Sunday, June 1, 2008

Can managers be management gurus?

TT Ram Mohan’s view that that a manager can never become a good teacher, a player a good coach or a dancer a good dance instructor is simplistic. (ET, May 29).There is no caveat against an investment management teacher becoming a billionaire by playing the market, either. He can do it, if he has faith in the theories he teaches. I am sure there must be some teachers who atleast became millionaires if not billionaires through investments while teaching the subject. That’s not to bad either. Lord Keynes not only taught but practiced what he taught. As a bursar of Kings College starting with a capital of £30,000 in 1922, he maintained an incredible annual compounded rate of growth of 12% for 24 years. In 1946 when he died, he left the fund at £380,000. This was achieved during a period that saw the crash of 1929, the worse ever crash in history and the Second World War. The British Stock Market fell by 15% during this period. I am sure there are several other investment management teachers who successfully play the stock markets.

Similarly there certainly are some great players who became great team managers and coaches. Franz Beckenbaur, the great German footballer lifted the FIFA World Cup for Germany as a player in 1974 and repeated the feat as the manager in 1990. Sir Alex Fergusson, arguably the greatest football manager today, who led Manchester United to the European double by winning both, the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions League this year, was a successful professional footballer in the Scottish Football League. Sandip Patil, Robin Singh, John Wright, Bob Woolmer were all good cricketers before they went on to become very successful coaches because they had it in them to be good instructors. Having played the game well in the past couldn’t have hurt or disqualified them from becoming cricket gurus. Obviously not all good dancers will make good dance teachers. But being a good dancer is certainly not a handicap for a dancer to teach dance successfully. If anything it is a great advantage if you can also “show’em” rather than just “tell’em”. One reason why literary critics don’t make great writers could be that they just know the theory and never practiced creative writing. But a good writer can certainly become a good critic. T.S. Elliot, S.T. Coleridge and Henry James come to mind immediately. It is so powerful to be able to demonstrate what you teach. It impacts. It goes home because it has the stamp of authenticity. Do all writers have to become critics? No, not if they don’t want to. Similarly not all managers want to become teachers but there will be some who have that strong desire and drive to share and pass on the lessons they have learnt to the younger generation of managers. Business schools should spare no effort to get them on their rolls as faculty.

It is easier transition for managers from management to teaching than it will be for academicians to become managers in the same way as it is easier for writers to be a literary critic than it is for critics to become writers. The reason for that is simple- both managers and writers have practiced their respective craft. Yet a manager will need to brush up his theoretical knowledge and undergo some training before he takes on the mantle of an effective instructor and make their ‘experience’ relevant to the subject they teach. That is not a big issue. A little bit of training will take care of that. If T T Ram Mohan’s experience as banker ‘does not add an awful lot’ to teaching a course on banking, it is a pity. One way of bringing the real world into the classroom is to bring some practicing and former managers, who want to make the transition, to teach in business schools. They will bring a wealth of practical personal experience to the subject they teach. More importantly with their contacts in the industry and business, they can facilitate active and fruitful interaction between business schools and the ‘real world’. They will not only add another dimension to teaching they may help manage business schools better.

This does not mean that there is no place for academicians and scholars in the faculty. They will always be responsible for imparting most of the courses and will perhaps continue to be the mainstay of instruction in business schools. Otherwise where will we get our Druckers from. There should be a good balance of both academicians and managers in the faculty of business schools.

I started with Keynes combining theory and practice with consummate expertise. Let me conclude it with a true story- an absolutely delightful nugget. Participating in a workshop on soft skills last month in Jaipur I found myself standing next to an impressive looking elderly scholar during the tea break. He turned out to be the head of a business school and needed little provocation to start vexing eloquent about investment in general and stock market investments in particular. He told me about dozens of books he had published and hundreds of seminars he had conducted on the subject. Ten minutes into the discourse I had this very strong urge to scram but I stood there listening to him out of politeness. I thought there was no way to get a word in even sideways. But my opportunity came when he interrupted himself to ease a succulent ‘rassogulla’ into his mouth. “You must be making millions in the stock markets.” I said. He held me by my arm; took his time to chew, savour and swallow the Bengali delicacy and said with a beatific smile, “ halwai mithai kabhi nahin khaata. I never invest in the stock markets.”

But you know what, I would rather dine at a restaurant whose owner eats there than at one whose owner eats elsewhere. There is a big difference between what Keynes demonstrated and what this business school head represents. We need to take corrective action now before business schools turn into academic dens. “There is still time.” as R.Gopalakrishnan says. (E.T. May 19)

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