My views on MBA and other postgraduate programs

What exactly would I achieve?

How do I find the time to study?

What will I learn?

Am I better off spending that money on other shorter courses?

These were the questions I’ve been asked by many ever since enrolling in the Masters in Business and Technology (MBT) program at the University Of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2011. Admittedly, I’ve asked myself the above questions throughout my Masters program too. Most of us may have interviewed postgraduates with impressive academic records and at times, felt they weren’t a good fit for various reasons. We’ve also worked with some great managers who may not be a Masters graduate but is a well-respected leader within the organization or in the industry. So why should anyone consider enrolling in a Masters program? Now that I’ve completed my Masters program and have graduated in June 2014, I’m going to try and answer those questions based on my experience.

Firstly, a background of myself.. I have over 10 years of professional experience gained from working at various organizations including KPMG, UBS, Tata Consultancy Services and now at Barclays. My primary experience is in the SAP Security and Risk Management domain. This is an extremely niche area which has its own pros and cons. As with any niche roles, I realize I’m in very high demand but only when my skills and expertise are required. I also realize that in projects or organizations which don’t require IT Risk management expertise, the need for my role is almost non-existent.
While I believe application security is a growing area and is here to stay, I do not want to ‘put all my eggs in one basket’. Therefore, few years ago, I decided to enrol in the Masters in Business and Technology (MBT) program in order to increase my chances of moving into a leadership and/or a wider Risk Management role in future. In my line of work, technical certifications are the quickest, cheapest and ‘easiest’ (debatable? good! I like debates. Looking forward to your comments) way of developing your skills. In most cases, certifications are directly related to a new project or a software product that is expected to be implemented in the organization. The results are almost instant as anyone who has been through a 3-5 day course and is certified will almost immediately be able to be the subject matter expert and contribute heavily to an ongoing project. This is extremely beneficial for the individual and the employer. However, the flipside is, most certifications comes with an expiry date – as there is a change in the technology or methodology, the certification related to that becomes less useful too. The concepts learnt maybe applicable in newer technologies or methodologies, but you may still be expected to get re-certified. In most cases, this is of very minimal concern for the employee or the employer as they are generally happy with using their certification to contribute successfully to the on-going project or deliverable.

Masters degree, in my view, is an entirely different ballgame. It usually takes a few years of study and the immediate benefits to your current organization is much blurrier. It is also common for you to pursue a Masters degree in a field other than your line of work.

Study and assessments at Masters Level consists reading and analysing a lots of theories and models. You are expected to have a thorough understanding of these concepts and then expected to relate it to the current industry trends or your current role. It is not unusual to research a theory from 1980s about human behaviour in teams and relate it to discussions on how Facebook manages their employees today or compare models on organization strategy from the 1990s when discussing sustainability in the finance industry today.

I don’t expect I will remember all of the models and theories in detail (If not for Google, I don’t think I’ll remember any!). Instead, the most valuable asset I’ve gained from this course is – A different way of thinking. A frame of mind that there is no formula for success; instead it is mostly just a vague idea. It is a concept that is hard to explain to some colleagues and managers who might expect me to come back with a ‘recipe’ that can be immediately applied to situations within the team or the organization.

We work in complex organizations where ‘change is constant’. Most board room decisions are not made based on a checklist or a standard model. Various external and internal factors influences the decision making process. Strategic evaluation tools such as  PESTEL,  Porter's Five Forces,  SWOT and  Value Chain analysis assists with applying a structure to the decision making process. However, organizational politics and other influencing factors will mean that the decision cannot be made purely based on available tools. If utilized well, the Masters program gives you the confidence to guide your team or management in their decision making by helping them to think of all the different possibilities and outcomes in a structured manner.

