Another key point of today’s lesson is the fact that it’s not so much the idea that’s important, but more the execution. Everyone can have a fantastic idea, but not everybody can figure out how to make that idea into reality.

After class the mood was, in association with today’s main topic, a little ‘blah’ as today’s volleyball tournament was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. It’s always nice with a little rain, but it was indeed a shame that the students were forced to huddle up inside and volleyball-less in order to stay dry. It did, however brighten up a bit in the last half hour before dinner, and so the students the students emerged from their rain-relief hiding places to play some last-minute table tennis.

Another event that brightened today’s mood was the two birthdays: Happy Birthday to Rosie and Will!

Kudos to the kitchen staff for the beautiful display

After dinner, the students had yet another YFCD prep session afterwards where they were given three tasks: first, to solve yet another crisis (kept a little bit secret for the sake of future summer@INSEAD camps who wouldn’t want their surprise to be ruined… mouhaha), second, to prepare for the Eurobike fair on Thursday and lastly to prepare for the strategy fair presentation due the end of this week. Here comes a little shout-out to one of my YFCD groups for getting their hands on some balloons to make sure Will and Rosie didn’t forget about their special day, even when lost in the virtual stress of Nottingham.

Cheers to another productive day at Summer@INSEAD.

Julia Selawry

DAY 12

In anticipation of tomorrow’s many festivities, and the rigorous preparation hereof, this blog post will be short but sweet.

This morning the students were faced with yet another challenge as new owners of Maywood Cycles. Minutes before their interview with the BBC, they receive an email informing them that one of their workers has injured himself in the warehouse – some malfunction with the assembling machine ended up severing off several of his fingers… That’s right – yet another crisis…

They had mere minutes to prepare and were then sent off to the interview room, where they met with the reporter and were interrogated on how they’d decided to deal with the situation at hand. To make matters even more stressful, the interview was interrupted by a raging crowd of unhappy Maywood workers, who banged on the glass walls of the ‘recording studio’ and while shouting “Justice for Maywood!”.

Click HERE to see the video! (pssttt, it’s funny!)

Today was also the day of the Eurobike fair, which meant the students had to transform their break out rooms into colourful booths in which they’d pitch their bikes and ideas for the company to any potential buyers. It was as much about having bikes on display with cool facts in the background as it was about découpage, post-its, banners and mood-boards. I think it’s fair to say there was an arts n’ crafts ex-plo-si-on in the cubicles. I mean holy moly, it was everywhere: the tape, the coloured paper, the pens, the hearts, the stars, the stickers. Oh geez – the stickers. Don’t even get me started on those stickers…

Anyways, the point is that people got creative, maybe even a little too creative? Shout-out to the groups who had snacks and a tea-kettle on their table. Shout-out to the group who had made a bike version of tinder à la “find-out-which-bike-you-match-with” game. And the biggest (slightly narcissistic) shout-out of them all to the person who ran around campus with a scissor, chopping off semi-big branches from palm plants in an attempt to give her group’s booth some tropical vibes. If you haven’t guessed it yet – yes, alas, t’was I, the culprit – and I should hand myself over to the botanical security guard of INSEAD but I would like to say in my defence that:

a) my group was in strong need of some trendy decor and it did really brighten up the place

b) all branches were chosen based on the fact that they were looking a little yellow and droopy

c) I figured after such a long summer, the plants would generally be in need of a little snippy snippy

I would also just quickly like to thank Marie-Angélique for catching me in the act and not turning me in for my pretty plant theft. T’was much appreciated.

Continuing on from my not-to-be-counselled counselor activities – all the groups ended up putting a tremendous amount of effort in their projects and the end result of the fair was absolutely amazing. The presentations were precise, informative, inspirational and well-pitched. The fair was also a great opportunity for the students to prepare their presentation skills for tomorrow, when the strategy fair will take place in front of all the parents. I’m sure they appreciated the practice.

This was quite the banner…

On tonight’s program is a little bit of karaoke. There are photos to come.

Julia Selawry

DAY 9

The first proper YFCD day! Finally, after weeks and weeks of speculation, anticipation, and preparatory reading, the role play simulation has begun- and what a day it has been. Imagine the frantic, manic chaos of taking over a company, meeting all of its employees electronically, fighting fires on a thousand different fronts, and, on top of all the anxiety of moving a failing company in a new, positive direction, taking on THREE role-plays with our loving counsellors. And now imagine doing that all in one day. What a day it has been.

The day began with the excitement of the first role-play session of the simulation: the negotiation over the acquisition of the company (something the students had prepared extensively for). Waiting in their designated offices, the different teams were licking their lips at taking the sellers for a ride, ready to boast to their colleagues over who had managed to close the deal with the lowest price and the most favourable terms looking forward. To some extent, the teams proved that they had been paying attention in the preparatory lectures, and that the team-dynamics between the different students had been working well. Polite and professional with the role-playing counsellors, passionate and energetic when communicating their vision for the company, stern and informed when covering the different discussion points, by and large the students demonstrated many valuable qualities in a prospective negotiator.

