Reflections, Looking, Back and more....

This morning was I was driving to work, I was reflecting on the time that I've spent at Intuit over the last 12-13 weeks. Then I started to think about my career as a whole and the journey. When I graduated from college, I was living in a delusional world with expectations that everything should be handed to me on a silver platter and that I shouldn't have to work for less than a certain amount. It was basically the ego of the first dot com generation. We all felt entitled to say the least.

When I look back over the last 13 weeks, one thing really stands out to me. The amount of personal growth I've experience over the summer is probably equivalent or greater than the personal growth I've experienced since I graduated from college. Personal growth from come from a number of experiences, moving to a new city where you don't know anybody, working in an industry where you have absolutely NOTHING in common with the people you are working with, working somewhere that forces you to deal with people from ALL walks of life and more. While this isn't my final blog post for my intern blog, it's getting really close. But the advice I would give somebody when searching for a job or an internship is, don't just look at whats going to give you professional growth, look at something that will give you the opportunity for personal growth too because the personal growth is the fuel for your professional growth.

Business School vs. the Real World

After spending a summer working in corporate America, I realized that you go to business school to get your MBA and they basically will give you a piece of paper with three letters on the end of your name. Then you start working and you have to earn your degree all over again. While you do learn a good amount in the classroom, the classroom is about the fundamentals of business. Most of that stuff doesn’t change, but bringing those skills into the real world forces you to evolve and combine the b-school skills with the real world skills. In school things are pretty black and white. In the real world, there’s a good amount of grey area. There’s way more risk involved. But, that’s what makes it interesting!!!

Being in the Moment

I wrote a previous blog post about this subject where I talked about being present. The reason I'm writing about it again is because I feel like it's really an ongoing theme in my growth this summer. The power of presence has made me realize that it really is essential to your happiness. What I've found is that in my career and in my life, I've always been worried about getting ahead. It's ironic that the extreme desire to get ahead can actual be counterproductive. You'd think that a focus on getting ahead would get you there. Ironically excessive focus on getting ahead reduces the quality of the work you are currently producing.

After reading a ton of books this summer, listening to podcasts, hearing executives talk, I realized that when you can master presence, the rest of your success in life is just a byproduct of being present. Looking back over the course of my internship, I would say the major thing I was guilty of was being so obsessed with making my internship lead to a full time offer that it actually took away from the experience to some degree. So, my one piece of advice to anybody in any internship is to go ahead and let the cards fall where they may, enjoy yourself, work hard, and live in the now, not the future.

The Final Stretch

Well, I thought I'd write a quick blog post on the final stretch. I'm about 12 working days away from being done with my internship. I started much earlier than most MBA students, but it has been a jam packed summer with a ton of learning opportunity. I've gained significant expertise in areas I was previously unfamiliar with. I'd like to think that I've added value to my resume that will make me quite marketable. I was in the middle of wrapping up one of my projects and came to realize how much I really did use skills from my MBA to work on my projects. I think the biggest challenge I've had as an MBA is to be concise and to the point. But, when I write things now, I think about how much shorter I can make everything. I'll have another update on my wrap up and some video footage posted pretty soon. Oh yeah, if you ever get to live in San Diego, do it.

5 Best First Person Narrators- Actor’s whose voices you wish where in your head

1. MORGAN FREEMAN –SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION/PENGUINS

It would be difficult to argue against the fact that Morgan Freeman has the greatest storytelling voice of all time. In Shawshank Redemption his ability to tell the story was what made the movie. The guy’s voice is so great he managed to make a movie about Penguins with no actors absolutely incredible. If the voice in your headed sounded like this you’d probably sleep like a baby every single night. This guy could probably narrate a story about two people staring at each other for 5 hours and you’d find it interesting.