How do you find time to study?
This is another common question I have been asked regularly in the last 3 years. With most of us having plenty of high priority deadlines to meet at work regularly and other commitments outside work, time management is a very important and valid factor to consider when thinking about enrolling in a Masters degree program.
Firstly, most MBAs and Masters Programs are designed for professionals working in the corporate environment. First thing I noticed at orientation was that most students are in a similar situation to me (some more/lesser busier than me). Most students have common interests and commitments such as running, golf, travel, kids, beer etc. None of them ‘have given up all their interests and hobbies to focus on the Masters for the next 3-4 years’. The workload is generally designed with the expectation that the student will be working full-time and has other commitments.
The lecturers and students are generally supportive of any work deadlines and your availability, and are happy to share the workload accordingly. However, in return, you’ll be expected to catch-up and contribute to the remaining coursework once deadlines at work are met. You will need to be prepared for some late nights, early mornings, missed Friday night drinks and most of the weekend spent in front of the computer reading coursework while turning down BBQ invites. Fortunately, this doesn’t happen as frequent as what most people assume. If you plan well and keep on top of all weekly submissions, you may expect only about 2-3 weekends a semester to be fully dedicated to study. This is generally before the coursework submission and the final exam. It was never meant to be easy! It is a postgraduate program after all. However, in general, the study is manageable with sufficient pre-planning and ensuring you dedicate at least a 5 hours a week (I think the general recommendations is about 10 hours) to read the course notes and submit all weekly submissions on time. “People always make time to do the things they really want to do."
3-4 years study may look extremely long and scary. However, by eating the elephant, ‘one bite at time’, you will soon realize that there is no better way of gaining all the knowledge and experience in such a ‘short time’.

What have you learnt?
In addition to the obvious theoretical knowledge gained from the subjects, the overall experience of studying and completing the Masters degree has taught me numerous lessons that I hope to apply in my career and in my personal life. The 5 most important lessons learnt are:

• It’s OK to not know everything – This may sound like an oxymoron but, Masters or not, most managers and colleagues do not expect you to have instant solution for every issue. It is perfectly normal to accept that you do not know how to solve an issue. However, what makes you stand out is your ability to formalize a plan and lead the initiative to understand the issue further, come up with solutions and educate others on the findings.
• Challenge the norm – “What are we trying to achieve by doing this activity?” is a question that isn’t asked as much as it should be. This question generally isn’t asked due to: 

1. Fear of change – Colleagues maybe comfortable and knowledgeable with the current process and may fear that the change may need to be driven by them and/or the change will impact their role negatively.
2. Assumptions – At times, it is assumed that the requestor or the customer is aware of ‘what we are trying to achieve’ by performing an activity. Therefore, it is assumed that there is no need to ‘challenge the norm’. However, in reality, it might be a legacy process that could be reviewed and streamlined to fit the organization’s strategy better.

• Accept organizational change and politics – Sooner you accept this, the better you will be able to support the management with decision making. Almost every decision made by management will be influenced by constant organizational change and politics. There may be opportunities and/or management decisions, for which the decision may look very obvious. However, the management may decide on an alternative option, surprising yourself and your colleagues. Understanding the wider strategic initiatives of the organizations and dynamics of the management will assist with making better sense of such decisions.
• A ‘Dream team’ does not have to consist of all A+ performers – You do not need to have a team of A+ performers to form a strong team or deliver a project successfully. A successful team can consist of team members of varying levels of capabilities and skills. Various factors such as the ability to share an inspiring vision and having strong dynamics amongst the team plays a key role in the success of a team or project.
• Importance of self-reflection - 'Reflection’ is a form of mental processing based on the “further processing of knowledge and understanding that we already possess”. Despite its importance in self-development, self-reflection gains very limited focus from individuals and organizations. Reflecting on your own work enables you to realize your strengths and weaknesses and enables you to improve your role within the team and organization.

In essence, I feel that the Masters program fast tracks and shows you the path to transform from a manager to a leader. Afterall, “You manage things; you lead people”

(Source)

However, it is important to note that enrolling and/or graduating from a Masters degree doesn’t instantly open new career paths or opportunities. It also doesn’t transition you from a manager to a leader instantly, give you an instant pay rise or promotion in most cases. Graduating from a Masters program is merely a start of a journey of constantly applying the new skills of ‘thinking outside the square’ and ‘challenging the norm’ in a structured manner in order to add value to your team, the organization and more importantly to yourself.

If you are considering enrolling in a Masters program or any further education and unsure where to start, I’ll be happy to assist you. I may not have all the answers, but will be happy to share my experience and guide you to the right resources.

"Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." - Will Durant

End result of a 3 year journey? or a start of another?

 

Singapore Marathon 2012 – Sub 4:30 also CAN!

