On the subject, I fell in love with

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR: A REFLECTION NOTE

I could vividly remember how I was looking forward to my first Organisational Behavior class delivered by Dr. Sriji E S. I was sitting on the first bench looking anxious as well as eager. The first session was beyond my expectations. I thought it would be a lecture. However, Dr. Sriji played a movie called “Eye of the beholder” for us. It’s a story about Michael Gerard, an artist. Five different people have five different perceptions of Michael Gerard. To the waiter, he is a womanizer; to his mother, he is a thoughtless and unappreciative son; to Cabbie, the taxi driver, he is a gangster; to Kapil Meyer, the house owner, he is a lunatic; and to the cleaning woman, he is a murderer and a monster. But who is the real Gerard? The takeaway from the movie is perception. The entire session was interactive and the short film piqued my curiosity as well as my fellow classmates. Interacting with my classmates helped me in knowing and understanding their varied views. Thanks to Sriji mam for encouraging us to share our views from the very first session. This movie had a huge impact on me in terms of what I perceive out of facts, situations, and people. Nowadays, I think for a moment, before forming an opinion which is helping me a lot, indeed.

Subsequently, we delved into different topics in OB. One of the interesting tests we took was to determine our personality. It is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test. Everyone took the test individually in the class. I answered all the questions truthfully. Certain questions made me introspect. However, the result was candid: IIFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging). At the same time, I also remember asking myself whether I should change my personality. But then, every individual is Sui generis. I am proud of myself and this test has helped me to understand myself more clearly. I found this activity quite interesting insofar as it helped me to know myself.

There was a session when Sriji mam showed us a few black and white pictures and asked us to write a story based on what we saw. Then, she asked us to narrate our story. This session gave us all an opportunity to give wings to our creativity. We thoroughly enjoyed our wildest imaginations reflected in those stories. Finally, Sriji mam showed us the same pictures in color. She also told us what was actually happening. Once again, I realized that what seems to be the truth may perhaps not be. On the whole, it was a fun-filled session. One more lesson, one more learning!

If there’s a subject that scares me out of my wits, it is Law. We had our first internal assessment for Law on a Saturday afternoon, and a session on Emotional Intelligence (EI) was organized in the morning before the exam. At first, I was skeptical about attending the session. However, I attended it. The session was engaging as well as informative. I got to know more about feelings, emotions, and some emotional theories like Goleman’s EI performance model, Salovey, Mayer, and Caruso’s EI ability model, etc. It was an immersive session so much so that I forgot my law exam in the afternoon!

When we were dealing with Learning and its theories, Sriji mam proposed another activity to us. It was to know about our learning style. We took an assessment for this. My style according to the assessment is: I am a Visual Learner! And, I am, indeed. I, along with my friends, discussed our learning styles and the reasons behind those style. As usual, an interesting session coupled with an interesting activity. My love for this subject is deepening day by day.

In a particular session about the Team concept, Sriji mam separated us into a group of 8 and asked us to hold hands. She gave certain instructions and we followed them. 1^st person should hold the 5^th person’s left hand, 2^nd should hold the 6^th ‘s, and so on. First, we need to hold our left hands followed by the right in the same way. Then, we should come out holding our hands.  It was quite difficult for us as our left and right hands were intertwined with others. No team succeeded. A particular team that boasted to have found a solution actually got it wrong, though. Sriji mam asked us about the difficulty we faced in the activity. We gave her a litany of reasons! She asked us to find a solution. In the next session, we discussed the activity again and she explained to us where we went wrong. A fun-filled team activity and I got a chance to interact with my team members.

One day, we were discussing the concept called Groups: The why, what, how, and other related questions on groups. I was expecting an activity for this. As expected, Sriji Mam asked us to watch a movie called “12 Angry Men.” She enticed us with an offer stating that if we watched the movie, we would get additional attendance for 2 sessions. To those who were struggling with maintaining 75% attendance, this was a boon. That night, I watched the movie. Quite an interesting one. It is about how 12 jury members decide whether a boy who’s alleged to have murdered his father is to be convicted or acquitted. In the beginning, 11 members give their consent to convict, and only one, number 8, consents to acquit the boy. Slowly, the movie progresses as they decode the scenario and finally, everyone agrees to acquit the boy from the charge of murder.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching the movie. The next day, Sriji Mam gave us a short test on the movie, and then we started discussing the movie. I was so eager to share my views and to know the opinions of others. In fine, I enjoyed the movie and I also got additional attendance for 2 sessions! A win-win situation!