Mind you, none of the deals were perfect. Many groups focussed on getting a good price and did not focus on how they were going to structure the refinancing of the loan supporting the acquisition (did somebody say bankruptcy). Others were distracted by superficial talking points (enter the honorary Maywood memorial museum), rather than focussing on some of the core terms of discussion (e.g. reps and warranties against skeletons in closet). However, the most important fact about this morning’s exercise is the fact that each deal was different and that all the students’ learnt a tonne along the way. There is no doubt that this learning will continue as the teams attempt to resolve some of the pickles they’ve got themselves into, now stuck with the deals struck in the simulation.

In true Summer@INSEAD style, the break between roleplays was filled with busy attendance to a wave of emails, with each member of the team inundated with introductions from keen colleagues, propositions about changes to the company, demands of job security and salary raises, all on top of crisis management such as stolen cars from previous management and server crashes communicated by IT. It was probably at this moment that the students began to wonder what they had gotten themselves into (I would be lying if I said I didn’t hear attempted resignations at a particularly heated moment of COO firefighting).

Suited and booted: buying a company

No time to worry about resignation; next up was a visit from the local banker who wanted reassurance that the company was not going to drop below their overdraft facility which was coming ever-so-worryingly closer. Amongst the most technical of the roleplays the teams were going to take on, the different groups demonstrated a wonderful capacity to think on the spot, with each requiring to come up with creative solutions regarding how the company was going to gain control of their financial incomings and outgoings in a sustainable manner. Such calmness and creativity was also of utmost importance for their dealing with German client Alex Schongstein, who met up with the different groups in “Stansted Airport” to discuss an order that had been placed that needed urgent attention.

In the interest of maintaining the anonymity of the programme and the mystique and secrecy of the demands of YFCD, this blog post will not go into further detail over the demands of each role-play, and will instead include some reflections from the students involved (feel free to drill the students yourselves in person, when given the chance!):

“Today was our first YFCD simulation, we acquired Maywood company and again learned how important communication is. We could have done better when it comes to the payment schedule but you learn from it. The day was very stressful, we had to handle many emails. But we managed to Organise ourselves by writing everything on the white board in order to get a clear overview of what we have to do, which problems we have to solve, the request we get, and status updates on important things as Emily’s Bentley. One thing that really surprised me was the realness of it, as the emails and the meeting where we had to meet an angry customer and solve a problems quickly. However I think that our group did pretty good we managed to solve the problems calmly but even under pressure while being calm at the same time. I‘m really happy and impressed with our first YFCD simulation and I’m looking forward to it”

Nathan

“Today was a very stressful but productive day. I collected some insight on the functions of a new company and how to effectively distribute tasks, queries and goals to be as efficient as possible under a lot of time pressure while still ensuring that every member is aware of the situatuon. We do have some regrets in the negotiation aspect, however, it was vital to learn from these mistakes and understand their consequences to grow as a company (and of course use it in our future lives). On the other hand, I was proud of my team as we had done a lot of reading on the company and its “cons” that helped us to stand strong in negotiations.”

Anaelle

“The search for the answers of the screaming banker is rooted in logic, but also the irregular creativity that can be displayed on occasion, a very highly complex order that arose from the panic of five kids stuck in a room flooding with uncertainty. But hey, that’s business!”

Carlos

The final session organised for the day involved a visit from Agnes Cosnier-Loigerot and Thibaut Seguret, who, together, spoke about the jobs for the future and how this applies to the students. The first part of the lecture involved an introduction of what a career looked like in the latest generations of the modern workforce. The group were introduced to the concept of “multi-careering”, described as the next best thing, and ere informed how to do this effectively. The main piece of advice was to take advantage of the fact that hard and soft skills are becoming ever-more transferrable, making the possibility of changing industries more appealing, and to be aware of the need to build a storyline that is consistent throughout the way.

The pair then discussed how INSEAD looks to prepare its students for the challenge of finding and attaining their dream jobs. The programmes the group prepare, as part of the HR department in INSEAD, look to find out what skills recruiters are interested in now, what experience is recommended, and what mindset is needed to succeed throughout. Results from the “kahoot” knowledge quiz set up for the students afterwards confirms the fact that the students really engaged and learned a lot from this talk.

Charles Meacham

DAY 8

Yesterday the students were endowed with the presence of Subi Rangan, INSEAD’s Professor of Strategy and Management. He led them through the realms of politics, economics, philosophy and strategy. The professor challenged the students with assignments and thought provoking questions.

A piece by counselor Daisy Ward, who was especially encapsulates the essence of yesterday’s lecturer:

Would you rather be Kim Kardashian or Elon Musk? This is the first question that Subi posed today. Looking around the room it appeared about a 40-60 split Kim to Elon. Many of the students noted the massive influence Kim had over popular culture or the huge economic power of Musk, but no one really considered the importance of what these people stood for. This ultimately became the grounding point for the discussions of the day, how should we examine the moral positioning of countries, politicians, companies and more importantly ourselves. Through a mix of moral philosophy and practical cases Subi encouraged the students to think critically about the decisions major firms like Apple, Google and the UN take, and whether these decisions reflect the wishes of the firm or the needs of humanity. Subi’s talk provided a powerful contrast to the weeks previous talks and took a critical examination of the structures that dominate capitalism and democracy. Though many of these ideas were difficult to grasp the students coped well and enjoyed the questioning of their own and other’s moral guidelines. The day concluded on a note of hope for the future and for our generation. The moral guidelines of our society are shifting into a new paradigm whereby we move from a prioritisation of personal and economic success towards greater consideration of the longevity of both our planet and society. Ultimately forcing the students to consider what their role would be in either leading or opposing the changes we need in today’s world.

