The Allen Iverson Syndrome

I was reading news about the NBA when I read about an issue about Allen Iverson of the Memphis Grizzlies.

For a good portion of the decade, Iverson was the leading scorer the team he played in. He was a gutsy player who played with much heart and even won the league's Most Valuable Player award once. He was admired of his style of play that defined the play of his team.

However, when age started to rob Iverson of his athleticism, he was expected to take on a reserve role and play less time to give his body more rest. At the same time, the less playing time meant that his younger teammates would get more exposure and experience playing at a high level.

Iverson resented his new role to the team. When he was not leading the team's efforts, he was a distraction to the team and disrupted the flow of the game. But when he was given the chance to start when another player was injured, he excelled and led the team like he used to. This behavior from Iverson led him to be traded twice and made it difficult for him to find a new team early this year.

Now, Allen Iverson just took a leave of absence from his current team, the Memphis Grizzlies, because he was designated as a reserve player.

This is story of Allen Iverson reminds me of something that happens to us more often than we would admit it.

When we are the leader of a group, we bring our "A" game and put in the effort to do our best and try to inspire everyone to perform at a high level. But when we're not the leader, our effort and commitment dips (but probably not to the level that it becomes a distraction.) This is something I'd call the "Allen Iverson Syndrome"-- when we're the star, we shine bright, but when we're put to the background, we tone down significantly (and even resent it).

I feel this is a challenge to folks who are used to being leaders and/or having their way. (I think the MBA program has lots of these :P) I think we can reduce our Allen Iverson-like tendencies of we believe that we can still contribute and get recognized without being in the forefront. This also means that the team must have a culture of giving props to everyone, not just the leader.

Blood For Thought: Give blood and Help Save Lives! On Friday 6th November 2009!!

Sunk Costs

Brought a Statistics book today, only realizing that the authors of the book entitled "Even YOU Can Learn Statistics: A Guide for Everyone Who Has Ever Been Afraid of Statistics", are the same as the authors of the textbook that we use in class (2 of them are)...

So, what do I do with this book? Well, I have to look at it in a more positive way I guess. For one, the book is way thinner than the textbook that we use, which admittedly, I did not really read much. Maybe in a few days I can finally understand statistics and actually apply it to cases with more confidence and less confusion.

So far I have 3 subjects which I feel that I am lacking in terms of marks. One is QA (statistics), another is OM (because I don't really know what my standing is there, and there is little chance for CP in class), and of course LOB. Some of my classmates have given up, or are almost about to give up on LOB. Me, I've always known it was going to be really hard. I guess I should've put more effort into it. While it is already too late to regret, I am trying to join and observe review groups. It is the actual practicing of the problems that sometimes intimidates me (normally I take 2-3 hours on a case that the average person finishes in 30mins). I still don't want to think of it as a sunk cost however, so I will still try to get a decent grade in the finals...

As for OM and QA, QA maybe I can still manage. But I don't like how the software aspect of the course is biased towards PC users. Javascript doesn't work on Macs and I don't like to have to buy software just to install Windows on my laptop. If someone can get me free or cheap copies though... OM on the other hand, maybe I can also make up with. ALthough I am not sure of where I stand in the course as of the moment, I get the concepts well enough. My only gripe is connected to QA which we've discussed recently.

Anyway, term 1 is almost ending and a new term 2 will come soon enough. Our FM looks to be a promising subject. I like the examples and the way the book is presented. Hopefully it will be enough to keep me motivated. MCP also is relevant enough as I can really see myself making use of a lot of what I am going to learn in Managerial Accounting in my future work. For sure a lot of us have some subjects which we need more effort with.

What subjects are you most weak at? What are you going to do about it?
Comments appreciated... :)

Chino

1st 3-day Holiday

I'm writing this in the car, as we're going on our way to the province. In the Philippines, November 1 and November 2 are usually celebrated as holidays/holy days. For a lot of Filipinos, these 2 days are the days when people go back to their roots and respective hometowns to honor their dead or our beloved ancestors.

This is also one of the times when relatives have their own small reunions with each other, being one of the few days in the year that people really go and spend their time together. To an extent the clan or family is made whole in these 2 days as even those who have departed already are sort of "attending" the reunion as well.

This is the first 3-day vacation that I am going to take as an MBA student of a full-time MBA program. While I am looking forward to taking a few days off from the fast-paced school life, I know that our cases, readings, exams, research, and even org activities are not going away any time soon. So I am bringing with me some of my books, keeping abreast of what's new in the news and sort of reuniting as well with society in general. I know there's lots of work to be done in the coming week(1 Statistics Exam, 1 LOB Exam, 2 Eco Case presentations, 1 Blood Drive Event, and so many more things littered in between.

I slept at around 6AM today after having submitted our WAC number 3 in the morning. I'll most likely sleep of tonight to recuperate. While I'm rearing to go back to school(dunno why exactly), I also need this short period of rest.

Supposedly there's a storm here but we haven't experienced the full force of it yet. Hope we don't have to.

For all who are going to their hometowns, have a safe and productive trip.
For those who are staying, start reading our assignments and cases in advance. But take a little time off once in a while.

Take care everyone!

CHINO

Volunteers Needed for PACT's Blood Donation Event

The Philanthropic Activities Society (PACTs of AIM) is in need of donors and volunteers from the school community for the Blood for Thought event that will be held on Friday, November 6, 2009. We need people to help set up the educational materials and help design the booth for the event.