It was a rainy afternoon and seeing that we were half asleep in the post-lunch session, Sriji Mam stopped her lecture midway and invited us to play a game called “X&Y”.  We formed 4 groups. She set out the rules of the game. As we played the game, we only thought about winning, and I, along with my team members, devised various strategies to win. We thought the game was all about winning/losing. But it was not. Sriji mam explained the game once again relating it to the concept of Conflicts. We got to learn about collaboration, competition, compromise, avoidance, and accommodation.  In the end, none of the team was bothered about the results. All that mattered to us was the fun we had while playing the game. All thanks to Sriji mam.

One day, we were discussing about negotiation. Sriji mam gave us a sheet of paper with an imaginary problem statement to get hands-on experience in negotiation. We have to read the statement and start negotiating with our partner beside us. I had to negotiate with my partner, Madhesh (my classmate) for oranges: My requirement was orange peel to make facial scrub and his requirement was orange pulp for making juice.  There was only one orange vendor and we had to negotiate to find a common ground. The entire process of negotiating with Madhesh was fun-filled. The purpose of this activity was achieved and we learned a new concept through that.

At the fag end of the course, Sriji Mam had almost completed the syllabus. We were in the middle of our second internals. It was a Friday afternoon and we had 2 block OB sessions. A few of my classmates skipped the session and went to sleep. Being a wise girl, I skipped my sleep and attended the session! The topic of the day was “Change”. The topic energized me the moment Sriji mam asked us the question “What is change? Why do we have to or need change?”, I couldn’t help myself but raise my hand and answer. Then, as I anticipated, Sriji Mam came up with an activity for us. She asked us to form a circle around the class and stand according to our roll numbers. Starting from Kevin (1^st roll number), everyone had to shake hands with every other person and say positives and negatives about that person. It seemed to be an arduous task. Notwithstanding the class strength of almost 50, Kevin started, followed by me (2^nd roll number), Krithika (3^rd roll number), and so on. As I completed my turn meeting others, my energy was totally sapped. Then, I started to receive comments from others. Almost everyone said a lot of positives about me. I was so overwhelmed and touched by their comments. Rithu said my smile made her day; one of my classmates said that I am her inspiration; Krithika said that I am a very humble and down-to-earth person who doesn’t shy away from helping others; and many more compliments. I did get a few negative comments though that I must have some fun besides studying and spending time with others too. Looks like a valid suggestion. Maybe I will try to implement it soon. To our surprise, Sriji mam also joined us. When she approached me and asked me to say the positives and negatives about her, I straightaway said that there wasn’t anything negative about her. To me, she is a cheerful, witty, and shrewd professor full of positive energy. Then, she spoke about me. She said that I am an ideal student and an inspiration to her. Naturally, I was chuffed. In my entire lifetime, I have received many compliments from my teachers but this will be right there at the top for its genuineness and sincerity. She was also kind enough to say that there aren’t any negatives about me. Only I know about myself! In the end, we were all so tired but elated. Our bond grew stronger after this activity. To make this session even more memorable, we took photos with Sriji mam. I am sure that this activity will remain etched in our memory for a long time.

As I look back, I realize that each and every activity we participated in taught us a lesson and had an impact on us.

            I love talking. And there wasn’t a session when I didn’t speak when I got an opportunity. I shared my views in each and every OB session. At times, I supported, sometimes I opposed. I got into a debate on the topics brought to the table. I would say that many a time, I looked forward to the sessions and anticipated the activities that Sriji mam would bring for us! And over some time, it had become a habit and there was a time when despite my illness I pushed myself to attend the session; not because I had to, but because I wanted to.

My classmates would make fun of me stating, “We don’t have to worry about speaking in OB class because we have Krishikaa with us who will do all the speaking: not only for herself but for the whole class too!” Should I take it as a compliment or a jibe? Wish it was the former.

Once, Sriji Mam said, when we know less or when we have a narrow mind, we tend to jump to conclusions. But as we get to know more and have a broader view, every answer for a situation would be “It depends.” This message hit the nail on its head and I will remember this for life.

            Thank you, Sriji mam. You have been a wonderful professor and I have learned a lot. Looking forward to meeting you in the next semester!