CIM Week

CIM (Concepts In Management) Week, which is actually closer to two and a half weeks in length, has started. After our one day Labor Day holiday, we got started at 7 am on Tuesday. After opening remarks from several people - including Dean Jain - we split off into smaller groups. At Kellogg, these groups are called Sections, and each Section has a name. Instead of a cooler group name such as the Big Dogs or Highlanders, I was placed in the Section called the Jive Turkeys. Each Section has about 70 people in it.

After we split off into our Jive Turkey group, we started the long process of learning names. Part of CIM Week is a competition between Sections, and one of the competitions is the Name Game. On Friday, one person will be randomly chosen from each section and she/he will have to name every person in their Section. I'm probably 1/2 way there, but I'm banking on the odds that I won't be chosen. :)

After lunch, we were given our first b-school project...something that I didn't quite expect. We had to create a Section Cheer. We actually managed quite nicely - even with my minimal input - and put on a pretty good show. We barely went over the 3 minute time limit, though, and were bumped to fourth place instead of first.

After a very brief reprieve to rest and see our families, we reconvened for the requisite CIM Week bar hopping. I made it to about midnight before I had to call it a day. Others - amazingly - lasted until 4 or 5 am.

Today (Wednesday) we started at 8 am. We had our keynote speaker and then broke off into our Sections to begin preparation for the next major CIM Week competition: the talent show. We've got some ideas, but nothing solid yet. The talent show isn't until Saturday, so we've got a little bit of time still. This afternoon, we had a group case dealing with diversity and how individuals act and react depending upon whether they are in the majority or minority. It was a really good exercise since Kellogg is so team based and so diverse. All of us will be spending a lot of time working on teams that have people from varied backgrounds.

Right now I'm on another brief break. Soon, Mrs. Majalo and I are heading back to campus for another night out, this time in Chicago. After that I'll get a couple of hours of sleep before we start all over again tomorrow at 8 am. I'm already exhausted and we're only on day two.