I think I’ve finally matured as a runner and learnt the biggest, most obvious and yet hard to accept secrets of long distance running – consistency. Team Fatbird’s Operation Sunbird weekend long runs training ensured I was consistent and was a really enjoyable way of getting the long runs done with like minded runners. It's also helped me in looking lesser and lesser like a 'fat' bird and more and more like a runner :)
Thanks to this consistent trianing and some weight loss, my goal at the time of signing up for the marathon of 4:45 was now going to be my worst case scenario. Sub 4:30 looked comfortable and I could even visualize chasing down the sub 4:15 pacers towards the end of the marathon if the weather was pleasant. Considering my finish time at the Singapore marathon last year was 5:54 and Sydney marathon PB was 4:34, it felt awesome to even think such finish times might be achievable in a city with an average temperature of about 28-30 degrees throughout the year (race day was going to be no exception!)
Race Day
Unlike last year, I caught one of the first trains to orchard, got to the start line and placed myself about 200 meters away from the start chute. I’ve never really been concerned about the ‘gun time’ and figured the pacers will spread themselves out based on their estimated finish times and I should be close to the 4:15-4:30 if I’m about 200 meters from the start line and will be able to start together with them.
I then saw all the pacers right under the start chute lining up with the Kenyans and other elite athletes!! WHAT?!?!?! I’m not sure why any pacers (let alone the sub 5 / 5hr30) pacers will line up with the elite runners. It was clear that they were planning to run based on the gun time but it really doesn’t serve the purpose as most people hoping to achieve a sub 4:30 (or 5/5:30) do it for their own achievement and don’t really care about what the gun time might be! Most other big cities marathon (and the sundown marathon) get their pacers to start at various intervals after the race start and that works really well but that wasn’t the case for SCMS 2012. That was Singapore Marathon fail #1 (of just 2) for me. I only crossed the start line about 2 minutes after the gun went off and pacers started. That meant I had about 2 minutes to get to the finish line after the 4:30 pacing group if I was to achieve a personal/net time of sub 4:30.
Unlike most of my races where I deliberately slow down and step back in the initial stages, I decided to go with the flow and keep up with the people around me. As we passed the first couple of KM’s I began to slowly pass each of the pacing groups. I saw the 4:30 group and passed them and placed myself between 4:15 and 4:30 group. At the half way turnaround at East Coast Park, you could see the runners ahead of you and once you turn around, the runners behind you. I was happy to be exactly where I wanted to be – about 5 minutes behind the 4:15 group and about 10-12 minutes ahead of the 4:30 group. That meant I was on track for about 4:20 finish if I could maintain the same pace. I knew maintaining that pace was going to be next to impossible and was really hoping for that second wind AND a flatter second half course AND slightly cooler temperature as I completed the return trip on ECP and headed towards the 30KM point at Gardens by the Bay. I tried to step up the pace after 29KM but a 4:20 finish became even harder when I ran past the 32Kms point in 3:20mins.
I had 60 minutes to complete 10 KMs. That is tempo run pace for me in Singapore weather and on top of that I had that extra agonizing .195kms at the end to run too (Marathon is 42.195kms – not 42km! - easy to forget it when calculating your pace but you feel every step of it at the end). I was slowing down but I didn’t want to give in. The water stops were longer and I could feel the temperature had risen by a few degrees in the last hour.
My next checkpoint was at 37kms. Despite having nothing left in my tank, I managed to pass it in just under 3hr50mins. Another 5Kms to go in 30mins to get there in 4:20 – that’s still tempo pace but strangely, it looked I might just do that?

Then came the exit from gardens by the bay, the gravel road, the heat and a bridge that felt like I was climbing forever!! With all that came the reality of a marathon and the feeling of hitting the wall. Within few 100 meters, I was struggling to run and felt like my calves and thighs were locking. Each step was hurting and I truly felt like I could fall over at any point. I was sucking down any water and drink I had left and was trying to survive the last few Ks. If I had any doubt that 4:20/4:25 was not achievable, it was made clear as I came off the bridge and the marathon runners merged with the wall of 10K runners and had to make our way through kids and families in the back of the pack in the 10K run. That was the last thing you want after about 39Kms of running. That was Singapore Marathon fail #2 (of 2) for me.

I passed 40Kms in about 4:15. A 4:20 finish or anything close to it was nowhere possible and in the state I was in, sub 4:30 finish was proving to be almost impossible too.. this was confirmed when the 4:30 pacing group passed me at the 40kms point and I couldn’t keep up with them at all and felt like I was going to fall over at any time. Only thing that kept me going was the fact that I had 2 minutes from the time they cross the finish line to get there so I finish under 4:30 too. The most sensible thing to do at that point would’ve been to give up on my sub 4:30 dream and aim to finish under 4:34. I would've enjoyed the last KM, Hi-5'd few spectators and still would’ve beaten my Sydney PB be happy with that. I know that is what I would’ve definitely done in the past. But this time was different - This race had already challenged me to the core and I had absolutely nothing left, but I decided that I had it in me to not up give in and I was determined to get to that finish in under 4hr30mins. I've had enough of dreaming and talking about finishing a marathon in under 4hr30mins. Shyamala has had enough of listeining to my constant blabbering on how I could achieve that (and has put up with all of that for too long!) - This was my opportunity to not give up and achieve that goal..It truly felt like a defining moment in becoming a new ‘me’!

