Trailing So What?

Markéta Vondroušová, the new Wimbledon Women's Champion seems to fit the title of our story.

With all odds against her, she went on to win the Final on the famous Centre Court on 15th July. And shocked her opponent Ons Jabeur from Tunisia. What were the odds against her:

• First unseeded player to reach Wimbledon Final after Billie Jean King in 1963.
• Pitted in the final against sixth seeded Ons Jabeur 
• Suffered a wrist injury which kept her off-court for seven months
• Down 0-2 in the first set

So how did Marketa overcome the odds? Those who saw the final earlier this evening, would have observed the following:

1. Keep your cool. She double faulted more than once. But bounced back. She kept her cool.
2. Fight back. Jabeur broke Marketa's serve many times. But instead of giving up, she crawled back. One shot at a time, one game at a time. Steadily. Talking about fighting back, even Jabeur mentioned that 'I will come back again to win this tournament'.
3. Play your game. Don't get unnerved by the opponent's stature or seeding. Play your game.
4. Emotional Strength does it. Keeping emotional balance is the hallmark of great players. We have seen it in Federer. We saw it in Marketa today.
5. Injured, so what? Her wrist injury did not deter her. She allowed it to heal for a season. Lost a year, so what? She came back. It shows her faith in her team.

It was an exciting match. Unpredictable to say the least. Ghumakkad enjoyed watching it. Pictures here are courtesy Star Sports and Tata Play.

Packed Centre Court

'Most painful loss of my career. But I will come back to win this', Ons Jabeur

1st Anniversary gift by Vondrousova to her husband.

The Venus Rosewater Dish- Wimbledon Women's Trophy since 1888.

On completion of the French Open Women's Final in June 23, we had brought you a story titled 'Acknowledging the Team Work'. Do browse it if you haven't.

After watching Wimbledon-22 Men's Final which Joko had won, we had shared a story titled 'Wimbledon-22 Beyond Tennis'. That story had also brought out some of the observations made tonight. Do browse if you haven't so far.

Some friends have remarked 'Do you watch the TV or the movies for fun or for writing a story?' Well, if I do observe a scene or event which brings out some life lessons, I like to share it with others. Hope such 'live' coverage does not bore you. If it does, do tell us.

I firmly believe in 'Learning Together' as depicted in my logo below.

Thanks for browsing.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 15th July 2023

#wimbledon #womensfinal2023 #marketavondrousova #onsjabeur #lifelessons #keepingcool #fighback #playyourgame #emotionalstrength #trailingsowhat #presson #ghumakkdharsh #ghumakkadhb

Ghumakkad Crosses 200,000 - So What?

Ghumakkad@200,000. So what?

200,000 page views is no big deal.

Internet is full of sites, posts, videos which have millions of views.

So what if Ghumakkad's blog has crossed 200,000 views! It is a miniscule count. Agreed.

Numbers don't matter to us. What gives us joy is our readers' feedback and the fact that Google searches have repeatedly put us on top!

We get a kick when a reader plans a trip to the Andamans after reading our stories of the islands.

We get a high when Google Search selects our story on top! See below three search results two to three years after posting the stories:

We feel excited when readers exchange 'live' messages from places like Bhutan after browsing our stories of the Himalayan Kingdom.

We feel thrilled when readers go to a Tiger Reserve and share their account of first-time-lucky sightings!

We feel humbled when fellow teachers appreciate the use of 'Live' cases (shared by us in the blog) in their MBA classes.

We feel elated when stories like 'Dancing at Eighty' inspire the younger generation of dancers.

We feel blessed when our story of a Covid survivor appeals to 2000+ readers who feel reassured.

We feel great to publish guest stories from teenage readers and senior citizens alike!

A Squirrel Gets A Home by Rohini Tiwari

Fallen but not Forgotten by Trixie Asirvatham

We get a sense of fulfillment when my former-students-turned-entrepreneurs make a mark in their lives!

Proof of the Pudding

Week after week, Kaun Banega Ghumakkad online Contest triggers inquisitiveness and learning about Nature, Wildlife and Travel. Readers wait anxiously once the next Contest date is announced.

Gratitude

We express our gratitude to each one of you. We wouldn't have travelled this far without you. 

The first 100,000 views of our blog took five years. Whereas the next 100,000 came in three years. All because of you. Take a look at our growth and other statistics below:

For those readers who are new to our blog, you can browse to see the spectrum of our stories in the recent post 'Ghumakkad is Eight'.

We firmly believe in sharing of knowledge and experiences as depicted in the PQ- picturesque quote below.

Once again, a big thank you to each one of you! 

Stay connected, stay safe and stay healthy.

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 6th July 2020

#ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #200000pageviews #bloggers #travelblog #wildlifeblog #natureblog #picturesquequotes #pq #blogreaders #thrillofsharing #gratitude #joyofsharing #knowledgesharing

Real Life to 'Real-Time' Cases

Is it a typo? 'Real-Time' Cases?

Haven't heard it before!

If you felt the same way, then you need to read further.

