Adaptability

Adaptability as per wiktionary is, "Variability in respect to, or under the influence of, external conditions; susceptibility of an organism to that variation whereby it becomes suited to or fitted for its conditions of environment; the capacity of an organism to be modified by circumstances". It is a key to survival, if we believe in the Darwin's point of view.

Either ways, adaptability is what allows some of us to settle down and perform sooner than others. In this competitive world, adaptability is a must have.

From a stable life at Houston Texas, where I was working as an IT consultants at Houston to XLRI, Jamshedpur has been an something that called for the ability discussed in this blog. It is hard to say whether it is the amount of change or the variety which is harder. In my example let us consider the changes.

Lifestyle : Professional in a Job to Student at a B-school
Culture : Liberal American to Conservative east Indian
Family : With family to Loner
Earning : DINK status to Double Fees
Exams : Appraisal to exams, quizes, in class assignments, Presentations

Lifestyle change is strenous physically, You are moving from one pattern of 9hrs working to a strange 20 hr day filled with activity.

Culture change is more confusing, there are people who detest you for quoting American examples in class, though some folks understand.

Family or lack of is emotionally draining.

Earning change has financial impact and affects lifestyle. The ever building up EMIs does take a toll especially during the placement season when people come out with their NPV calculations.

Exams remains similiar, there is pressure as this is indicative of success or failure. From an annual appraisal it becomes almost a weekly check.

Joining XLRI was a sum total of all the above changes, I realized the pressures involved and accepted that this was the biggest test for an MBA. Early adapters always spike initially, and competive spirit drives adaptability and viceversa. With time adaptability plays a lesser role and other factors dominate performance.
Setting up targets are essential, knowing oneself to be an early spiker or a consistent player is essential too. Knowing when to push and when to take it easy.

Right now with the end of this programme, it is a time to sit back and introspect, You just happen to read this blog at such a time.

Now let me adapt from being a blog writer to a finance student reading about what Mr. Buffet has to say about his companies performance and strategies.