Just watched a video of Sadhguru being interviewed by three IIM A students. IIM Ahmedabad is supposedly the best B School in India. An entry in IIM A is a ticket to a successful career for most. I obviously set my expectations extremely high. But what an anti-climax this interview turned out to me. I wasn’t worried about what clothes the students were wearing, or how they were sitting (as most comments under the video noted). If you want to show respect, you don’t need to behave in any specific way. What bothered me however, was their reactions to Sadhguru’s responses. They were expecting Sadhguru to answer in a specific manner, a manner in which they were comfortable with. A manner which their rational minds could comprehend in terms of facts and numbers. Life, however, cannot be explained by Science and people cannot be understood on the basis of data.
Data and Science
I am an MBA, and I have not done it in any of the premiums B Schools in India. I do work with a lot of IIT and IIM Alumni. The thing that worries me about them is their over-reliance on data, facts and numbers. They are so inclined to take decisions numerically that they block their intuitions entirely.
Maybe, they are looking for a way by which they can justify their decisions to their investors / stakeholders. If they take a decision intuitively, and it turns out to be a wrong decision, they think their investors will question the sanctity of that decision. But if they take a decision, backed up by data, and it turns out to be wrong, at least they have the data to hide behind. I have been involved in some deep researches, which I have presented to my IIT / IIM clients. So I don’t mean to undermine the importance of data. Of course data is important. I am worried about the over-reliance on data, to take decisions. I am worried about using data as shield to save their asses, rather than using data as a sword. I have seen over and over again that data alone, is often not sufficient while taking key decisions. Data, when backed by a strong intuitive hinge results in the greatest decisions. Sometimes, intuitions can lead to discovery of data. It can tell you where to look for data. Luckily, as IIT / IIM graduates grow older, they start trusting their inner voice and tend to become more successful. At least that is what my experience says.
We all need to understand that Science is still an evolving school of thought. It does not have all the answers yet. All Business students need to be taught to better use of their minds, not just their intellect. Otherwise, we are exploring just one dimension of our minds. Our mind is capable of so much more.