2. Daniel Stern “The voice of the Wonder Years”

Let’s face it Fred Savage was pretty worthless without that voice inside his head. Those quirky insights and hilarious commentary was all Daniel Stern. Yes, it’s that other guy from Home Alone who was Joe Pesci’s partner in crime. He is the voice of Kevin Arnold. Can you imagine waking up every morning with that voice in your head? Just brushing your teeth and taking a dump would be a captivating story.

3. Edward Norton- Fight Club

Talk about a storyteller. Having his voice inside your head might be a bit disturbing. But, this guy in my mind is one of the most versatile actors around. Hopefully you’d have his voice in your head and not Tyler Durden’s voice.

4. Johnny Depp – BLOW

After watching this movie, I wanted to be the largest distributor of narcotics in the US and hang out with Pablo Escobar. The way he told the story made every moment poetic. When he described Pablo Escobar and said “For those you have been on the moon the last 20 year’s, he was it, the king of it all, El Majico” that made the scene.

5. Robert Deniro-CASINO

After this you feel like you want to be in the Maffia. Can you imagine walking around, going to bars, clubs, etc, with this guy’s voice in your head. “When she ordered a long island, I just knew right then and there I was F#$#$d.

Be Present

I know that I've spent a good deal of time writing about thinking about your future, thinking about your job search and more. One of the things that humanity as a whole has become completely obsessed with is progress. Ironically, so much of our progress has led to misery. We become obsessed with getting ahead and moving forward, so that there is never any ability to be present. You can see this all around you.

• The person who sits in a restaurant or a bar looking at their cell phone or their watch waiting for the other person
• The person who spends all their time planning for the future, writing down ideas, and never acting on them
• The person who lives in the past and constantly starts stories with "I used to"
• Waiting for events or circumstances to be favorable in order to have a favorable emotional response

When you are not present, you are in a mental prison which keeps your from reaching your full potential. This mental prison is really responsible for the state of misery you are in. At the rate that information reaches us today through mediums like the Internet, there is a tremendous danger that humanity will not only perpetuate this misery but fuel rapid spread of this misery.

After my recent reading of the Eckhart Tolle Book A New Earth, I realized that when you get to the future you are still in the present moment, and the future will continue to exist until you die.
You will find that the more present you are, the more power and impact your interactions with people will have. Just to be clear, I'm not saying don't have goals, don't plan, the key is to make plans and not concern yourself with arriving at your destination. In other words, enjoy the journey.

Patience

Lately my blog entries have taken an interesting turn and become sort of a reflection on life. A good friend came to visit me this weekend from the bay area and noticed that I had become much calmer, despite having tons of energy. It made me think about something that people throughout my life have talked to me about.

The first person to talk to me about this was my dad. When I was younger, he always used to tell me “Srinivas you need to be patient.” It ranged all the way from a computer that wouldn’t boot fast enough, to an internet browser that wouldn’t load a page fast enough, to the old lady who wouldn’t drive fast enough. I was listening to the audio book The 48 Laws of Power this weekend and it talked about the power of patience. And it made me think back to the job search and about how if I had just been patient everything would have been fine. It all turned out the same regardless of my impatience. So, I’ll end today with a quote by somebody very wise. As Ferris Bueller once said “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it.” In other words, be patient and don’t get caught up in the race.

Getting the most out of your MBA internship

So I thought I’d write this little blurb on getting the most out of your MBA internship. One mistake I think people make when they start their internship is not looking at the pieces of their project from beginning to end and figuring out what the deliverables are. Sometimes it’s not clearly defined, and it’s up to you to take ownership and define your goals and deliverables concretely. People sometimes seem to think that once you’ve gotten an offer it’s all done. But really what counts is what you do when you get to your company.

One thing that’s really been great about Intuit in the first week is that you are constantly getting feedback and constantly learning. In one week on the job, I’ve learned a ton. I think every internship is an opportunity to be a sponge and learn. They also don’t’ treat you like an “Intern” per se. I feel like I’m fully integrated into the team and working on really cool projects that make a big impact.