Footprints on the Mountainside

I had gone to an organic farm at Bhadsavale in Neral on the 11th and 12th to conduct a training programme for the students of SIES college - Matunga. I had conducted similar programmes for them last year, and this was now a somewhat established training practice they were trying to adopt in the place of the industrial visits that are mandatory for the students.

The students were excited to be visiting a real organic farm that was well maintained and catered ot their basic comfort requirements, so that they could really enjoy what they were getting into. The completely unexpected nature of the trip was an added bonus.

Out reasoning behind this tour was that while education provides the students with knowledge related with the subjects they have chosen, it does precious little to empower them with the crucial personal and inter-personal skills that are so vital in flourishing in the careers that their mark sheets help them enter. In many orientation and induction programmes for corporates, the biggest challenge for the new professionals seems to be adapting to this world of self-responsibility and accountability. Outbound training programmes are often designed for recruits to help them get into the flow of professional life faster. What if such programmes could be introduced as a part of education and preparation for a professional life? We feel that they would allow the students to get into action much faster at work, while improving on their capabilities and potential for learning even in their educational lives, by helping keep the focus firmly on the applicability and goal of their education.

Of course, such programmes cannot be conducted completely to compare with corporate programmes, as a lot of the sense of responsibility and stake in performing well only comes after an experience of a working environment. However, many other factors can be addressed well and enjoyably - not so much in terms of absolute perfection, but creating an understanding of individual status in terms of capability as well as an awareness of the need to consciously attend to the development of soft-skills. Such personal “targets” often include communication, planning, execution, co-operation, co-ordination, being oranized, ownership of responsibility, listening skills, etc.

These two days with the SIES batches went well. The first day was students from the banking and insurance batch, and the other day was accounts and finance. Young, enthusiastic and well motivated participants on the whole. The crunch came with the discipline. Not the end of the world, but yes, the levels of discipline were low enough to cause the participants real problems in their performances in the activity. But the good part is that they started improving almost immediately to adapt to the situations in question.

On the whole, the group was led very strongly by some individuals, while the others followed in a herd. Reminded me of the good old days in college, where being part of a group was far more important than being individual. Its a tough balance to strike. It creates very predictable problems in terms of poor planning, as there is no opposition to ideas that forces refinement.

The communication was pretty good all through, as were motivation levels, talent and innovation. This was one group that could have been outstanding had they managed to get themselves organised and focussed on the goal, rather than the “herd”. Planning, discipline, and assertiveness on an individual level, could have seen some remarkable acheivements.

But then, I’m expecting beyond what exists as usual. As student groups go, this one was quite good. In the world of experiential learning, no matter how good one is, there is always room for improvement, and no matter how terrible one is, there are always some strengths, so feedback is always going to throw up new directions. The trick lies in keeping what we want, and changing what is not working.