Learning from Failure.

Q) I am applying to a school which is asking for a failure essay. Now the only failure I remember is the one subject I failed in my B.Tech due to certain reasons.Otherwise I have an OK academic record. So will it reflect badly on my academics ? Should I write some other imaginary failure ?


Answer)
* Remember you are applying for an MBA education where your peers are going to have an avg work ex of 5-6 years. Some from middle management (maybe even more) level. For them 'failure' is more related to failure at work.There is every chance that these professional have forgotten that they had failed a course during their school days!!
* B schools like ISB want to recruit leaders and make them better leaders!! So as a school, when they are asking you a question about failure they want to understand what leadership potential you exhibited during such times of crisis or when things do not go as per your 'plans' or what did you LEARN from it. Writing about a failed course in your school becos of (say) viral fever ........ What can i infer about u from this. Every student regardless of his 'potential' will face failure if he has severe viral fever!! Moreover what can you say you learnt from this....
* B schools are looking for professionals who by very definition want to succeed in life by learning out of everything they do and that happens to them. They are very focused in their goals and hence everything that is written in the application will have some tangible connection to their goals. Essays are a means to show to the adcomms that 'you' are one such professional. By writing 'imaginary' stuff, the adcomms who are masters of this will just read through it and your credibility will be instantly lost.
* BY THE WAY I DO NOT AGREE THAT YOU COULD NOT THINK OF A FAILURE OTHER THAN A FAILED COURSE
* Remember, adcomms consider this very 'inability' to identify your own failure as a 'FAILURE'. So do not fall into that trap.
* Just to help you get started,
a) think about something you were very passionate about but just could not get the desired results becos you overlooked the whole picture
b) Think about a communication gap becos of your assumptions etc that led to a failure
c) Think about a time when you could not make the deadline becos you did not plan in advance
d) Remember something about how you messed up a relationship (professional is better) becos you messed up with the choice of words or flow of thoughts etc

The bottom line is - The failure incident must have a lesson that you have learnt and you are practicing now and which would be very useful in you future business career!!

THINK YOUR APPLICATION AS A WHOLE. DO NOT BREAK INTO MANY PARTS. DO NOT PROJECT YOURSELF AS SOMEONE YOU ARE NOT.

Comments:
Regardless of the number of years of work experience you may have. The honesty with which you present your failure(s), along with a candid account of how you are the better for it/them, will demonstrate a level of maturity and self-knowledge that I believe the admissions committee will value.