Real World. Real Learning

A lot can happen in 48 hours…..we completed orientation, were introduced to our study groups, received our Startup projects, completed a fun and challenging scavenger hunt across Lausanne and together built an arch in record breaking time and were also assigned our first assignment for class on Monday morning!

 

I often wondered what IMD’s motto “Real World. Real Learning” meant and perhaps our first class on Monday morning will be an introduction - we will be dealing with a “live case” – It means that we will be tackling a real time current business problem for a multi-national organization and a senior director from the organization will be at class to talk to us about the problem. We are expected to work in our study groups of 6 and collectively develop recommendations and solutions.

 

And speaking of study group, I think I ought to tell you about my brave classmates and the people who make this IMD MBA 2013 class before we dive into any discussions about assingments and cases!The IMD MBA class of 2013 represents over 40 nationalities, speaks an average of 3+ languages and comes from every industry you can think of. I cannot begin to tell you about all the interesting experiences and stories I have come across but to give you a flavor of the IMD MBA class, let me tell you about my study group.

 

We hail from China, Canada, Russia, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, India and Dubai. Individually, we have lived and worked in more than 2 countries and in some cases the list is endless! Together we represent a plethora of backgrounds including Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Teaching, Research, IT and Telecommunications. But what makes our conversations even more exciting is the experiences – volunteering for FIFA World Cup 2002, representing your country at an International Championship for Magic(The gathering strategy card game), migrating from China to Canada at a young age, being recruited to elite leadership programs in multi-national organizations, travelling across the world for SAP implementations, being awarded an elite scholarship in Germany, representing the Middle East at the World Championships of Public Speaking, developing a new oil and gas curriculum and and being one of the youngest teachers in a world famous university!

As you can see, I can go on and on but amidst all this, the one trait that holds us all together is a desire and quest to be Global: to learn about new cultures, to speak new languages, to understand the history of other countries and a deep rooted respect for people from all backgrounds. And this is only a group of 6,I still need to learn more about the other fantastic 84 people in my class and learn from them over the course of the year and this is indeed  "Real World.Real Learning"

Best,

 

Vikas Menon