The PGP Classroom: Where Each Course Changed My Trajectory

For almost three and a half years, I worked in a research role at IIM Ahmedabad, studying problems affecting India's transportation and logistics sector, particularly road freight. It was an intellectually enriching experience that gave me the opportunity to work across e-commerce, supply chain digitisation, road freight, and port logistics, interact with CXOs of Indian and global OEMs and leading researchers, contribute to thought leadership in the transportation and logistics space, and develop domain expertise in a sector that is relatively under-researched in India.

Yet, there was one gap I found difficult to ignore. My work often stopped after identifying a problem or providing recommendations. I had limited visibility into the impact those recommendations created. Over time, that ambiguity began to frustrate me and pushed me towards consulting, where responsibilities came with greater ownership of execution.

My stint at Deloitte after IIMA was short but highly rewarding. It helped me understand the gaps in my own skills and knowledge and prompted me to seriously consider an option that had been at the back of my mind for some time: pursuing PGP at ISB.

Three Terms of Getting Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

As I complete my third term and enter the hustle of Block Weeks, there is a sense of relief. The core terms are over, and the remaining terms give us more agency over the subjects we choose.

Calling these three terms difficult would be an understatement. Every core subject demanded considerable effort, from preparing for mid-term and end-term examinations to completing quizzes, individual essays, group assignments, and presentations. Deadlines often seemed to move faster than the hours in the day.

Alongside the academic workload were several parallel processes, including CV preparation and verification, bidding for electives and international exchange, the Experiential Learning Programme, and club activities. At times, managing everything seemed almost impossible.

But these moments also showed me how resourceful the people around me were. I was fortunate to be part of a study group where every member brought a different strength, making the learning from each group project much broader than the task itself.

Term 3 also brought its own version of FOMO, with case competitions appearing just as coursework deadlines approached. It was easy to look around and see different groups tackling the same problem in completely different ways, each bringing its own perspective.

I also developed a deeper appreciation for those organising the many initiatives happening around campus, from P2P learning sessions and speaker sessions to the One Club Conclave. Watching people manage academics alongside these commitments made me realise just how much happens beyond the classroom at ISB.

When the Classroom Makes Learning Stick

Looking back, many of the clichés associated with ISB have turned out to be true. The faculty, the diversity of the peer group, and the supportive learning environment have all shaped my experience.

Almost every subject has given me at least one "aha" moment, an insight that I would probably not have arrived at on my own.

Strategy was particularly interesting in this regard. I came in with a basic understanding of several frameworks, only to realise that applying them to real-world situations requires much more than knowing the framework itself. I had to unlearn my initial understanding and figure out which components applied to a particular situation and at what level.

It also helped me understand why "it depends" can sometimes be the best answer when a problem is ambiguously defined.

However, the courses that have had the greatest impact on me so far have been Organisational Behaviour and Finance.

From Decision Traps to DCFs

I had always assumed that some courses were simply monotonous by design. My undergraduate experience with Organisational Behaviour had not done much to change that perception.

ISB completely flipped it.

In Leading Self and Teams, the use of real-world examples, cartoons, and videos to explain decision traps and biases kept me engaged even during 8 am classes. The most memorable experience was a change management simulation in which we had to convince a CEO and her team to implement a new plan. The simulation was so well designed that, as we experienced it, even AI could not crack it.

It required us to apply what we had learnt rather than simply recall theory. I found that these kinds of experiences stay with you much longer than one-sided, theory-based instruction.

The Arts and Science of Managerial Decision Making offered another example of how experiential learning can change the way we understand a concept. Surveys, polls, and group exercises were used before classes to demonstrate different decision-making behaviours and fallacies. And what better way to understand the team scaling fallacy than by trying to construct a Lego plane in groups of different sizes?

Finance, on the other hand, was the subject I expected to struggle with most.

As a Commerce graduate, I had studied finance before, but I never really understood the underlying logic behind the formulas or how individual drivers affected the outcome. My approach had been simple: remember the formula and apply it to the question.

The Finance core course in Term 2 changed that.

For the first time, I encountered an approach where intuition was given as much importance as formulas. Modigliani-Miller suddenly felt less intimidating because I could understand the logic behind the theory rather than simply memorise it.

Business Analytics in Corporate Finance in Term 3 built further on those lessons, helping us understand the different levers of value creation within firms. The extensive use of India-based real-world cases gave us an opportunity to apply these concepts and observe their impact.

Finance has now started to feel manageable, and I am looking forward to exploring it further through my elective terms.

Finding a Second Home in Hyderabad

This is also my first time living in Hyderabad, and I have found the city beautiful, well managed, and surprisingly easy to explore.

During weekends and term breaks, I try to experience different parts of the city, from IKEA and Jubilee Hills to Birla Temple and Himayat Sagar Eco Park. The difficult part is resisting the urge to explore when deadlines are piling up.

The city's reputation as a gastronomy capital has also lived up to expectations. One unexpected highlight was running into Chirag Shetty, one of India's top doubles badminton players, at an ice cream shop that I now visit frequently. Small experiences like these have made me want to discover more of the city.

Even when I stay on campus, there is plenty to enjoy. The ring road around ISB makes for a good running and walking route, while the campus greenery is particularly impressive during the monsoons.

Three terms into the programme, my experience at ISB has been intellectually demanding, but equally rewarding. Some of the professors whose work I once studied as part of my own research now stand at the front of my classroom. There is something uniquely satisfying about learning in person from people whose work once shaped the way I thought.

It feels like a full circle moment, but also like a new beginning.

I am looking forward to the rest of my journey at ISB, and to the new questions, challenges, and surprises that the remaining terms bring.

Synopsis:

Shubham, PGP Co ‘27, reflects on his first three terms at ISB, from navigating an intense core curriculum and learning from a diverse cohort to discovering new perspectives through Organisational Behaviour and Finance. He also shares his experience of finding a new rhythm in Hyderabad and how the programme has reshaped the way he approaches learning, uncertainty, and growth.