For interested parties please do not hesitate to contact Laurice Cortes Alaan at lalaan.mba2009_b3@student.aim.edu or
contact me if you have any ideas to help enhance the event. Also, do invite your friends, and colleagues to visit the campus during the event and donate.

Contact Persons:
Laurice Alaan lalaan.mba2009_b3@student.aim.edu
Francis San Luis fsanluis.mba2010_cohort5@student.aim.edu

Blood For Thought

The PACTS of AIM (the Philanthropic Activities Society of the Asian Institute of Management) and PLDT are hosting an event that's socially relevant and entertaining at the same time.

On Friday, November 6th, the two organizations will launch “BLOOD FOR THOUGHT”—a blood donation awareness campaign that will benefit the Philippine National Red Cross. The campaign will comprise a daylong blood donation center and health education and vendor fair, leading up to an evening outdoor benefit concert, featuring up-and-coming bands from the Manila music scene. All events will take at the Asian Institute of Management’s Graduate School of Business Campus.

Folks who will donate blood on that day will receive free passes to the evening concert, as well as surprise treats. Regular tickets to the concert will cost PhP 100.00.

For more information, contact Laurice Cortes Alaan of the PACTS OF AIM at lalaan.mba2009_b3 (at) student.aim.edu

Scenes from AIM's Diwali 2009 Party

I dropped by the Asian Institute of Management for this year's Diwali celebrations. The show really belonged to the three cohorts (Cohorts 3,4, and 5) plus the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) folks, as the lively numbers and dance party was super fine.

I took some pictures from my mobile phone camera:

A bit grainy, but I think it captures the fun scenes.

Happy Diwali! :D

AIM Celebrates Diwali

Next Friday, the Asian Institute of Management celebrates its own version of the Indian DIWALI festival. From my understanding, it is a happy event similar to what happens during Christmas but with meaning more related to Easter.


Our friends at school could probably and will most likely be able to give a better description of the festival. Here are some things that I got from a site called Diwalifestival.org:

1. DIWALI is a 5 day celebration of joy and happiness celebrated by people all over the world. Also called the Festival of Lights, the 5 day celebration signifying 5 different ideas or philosophies which will bring enrichment and understanding to the people's lives.

2. Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity's name is derived from the Sanskrit word "laksya" which also means, goal or aim. Fitting that we celebrate this festival for the success, and achievement of goals of everyone.

3. The term lakh, or a hundred thousand as used in the Indian counting system, also comes from her name to represent her abundant blessings.

4.Similar to other religious festivals, Diwali is an event that celebrates the triumph of good versus evil. In the festival, people gather to light up candles to represent the triumph of knowledge, understanding(light) over ignorance and other negative forces(darkness). The Chinese also do this during Chinese New Year, when evil spirits are driven off by lights and loud sounds.

Next week,our student body will celebrate the festival as a school activity. Teams have been set up to organize the event and ensure that people have a great time. Looking forward to the sharing of cultures and many happy memories.



-CHINO
Picture taken from Funmunch

Project Eternal Sunshine 2009

Interested partying for a cause?

The Philanthropic Activities Society of AIM (PACTS of AIM) and Happiness Squared, Inc. are organizing a fundraising party for the victims of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. The event is titled "Project Eternal Sunshine 2009" and it will be on October 24, 2009 at the Asian Insitute of Management campus. Mobster Manila and Collie Herb shall provide the music and beats.

Apart from the music and dancing, there will be a bazaar and all you can drink beer. Share of the proceeds shall be donated to the PACTS of AIM and their Food Relief Fund. PACTS of AIM has been very active in helping out the typhoon victims.

For more information on tickets, contact Nash (09056669645) or Harsh (09159960608). You may also email squared.happiness@gmail.com.

PACTs needs volunteers

I recently attended a few meetings of the Philanthropic Activities Society(?) of AIM. They're planning on conducting a Blood Drive and are looking for able and willing volunteers to gather corporate sponsors, actual donors and for various other tasks during the project.

While giving out blood is a normal practice already for a lot of countries, it is unfortunate that in the Philippines, this hasn't been that prevalent a practice. Few do it here, and the general public do not know the benefits and other facts about how important it is to have a steady supply of blood. We all know how important blood is.

Accident victims need blood, blood is used for surgery, dengue patients need blood.

I myself have suffered from Dengue twice(or is it thrice) in my life. The most recent one was just a few days after I filed for resignation in my company. I remember how bad it was. I couldn't taste anything. The food I ate was either bland, or too salty. I remember eating potatoes or something and it tasted like I was eating powder. I was lucky to not have to deal with blood transfusion but the daily blood tests were painful. I survived obviously though.

But one of my high school batchmates did die of dengue a few weeks after that. He had reached the blood transfusion stage and had some complications.

What I want to say is that, despite these two things that have happened, I believe in the value of giving blood.

For one I get tested for many kinds of sicknesses when I donate blood. I've donated my blood since college.

Second is that I feel that I have helped someone survive because of my blood. it felt comforting in a way, that even if I gave some small amounts of myself, that it meant a lot for whoever got my blood.

Third, it is like serving my fellow human beings and country. I could say now that I bled for my country right...?

PACTs is still in the process of organizing this event. We hope that more students as well as alumni will join in this effort. After all, AIM students are supposed to be responsible members of society right?

The PACTs moderator former AIM professor Azanza said, "AIM blood is in demand here." He also said that because of the diversity, the types of blood is also diverse. Good things I guess.

PACTs will release more info soon. There is a facebook page for PACTs. Look it up in the internet. Also, interested persons can approach the members for more info on what help they could do.

CHINO