W*

You don’t have to be a fruit lover or carry four iDevices at all times to acknowledge the void the passing of Steve Jobs has created. Virtually everybody who is remotely related to business and/or personal development finds inspiration in some of the legendary tech pirate’s mantras. MBA-students spend the better part of the day on both business and personal growth, so projecting key learnings from the first 6 weeks through quotes of the master can shed some light on London Business School-life for applying students. (Noticed there’s even anApp in the word applying?)

1. It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.

Honestly, before the program started, I thought I was a citizen of the world with brought interests and a keen understanding of what business and society was about. It was only until I started hearing the million life stories of MBA-peers that I realised how small the micro-cosmos actually was I had been operating in. There is so much going on, and so many things to explore, that it makes one dizzy just to think about it.  Nothing more refreshing than biting for the first time in a new and unfamiliar subject! Understanding bond markets, grasping the dynamics of rugby or seeing for the first time words appearing from behind the previously mysterious Cyrillic letters of a Russian sentence comes close to magic. It’s like the world is finally telling you some of its precious secrets.

2. You can’t connect the dots forward – only backward

Most incoming MBA students march to LBS campus with the determination of an undaunted army: sharp objectives, a clear strategy, and a list of activities/clubs & courses that needed to be attended to guarantee victory. As the weeks roll by, resistance to deviate from the plan lowers. Interest is sparked in areas that were not part of the battle plan… Loss of focus?  Should I panic?

I would argue that you have to follow your gut and try out new things. Take risks. Have faith that whatever you undertake now makes sense, maybe not today but at some point in the future. Join an Art club, date a Kazach girl, eat with your hands, take acting courses, represent your class in a political role or compete in a stock pitch. Executive Summary:   “S  t    r    e    t    c   h   ! “

3 Say no to a thousand things

The previous point doesn’t mean that you don’t have to make choices. Remember the time you went to a nice all-you-can-eat-buffet and you actually tried to eat it all… a stomach ache for sure. It’s essentially about making choices (There’s no Kazach girl in my agenda)! New things don’t come easily, and consume more energy than a tuned Hummer. So choose and engage. Engage and marvel. Marvel and blog (optional).

4. Stay hungry, stay foolish

This one’s so much larger than business school (and doesn’t relate to the all-you-can-eat buffet above). It’s about identity, curiosity, humbleness  and fun. Don’t become the sleek suit you’re wearing, don’t turn into the list of A-brands on your resume.

5. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

V.I.T.A.L. Especially in the MBA context. This study is probably the biggest gift you will ever offer yourself. An endless pile of minutes and resources to find your voice, to carve your personality, to finally chase that dream (job). Don’t get caught by trends (Private Equity seems hotter than the iPhone 5!), peer pressure, time pressure, juice pressure (unlikely). If you want to fool yourself, there are way cheaper ways to do so. You’re smart, check. You’re articulate, check. You’re maybe even good looking… Stop proving points. More importantly it’s you-time, the real you-time! Enjoy.

Wouter 4S

080 / Argentinean cake 

Surprisingly, long term travel has something of a sumptuous, multi-course Christmas dinner. At first, everything looks amazing, and you start your travel with the hunger of a family of stoned lions. After devouring the first landmarks, hostels, busses and one night standing conversations, slowly, this feverish eagerness turns into a more accomplished, satisfied feeling. This is when events take their right course and you discover confidently, unhurried new destinations. Later, when your trip comes closer to ending, a feeling of saturation takes the upper hand. Your head spins, stuffed with experiences, encounters and kilometers, similarly like your stomach aches when dessert is served during a lengthy dinner party. Socially obliged, you take a modest piece of that creamy, thick cake. However, the action is often limited to moving the cake around on the plate (while subtly breaking it down like construction workers demolish an old building) rather than actually eating it.

I felt that Argentina was the cake of my big trip. I slowly plunged my spoon in it, ate some beautiful pieces, but I was already too absent minded to capture its full taste. I cycled through Bariloche thinking of us on the Vespa on Boulevard Saint Germain. I hiked in Junín’s Lanin National Park wishing I was running with my buddies through Het Zoniënwoud. I had amazing grilled tenderloin steak, while I was craving typical Wednesday spaghetti with my family. I watched jaw-dropping Tango in Buenos Aires, but I really wanted to freak out on I gotta feeling with my friends in Paris...

In short, it was mazo menos time to return home! After a cool couchsurfing stay in Buenos Aires, I packed for the last time my gear (I initially left with 24kg, now, without a clear explanation 5 kg is M.I.A.).

Seatbelts locked, table tray folded away, luggage in the overhead lockers, electronic devices switched off, but then … in the beginning of the runway, our Airbus 340-600 hesitated like a jumping horse in front of an important hurdle or a city girl when bathing in a fresh lake. No movement… It turned out that a fuel leak in one in the engines made it impossible to take of that night. We taxied back to the terminal, and after 4 hours of confusion, 350 people with tired eyes were shipped off for an Iberia-sponsored night in Hotel ***** Emperador Buenos Aires.

“Are they kidding? My very last flight, delayed… with 19 hours!? Who is responsible for this sabotage? There are multiple suspects…” Here’s my Sherlock Iwannagohomes list of possibilities:

The self-important business man with the cheap suit who loudly declared that flying with that baby screaming some rows in front of him is unacceptable qualifies. That large, noisy Spanish family who was attacking the free five star lunch buffet with smiles from ear to ear could have found a way to extend their holidays in a cheap but classy way. Could it be Murphy? He’s often around whenever there is trouble. Maybe it was the Buenos Aires postcard that I challenged that I would arrive in Paris before it did. Post cards can be mean. And then there is Hotel Emperador. If they can “unexpectedly” host 350 stranded travelers, it must mean they have many empty, unused rooms... maybe too many?

Almost 24hrs later, after getting acquainted with my free Emperador bathroom goodies to kill time, I’m on the same plane, in the same seat, with the same neighbor and the same destination… The baby sleeps, the Spanish stomachs are full, Murphy is shooting a B-class police movie, my postcard has an unbridgeable advance on me and the hotel cashed its fat cheque. The odds are good to make it this time.

wwwouter