After wonderful Christmas holidays, which I personally spent with my
parents, friends and relatives back in Russia, I came to ESSEC to continue my studies in finance, marketing, strategy and management. However, I faced something so
unique and creative which I would never have expected from a traditional top business
school.
A new year 2015 started for us students of the Grande Ecole program with Imagination Week – the event designed specifically to foster our
creativity, strategic thinking and, literally our imagination. During five days, we
worked together to produce innovative ideas and actions about the future of
businesses, societies and humanity. But “working” is not the correct word here
– actually, we simply created, imagined and envisaged with no limits or
borders. While in 2014 the Week was related to Transhumanism, the topic this
year was Lifestyles. This theme covered all the ideas and problems related to
the way we live every day, so we had no boundaries while working on
it.
So, what exactly is Imagination Week?
It consisted of three
activities, which let us think differently about lifestyles.
Firstly, we were set up in teams of six and asked to prepare a
proposal. What was the topic of such a proposal? What issues did we need to
address? We were absolutely free to choose one. The only requirement was to
keep it in line with the theme of the Week: Lifestyles. And that was the most
fascinating experience: while some teams focused on more practical problems,
such as infrastructure, financial services etc. (still, we are in the business
school), others discussed augmentation, nanotechnologies and even immortality. Of
course, while preparing our proposals, we were not taught how to calculate net
present value or how to analyze cash-flow statements…but we developed our
strategic thinking, our vision of where we will be as humanity in several
years, and where we should move as a person and a professional. Here, we moved
far beyond the operational and technical responsibilities of managers; we became
decision makers who are able to innovate. And I believe that this is what
differs a good business school from an excellent one.
Secondly, we were given an opportunity to hear testimonies from
representatives of truly alternative lifestyles. Experts from a variety of fields,
ranging from neurotechnologies to punk rock, presented their ideas and vision
of the future. These conferences and workshops introduced completely new issues
and possibilities. Did you know that subway maps can be optimized by simply copying
the same way mushrooms build their network? That is called biomimicry and
there is no class on that subject (so far), but this is our future and
Imagination Week exposed us to such innovations.
Finally, we participated in designing the future ESSEC curriculum.
As a part of the Build Your Own Course (BYOC) program, professors from different
departments and campuses of ESSEC presented us with 11 courses, which we later
discussed. After feedback, where we students told then how we
would like these potential courses to be constructed, the professors amended
their course syllabi in line with our ideas. As a result, these projects were put to a vote and 5 courses, which had received the most votes, were selected to
become a part of ESSEC’s curriculum next year. They will then be co-created by
the professor and a small group of student volunteers. Within the framework of
the BYOC we were given an amazing opportunity to use our creativity and
imagination to change the way we learn at ESSEC and to design courses we are
interested in the most.
All in all, I personally find Imagination Week a truly unique event,
valuable and enjoyable. As a student of the Grande Ecole program, I designed my
curriculum of study and explored subjects far beyond the traditional academic
framework. As a future decision maker, I raised my awareness on the subjects of
creativity, innovation and imagination, and produced ideas and actions I had
never thought of before. Finally, as a part of ESSEC student community, I got
to know a lot of new people, who turned out to be some of the most intelligent,
open-minded and motivated persons I have met so far.
As a side note, unfortunately the events that happened in Paris last week left a mark on this week. The whole ESSEC community mourns the victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack and sends out their thoughts to the families. A minute of silence was held on Wednesday at noon to collectively show respect to the victims. #JeSuisCharlie
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