It all started innocently.....When we got into a long duration course, expecting to brush up on a few concepts and add some shiny new acronyms to my long boring biodata. After all, how hard can it be? We’re already a seasoned professional, battle-hardened by office politics and PowerPoint-induced migraines. This is just a formality—like collecting Air Miles on flights you didn’t pay for...
But then, somewhere between Organizational Behavior and Statistics, something strange happens during the course....You, a rational adult, begin to experience symptoms of academic Stockholm Syndrome—a condition where you not only accept your captivity by course material but also develop a deep, almost romantic attachment to it.
Welcome to the world where SWOT Analysis becomes your emotional crutch, Operations Research feels like a forbidden love affair, and Statistics turns into the imaginary friend you can’t live without....
Phase 1: Denial – I’ll Just Skim Through"with small help of ChatGPT
You start the course with confidence bordering on arrogance. The first module—Organizational Behavior (OB)—seems harmless enough. You assume it’ll be about how to deal with difficult coworkers, perhaps with a slide or two on conflict resolution. Easy stuff, right?obviously with small help of ChatGPT...
Wrong
Before you know it, you’re knee-deep in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, wondering whether your desire for coffee during class is a physiological need or a self-actualization goal. And just as you’re contemplating if esteem needs include the urge to win debates about Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory, your instructor drops the bomb—analyze a simple war movie with Vroom’s Expectancy Theory.
Suddenly, you’re analyzing whether the effort you put into attending this class will ever translate into actual results or just a complicated Excel sheet with Pareto Charts you’ll never use by help of statistics.
Phase 2: Resistance – "I Don’t Need This in Real Life"
The rebellion begins during Financial Management lectures. It’s not the balance sheets or cash flow statements that break you—its Capital Procurement. You sit there, blinking at charts and steps...wondering if your brain is eligible for doing it now with this new knowledge..
Your escape attempts become more frequent...Project Management...You start doodling PERT charts on the margins of your notebook, imagining that you’re planning a covert operation to smuggle yourself out of the class. But then, the instructor casually mentions Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and suddenly, you’re intrigued. Not because you need it, but because the formula looks suspiciously like a riddle.
You spend the next week figuring it out. For no reason.
Phase 3: Bargaining – "Maybe It’s Not So Bad"
By now, you’ve entered the Strategic Management section, which might as well be a Netflix drama. You’re introduced to World COMPASS —a framework so theatrical it deserves an Oscar. It’s all about rivalries, bargaining power, and existential threats. You find yourself applying it to your personal life:
Competitive Rivalry: Your colleague who always gets posting to Delhi....
Supplier Power: The cafeteria staff, because they control the coffee supply...
Buyer Power: You, threatening to leave the course (but never actually doing it).
Threat of Substitutes: Weekend plans that involve Netflix instead of Dissertation and case studies.
Threat of Tool kit choooos...
Participants...
who suddenly ask intelligent question and then give answers also to them by utilizing all tools ever used.......
At this point, you no longer hate the subject—you admire its drama. You even start incorporating strategic buzzwords like "core competencies" and "black swan strategy" into everyday conversations, confusing friends and family in the process.
Phase 4: Attachment – "I Think I Love It"
This is where the syndrome takes hold. Operations Research (OR) sneaks up on you like an uninvited guest who refuses to leave. What starts as a harmless introduction to Linear Programming morphs into late-night obsessions over Transportation Models.
You begin to see optimization problems everywhere:
Should you spend your lunch break eating or revising formulas for Critical Path Analysis?
Can you minimize time spent in traffic using Shortest Path Algorithms?
Will your salary be enough to justify the emotional damage caused by Decision Trees?
By now, you can’t resist using phrases like “Let’s maximize utility while minimizing costs” during grocery shopping. Your friends stops taking call of you.
Phase 5: Acceptance – This is Who I Am Now
You surrender completely during the Supply Chain Management (SCM) module. You no longer question the point of learning about bullwhip effects, inventory control models, or lean logistics.
Instead, you start analyzing the supply chain of your morning coffee, mapping its journey from Ethiopian farms to your caffeine-deprived hands. You begin suggesting Just-in-Time (JIT) strategies to local grocery stores and reorganizing your kitchen pantry based on ABC analysis.
At this point, you’ve stopped being a hostage—you’re a willing recruit.
Phase 6: Post-Captivity Syndrome – What Now?
As the course draws to a close, panic sets in. What will you do without the Monte Carlo Simulations that kept you awake at night? Who will listen to your unsolicited opinions about Organizational Development and Behavioral Theories?
You try to move on, but the impact is permanent. You find yourself casually mentioning Game Theory during parties and analyzing the correlation coefficients of your exercise habits during gym conversations.
Even at Project you can’t stop yourself from creating a Gantt Chart for the most mundane tasks—like planning structure of project report...
Final Thoughts: Living with Stockholm Syndrome
And so, you emerge from your one-year academic captivity not as a victim but as a convert. You now believe that Statistics holds the answers to life’s mysteries and that Financial Models can predict happiness.
You may never actually use these concepts at work, but you’ll always carry them in your heart. After all, who needs therapy when you have System Management Frameworks and Operations Research Models to solve all your problems?
When you're finishing the course, there are only two paths left: either you surrender completely to the syllabus—no escape, no regrets—or you become a "Bairang Lifafa"—leaving exactly as clueless as you arrived!
Finally there is always a CHoice...