The rest of the day passed in a blur of naps, semi-stolen ice-creams, late-night gossip under the stars and last minute YFCD preparations for today’s many negotiations. The evening wasn’t nearly as eventful as the other days have been since everybody (including (or rather – especially) the counsellors) was recuperating from Saturday’s paintball/zip-lining and talent show. It had been an intense weekend and yesterday’s recovery day was as highly-needed as it was well deserved.

Julia Selawry

DAY 7

Stay tuned for what has been an absolutely packed day. That seems a strange way to start when the students enjoyed what was, in fact, their first and only “late morning” sleep in, dozing to the luxury of a 10:30 start.

The first treat of the day came after this late start, as Summer@INSEAD welcomed thespian John Bowles to the campus to talk about to power of storytelling. This lecture was different to anything the students had experienced before, all benefitting from a true specialist in the arts of delivery, voice projection, and capturing the audience. Not exactly what they were expecting from a Saturday morning, the students stood up to the task admirably when invited to come to the stage and speak publicly in front of their 90 strong colleagues in Amphi B. John’s key lessons were captured in understanding the how, the what, and the why of storytelling and public speaking. “How” referred to the importance of body language, enunciation and voice projection. “What” referred to a proper consideration of the message that the deliverer wants to get across. Finally, the “why” referred to appreciation of the true purpose of what the speaker is doing, and an acceptance of the importance of authenticity and “realness” when delivering the message. Kudos especially to those who spoke publicly in what was not their first language, and well done to all for engaging so well in what has been spoken about as one of the most intimidating but enjoyable sessions so far.

After lunch, the cohort set off for some more outdoor activities, this time taking on Fontainebleau forest’s offer of aeroplanche and paintball. It’s fair to say that after a week together, there was an understandable need to “blow off some steam”, which counsellors and students took advantage of in great style. Perhaps the most worryingly enthusiastic among the paintballing contingent was counsellor and birthday-girl Augusta (see extract on army bootcamp), whose menacing warcries, military background, and largely counsellor based team set the tone for what was to be a very interesting afternoon.

As a member of this counsellor team, I was left frustrated from the games, as I saw first hand some of the best team work between the students I had seen all week, with the opposition teams coming together to form a strategically astute, viciously determined, well-oiled machine of counsellor destruction. We don’t need to dwell on the point too much; it was an afternoon of laughter, adrenaline, and liberal interpretation of the “no-shooting-from-less-than-ten-metres” rule. On the other side of the coin was the enviably peaceful, yet equally exhilarating zip-line, aeroplanche course for the pacifists among us, which despite a couple organizational difficulties, was reported to be an enjoyably therapeutic success.

The main attraction of the day, however, came on arrival back to the camp, at which point counsellor and student alike scurried off to get prepared for the annual, much-anticipated Summer@INSEAD talent show. Some performances had been well-rehearsed and suitably publicised; equally, the group was ready for some surprise appearances and some more “improvisational” shows. Credit to the events team who, in what was a very small window for preparation, managed to transform Freddy’s bar, with help from some students, into a high capacity, accommodating, slightly acoustically challenged, talent show theatre. From then on, the evening itself was student run, with Sophie-Anne doing a stellar job MCing for the night, introducing the different acts, and then prompting responses from our panel of cutthroat judges.

It is worth mentioning, briefly, each performance, such was the standard of the evenings entertainment:

First up was Adrian Johnson, whose show titled “Eggs” combined humour, creativity, showmanship and absurdity in what, predictably, became a lesson in life and business.

Subsequently, and in no particular order, came a charming and thoroughly impressive reproduction of one of the fastest raps in the Broadway hit musical “Hamilton”, courtesy of Rosie, hauntingly beautiful vocal renditions of “Oh Danny Boy” and “Vienna” from counsellor Niamh and Margharita, respectively, as well as an enjoyable showcase debut of Big Rico (participant Will)’s very own rap, performed by the man himself. Perhaps the most entertaining, amongst the singers, were brother, mother, sister team Hugo, Pascale, and Lily, (the last of which, it would be fair to say, carried the others), who provided a touching rendition of Billie Eilish’s “idontwannabeyouanymore”.

Amongst the physical performances was Nazar, whose acrobatics blew away everybody in the room, Nathan, whose representation of his native Ethiopia’s national dance was infectiously energetic and entertaining, and Delphine & Nathan, eventual winners, whose performance of a German-style ballroom dance did not give away the fact that they only learnt the steps the day before. Fantastic.

Furthermore, it is unsurprising to find out that there are a number of talented musicians amongst the students, who, in this case, showcased their talent playing the piano, with Amelie, Alicia, Merle, and Sigurd all performing, in different ways, to an incredibly high-standard; for the crowd, it was a pleasure be serenaded from the likes of Chopin, all the way to Freddy Mercury.

