available information to reach some credible conclusions, for example, has the company invested behind its stated strategy, has the company achieved its targeted numbers in the last few quarters, in what areas is it behind competitors or ahead of competitors, are the industry dynamics supportive of the company’s model. Once the client had all these analyses and so-whats, they could focus on the investment decision itself rather than the underlying analyses. Another key skill IIM-A taught me is people management. The softer courses such as Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management were considered the “easy” courses for scoring As, but you realise the significance of these skills only after entering the workplace. This becomes particularly important in a services business like research, where you can share work samples, client testimonials etc, but clients will do business with people they feel comfortable dealing with—that said, by no means are those client relationships going to grow in the absence of quality service delivery!

To share one of my recent experiences, we almost lost out on a large client situation, had it not been for the strong relationship I built with one of the key decision makers. This enabled me to place Pipal in a winning situation with this client. The same holds true on the internal side as well. Even if team members are competitively compensated, senior executives also need to maintain motivation by continually offering challenging professional opportunities and recognising individual contributions.

While I have written in detail about the “so-what” skill, the technical capabilities and the people skills that IIM-A builds, there are several other key contributions IIM-A made to my life — professionally and personally. The network you build with other students, alum and professors is unparalleled. So is the IIM brand name that opens doors and ensures a jump start to your professional career—for me, it was the opportunity to work with an esteemed firm like McKinsey right out of campus and then ICICI Bank and now Pipal. The demanding nature of the course makes you a stronger person, better able to deal with stress.

In sum, I would not be the same person that I am today, had it not been for my two years at IIM-A. It changed me as a person, built skills that will stand the test of time and forms the foundation of my professional career thus far and I am sure, even for many more years to come. "


—The author is director, client services & head of financial services sector, Pipal Research