3 reasons why I am grateful that I didn’t run the race to IIM-A!

Having spent 50 hours at the campus of IIM-A, thanks to my amazing cousin brother – I really learnt a lot about one of the best educational institutions in the country and education mindset in general. I am grateful to him and his friends and so many people there, to have let me be part of their lives even as I come from a place of constructive critique of the system. I write the following as my perspective and in no way undermine the potential of the people there. 

Control over Creativity

In a magical alignment, I got a chance to visit a landfill in Ahmedabad with 4 students from IIM-A including my brother. It was part of their assignment under a course - Socio-Economic Environmental Impacts of Businesses – required them to submit videos of the stakeholders bringing out the story of the problem. 

I invited them to first focus on what experience at the level of their own self – ‘What do I feel/experience when I am at the landfill?’ It wasn’t understood in its nuancity rather they took it as “we don’t want to put our opinions rather give us yours.” This institution and education in general do not make us see the all important connection between self and the world.

We landed at the landfill – had 1.5 hours to do the work. As I expected the focus on straight up on taking videos with cameras out. It obviously aroused suspicion in the official at the gate.
The approach that focuses on the outcome over the process & relationships undermines approaching a reality with intellectual, emotional and physical open-ness, therefore leaves little place for creativity. 

While I say this, I was pleasantly surprised that the course did want them to go out of the building, which is a great step. A caveat is – I was told by a few students that these classes are still more based on open-ended participative discussions and activities; others are more technical and one-way. We can expect that for subjects like Financial Management, Micro Economics & others. 

Now I feel a certain degree of control is needed to keep basic order for creativity to be unleashed without fear. But when the course is loaded with so many subjects needing so^x sessions and so^y assignments. And students need to be checked whether they are learning – it feels that the institution is inclined way more towards control than creativity. In the pursuit to make submission and get marks the whole point of internalizing a certain value is lost. 

Some time ago, I heard that IIMs are spearheading the shift to more participative pedagogy of teaching. I was shocked when I learnt that each student has to sit at the same place marked with her/his name for the entire term. You know the reason – so that teachers are able to give marks for participation with ease over several classes. Clearly Control over genuine creativity. 

Content over Culture

So I was sneaked into a class called Government Systems & Policies, it was one of the non-major courses but held credits and was conducted by professors who are hailed leftists. Honestly, I loved the content. I didn’t expect such nuanced dive into societal behaviors. We were shown the film Katiyabaaz (satire on the electricity crisis of Kanpur) in a class of about 300 people. Immediately after there was a 15 minutes small group discussion with some questions. And it was flanked with – that you need to submit responses / reflections in the small group on email later- to a huge boo. 

I feel submitting responses are crucial to ensure some order in the course, but when the focus goes on the outcome of responses and leaves behind the process of small group reflection – it fails to go beyond cerebrum paradigm and really affect/transform the whole being of individuals. Culture plays a strong part there – Sadanand Ji always says – ‘You can’t empower something that you don’t embody’. Not at all referring to social good, I think that would be quite a high expectation from a B-school but a culture of innovation in business, can we expect that? The question I want to ask every educational set-up is ‘How are we being what we are trying to teach?’ 

To that Oscar Wilde said, ‘Nothing worthwhile can be taught’. ;) Sir Ken Robinson has something to say too.

Fear of Survival over Choice of Evolution 

At least from 7-8 students I heard that one thing that IIM shall teach them is the rigor of surviving in how much ever pressure. Is that it? Surviving!

I feel the crises we are together in, in our world – we need development of far more complex faculties of a human being – than just personal survival. It has to do with deeper intellect, emotion, experience, ecological awareness and may I say deeper consciousness. 

Institutions like IIM-A are supposed to be on the top of nurturing talent. An immediate question is Talent for what? The current story tells us talent for the industry. Talent that wears blinkers to not see what goes on around and goes about achieving personal success and serving the egos of few. 

We no longer want an ego-system awareness but of an eco-system. Our Economics/Business/Financial systems have served the needs of the previous generations, may be. But now their approach seems to be myopic and hitting a dead end for humanity. We need new stories, new ways of thinking. 

I am nobody but a student of life, part of humanity and citizen of this country and these are reflections from my little experience. I will be really glad for these arguments to be proved wrong. And I am committed to contributing to create a learning space with such values in the future. 

Even as I write this, I hope my brother and some new found friends there would let me in, the next time. I look forward to being there, like this again! 

Does your education liberate you?