November 23, 2009

The IMD Executive MBA features Discovery Expeditions to Mumbai, Silicon Valley and Shanghai which are designed to be real-time lessons for participants in how to investigate new trends and ideas and how to evaluate their relevance. In the case of program participant Karumathil Gopakumar, the Silicon Valley Discovery Expedition fostered an idea to help poor Afghan school children gain access to clean drinking water.

“This was the last thing I expected when we arrived in California,” said Gopakumar. “It wasn’t anywhere close to my thinking.”

The sparks were ignited when Gopakumar heard a presentation from the Institute for the Future about SuperStruct, the world’s first multiplayer forecasting game. By playing the game, individuals are able to chronicle the world of 2019 - and imagine how they might solve the problems the world faces.

Upon hearing this presentation and discussing the SuperStruct concept with his fellow Executive MBA participants in a buzz group, Gopakumar decided to launch a fund-raising campaign to help a school in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The goal is for Gopakumar to mobilize his fellow 2009 Executive MBA classmates to raise at least $15,000 through individual contributions or donations coming from the participants’ sponsoring companies. With these funds a deep water well will be provided and two cisterns will be purchased and installed which would enable the 5,000 students, male and female (grades 1 – 12), to have access to clean drinking water at the school which was built by the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary club.

“It is so difficult to get things done in Afghanistan. I think I was attracted to the challenge to make a difference there,” stated Gopakumar, an Indian native who works in Oman as a General Manager for Bank Muscat.

Gopakumar’s story exemplifies the emphasis IMD places on responsible leadership and how the concept is embedded in IMD programs.

“For many years, I knew I wanted to build my career and give back to society. Part of this thinking was nurtured from the Program for Executive Development at IMD. It was ingrained in my subconscious and the Silicon Valley SuperStruct presentation particularly sparked the idea to go forward with such a project.”

Gopakumar graduated from the Executive MBA program earlier this month. Authentic leadership and execution capabilities are two of the key learnings from the program that will impact him going forward, and are both related to the Afghan water project.

“I have been able to better understand myself,” he concluded. “On the execution side, we are always in the corporate setting and are used to talking about great ideas. But it is more important knowing how to get things done. The water project will require both authentic leadership and execution. At the end of the day, we can have a good idea, but can we really get something executed? This will be a good test.”