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The Bottom Line

Aparna Swarts Mukherjee '06 (with additional reporting by Stewart Glickman '87)

HAPPINESS 101 : ETHICS AND SELF - AWARENESS FOR THE TYPE-A MBA

For the instructor of what's been described as one of the most popular courses in Columbia Business School history, a standing-room only crowd of MBAs anticipating his arrival was nothing new. What was novel about the sold-out event that drew more than 100 alumni and students to Merrill Lynch's midtown offi ces was the release of Prof. Srikumar Rao's new book, Are You Ready to Succeed? (Hyperion Books, January 2006) - as well as the prospect of experiencing his muchdiscussed class, Creative Personal Mastery (CPM), firsthand.

CBS is not alone. Students at the Haas School of Business at the University of Berkeley packed their auditorium in September to participate in Professor Rao's half-day CPM workshop, more remarkable because of the day and time - Sunday at 9:00 am. There is now a petition being organized to bring CPM to Haas.

Offered by CBS since 1999 and lauded in Time, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, the popular elective disappeared from the course guide Summer 2005. In the interim, CPM has become more widely known with articles in major magazines in Brazil, Japan, Spain and other countries. It was the cover article a recent issue of Investment Dealer's Digest. For the past two fall semesters, CPM moved across the Atlantic after Rao, who received "many overtures" from top business schools in the US and abroad, accepted an offer to teach the class to London Business School students for credit.

With CBS graduates and current students clamoring for the administration to offer the class again, the leaders of New York's alumni club, CBSAC/ NY, decided to take action and offered the course, offsite and non-for-credit, to Columbia alumni and students last spring.

Now, CBS, has taken action as well. For the fi rst time, through the Offi ce of the Dean and its Offi ce of Student Life, CPM is being offered as a special not-for-credit course during Spring 2007, open to both current students and alumni. Classes will be held on Sundays starting in January. There is also a weekend retreat. While the deadline for applications is 5.00 p.m. on Friday, November 17, 2006, the date the application is received will be factored into the admission decision. In the past this course has been heavily oversubscribed.

As was the case when it was a for-credit class, CPM entails an application process that resembles no other. In the past, not even bidding all your points could garner a spot in the class; likewise, offering to pay the $2,000 program fee for current students and $4,500 for alumni doesn't guarantee the opportunity to participate in the 9 sessions to be held Sundays starting in January. Instead, applicants must read and react to a 60-plus page syllabus and write a six-part essay, answering such questions as "What specifi c - list them - learning outcomes would you like to take away from this program? An example of such an outcome is, 'I would like to learn how to stop being bothered by what I think others are thinking about me.'

"While the Offi ce of the Dean makes no guarantees (the program fee, minus a $495 administrative charge, will be refundable after four sessions), Rao promises that his set of unconventional strategies will work even for highly driven - and skeptical - readers and students. Those who actually do the prescribed exercises, which include journal writing, meditation and regular group meetings, he says, will eventually discover their own desires and path to happiness, especially in the workplace.

"It's a set of techniques that will allow you to reach your ideal job," said Rao, a CBS alum himself (he holds a PhD in Marketing). "[It's] something you're so passionate about, you'd pay to do it. You hear people ask, 'So how do you like your job?' and the answer is 'Well, the benefi ts are great.' That's pretty terrible."

For the majority of CPM, the exercises and the virtual community comprised of hundreds of former students live up to his promises. "One of the things that makes CPM unique is that, from my original design, the course never comes to an end," explained Rao in an email. "It is expected that every person who enrolls follows his/her unique path indefi nitely. That is the reason the alumni group is so committed."

Rao's former students have also embraced his new book. At January's book signing, alumni purchased more than 65 copies of Are You Ready to Succeed? in less than an hour, surprising the unidentifi ed bookseller who accompanied Rao. "You're lucky if you sell a dozen books at events like this. Some people were buying 10 apiece," he said, noting that Merrill Lynch was planning to buy the rest of the books he'd brought along.

Beyond messaging on their own list-serv and gathering for retreats, alumni of the class provide more than 20 pages worth of glowing testimonials that can be found on Rao's website, areyourea dytosucceed.com, as well as in reviews on Amazon.com. (The fi rst CBS reviewer begins his recommendation in confessionary mode: "Prior to taking Creativity and Personal Mastery, the course upon which the book is based, I was an obnoxious, mechanistic, sociopathic prince of capitalism. I drank, drugged, womanized, broke the law.At the beginning of the course, I had been fi red twice, totalled four cars, been arrested in fi ve states and infl icted emotional harm on countless females. You could say I was ready for a change.")

