Cranfield takes pride in this.
“We have the busiest MBA in Europe, quite possibly the world.”
“We give you more work than you can do. It’s deliberate.”
I’ll explain more about that next time, but for now I’d like to talk about my learning team.
Have you ever watched NBC’s Community? It’s a comedy based around a study group at an American college. The similarities to our Cranfield learning team probably start and finish with the literal: it’s a study group. But the show is hilarious. I’m not one to shy away from unnecessary analogies, so I’ll make comparisons for the benefit of Community fans.
Gary
Gary’s our local Brit, although coming from Wales he may prefer I be a bit more specific. I won’t be. Prior to starting the MBA, Gary had held senior IT director positions at a couple of UK water services company. He loves photography, scuba diving and cooking. As they say, however, the proof is in the pudding. Our team’s yet to have Gary’s pudding, so I’ll believe it when I see it.
Gary’s an ESTP, for the psychology enthusiasts. His Belbin teamwork styles are: Shaper, Implementer, Complete/Finisher. More importantly, he considers himself a bit of a James Bond.
Being the more experienced member of our team, there are natural analogies with Pearce (still some 20 years younger then Pearce, mind you). Gary has a propensity for being comically offensive, although this is generally deliberate and endearing, unlike Pearce. Gary’s our most outgoing and talkative personality, bringing an element of both Jeff and Britta to the team. He also drives a Porsche, so…
Ranjit
Ranjit’s a mechanical engineer from India. He’s led a nomadic life working across India for Honeywell. Most recently, he was working in turbocharger manufacturing, satisfying his love of travel and fuel-powered performance vehicles.
Ranjit’s put in the ENTP box, contributing Shaper, Specialist, and Resource Investigator roles in our team. He claims to identify with Jesse Pinkman. I’ve never watched Breaking Bad, so I’ll assume this is a good and honourable association.
Bringing a calm but direct communication style, Ranjit has an element of Abed about him. He carries himself with an air of self-assurance (the good kind), hinting at Jeff. He’s also the youngest in the group, although any comparison with Annie there is pretty misleading.
Anuradha
Anuradha has an economics / banking background, and has travelled from India to be here. She's into travelling (luckily), national parks & wildlife, textiles and reading - both fiction and non-fiction. This should add value to our upcoming marketing assignment, which falls into the grey area between those two. She's also prone to whiling away the hours deep in thought.
Anuradha is an INTP type, naturally falling into the Teamwork, Monitor Evaluator and Specialist roles within a group. She'd say she's normally the sweet, caring spirit, but would like to work on a more assertive, powerful persona. Perhaps we'll have a Daenerys Targaryen subplot forming over the next 12 months.
Anuradha has a quiet, team-focussed and peace-loving spirit. However, give her the table and she’ll communicate firmly and directly. She brings something of Shirley to the group, although not in any negative ways.
Michel
Michel has a banking, manufacturing, Lebanese & Brazilian background. That’s quite a mix. His most recent roles were pure banking: corporate credit relationship manager and assistant branch manager. He’s into most outdoor activities, particularly hunting, swimming and debating. I would argue the latter is more an indoor activity, but given his penchant for debating that would be playing straight into his hands.
Michel’s also an INTP, bringing Plant and Specialist roles to the team. He doesn’t quickly identify with any particular characters, but he has a bit of a Jeff Goldblum vibe.
Like Ranjit, Michel has a bit of Jeff (Winger) about his quiet self assurance. He’s probably also the trendy one of the group. With his interest in hunting, expect Michel to feature prominently in any campus paintball episodes.
Craig
Well you can read my previous post to hear about me, but here’s some supplementary information: I've been diagnosed an INTJ according to the Myers-Briggs's, and my prominent Belbin learning styles are Monitor Evaluator, Plant and Shaper.
That’s all about the team for now. Next time I’ll explain more about our schedule. In the meantime, enjoy some Community.
~ Craig
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