Real-life cases always generate more discussion in an MBA class. But many times such cases get outdated very fast. Subsequent corporate events which unfold after the case was written and it gets discussed in the class, make it less relevant and impactful.

What can the faculty do in such situations?

The key is to move from real-life to real-time. Yes, real-time as in the case of military combat systems. Tracking a target in real time, engaging with your weapons in real time and assessing the impact- all in real time! Sounds cool?

But, how can this concept of ‘real-time’ be introduced in case-based teaching?

Can real-time cases be used across all management subjects?

How to design such real time cases?

What is the lead time to prepare such cases?

From where can we source such real-time cases?

Has this methodology been tried out somewhere?

What is the impact of such real-time case methodology on learning by management students?

Ghumakkad a.k.a. Harsh Bhargava will answer these and many more queries in a Workshop-cum-Master Class this week. It will introduce the faculties to ‘real-time cases’ through some ‘real-time’ cases in a recursive way!

Take your call because today's generation is media-driven, tech-savvy and hates reading long notes, handouts or cases.

Happy learning.

Reach me for further details

     

   -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/23rd April 2019/ hbindia@gmail.com 

#learning #experientiallearning #mba #casemethod #pedagogy #reallifecases #realtimecases #learningforlife

Uri The Movie with Many Lessons in Management

"How is the josh?" "High Sir!"
"हिंदुस्तान घुसेगा भी और मारेगा भी"
"There is no silver medal in war"
"वक़्त आ गया है ख़ून का बदला ख़ून से लेने का"
And many such dialogues reverberate after one sees the recent Hindi movie 'Uri The Surgical Strike'. Apart from topping the box office collections, the movie has many lessons in Business Management.

The entire PGDM class of 2020 of VVISM Hyderabad was taken to a multiplex for watching the movie. The students came back all charged up. It was then that Ghumakkad decided to run a Case Study based on the movie. It was very satisfying when the students brought out the following concepts through various events/scenes in the movie.

1. Team work at multiple levels
2. Goal setting
3. Alignment of individual goals with org goals 
4. Role clarity of every team member
5. Dealing with Uncertainty
6. Leadership
7. Planning and execution
8. Motivation
9. Communication
10. Selection of Team 
11. Emotional Quotient and its power
12. Coordination
13. Role of technology in achieving goals
14. Physical and moral courage
15. Service before self
16. Humility
17. Tag-line and impact on marketing
18. The Power of Networking (Serial Nos. 18 to 22 courtesy Tarun Patro)
19. Distraction Tactics
20. Cost of a small mistake
21. Paying attention to detail
22. Back Up Plan or Plan B

We found the movie to be a great learning aid for management students. There are many movies which I have used earlier for teaching. Some of these are listed below:

Patton

The Bridge On The River Kwai

Wake Up Sid

Dangal

Lagaan

Bajrangi Bhaijaan

MS Dhoni: The Untold Story

The challenge is to trigger the discussion with right questions. 

Fellow teachers may reach me for further details on my mail ID. 

Once again, thank you the Class of 2020 for an enriching session and VVISM for creating the right learning environment.

Jai Hind!

Thanks for browsing

     -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 6th Feb 2019 

      hbindia@gmail.com 

#casestudy #learning #experientiallearning #mba #pgdm #vvism1 #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Skateboarding for Startups

What is skateboarding? Not as a sport but for a business!
Can it be used by Startups?
Are their some examples from India?
Read on to get answers and plenty of live 'ideas' for skateboarding.

Skateboarding means developing your product or service in stages. Coined by Henrik Kniberg, it signifies incremental product development. He drew a sketch reproduced later, which went viral. Also called MVP- minimum viable product- it helps the user to get a feel of your product. You get valuable feedback based on which you design the next stage and so on. Sounds cool? It is.

But there are guys who criticise it saying it oversimplifies things. Agreed it does. But by simplifying a design process if you get more users who are willing to try it and give you valuable feedback, what more do you want? That is why we included this topic in our Startup Management course at VVISM Hyderabad. 

This post brings out the applicability of skateboarding concept to startups. Instead of using the oft-quoted example of Dropbox, we analysed the Indian startup scenario. We share here the highlights of concepts and cases discussed as also further reading. Thanks are due to the PGDM Class of 2019 at VVISM Hyderabad for enriching the process of learning. Ghumakkad currently teaches at VVISM.

We present here six business ideas out of 80+ ideas submitted by the students. These submissions bring out the applicability of the skateboarding concept while developing this business idea.

It has been a fulfilling experience by using the philosophy of  'learning by doing'. As is evident from the students' business ideas and skateboarding above, the concept is not only relevant but practical too!

We had shared the following related posts earlier also based on the Startup Management course:

How to Identify a Startup Opportunity?
Startup Ecosystem in India
Can Startup Management be Taught?
Proof of the Pudding- Inspiring Stories of Ghumakkad's Former Students-turned-entrepreneurs

Thanks for browsing

    -Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 23rd Oct 2018
#Startups #skateboarding #MVP #entrepreneurs #leanstartup #startupindia #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #vvism #vishwavishwani