The willingness to push that extra bit and not give up at the end paid off as I crossed the finish line in 4:28:58! :) That was a new PB for me. I had beaten my Sydney PB by about 6 minutes in a much tough course and climate!! My ranking has never looked this good! - For the first time EVER I've made it to the first 10%!!!

I’ve now earned the right to dream a sub 4:15 marathon one day hopefully soon and I think I now know what it will take to achieve my goal of a sub 4hr marathon one day. It's going to take a lot more than just luck to achive that. It'll need a lot more consistency, harder workouts and a more optimum race weight. A race in cooler climate will make it definitely easier but I'm not going let the Singapore heat get in the way of my goal..
Onwards and upwards! :)





My race data - http://bit.ly/TUcDaY
Team Fatbird - Operation Sunbird (SCMS2012 training) summary blog - http://www.teamfatbird.com/2012/12/standard-chartered-marathon-singapore.html

Using Google Drive and FolderSync to automatically backup your photos and data from your phone and a (brief) review on Mail2Drive

Google Drive is Google’s (much needed) answer to iCloud, Dropbox, Skydrive and a million other options available for online storage. I’ve never bothered to explore it further until I decided to go on a mission to automate and sync my android, Shyamala’s iPhone, home PC calendars using GoogleCalendar as the base. I also managed to sync my facebook and tripit calendar to it too and now have our complete schedule on both Shyamala's and my phones.

Since I was on an automation spree, I decided to work on automatically backing up my photos on my phone. Dropbox did exactly that. Their phone app lets you choose a specific folder on your phone and automatically syncs it to your remote folder on your dropbox cloud drive. However, when Google Drive was released around May, I decided to switch teams and jump on the Google Drive bandwagon. There are many good reviews on Google Drive (including Google Drive vs Dropbox features) on the web that'll explain why I decided to switch to Google Drive.

Google drive has a great software you could download for your PC. It automatically creates a 'Google Drive' folder under 'My Documents'. Anything you move to this folder is automatically synced to your Google Drive as is accessible on the net from any PC (or phone).

I'll not be doing a complete review on Google drive, but in a nutshell, I'm very happy with the 5GB free space - That's far from sufficient to backup all of my photos and data, but more than enough to backup anything important including photos and documents from my phones. I've never bothered to back up anything from my phones for the last few years and risked losing it all if I lost it. Google Drive does have an Android app to view the files and manually upload files from your phone. Unfortunately, it doesn't have an auto-upload function like dropbox to upload all of my photos regularly (so I decided to uninstall the Google Drive app!).

Fortunately, I've found another way to automatically backup photos and documents from my phone to Google Drive - At least until, Google comes up with this feature in their mobile app. I've done this using the FolderSync app. As always, I was reluctant to enter the Google Drive password in this app (especially as Google has just one common password for gmail, calendar and blogger) but decided to give it a go as the app had good ratings. This app has all the options I wanted:

* Syncs to and from Google Drive (2-way sync)

* Lets you select the folder on your mobile and on Google Drive

* Select frequency of the sync - I have it set to sync on a weekly basis

* Allows you the connection type for the sync - WiFi or 3G

* Syncs sub-folders and has an option to disable hidden files syncing

* 2-way sync - this also has an option to delete the file from the origin (mobile) once it has been synced (I've not been daring enough to try this out yet)

It also has an encryption feature to secure the transfer. I'm not sure how secure the encryption is, but I've never really been too concerned about it.

The User Interface used to be much friendlier until it was upgraded few weeks ago. Nevertheless, it's still fairly manageable (considering you only need to configure it once). Following are brief steps to configure the sync :

1. Go to 'Accounts' menu and register Google Drive account

2. Go to 'Folderpairs' menu and configure the folders on both ends and configure the sync options

3. Go to 'Sync Status' to commence the sync

Overall, FolderSync is a great, handy app. Google will need to really convince me to move to it's upgraded Google Drive auto sync app if/when it decides to release it.

I also came across another handy app to use with Google Drive - Mail2Drive
This app creates a file from an email message. You receive a secret email address when you sign up. All you need to do is to forward an important email to that email address and a file is created on Google Drive with that email. Again, not a bad little app to help you with storing any important emails in a location other than your mailbox!

Google Drive has a lot of potential but hidden features already. Looking forward to exploring them and automating it as I wish!