Back after a week of courses and work. This is the start of the week long mid semester break for us to catch up with what we have studied so far and what needs to be done-a time to reflect, take stock and make sense of what one has learnt and where one wants to go from here. It is important that one gets time to think in an uninterrupted manner about what it is that one is interested in and wants to pursue.

Research in Organizational Behavior is so cool because it can be applied to our own lives in so many different ways. And what we choose to pursue is often an indication sometimes of who we really are. I dare say that we become what we study, specially in a field as personally relevant as the study of behavior at work.

I have had several moments of inspiration for possible areas of research based on my own work life, and in my interaction with the people in my University. These moments of inspiration are sometimes out of situations that went right, and some that went wrong. Both these situations offer an opportunity for learning about what to do right, and what to improve, and sometimes opportunities for work.

One of the fundamental assumptions one makes in any kind of research is that the researcher be unbiased, non judgmental and objective. I wonder if that can really happen since we live so closely with our research work. Sometimes there are phases where we eat, drink and sleep research (although those phases are uncommon for me, but still very there!). And specially if we choose our research areas based on our experiences of interactions with our peers or superiors, how unbiased is it, really? I think that some sense of identification with the research problem does offer insights into the problem which we otherwise wouldn't have, if we had not undergone similar experiences, so yes, I think its important to be able to identify and to relate to one's topic of research, either intellectually, personally or both.

Learning is a pleasant, fulfilling experience at most times, but sometimes it can be painful to learn things the hard way, specially when it is given to us in a painful way thru harsh criticism. Maybe it is subjective, what is harsh criticism to me, is probably just 'feedback' from the source. Insight from such experiences-practise a bit of perspective taking, just use the 'feedback' to improve one's work, and ignore the rest. :) Makes life a whole lot simpler. :)

Another insight gained in research is to watch and learn from the experts-what they do, and how they do it, can help us acquire skills which are likely to come into focus later in our careers as researchers and academics when we will be in the mentoring or supervisory role for a budding researcher.

So watch and learn is the message for the day! :)