To Sir, With Love

Edward Ricardo Braithwaite wrote him, Sidney Poitier played him, Lulu sang him... But are inspirational teachers like Mark Thackeray just confined to our books, our screens, and our stereos?  I'm very fortunate to say that I've come across some inspiring teachers and mentors, each one of them playing a role in spurring me on to greater heights.  Some of them appeared in the classroom, some in the boardroom, and some of them offered silent wisdom as they went along their way.  For me, most of them appeared in the hallways and classrooms of the Rotman School of Management, each one of them inspiring me to do better than I thought I could do, and one day hopefully, emulate their insight, foresight and wisdom.  But I wouldn't have found myself at Rotman, learning from these amazing professors, had it not been for one particularly inspirational professor, Roger Martin.

A few years ago, while searching for the future home of my MBA, I perused catalogs, websites, emails, blogs and videos, trying to find something that clicked with me, something that I could identify with, something that would spark my curiosity, and fuel my fire for learning and knowledge.  While Rotman was always in my top choices, it wasn't until I saw a video of Dean Roger Martin at the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5) Collaborative Innovation Summit in 2009, that Rotman became the only choice for me.  Professor Martin spoke of Rotman redefining business education from "narrow, shallow and static" to "broad, deep and dynamic," and producing business professionals capable of handling today's business problems, but also proactively tackling the wicked problems of tomorrow.  After watching that video, Rotman became my only choice, and suffice to say, I was deliriously happy when they sent me their acceptance letter about two and a half years ago.

Over the past two years at Rotman, I have not only acquired a strong foundation in business knowledge, but I have also been very fortunate to learn from some truly stellar professors, many of whom became mentors, as I navigated my way through this roller-coaster, each one of them providing unique insight that helped me along my way.  But I do owe Professor Martin a special nod of thanks.  Thanks to him, I found myself at Canada's top business school; I understand the incredible value of Integrative Thinking; I discovered my passion and delight for Business Design; I find myself applying Human-Centered Design Thinking principles everywhere I go; I am yearning to tie up Strategy and Innovation in the challenges ahead; I am inspired by the academic pursuit of excellence; and I can't wait to pay it back to my school.

After 15 impressive years as Dean of the Rotman School of Management, Roger Martin stepped down as Dean this summer, and took a leadership position at the Martin Prosperity Institute researching democratic capitalism.  Professor Martin, during your years as Dean, you have had innumerable incredible accomplishments that have elevated Rotman through the ranks.  However, I think your biggest accomplishments would be the impact you've left on your students; we're better today than when we first walked through Rotman's doors, discovering new skills and passions, and raring to tackle the world's little and wicked problems.  And so, it is with utmost gratitude that we say, "To Sir, With Love."

Rotman Design Challenge 2013

The Business Design Club's Executive Team with Dean Roger Martin at the Rotman Design Challenge 2013

After experiencing what was undoubtedly one of the highlights of first year, with the Rotman Design Challenge 2012 (RDC 2012), I was determined to pay it forward when the 2013 edition came along.  While the competition itself only took place in March of this year, fervent preparations for RDC 2013 began in earnest shortly after our first year came to a close.  From pitching to prospective clients, to liaising with our competition sponsor, to liaising with generous partners, to scouting locations, to inviting judges, to inviting speakers, to developing learning program, to managing internal and external teams, to managing multiple communication channels, to finally putting together "one of the most awesome case competitions ever" (testimonial by an enthusiastic participant!), and I was very fortunate to be a part of the awesome team behind the magic.

As the RDC Sponsor, Target challenged teams to find an innovative solution to, "How can Target leverage it’s 'Expect More. Pay Less®' brand promise and it’s mantra of 'Design for All' to become and be recognized as a leading company in sustainability?"  Our eager participants came from schools across Canada, United States and Europe (we went international in just our third year!), from Aalto University, California College of the Arts, Darden School of Business, IIT Institute of Design, Ivey School of Business, McCombs School of Business, Ontario College of Art & Design, Sauder School of Business, Sloan School of Management, and of course, the Rotman School of Management.  125 eager business designers fully immersed themselves in the challenge, using business and design techniques and frameworks, to create amazingly creative concepts inspired by unique user insights.  And their presentations resonated the words of our keynote speaker, Roger Martin, Dean of the Rotman School of Management, offering a creative and "productive combination of analytical & intuitive thinking" to move the business world forward.  Innovation was the theme of the day, with Daniel Duty from Target saying how, "engaging with their guests and building brand love, requires constant innovation."  Kate Heiny also offered words of wisdom for our eager participants, "Dream big, make it simple, make it look good, and you should be set!"

The Judges did not have an easy task as they deliberated extensively (timing one of the rooms was highly enlightening - so much wisdom & insight from our Judges!) to select the final 5 teams from IIT Design, OCAD, MIT Sloan and Rotman (It was a proud day for Rotmanites when two of their teams went into the final round!).  The final round judges had an even trickier task as they reviewed, questioned and debated, before awarding first place to 'Team Meta' from IIT Design, second place to 'We Almost Forgot Our Passports' from MIT Sloan, and third place to 'P-Type' from Rotman!  Yay!  :D  

The RDC wasan incredibly exhausting, yet amazingly exciting experience, and I particularly enjoyed meeting with eager business designers from different schools.  In short, the RDC was like a design melting pot, where like-minded individuals came together, to share their curiosity, creativity, and commitment to innovation, and I can't wait to see what the next year's team has in store for Rotman and business design!


