Not everyone can afford to go to a world class management institute before setting up a business of one’s own. But that does not mean that people who do not have professional qualifications cannot become effective managers.
Management is all about managing resources and personnel in such a way that you make the business self-sustaining and earn a decent profit over your investment. It could be a long-term venture or it could be your daily business. What matters most is: Are adept at doing what you are doing? If you prove your management skills and emerge as a successful manager, nobody would think of checking out your credentials. At the end of the day, it is not your qualifications that define you. It is your success that does the job for you.
Once you write your own success story, nobody would be interested in your qualifications. Everybody would be interested in knowing how you pulled it off. Your success story will inspire so many budding businessmen struggling with their start-ups. It will generate interest among writers and publishers. And, if you really hit the big stuff, you may become a subject of study for universities and management institutes.
I have never been to the Harvard Business School. I may be thousands of miles away from it. And, I may never be able to get anywhere near that. But that does not stop me from indulging in this discourse. Some may choose to label this attitude of mine as arrogance. If that happens, I would gladly accept that compliment with all my humility.
History has witnessed some street-smart managers who can give professional managers a run for their money. Professional managers enter the field with theoretical knowledge. Street-smart managers learn things the hard way—on ground zero. What they lost in education; they make up through experience. Top Chinese business magnet, Jack Ma as well as the head of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates, are living examples of this. Both of them were school dropouts. But they inched their way to the top.
The street-smart managers begin their study of the business environment at ground zero whereas business school graduates arrive there by parachute armed with their theoretical knowledge. It is a tussle between knowledge and experience. Both of them have a fair chance of a win. Both of them have an equal chance of losing.
If a street-smart manager makes it big, he becomes the hot favourite of management gurus. Everyone wants to know what he did and how he did it. Because, in the game of business, the winner takes it all and the loser has to starve. And, the loser has to start all over again. It does not matter whether the winner is a Harvard Business School graduate or a street-smart manager. Here success becomes the criterion for judgement.
When a start-up hits the ‘Bull’s Eye,’ the business community acknowledges the business acumen of the businessman in question. The business community acknowledges that the businessman knows the secret to success. That is what matters to everyone. Because, in business, the winner gets the crown and the loser gets the boot. And, everyone wants to learn how to get the crown.
The point is: I have learnt things the hard way. At times, raw wisdom gained through sheer practical experience can stand up to the highest-level of theoretical knowledge. And, sometimes, it might even score over that. Knowledge and experience are equally important. Neither must be slighted or overemphasized. Both of them need to learn from each other.
For effective management of personnel and resources, it is imperative that we strike a balance between theoretical knowledge and practical experience. In small businesses ventures, however, it is evident that street-smart managers do a lot better than professional managers in running their establishments.
Monetary resources provide cushioning to your efforts. But becoming too cozy could make you oblivious to ground realities. Poverty, on the other hand, throws some of the greatest challenges of life at you. It does not matter how you win. What matters most is that you win.
It does not matter whether you get the chair as a result of your learning or whether you learn after you get the chair. The important thing is that you learn the tricks of the trade and prove your mettle. Because, it is not just knowledge that empowers you. Sometimes, experience could emerge as the fountainhead of knowledge.