Then came the less conventional, but equally entertaining, section that invariably comes from a Summer@INSEAD performance. Sister team Sasha & Natalia blew the group away with a replication of a famous rap battle made real on the Freddy’s bar stage; the “Blowing Boys Balls” floating ping-pong ball routine, as perplexing as it was hilarious; and an inspirational, mind-boggling, psychedelic journey led by counsellor-turned-orator Aindriu, whose energy and improvisation made for an almost life changing delivery of the message “life’s about the journey, not the destination”.

The evening was closed by the much anticipated (and dreaded by some) counsellor performance. In what has become a bit of a tradition, the team performed another mash-up dance, exclusively using songs from High School Musical, with notable performances from Julia, Aindriu, and Augusta (playing the roles of Gabriela, Troy, and Sharpay, respectively). It’s true that the better the choreography in this annual dance is, the less entertaining it is for the students and all I can say is that, in this respect, the counsellors did not disappoint.

Cheered out, clapped out, and laughed out, the students took advantage of the late curfew to congratulate the performers and debrief on the night’s events, before slowly making their way to bed. What had been a busy but brilliant day finished with excitement finished with excitement to get some rest, and anticipation for the famous Subi Ranghan’s lecture on Societal Progress to be delivered the following day, with everyone on campus fully ready to have their lives changed (as has been advertised).

Charlie Meacham

DAY 6

Yesterday was quite the day. With the morning plans, the students had to be split up into two groups, so while the first group dragged themselves out of bed at an ungodly hour and tiptoed down the corridors in an attempt to be quiet, the second group got the luxury of sleeping for an hour or two longer. The reason for this split was that we couldn’t come all 80 somewhat students to visit Google at the same time.

When my group arrived, people were buzzing with excitement to see the famous HQ on Rue de Londres. While Google tries to be humble and down to earth, the experience of visiting them and meeting the two Googlers that hosted us was anything but. As we practically floated into the building, there was not much to do to keep our jaws from hanging. Just pure awe.

As the legendary company hosted us, they started by giving us a presentation, where the students were free to fire away all sorts of questions afterwards, followed by a session in which half of the students went over to see their showroom with all the latest or still-to-come gadgets. The other half of the students stayed in the presentation room and were told about Google Arts and Culture, both a website and an app, which, as the name suggests, is brimming to the edge with content on art and on culture. It’s hard to explain just how mind-boggling it was to see a digital representation of their 60 million artwork archive. We were sitting in front of a ‘mega-screen’ which basically was 20-odd screens all put together to create a huge digital wall. It was on this wall that the Googler showed some of the high-tech and insanely high quality images of famous artwork on their Arts and Culture program. These pictures that were shown to us where so high in quality that one can zoom in to the point of being able to see details in the paint that even the naked eye wouldn’t be able to see. You should almost try it for yourself – it can completely change your  perspective! If you for example zoom in as much as you can on The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh in this link, you can actually see a lot of the canvas behind the many paint strokes. The strokes are fast and rough, and a lot of the color that you see in the painting is actually the beige color of the canvas that shines through between the gaps. One doesn’t realise this in any other pictures of the painting, but Google’s special photographical scan allows us to go that much deeper into understanding paintings that are ‘recorded’ in this way.

As for the rest of the day, I will hand over the writing baton to four of Summer@INSEAD’s students. They volunteered to hand in some pieces for this blog post, so you readers could hear their take on yesterday’s Parisian adventures.

Julia over and out.

Sweet-side of Paris Tour

(by Maricarmen Martinez)

My trip to Paris started very early in the morning, but that didn’t stop my excitement for the day ahead. I sat on the bus waiting patiently to arrive to the Google office in Paris. I didn’t know what to expect, but as soon as I walked in I was amazed. We all got our own badges with our names on them and proceeded to grab some food and drinks inside. I sat down waiting for the presentation to start. We heard from some very interesting people, but my favourite part in particular was playing a Kahoot quiz of Google with my classmates. After a competitive time spent answering these questions I had the opportunity to stay in the tech lab and learn more about Google’s latest technologies. I got to see how much a very advanced camera could zoom into the smallest details of a picture and was so amazed by the results. Then I got to discover a new technology in which you could draw a picture and then all the results matching the picture came up. Sadly, my visit at Google was over, but I got to leave impressed with the company and with a Google cardboard!

Chocolate, macaroons, and waffles…There’s nothing I’d rather do than spend my afternoon visiting the sweet side of Paris. After eating many desserts I was convinced that Paris was the best city to find high end food. I wanted to bring everything I tasted back to Toronto with me, but sadly the tour guide told me that wouldn’t be possible as it would melt. I enjoyed everything I tried and took notes of my favourite places so I could come back in the future. I was specifically impressed with a chocolatier called Patrick Roger. They sold amazing chocolates which are shown in the photo below. The image was one amazing thing about them, but the taste was so incredible that I wanted to buy more.

I can’t wait to go back to Paris to learn more about Google, but also to visit some of the best chocolate and pastry shops!

