Mike Against the Machine
All I need to know about the GSB I learned from the Rock
Mike Rosen
Issue date: 10/14/04 Section: Perspectives
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While you were pissing away your Monday nights with "Seinfeld" reruns, I was learning about life from the Rock. No, not the custom tailor responsible for outfitting generations of business school students. You have to see Guru Gupta to get plugged in with that guy. I'm talking about THE Rock, the smack talking, jabroni whooping, rock bottoming icon of World Wrestling Entertainment's "Monday Night Raw." And while some folks like to solve their problems with the Five Forces model and the Modigliani-Miller theory, I'll stick with the Rock to get me out of any bad situation that the Machine puts me in.
It Doesn't Matter What Your Name Is
I'll take some liberties here and say, "It doesn't matter what your program is!" People make programs, programs do not make people. As proud as we may want to be over the rankings, I'd like to suggest some humility with it as well. (Author's caveat, I did call both of my parents as soon as I heard the news.) Those of us who will be hugely successful could've done it without the GSB. And those who wouldn't be successful without the GSB, probably wouldn't be anyways.
Why does this matter? Two situations... First, when I see noses turned up about the high level of full-time admissions standards. Take a look at most admissions metrics (GMATs, acceptance rates, GPA) and you'll see many surprises at who is ahead of us. Are these metrics all-important? No. Does it make me respect my friends any less? No. But it should pull the noses down a little to see schools such as UCLA, NYU and even Arizona State meeting us in some quantitative measures. The Machine thrives on putting people in boxes.
It also matters in recognizing the gift of alumni stewardship and sponsorship. Although my undergraduate alma mater helped find me a job, that was the end of it. There was no "IU intern meeting" or "Let's take all the folks from Indiana out to watch the basketball game" - the gifts of the University connection ended at graduation. Throughout the past year, I have been blessed with an inordinate amount of generosity from GSB alumni in terms of guidance, mentoring and career sponsorship. I do recognize this is a privilege and not a right.
It Doesn't Matter What Your Name Is
I'll take some liberties here and say, "It doesn't matter what your program is!" People make programs, programs do not make people. As proud as we may want to be over the rankings, I'd like to suggest some humility with it as well. (Author's caveat, I did call both of my parents as soon as I heard the news.) Those of us who will be hugely successful could've done it without the GSB. And those who wouldn't be successful without the GSB, probably wouldn't be anyways.
Why does this matter? Two situations... First, when I see noses turned up about the high level of full-time admissions standards. Take a look at most admissions metrics (GMATs, acceptance rates, GPA) and you'll see many surprises at who is ahead of us. Are these metrics all-important? No. Does it make me respect my friends any less? No. But it should pull the noses down a little to see schools such as UCLA, NYU and even Arizona State meeting us in some quantitative measures. The Machine thrives on putting people in boxes.
It also matters in recognizing the gift of alumni stewardship and sponsorship. Although my undergraduate alma mater helped find me a job, that was the end of it. There was no "IU intern meeting" or "Let's take all the folks from Indiana out to watch the basketball game" - the gifts of the University connection ended at graduation. Throughout the past year, I have been blessed with an inordinate amount of generosity from GSB alumni in terms of guidance, mentoring and career sponsorship. I do recognize this is a privilege and not a right.