Spring Term Marathon with Strategy & Design!

It's a little bittersweet writing this post...  It's taken me a little while to write it, because it marks the end of my MBA courses here at Rotman, and it's a little overwhelming to think about this chapter coming to a close.  It's exciting to be finally crossing the finish line, but the last two years have gone by so fast, it feels happy & sad all at the same time.  I've met some amazing friends here at Rotman, been part of some awesome club events, learnt from some brilliant professors, and been guided along this entire process with Rotman's cheery staff!  In some ways, my second year felt like a marathon, right down to the finish line, with so much to do, so much to learn, and so little time!  The same goes for the courses I took during the Spring Term; intense, challenging & demanding, but stimulating, exciting & manageable. Professor Geoffrey Leonardelli takes you into the challenges of designing, managing and leading teams in “Leading Teams.”  With the view that teams work better than individuals, and companies shifting from one-man shows to collaborative group structures, the course aimed at helping us identify gaps in team dynamics, and turn them into opportunities to optimize team performance, particularly given the growing prevalence of cross-functional teams.  While the course offered a number of simulations and exercises to put into practice the theory that was being discussed, I think the most practical application may have been the team project.  It challenged us to act as consultants where we would identify a client, analyze its team’s interactions, and based on our analysis of their team dynamics, make recommendations aimed at improving their team cohesion and building their leadership.  Working on a live case for a live client, with a new team, touched upon almost every element of the course, and really put it into practice.

With the snazziest, smartest, and funnest group of people I've had the pleasure of knowing and working with!  Here's our dramatic pose after our final presentation! :P

Professor Ajay Agrawal takes you into the analysis and challenges of corporate or multibusiness level strategy in “Corporate Strategy.”  The course aimed at moving from competitive advantage to corporate strategy, the boundaries and structure of firms, using size to exploit increasing returns with extreme competition, the strategic advantage of being small, the Innovator's Dilemma, and the role of humanity in strategy.  While the Professor covered all the aspects expected from a Corporate Strategy, he certainly upped the ante, with a visit to the TSO to understand multi-stakeholder corporate strategy in the Arts, a visit by Reza Satchu with candid, insightfuls lesson in entrepreneurship, and a case analysis project that had us pull out all the stops to convince a board of directors to purse our proposed course of action rather than our competing team's recommendation.  He pushed us, challenged us, and demanded more of us, and I think it's because he believes we're capable of so much more than what we do now... while I did utter an audible sigh of relief when this course was over, I'm going to miss his demanding, insightful tutelage.

Professor Heather Fraser takes you through a practical journey of understanding, practicing, applying and imbibing design thinking in “Business Design Practicum.”  While the course covers why design thinking is important to growth and success, and what frameworks and tools can accelerate the innovation and business design process, the best part of the course was how do we apply those principles and tools to the creation of innovative solutions and new business models, through an end-to-end business design project, collaborating with design students from OCAD, for our live client, SAP.  SAP called for an exploration of the Future of Work, with a user-centric approach into how might we help utility workers better serve their customers in the future.  The project itself was almost like a cake, with business and design forming layers of cake and ganache, and feedback from SAP and industry professionals forming the icing on top...  All in all, an exciting experience I was happy to sink my teeth into!

The Fantastic Five (I know, very corny!) with Dean Roger Martin

You might have gathered by now that I'm a Roger Martin fan.  I picked Rotman as the home of my MBA education after hearing Roger Martin speaking about Rotman’s approach to business education, at the Business Innovation Factory (BIF-5), and I loved his course during first year on "Integrative Thinking Practicum."  So when an Independent Study Opportunity on Business Design arose, I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.  Professor Roger Martin, with Mark Leung and Stefanie Schram, guided us as we tackled the user experience challenges of a home healthcare organization with a Business Design Consulting Engagement.  It involved expanding our skillset in Business Design, in terms of ethnographic research, prototyping and business modeling skills, and enabled us to apply a structured innovation methodology to a live project.  Challenging, exciting, demanding, and insightful, the Business Design Consulting Engagement was an incredible opportunity to learn more about and take a practical approach to the practice of business design, and the response and feedback from our presentations to the client and Dean Roger Martin were particularly insightful.  It was a splendid way to wrap up my Rotman MBA, by presenting to the Dean of the school who inspired me to come to this school, and spark this incredible journey of learning about strategy, innovation and business design, and hopefully continuing to practice in my professional life ahead.

So, that’s my view on the courses I took in the Spring Term. Although they were definitely challenging, they were eye-opening in trying to expand my views, exploring different avenues in solving problems, and I particularly enjoyed the live case opportunities.  It feels a little odd to have this roller-coaster come to a close, but what an awesome ride it's been!  Take care, and talk soon! :D