Book Review: Inflection – Career Arcs from Evolving India by Nilesh Shrivastava and Pushp Deep Gupta
Introduction
ISBN: 9789386538260
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| Source: Amazon.in |
Genre: Non-Fiction
Publishers: Fingerprint! Publishing
Price: Rs. 299/- ( I got the book for review from the publisher)
Behind the Book
Real careers are not perfect.
Professional success is not absolute.
People shape careers and then over time,careers shape people.
Real careers are not perfect.
Professional success is not absolute.
People shape careers and then over time,careers shape people.
Feb 1999. The batch of 1999 steps out from one of India’s leading business schools—Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata—into the real world of careers, not unlike many other professionals before and after.
Eighteen years later—in the middle of their working lives—32 of these professionals pause and take stock. They look back on their careers, on the choices they made, their successes and their failures, their highs and their lows. They reflect on what they assumed when they graduated from B-school and what the world has taught them since.
There are Real Lessons in Their Reflections; There are Common Themes in Their Career Arcs.
This is the story of real careers taking shape in the rapidly evolving post-liberalisation India of the last two decades. Of conventional careers and not-so-conventional careers and something in between. Of people who took the corporate path, who became entrepreneurs, who became academics, who went abroad, who became specialists and even those who let their careers go with the flow, unplanned. Step in as they take stock of their journeys.As relevant for mid-career professionals, to peek over their shoulders at peers, as for those starting their professional careers, curious about the careers choices ahead and the road signs on the way.
About the Author
Nilesh Shrivastava currently heads the South Asia financial sector investments portfolio at International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group. Pushp Deep Gupta is Executive Director at Deloitte Consulting in Leadership Advisory. Both Nilesh and Pushp are graduates of Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, batch of 1999.
After quitting my corporate job, I have been able to look at corporate world in a detached manner and have been able to learn so many things which I am sure I wouldn’t have, had I still been a part of it. I have tried reading a lot of material on it too and this book was a step closer towards revealing the mysterious corporate world.
My first reaction on reading about the book was – WOW! What a fascinating subject!
The best part about the book is it stays fascinating till the very end. As the blurb says, it is about 32 individuals who choose to sit back and take stock of their professional lives after pausing it for a brief while after 18 years.
Sadly our education system seldom prepares us for the outside world. Added to it, peers and society ensure we leave the campus with stars in our eyes. The fact is the world outside is way different than what has been shown to us and the challenges way bigger. Many times we don’t know where to start and if we start we don’t know where to stop and take a turn towards a better option.
These 32 experiences talk about all these occurrences and much more. Every beginner wants to know how to start. Every person in middle of their career graph is feeling stagnant and doesn’t know what to do. And every person at the pinnacle of their career doesn’t know how much is enough. This book is an attempt to address all these issues with a practical approach. There are high chances you will connect with more than one stories out of these 32 for they are what we all face at our workplace.
Amidst promotions denied, bonuses not given and job changes rejected there is a single desire to be appreciated for our hard-work which rarely gets fulfilled and that in itself leads to a lot of frustration and anger. These stories will guide you in how to channelize your anger towards something productive to get desired results.
Inspiring and educative this is one book that every single person should be reading. Beginner, Corporate Executive, Entrepreneur, Mid and Senior level officials – there is something to take back from this book for everybody.
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