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10 things they don't teach you at B.School

Dubai - Your education doesn't end with your degree from a reputed business school. At times, you have to read between the lines

I always tell my students that business management is half English and half common sense. However, today, business schools are an essential component of academia. These institutions are offering wide and versatile curricula - ranging from marketing and management to finance and accounting. But the following 10 elements are rarely taught at Business schools.
"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education" - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Effort does not matter, it is the result that counts: In business, at the end of the day, it is the bottom line that matters. For instance, when you buy an airline ticket, you expect to arrive at your destination. When you are delayed, does hearing the captain tell you how hard the mechanics are working or how much effort the control tower is putting in to get you in the air to aid your arrival to your destination help? Of course not. Would you marvel at the pyramids if they were half completed? Clearly, those who built them, worked very hard.
"All the effort in the world won't matter if you're not inspired" - Chuck Palahniuk2
Life is not fair: Many smart people do a lot of hard work and fail. Abilities are not prized by their virtues. Whatever appreciation society awards us, comes from the selfish perspectives of others. A hard-working labourer is less rewarded by society than a ruthless banker. A cancer researcher is less rewarded than a supermodel. Why? Because those abilities and traits combined, are both rarer and impact more people. MySpace was on the web long before Facebook was, but we all know how these two companies stand today.
"The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet" - Aristotle
Book smart or street smart?: Practical intelligence and common sense are essential to understanding the environment and the changes that occur in that environment so that one can adapt. Students who memorise a book, cover to cover, and score an "A", often fail at product launch on entrepreneurial course compared to those who generally score average or below average grades. The success stories like Richard Branson, Alan Sugar, Bill Gates and Michael Dell are all street smart the stock market are fear and, indeed, greed
Stock markets don't move by key financial measures: You are taught at school that DCF/IRR are important factors in stock market volatility but reality is very different; what really fluctuates
Deceiving people is not a great business model: You will only deceive your customers once; they will not give you a second chance - therefore fairness counts and empathy matters. Is there a subject matter defined as Business Ethics? And more so, is it applied to international Business?
Talented people are hard to fine: Talented people are a rare breed and hence hard to find, very difficult to recruit and almost impossible to retain. I think it would be an interesting question to ask Real Madrid and Barcelona as to how they are managing to retain Ronaldo and Messi.
People and organization are not rational : People are not rational, they are arrogant and stubborn - and, therefore, strategies are often selected not by rational analyses, models, methodologies and matrixes but by power, politics and money. Microsoft paid over $7.2 billion to acquire Nokia and another $7.6 to write-off Nokia.
Negotiations skills are paramount: This applies whether you are signing a contract with a supplier or making an acquisition. LinkedIn has made $26 billion profit out of a site full of unemployed people
Social Capital: Social capital are not your contacts on LinkedIn, friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter. It is a form of economic and cultural capital in which social networks are central, transactions are marked by reciprocity, trust, and cooperation, and market agents produce goods and services not mainly for themselves, but for a common good.
Speed is the ultimate weapon: Slow and steady win the race but speed is the ultimate weapon, whether it is raising funds, hiring employees or launching products. Samsung has not become a market leader because its phones are better than Apple's iPhone but because Samsung has the ability to launch new phone models every few months, thanks to their strong and superior research and development, and as a result it keeps the customers interested and engaged. In conclusion: We have to motivate to accumulate future talent. As Plato famously remarked "Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each." We must be both honest and creative within these schools of thought so that students are able to deal with the rigours of today's world.
Dr Taria Mehmood is a lecturer at Skyline University College, Sharjah