The $2,000 student tuition includes all materials, breakfast and lunch on class days and the weekend retreat. It does not include transportation to the retreat center or any lodging expenses. Some limited financial assistance may be available. If cost is a major factor that will determine your ability to take the program, students should indicate this in a separate letter to Professor Rao with their applications.

As for any additional advice to those considering the course, Professor Rao, commented via phone from London, "This is a rare opportunity for Columbia students and alumni to take CPM and they should avail of it if they possibly can."

Details about the Spring 2007 course can be found at www2.gsb.columbia.edu/students/life/creativity.html.


PLAYING 20 QUESTIONS WITH CPM PROFESSOR RAO

1) How would you summarize CPM in one sentence?

Let's go with two sentences. Participants can expect to greatly increase their managerial effectiveness and simultaneously experience a marked decrease of stress in their lives. Their ability to forge relationships - at work as well as outside - improves.

2) How do you account for the popularity of the course?

It works in spades. MBAs, JDs and the professionals who take CPM are skeptical and driven personalities. They are asked to take nothing on faith. When they try the exercises, they notice frequently dramatic positive change in their lives and those of their colleagues. The sense of community engendered by the course and, in particular, by the retreat is palpable. Most participants report that they got to know more persons better through this one course than in all the rest of their Columbia experience combined. Many lifelong friendships have been formed and not a few romantic and business partnerships. Now such relationships are forming between different "generations" of CPM alums. This has been designed into the course and it is working better than ever.

3) How is your course different and/or similar to Stanford's Interpersonal Dynamics (aka "Touchy-Feely")?

I have talked with several Stanford alums who have taken "touchy feely" so I can comment on some differences. However, I have not taken the course nor talked with the instructor(s) so there may well be stuff that I have missed.

CPM is specifi cally designed not to have an "end." Students are encouraged to go back to the beginning after the semester and do the exercises again. Many formal and informal groups have formed to do this and numerous individuals have reported that they got more out of it the second time around.

Also, CPM was intended to create a supportive community. It is, to my knowledge, the ONLY course at a top business school - now schools! - that has its own alumni community. Members stay involved. Many make it a point to attend the retreats or guest lectures. Many have taken the course more than once. I remain available indefi nitely as a resource to course alums.

4) How many students have you taught?

Tough question because, for years, I have been incorporating some of this material in all my executive teaching sessions. For the full CPM course, as such, the number is hundreds.

5) How do CBS students you've taught differ from those at LBS?

Students are highly comparable in terms of ability and interest. However, LBS is far more diverse - there were more than 20 countries represented in my class! - and therefore many more points of view and cultural perspectives emerge in breakout exercises.

6) What if I'm a non-spiritual person?

This is irrelevant. The exercises work and there are frameworks provided that any participant can profi tably use regardless of how he/she chooses to defi ne himself/ herself. However, many have reported that they felt more connected to their own spiritual/religious tradition as a result of the course and that, for the fi rst time, they truly understood the signifi cance of rituals. I have had multiple members from every major religion - as well as agnostics and atheists - in my class over the years.

7) Why is the syllabus so long?

I want would-be applicants to have a good feel for the course. This works. Readers know that they absolutely want to take the course or they don't want anything to have to do with it.

8) What are looking for in applications to CPM?

I make a judgment on who can best benefi t from the course and who can best contribute to it. This is becoming increasingly tougher as the number of applicants has surged in recent times. I have had to turn down many, many perfectly qualifi ed applicants simply because there wasn't enough room.

9) Do I really have to do an application?

Yes! And [applicants] better labor over it because a cursory application will certainly not make even the fi rst cut. Also, the date the application is received is factored into the admission decision. In the past this course has been heavily oversubscribed. I highly recommend submitting applications early as indications of strong interest in the course.

10) What happens at the retreat?

I'll duck this question. There is no way I can describe it except to say that so many persons found it such a powerful experience that they keep coming back years after they graduate from school. Ten alums came to Wales to attend the retreat I conducted for LBS students.

11) How much can I accomplish on my own by reading your books and doing exercises?

Good question. I don't have enough data to answer this. Check back with me next year. There is one important point to bear in mind. It is extremely powerful to have a group of peers, similarly motivated, who are struggling with the same issues at the same time. The bonding is strong and much learning happens from interactions with colleagues, in person and through the class electronic bulletin board. The course is a total immersion experience and very intense. All of this is not available to the solitary reader.

12) What's your most important piece of advice for those of not taking CPM [but are interested in selfactualization]?

My book will certainly help as will going through the extensive reading list at the end. I will keep updating this and adding new material - including names of persons and organizations, websites, readings, etc. - at my own website: www.areyoureadytosucceed.com

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