Marais Tour

(by Daniel Carmon)

Today was a very special day as for the first time since Sunday we did not have a day lecture course, instead we, the counsellors, and the course leaders took a day trip to France’s capital city, Paris. Now despite being only an hour or so away from Fontainebleau the two cities are almost complete opposites, Paris is a large and bustling metroplex of action and movement whilst Fontainebleau (or as it is fondly nicknamed “Fonty”) is a tiny town with very little in it apart from a few star attractions, one of these being the INSEAD campus.

Unfortunately for half the group (myself included) our day started really, really early. As we had a Google tour at 9:00 in the morning we had to leave the campus before 7:00, which meant waking up around 6:00 (6:00!!!). Everything ended up fine but it wasn’t the most pleasant start to the day.

Fortunately, everything improved once we got to Paris (half an hour early…) and we got to stretch our legs and even had time to go to a coffee shop to buy some refreshments.

During our 2 hours at the Google Cultural Institute we spent the first hour as part of a large group all together in which we got to listen to a fascinating talk by a pair of former INSEAD graduates followed by a Q&A session. We then split up further into two groups in which one got to stay (my group) in the room we were in and mess around with all kinds of cool new inventions such as an app which likens selfies to famous pieces of art and another similar one in which drawings are used. We also learned about Google’s gigapixel camera which they use to record paintings in amazing detail and ultra, super, mega HD quality. Meanwhile the other group went and got to mess around with Google home and all kinds of other cool home appliances such as a jacket and a couch which each had built in chargers and sound systems.

After this the other half of the students and leaders (who got to wake up after 6:00…) took over the institute and the rest of us travelled to an area in which we split up into small groups and explored, whilst simultaneously getting to eat our pre-packed lunches (which were provided to us by a catering minivan!).

Once the second half had finished their google experience we all met up and split up into our different Paris tours. I chose the Marais tour as I thought it would be an interesting experience to visit the former Jewish quarter (context: I’m Jewish). Though the tour didn’t end up including much in the way of Jewish history nor involvement it was still quite fascinating.

We “got” to walk (a lot…) around the Marais area and see all kinds of interesting and sombre sights such as a memorial both to the fallen French and to those who helped the Jews escape Europe during WW2, followed by a visit to a massive church built centuries ago (one of the only churches in Paris built by a single architect).

We continued on through the area visiting the local sites and the parks whilst learning the area’s history as well as how this old marshland and slum area became one of the most beautiful places in all of Paris, we even learned that “Le Marais” actually means “The Swamp”.

During the tour, we also saw some sweet street art and a very amusing grate shaped like a face.

Nearing the end of the tour more exhausted then excited we stopped at a Lebanese ice-cream spot (not trying to intrude on the sweet-side of Paris tour, but it was pretty damn good…) at la “Glace Bachier” a trendy spot located in the heat of the Marais area. After eating we eagerly returned to the bus for some well-deserved rest time.

Unfortunately, (or maybe not so), as all things go, we had to have some troubles at some point and today it had to happen on the bus. Someone (who will rename nameless) somehow managed to get stuck in the bathroom on the bus for a whopping nearly 1/2 an hour. We did manage to get him / her out but it was a very amusing struggle to watch.

The trip ended late which meant that, despite everybody wanting to return to their rooms as were all tired and ready to nap we didn’t get to. Instead we only got to rest “post-dinner”. The day was amazing but I am not ashamed to say that my favorite part was getting to finally lie down in my bed and sleep.

Best of Paris Tour

(by Elizaveta Beltyukova)

Today on the Best of Paris tour, what really stood out to me is the passion the French seem to have for art. As we went past the different beautiful structures, I kept thinking how artistic and passionate these people are. For example, there is enough paintings in the Louvre to be entertained for 4 months, and the number of sculptures cannot be counted in a day. The tour guide talked about how many Parisians disapprove of any new structures that are built at first, but start to appreciate it after a couple of years. I think that shows how the locals want art to be created for a reason, like to honor a king, and the new added art has to gain its importance to the city with time. In addition, I was deeply impressed by the amount of kings represented on horseback that are seen almost everywhere.

Check out our Instagram! @summeratinsead #summeratinsead

The Dark Side of Paris Tour

(by Harrison Jones)

Day 5

It’s now day 5 of the program and it has been yet another eventful day at the wonderful INSEAD campus here in Fontainebleau. I think we’re all adjusted to the daily routine by now – the students have learnt to get up early if they want to get their hands on the popular pains au chocolat at breakfast, 99% of them come on time for class (standing ovation to those who come five minutes early #timekeepersforthewin) and I can only assume they’ve decided to go to sleep at a more rational hour, since we didn’t spot a single day-time sleeper today. A great adjustment, indeed.

As for what was on the brain-food menu for today, the students were served a three course “meal” beginning with an apperitif by Katell le Goulven from the Hoffmann Global Institute of Business and Society, the main course by Guillaume Roels on Operational Management and the sweet, sweet desert was a lecture on Behavioural Science by Ziv Carmon.

