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Let me apply that to my ‘why mba’ question and hopefully get some clarity on my career direction
Why MBA
Because that will provide me an education on managing business
(forgetting the herd mentality of gaining prestige and money for now)
Why manage business
Because that is what I seem to find interesting in my day to day work.
(forgetting the herd mentality of gaining prestige and money for now)
Why do you find it interesting
Because I do. For example, participating in the Operating plan prep meetings for Xeljanz was exciting. Being able to do something that makes a direct impact in business makes it worth the effort.
How do you make an impact?
By doing analysis and providing insights into how the brand should be run. I do not make the final decision. So I need the next set of skills through MBA to be able to lead and be responsible for the actual decision making and the direction of the brand strategy.
Why does leading a business mean so much to you?
Because it gives meaning and a sense of purpose.
Really?
Ummm. I don’t know. But I need a sense of purpose and direction in life. I have reached a stage where I am not passionate about the work I am doing.
Why not?
Well – I feel stagnated at times especially with the boring data requests. Some of the projects are exciting when you shape the strategy or provide meaningful direction to the brand team on various strategies. I do not have enough structure in my life to manage everything well.
So you basically need better time management skills?
Yes at the least. I don’t want to procrastinate.
Then why do you procrastinate so much?
It is due to the instant gratification monkey pulling me away from the real work. The inertia to start meaningful work is too high for me and there are multiple monkeys pulling my attention to something tiny and exciting – like a tennis video or a song or a tv show or facebook or magazine article or email or text messages or writing this post.
Are we now digressing from the topic? I still do not know why you want to manage business.
Yes right. I love to create things – a product or a service. Like that KBC software as a kid. Or the hours spent on photoshop to create posters or college magazine covers. That excites me. Being part of a business where my work is very closely aligned to the bottom line would be thrilling. That would be easy to do in a startup than spending decades in a huge organization like Pfizer.
That is helpful. Then just join a startup related to healthcare industry. Why the MBA?
I still the business skills. But yes, if I do not get admission, then I will actively explore the option to work in such a startup.
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Some clarity if not complete. I should use this technique more often when I face dilemmas in life. Atleast forces me to think more deeply than letting myself stop at the first ‘why’
In Pursuit of Purpose 