TEN QUESTIONS WITH KRITI JAIN
Where is your hometown?
Dehradun, a scenic valley tucked between the Himalayas in Northern India.
What do you teach?
Courses on Decision Making and Managing People at Work in the International MBA, GMBA, LLM, and MIM programs. Research Methods and Behavioral Economics/Psychology in the Doctoral program.
And what do you like about teaching?
The energy – meeting exciting people, creating dialogues between and within their minds, and learning new things myself along the way. It is pure joy.
What would you say is a particularly underrated business skill?
Humility. The ability to say “I don’t know” and “I am wrong.”
What books are on your nightstand?
Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics by Richard Thaler. Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.
Your favorite quote?
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. – Mahatma Gandhi
Is there someone who has inspired you?
Anyone who has a zest for life inspires me! I look up to my parents’ lives for some important lessons – dream big, do not settle for mediocrity, stay humble, and maintain materialistic detachment.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
A tennis champion.
And how do you relax?
A stroll through the green woods and feeding birds in the lakes are my favorite things. Sitting in a café – and watching people and their lives go by – is also fun.
Where is your favorite spot in Madrid?
The rooftop terrazas, especially the one at Plaza Cibeles.
Professor Kriti Jain was interviewed and photographed by Kerry Parke (May 2015.)