Last weekend, some friends and I went on a quick weekend trip to Chamonix to seize the final days of summer. The weather was perfect – cool, fresh air paired with warm sunshine. It was a spontaneous trip, so after a networking event with some of the 2021 MBA class, we piled into the car and made it to Chamonix by dinner time.
We woke up to bright, breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers. We spent the morning exploring downtown before heading to the trailhead. The path was sprinkled with incredible views of towering mountains so striking that your mind can’t help but go quiet. Being near nature is incredibly important to me, and I’m grateful that Lausanne is so accessible to such spectacular landscapes.
Digital Analytics Lab
This was just what I needed to get in the right headspace before our digital analytics lab, a week-long, immersive program that equips you with skills and experiences to enhance your data management and digital analytics capabilities. It was led by Professor Amit Joshi and Karine Avagyan, who do an exceptional job guiding you through the process so you can really engage with the material and come away with practical learnings.
We also had an impressive slate of guest speakers who covered a broad range of topics, including ethics of data analytics, Tableau, and digital transformation. For five days, we worked in teams to clean and analyze a massive dataset (ours was 52,000 rows!). As with all IMD group work, the skills and knowledge of each team are incredibly diverse; I significantly benefitted from tapping into our collective expertise and creativity to derive meaningful insights from our analysis.
I’ll admit, this week was painstaking at times, but that was one of the main takeaways. Data collection, cleaning, and analysis can be messy and difficult to manage. This lab put that into perspective so I can not only be more thoughtful in my analyses but also work more effectively across teams in the future.
International Consulting Project
In the middle of the week, I also hosted dinner for my International Consulting Project (ICP) group. We received our project assignments a couple of weeks ago and are just getting started on our work together. We’ll be partnering with an international pharma company. It’s important to me to prioritize time to get to know one another – sharing what we bring to the team, our goals and working styles, and how we can support one another. It builds a deeper bond and sense of trust that empowers you to better navigate challenges together. It’s my first time working with several of my teammates and I’m quite eager to see what we can accomplish to create value for our client.
Discovery Expedition: Buenos Aires
We wrapped up the lab on Friday morning and were on a plane for our second Discovery Expedition that night. I’m in Buenos Aires, where we’re focusing on managing volatility and uncertainty. Our trip is led by our dean, Omar Toulan, who has put together an impressive itinerary to help us maximize the week. We started with an academic perspective, hearing from several professors on Peronism and Argentine economics and finance. In the coming days, we’ll visit 13 companies including McKinsey, PwC, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, and Nestlé.
I’m so glad I chose to come here because it’s a market you can’t quite fully grasp until you’re in it, piecing together a richer understanding through myriad perspectives. With every conversation, I better appreciate just how complex this ecosystem is. Yet what stands out most to me is that despite the uncertainty and challenges that come with it, this environment hones leaders who are incredibly resilient, optimistic, and creative. These are some of the values I aim to lead with moving forward.
I can’t wait to dig deeper through the rest of this week to see what I can learn not only about managing volatility but also how Argentine leaders channel these values and reflect on how I can better anchor my leadership style and decisions around them.
