INSEAD Singapore - Review of P1

" 'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.' We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we subconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

(Marianne Williamson, author, from A Return To Love, 1992. Ack C Wilson and J Cooke.). Also attributed to Nelson Mandela in his inauguration speech in 1994.


Being pretty mellow after an interesting day, a good meal, excellent company and decent conversation, I thought that a missive to my dear reader would top the day off nicely.

As the more astute of you will have noticed – yes you at the back - I like to delude myself that people read this blog when researching INSEAD. To be perfectly honest, if you want a much better understanding of an INSEAD MBA, you should use the link to Necromonger – it is about the best MBA blog you will ever read – or the fine blogs of alumni, Halloman and Zanot.


Having said that, while not in the league of Necromonger (by the way Necro, how is Fonty?), one likes to feel that one is, in one’s own humble way, contributing to the development of the business leaders of the future (BLOF). So, after that outpouring of pomposity (I just wanted to see if I could copy WW’s style), I thought that I would review P1.


The academic experience has been challenging, to say the least. The volume of information thrown at you and that they expect you to process, evaluate and respond to is phenomenal. There is plenty of pre-reading for each lecture, lots of cold calling, multiple assignments (including group assignments) and exams. Each professor brings their own unique style, and its down to personal preference as to whether one prefers one style or another. Also it takes time to adapt – for example it took me a while to “get” our P&M tutor (in case you are reading this - Aloha Brett, hope Hobbit land is fun), but once I adapted, his were some of the best lectures. Others you appreciate straight away, particularly when they demonstrate the value of UDJ by winning money and then donating to the champagne fund, analysing the distribution of M&Ms or even that fifteen sided dice have uses, step forward Ilia.


The thing the professors do well is demonstrate the relevance of what they are saying to what you are likely to be doing in the future. While you may not do the full algebraic calculation of “Cournot” equilibrium or a full regression analysis, understanding the concepts makes you a far smarter observer of business and user of data. My feeling from P1 is that they are trying to make you “think smarter” while simultaneously attempting to make you observe your own behaviours as well as the behaviours of others, all from a different perspective. I would put P&M, UDJ, Fin. Accounting as more of the former (i.e. think smarter), and LPG more in the latter (think you, me and relationships). Financial Markets and Valuation is just a boot camp to bring everyone up to speed.

Obviously, the benefit of each subject depends on the background of the individual. However, a totally biased and non-random sample indicates that most people have 2 subjects that they have got a lot out of. Personally, all have benefited me to some extent, whether adding a new perspective, reminding me of something I should know, or making me aware of my own propensity for cognitive dissonance (i.e. be a fool). For me LPG was a case of preaching to the converted, but even then the professor’s skill in linking the subject to our experience at INSEAD caused some serious re-evaluation of personal priorities.


It says a lot about the calibre of my classmates that everyone seems to take this in their stride. My classmates are a collection of incredibly gifted people (and WW). Whether, giving a brilliant analysis of financial performance, summarised with a snappy soundbite leading to a round of applause from the class, to a heated debate as to whether there is ever justification for bribery, you are constantly learning. Add to that their phenomenal ability (and I mean absolutely bona fide genius abilities) to organise parties, bars of the week, job treks, summits, speakers and international trips and you have an idea of the people.


As examples, in the week prior to exams i.e. when you are working flat out : a) for the last P&M lecture everyone managed to get hold of “Aloha” Hawaiian shirts and attended the lecture in these shirts. Brett, the professor, was, pre-lecture, walking around the campus shaking his head in amazement. Of course this was only the beginning, as the first section hired an Obi Wan Kenobi Jedi outfit for Brett– including lightsaber - and made him dress up to do the lecture as the Jedi master. There then followed the “Microwars” video see http://alex-lili.blogspot.com/, which was put together in 24 hours by a few of my classmates. Absolute genius – nice one Lili and Alex! The other section followed this by, en masse half way through the lecture, dancing a coordinated traditional Hawaiian dance, with accompanying music;


b) Furthermore, in the follow up UDJ lecture, the professor found himself receiving a presentation on an analysis of the qualities INSEAD students regard as being the key to a professor’s success. The presentation starred Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Ilia, and included a phone call to Ilia from Angelina. The fact that both professors enjoyed the “set-ups” and requested copies says a lot about the INSEAD spirit.


If that sounds intense, well it is.


I recently read the posts by Le blog de Hog and Res I(p)sa about the INSEAD experience. Given my P1, their view on the intensity of the course, and the lack of time was pretty interesting. To be fair, I did share much of Le Blog’s viewpoint for a while. I thought that the course was too intense and there was not enough time to explore areas in depth and that we sacrificed quality for quantity. However, I have changed my view on this – although the caveat is that I have started in the Singapore campus with a smaller number of classmates than you do in Fonty.


I think that INSEAD forces you to make tough choices and really reflects what you are about to face in the real world. You are forced to realise that you cannot do everything and you have to prioritise, make hard decisions and make mistakes. Do I wish I had more time? Yes. Do I want to spend more time with my classmates and on some courses? Yes. BUT, the reality is that I am being pushed very hard (perhaps to the extremes of my ability – a bit of a concern as P1 is meant to be the warm up for P2) and am, for the first time in a long time, being forced out of my comfort zone to really develop as an individual, both personally and professionally. In approximately 10 months we are covering 80-90% of what most MBAs cover in 2 years. So, as a rhetorical question, which MBA school do you think pushes you harder, makes you develop faster and perhaps makes you more likely to fulfil you potential?


The motto “work hard play hard” is often misapplied, but in this case it is true. If you are not ready to be pushed to the extreme of your abilities, endure a brutal academic experience, explore your personal and professional goals, all while meeting a host of gifted people (classmates, alumni and faculty) and partying like mad, then INSEAD is not for you.


For me, while there have been some “very very bad” days, where I thought INSEAD may be a big mistake, the reality is that, on reflection, I am, in a partially masochistic way, enjoying this experience. Of course you would expect me to recommend the school, but I hope that the above gives you a flavour of why I am glad I chose this school.


If this is not for you, well there are some superb schools out there and I hope you get in and enjoy your choice.


You’ll note the two quotes at the beginning of the entry and at the end. They are personal favourites - I hope they help.


And there endeth the sermon.


The Guy In The Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father or Mother or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

©Dale Wimbrow, 1934.



ps WW: Is that game or 15:40?

The end of P1

Amazingly, P1 is already over. The last 8 weeks have passed so rapidly that it has been like being in the centre of a whirlwind.

The last week was exams - Monday to Wednesday i.e. 3 days for those of you who cannot count (aka Worldly Whys (WW)), 5 papers, 15.75 hours of exams and definitive proof that I will not be troubling the Dean when it comes to his “happy list”. On the other hand, the Dean may be calling me to discuss how I can improve in P2, much like the conversation he will no doubt be having with WW.

Anyway, to give you a flavour of how intense it is, according to our stats professor we have, in 7 weeks, covered the first year of a Phd students course. Or, according to a classmate, we have covered his entire microeconomics syllabus for the first two years of his Economics degree.

Wednesday evening was spent at the Double 00 bar, with most of us flying out to either Vietnam or Cambodia the next day although a few have gone to Thailand, Hong Kong, China etc… I’m not sure where WW has disappeared to, although given that he/she has already been kicked out/rejected by so many countries (see first WW fist blog entry), another deportation should not be an issue.

After this mammoth holiday break of 4 days (including weekend), P2 kicks off on Monday. So having retaliated to the unprovoked blog aggression of my classmate WW (really, we’re all one happy family), I’m back off to hit the tourist trail…

ps WW: That’s 15 30.