I had not quite realised the extent to which studying business administration tweaks your brain, till I asked my best friend what was the first word that came to his mind, and he replied..."strategic control". Words which had made absolutely no sense earlier, have become a part of my everyday vocabulary, even though they still make as much sense as they did 3 years back. This fluff of lexicon sounds bright and businessy, giving the impression of intellectual connaissance, and to the benefit of many, also acts as a disguise to hide the lack of any tangible expertise.
On the brink of exiting the undergrad level of jargon, I often tend to question myself on my knowledge, since it sure feels like I haven't learnt much apart from some colorful words, which make me sound smarter. Sure, in more quantitative subjects like Mathematics (ugh), Economics (puke), Accounting (eww), you get more direct answers of what you know and what you don't. But what about all those management and business classes? Apart from being fun to talk about, and analysing case studies, I really don't know what I have gained from them. I do believe that I learn a lot from those case studies, and it stimulates my brain talking about real practical issues that firms have had to deal with. I learn a lot from that. But what about all that theoretical mush? The basic thing that i've learnt from all of them is, keep your eyes out for uncertainties, watch your competitors, and treat your employees well. And to that I say...Well, DUH! As if I didn't know that before enduring 3 years of business junk!
