GoodBye to Professors
Today we had the last class of Leading People and Groups and the last class of Microeconomics. In my opinion, these classes were led by the two best P1 core course professors that I had. I will write more about each class, what I learned, what I liked, what people commented on, etc... later (after the exam), but I feel that I must record today how I feel about leaving these classes. I am now realizing that 1/5 of my INSEAD year has just gone by...

Our teacher in OB is spectacularly good. He is able to generate an extremely rich class debate over what INSEAD called the "soft" stuff - that is people -, deal with apparently random suggestions, organize everyone's thoughts and lead us to open-ended conclusions. He is able to articulate his own opinion as suggestions for us to think through, as well as enabling us to make a point to the class. He has a very clear agenda but extremely creative ways to get us to realize our learning potential. This class is probably the most profoundly transforming class I have taken in my entire life. I have heard a lot of people say that they did not like the course because they felt manipulated (this guy knows a thing or two about human minds and makes full use of this knownledge)- I loved it.
I felt that a lot of my beliefs were ripped apart in a very soft way and I was forced to reconsider everything around me - and everything about me.

The course started in a seemingly disorganized manner, with ideas fusing from all over the place. After three hours of class, which I had enjoyed very much, I still was not very clear about what the purpose of the course was. Yet I felt that I was moved by the class. Something had changed in me, something that I could not pinpoint.
Although the class is very organized, and has clear directives and expectations, it is also a class that everyone can walk into with an open mind and decide just how much and what they want to get out of it - and how much they want to give to others. I cannot say much more today as spending only a few sentences on this course will not do it justice. I felt very sad when the professor walked out of the class. I got the impression that he was very moved as well. Perhaps he truly cares about us.
I will wind up this bizarre note with a heartfelt thank you to Michael for the oustanding impact that you have had in my life.

Nikos is my Microeconomics profesor. INSEAD has just rebranded this Prices and Markets. He is excellent too. In fact, one of my classmates who studied economics and went through quite an extensive list of economics teachers, stated enthusiastically today: HE IS THE BEST I'VE HAD. As my first introduction to microeconomics, I was lucky enough to have a professor who was extremely clear and able to bring to my modest level these important concepts, in an extremely funny way. I will never forget this "ex-megastar of basketball who analyzed an imaginary basketball duel with Michael Jordan in order to demonstrate that this particular case offered no Nash Equilibrium". Whenever I walked out of this class, everything was clearly impregnated in my mind and reading the Financial Times became a real pleasure.
Nikos is a visiting profesor but I wish that he could contribute longer to the enjoyment of future generations of INSEAD MBA participants.
He left the class with some advice for us which I want to share with you.
We must not take ourselves too seriously. Loads of other smart people around us who can do certain things much better than we do. Loads of other people who need to get up at 5am to painfully earn a living. -I'd add loads of people who are struggling to get enough food to survive-. Put things into perspective. It will make you a better person and a better business person.