Katell was part of the morning debrief and gave the students a quick but motivational talk. She gave us several examples on how business can deliver a positive impact on people and society – everything around us really. Her main point was being conscious about how we use business and encouraging us to make an active effort to use business for good #InseadForGood. With the 57.000 INSEAD alumni (including yourself maybe – to some of the parents reading this?) spread out in 174 countries, she asked the students: “Imagine the impact it would have, if all these people practiced business as a force for good?”. Strong words.

And with those words in mind we move on to the main lecturer today – Guillaume, an INSEAD professor of Technology and Operations Management. During the hours the students had with him, they learned everything from understanding a product-process matrix to the concept of throughput time to how different elements such as reliability, conformance, serviceability, durability, etc. play into the totality of operations management as a whole.

The students had several assignments during the day, one of them being evaluating a case called Kristen’s Cookie Company. In essence the idea is that the imaginary ‘you’ and your roommate start a company that will use your dorm-room kitchen to make fresh cookies for late-night studying students on campus. In the assignment, the students, were given the task of evaluating the company’s design for the production process – they had to figure out prices, numbers of orders per night, needed equipment and figure out how to optimise the whole production process to create more value creation and make sure the company is profitable.

As they were sent out into their break-out rooms to complete the task, I took a little stroll amidst the cubicles and heard their approach to optimising the operations in the company. They talked about economics: how many baking trays, electric mixers and ovens they would need, calculating the profits, figuring out their hourly wage per night if they get unlimited demand. They also discussed the restraining factor of the production process – the oven and its limited space – and examined what would happen if they bought/loaned an extra oven and trays and changed the bottleneck in the process so that it was themselves, and their human capacity, instead of the oven. This shift in bottleneck would eventually lead to an increase in revenue, as long as the demand is large enough (and if not, the demand would be the next potential bottleneck). So yes – a lot of elements to take into account, a lot of talk about theoretical cookies and yet no actual cookies.

Bottom line: yay for the interesting assignment, boohoo for having to complete it on an empty stomach. Rumble. Rumble.

Students working hard with the cookie production process

Now for today’s intellectual desert in the cookbook of behavioural science – a whole 90 minutes (that passed by all too quickly) about how psychological insight into what makes people do (or not do) something can be used to ‘nudge’ people into doing to ‘right’ thing. Ziv Carmon, the lecturer, gave the students plenty examples on how nudging has been used in the most creative ways to get people to do more virtuous asks. Here are some of my favourite examples:

• Moscow municipalities made a ticket-machine with a camera that allowed people to squat 30 times as payment for a free metro ticket. It was made with the increasing obesity rates (that are  hugely costly to society) in mind and in attempt to get people to be more active.
• A hospital in Stockholm started to write down the phone numbers of their blood donors. They would then automatically get a thank-you message after donating blood and would later on get a message letting them know, when their blood had actually been used. This intervention is basically costless in terms of money or even effort and yet it’s a simple idea that made a difference in the hospital’s number of blood donors and especially the amount of them who came back to donate more.
• Click HERE for a video of yet another example of nudging – spoiler alert: it’s very funny

The students learnt that nudging especially becomes effective when there is reward substitution – basically  (and I quote) “a concrete immediate (small) reward for good behaviour”. Other nudging levers could be to make a reminder, to get people to pre-commit or to simplify the task that you’re trying to guide the person to do. This was all very juicy stuff, people! For a soon-to-be-psychology-student, my neurons were practically drooling at this point.

For y’all who want some food for thought to nibble on, here are two very interesting questions that were asked in class:

• If you start noticing and becoming aware of nudging, won’t you ultimately become immune to them the more you see them? (How effective are they really long-term?)
• Aren’t people in the area of behavioural economics afraid that if people get used to reward substitution, they will stop doing good virtues the moment they don’t get rewarded? That what used to be something that motivated them to do good will end up backlashing?
• (I’m saying it again: Actually dr-ool-ing as this deliciousness melts in my brain because mamma mia these are some crunchy munchy questions)

After this last mind-boggling class, students headed up for dinner where they got some actual, literal food, which happened to be steak et frites tonight. They then finished off the evening with a very important meeting with their YFCD groups where they had to be assigned their roles in the company as well as figure out how they’ll approach their acquisition negotiations. The meeting was peaceful and productive for some while it was a little more hectic and ‘passionate’ for others. The YFCD simulation starts next week so it’ll be interesting to see what all the groups settled on by then.

And now, my fellow readers, I am fully confident that you are satisfactorily updated on all the details of what Summer@INSEAD has entailed for the students today. On that note, this very bleary-eyed and typo-prone (my apologies!) counselor will be going to get some sweet, merciful sleep before a long and exciting trip to Paris tomorrow morning. Goodnight to you all.

The Cookie-Craving Julia Selawry

DAY 4

Another big day in the splendid French sunshine! With jetlag wearing off and the students beginning to get used to the INSEAD schedule, all piled in for the morning debrief, welcomed warmly by Freddy Mercury’s melancholic anthem Bohemian Rhapsody; an excellent example of our summer playlist in full flow and in need of refinement. Suitably psyched up, the group was well prepared to learn about Decision Making in life and in business, a topic presented by Summer@INSEAD regular Miguel Lobo, the Associate Professor and Chair of the Decision Sciences area at the university.

