There was this one fine day, I was hanging out with my friends in Bangalore. We were having some fruit juice, when a gang of 3 street dogs started indulging in a “debate”; random barking for the layman. Each of the three respected participants adopted different styles, which got me thinking about the evolution of man in the animal kingdom. Nah! I’m just kidding. This got me thinking of the way humans “bark” in group discussions!
Now let’s get right to it!
Dog 1 was the immediate aggressor, barking away before anyone else could, and giving no one any space to bark! Dog 2 was the silent one, looking at this aggressor, confused as to what on earth was happening in front of him! He looked totally dazed, giving a blank look at Dog 1. Cue entry Dog 3, the target so far of Dog 1’s assault. He listened, and listened, and listened (maybe with a wily little smile to himself that the stage was perfectly set for him!). And then he ROARED! One loud bark, and the noise around him was ripped into silence. Dog 1 had finally shut up, and did not dare to bark again. Dog 2 was still trying to figure out what the hell happened! And Dog 3 calmly walked away and sat in the shade, while 1 & 2 were left out in the sun, wondering!
Pretty much the story of the Group Discussions, especially in “premier” b-schools. There are mainly 3 types of “discussers”.
Type 1 is the kind which knows he has to just keep making points, never mind whether there is actually a point to these points. Rarely do they know much about the topic at hand, but they simply need to talk. They rattle off at right at the start, and never stop! They are the aggressive ones. Type 2 would be the silent ones. They either don’t know anything about the topic, or they are too uncomfortable about speaking in public. Either ways, they would be the passive ones. Type 3 would be the kind that would wait (again with that wily little smile to themselves) and wait, as long as they can stand Type 1’s nonsense. And then they arrive! They make that one point which shuts up pretty much everyone in the GD. They make enough sense, and have enough command that the nonsense gets, well, nonsensical.
And at the end of the day, the results are pretty much the same too!
- 1 gets left out in the sun
- 2 is left wondering “what!?!!”
- 3, well, gets taken under the shade, and relaxes.
Maybe they should start calling it a dog-race from now on!
P.S: This is for humor only. But all the jabs in this are intentional and if you feel offended, it’s only because you were too loud or too dazed during your time! 😛
Random Ramblings of another Random Guy 