Miguel’s discussion began with a consideration of how rapidly technology has advanced over the ages, beginning with an analysis of the trajectory taken by modern-day supercomputers. Computers have been advancing in complexity by 4 or 5 orders of magnitude every 12 years, getting faster and more sophisticated (a point made by the fact that Tesla’s new driving assist computer would have been the world’s fastest supercomputer in 2007). The purpose of this exposition lay in a comparison with the human brain, and how this contrast frames the challenge faced by technology in the future; even with the rate of evolution in technology, the synapses in the human grain are still around 5 orders of magnitude more complex than the most sophisticated, modern supercomputers.

The students were then introduced to the two different forms of computing that take place during human decision making: intuition and complex, logical thinking. Whereas computers have become very adept at dealing with the latter task, its main challenge lies in tacking the first form which comes as second nature to the human brain. Students and counsellors alike were taken aback by Miguel’s compelling description of the intrigue behind human intuition and how it has proven so problematic; a consideration elaborated upon with reference to the death of a pedestrian at the hand of an autonomous vehicle, in an incident that cerebral computation would not have committed.

Enthusiastic group work discussing and filling out Miguel’s survey.

At a point where the audience’s ego had been suitably inflated, Miguel invited the group to come crashing back down to earth in explaining the purpose of the lecture itself; explaining the nature of unconscious biases and the fundamental fallibility of human intuition. Taking advantage of the super-cool INSEAD survey data platform, and making use of the day’s designated number crunchers (a set of extremely flustered camp counsellors), Miguel was able to use survey data from answers the students themselves had given earlier in the day to show how human “knowledge” can be influenced by anchoring, framing, and biases (among many environmental interferences). The entire lecture was extremely informative and compelling, and the students took surprisingly great pleasure in seeing how wrong they could be about so much. Miguel concluded his session providing three final takeaways for all in attendance:

• Don’t ignore intuition, but never disregard your weaknesses; “awareness of weakness allows you to draw value from your actions“.
• Be aware of biases and evade them by asking questions; get the ranges before taking informed action.
• Groups systematically improve decisions; diversity and creativity breed excellence.

For what was admittedly a very theoretical lecture session, there is no doubt that the students thoroughly enjoyed Miguel Lobo’s visit; long may his visits to Fontainebleau continue.

Stretching warm-up, completely ignorant of what we had in store for us.

Counsellors comfortably the slowest of the lot.

The afternoon’s “entertainment” came from an outdoor fitness session hosted by resident counsellors Augusta (ex-military) and Aindriu (a bit of a physical Adonis himself). The exercise consisted of own-body weight circuit challenges (push ups, leg raises, shadow boxing etc), pushing the physical, mental, and emotional boundaries of all involved. This writer can testify that at one point he was “seeing spots”, and is begrudgingly envious of the campers’ high-spirits, determination, and resilience throughout. In all honesty, complaints about the intensity of the event are unfounded, as it was advertised as an army-style-fitness bootcamp, but I would be wrong to describe the sheer sadism of the tasks set by our counsellor leaders as anything short of alarming and concerning. 

Bouncing back from the exhaustion of the afternoon, the group got together once more for the day’s evening lecture. In what proved to be an excellent compliment to the earlier session, we had the pleasure of connecting digitally with Theos Evgeniou, who delivered a lecture introducing how Artificial Intelligence works, and what it means for society. The group did themselves proud by engaging enthusiastically with the topic after what had been a long day. It would be fair to say that most of the room was unnerved by the idea that we are pushing the boundaries of what computers can do better than humans, a feeling that peaked at the mention of computers creating more intelligent and complex computers themselves.

A particularly interesting discussion was prompted by a question from the audience around the implications of the film “The Matrix”, and the possibility that humanity may finally be going a step too far with technology. Humouring the suggestion, Theos quickly mentioned the fact that throughout history most technological advances had been met with similar protestations, and put to the student who had asked the question, in keeping with “The Matrix” theme, that we may not have as much Free Will as we think we do, and that AI may not be as much of an intrusion as many believe it will be. The murmurs in the crowd and the discussions overheard during dinner exemplified the thought provoking nature of the lecture confirming that AI is indeed as hot a topic as ever.

Theos sparing some time from glorious Greece to talk about Artificial Intelligence.

Theos’ lecture ended on a gratifyingly positive note, with our lecturer pointing out the fact that the best chess player in the world at the moment was not a computer (as the vast majority of the students had guessed), but, in fact, a human being using a computer. This seemed to be a pleasing metaphor for the future of technology as a whole, not just for AI; as ever, humans and machines working together provide the best results. 

After the lecture, the students had the pleasure of being joined for dinner by Mr Lobos, who was shortly surrounded by inquisitive campers full to the brim with questions. With the planned karaoke postponed for Monday evening, Summer@INSEAD enjoyed a much needed break as the sun fell on another wonderful day, with fair warning not too get too used to it; we’re only just getting started!

Charles Meacham

DAY 3

Breakfast in the Treehouse was buzzing with life this morning – not a single trace of timidness in sight after the many ice-building games in the forest yesterday. Breakfast was, however, not a lingering affair. It was very much in n’ out as we all had to hurry down to Amphi B where INSEAD’s professor of decision sciences, Filip Hron, was waiting for us.

The following hours all revolved around three key life skills: negotiation, negotiation, and *drumroll please* negotiation. During their first hours with Professor Hron, the students had to find a definition of the overly mentioned latter. The whiteboard slowly but surely turned into a big brain-map of all the words that could be associated: everything from communication, compromise, influence and discussion. It’s not something to be taken lightly: with negotiation, you influence how others think, feel, perceive and behave. There was also emphasis on the fact that negotiation is found everywhere – it happens (and I quote) “during 100% of all interactions and is the #1 skill you have in life”. After a presentation of some graphs the students were then asked if they wanted a break, and if so, for how long? After a quick negotiation between the sea of students and the professor, it was successfully decided that seven full minutes was the optimal length for both parties.

Very concentrated students

Once the students filed back in – with hastily poured cups of coffees in hand – Mr. Hron continued to guide us through his world of expertise. One thing that really got the students to interact, was his stroll around the amphitheatre. Most of them probably thought he was doing a little ‘walk and talk’ while lecturing but he surprised them all by leaning forward and snatching up a mobile phone from the front row of students. He did it casually while talking, as if it was the most normal thing to do and we assumed there was some purpose behind the temporary act of theft. He continued talking about the concept of power and of ‘win-lose’ deals as he climbed the steps and plucked another phone from the hands of a student. He then walked back and placed this next one in the row with the first phone and his own. Students started to catch on to this now – why was he doing this? He continues his criminal stroll and asks them if this a nice way of negotiating, if they liked having their phones stolen, how were they planning on stopping him? Some answers rose up, but nothing seemed to satisfy him as he reached the back row and found his next bounty, which as it so happens, had upgraded from a phone to a laptop. He grabs the macbook right off the desk and skips back to his podium at the front. Places it in line with the phones. Smiles with a hint of mischief in his eye as he waits for the students to catch on to his point. He then asks again, how will you stop me, when I have all the power and I am irrelevant to how my actions make you feel (*queue evil laugh*)? The students were saying all sorts of things now, voices overlapping as they tried to reason with the greedy character he was playing. He left his treasures yet again and made his way back to the top of the atrium. Apparently electronics weren’t enough at this point, as he next pretended to reach out and steal one of the students. Marcos, however, refused to be taken – he resisted.

And it was about time! Stepping out of character (and swiftly returning the borrowed goods) Professor Hron applauded them all for finally noticing the obvious – that if you give a person everything they want – you’ll only be giving them even more power. Resistance is therefor key in these situations, as taking a stand for yourself is the only way to stand against someone misusing their power. Way to make a point, right? Us counsellors were really enjoying the stand-off between the 82 confused students and the insanely well-played and intentionally kleptomaniac character – what a show! The purpose of this whole ordeal was then for the students to keep what they just had learned in mind as they were sent off in groups of two to complete their first assignment of the day.

Group member #1 and #2 each had to play the roles of representatives from two different pharmaceutical companies. Both companies were looking for medical cures – the one for leukemia and the other for alzheimer’s. They both needed a chemical compound found in a certain type of toucan’s eggs that they wanted to use for their first stage of human trials. The eggs are rare and in strictly rationed supply and can only be bought from the birdies’ local government (*tweet, tweet* – in lack of a better onomatopoeia for a toucan?). Long story short – group member #1 and #2 had to negotiate a deal to co-purchase the government’s annual supply of eggs. They could also chose not to collaborate, but there would then be an open bidding for all companys wanting to get the eggs – in which case they could risk not being the highest bidder. Their challenge was to see if they could cooperate and what deal they would settle on in terms of splitting the eggs and/or the insanely high price. Bottom line: to try and strike a deal that would be advantageous to both parties – essentially a win-win situation.

Some of the more peaceful-looking negotiations…

Lunch came and went right after this exercise and they were then launched directly into two different case assignments, where they yet again had to negotiate and see if a win-win deal could be more enticing and strategic than a win-lose deal. With all these deals and teamwork, it’s probably safe to say that these students are now master minds in negotiating and in getting exactly what they want. Caution to all the readers out there – these kids are not to be messed with! *queue suspenseful music*

Other than using the day to acquire some killer negotiation skills, the students also had their first introductory session to their YFCD assignment. They were fed a few more details about the Maywood Cycles company and it was essentially an hour used to get them a little more familiarised with the lay of the land of the company, it’s structure and general background.

After dinner our wonderful events team rallied everyone up to compete against each other in an almighty quiz. We all sat in teams outside on the terrace and enjoyed the last of the summer evening as heated discussions began over which planet is the hottest, what the name of Eminem’s first album was and which city is known for having a high percentage of Italian immigrants post WW2. The questions were hard but with such a high level of team spirit from everyone, all teams managed and some even excelled in spite of their lacking trivia talents. With nine minutes before lights out, the winners were announced, cheers arose, the prize was handed out and all the students were herded back to their rooms to get a good night’s sleep in preparation of yet another eventful day tomorrow.

Note the overly enthusiastic counsellors in the back #therealwinners

Julia Selawry