A couple of weeks back, I had the privilege of being invited as a judge at Nirvahana, an initiative by Primus International School that brings entrepreneurship and problem-solving to life for students.
One of the tracks I was assigned to judge was Crisis Consultancy, a simulation where students from 8th to 12th grade were given real-world corporate crises (case-studies) to solve. These included scenarios like:
- Customer fallout due to poor service
- Data or privacy breaches
- Leakage of sensitive information
- Product flaws leading to public backlash
The students had to analyze the crisis, present mitigation strategies, apologies, propose how to handle the fallout, and chart a roadmap to bring the company back on track.
The Experience as a Judge – Watching Entrepreneurs in Making
There were 15 teams competing in this track, each with two participants. The panel had three judges, and I was invited to contribute as an entrepreneur.
What stood out to me was the seriousness with which these young minds approached corporate-level challenges. Some teams came up with structured frameworks, dividing their solutions into short-term, mid-term, and long-term actions.
Few teams particularly impressed me by suggesting that in a crisis, the CEO should openly apologize, while simultaneously assuring customers about corrective and preventive measures, be it employee training, stronger systems, or sensitization against bias in customer interactions.
Another team tackled a scenario of a product defect that caused minor injuries which went viral. Their solution was to recall all units from the market. While idealistic (and possibly bankrupting in reality), it reflected their ethical thinking. These moments allowed us judges to guide them on balancing practicality with responsibility.
Of course, not every team was equally prepared. A few forgot their scripts or offered overly shallow or idealistic answers. Others, however, demonstrated excellent coordination, deep understanding of the crisis, and thoughtful recommendations.
It Was More Special Due to My Daughter
I was not aware of that school has such competitions and it was an eye-opener for me. All thanks to my daughter, Saanvi, and her teacher who asked during a class, whose parents were entrepreneurs. She spoke about Rideally Cabs and later prepared a short profile of me using ChatGPT and shared with her Mam. The school then reached out and invited me as a judge.
Watching students (wannabe Entrepreneurs) dive deep into real-world problem-solving and seeing my daughter gain exposure to such a learning environment was a proud moment.
Kudos to Primus School
Overall, Nirvahana was a fantastic initiative, and I was truly honored to play a small role in it and learn from it. This event was clearly the outcome of 3+ months of preparation involving hundreds of students and teachers/management/staff. The energy, logistics, and organization were outstanding.
It was heartening to see the next generation think with empathy, responsibility, and creativity even if sometimes their answers were more idealistic than practical. Events like these give me confidence that our future leaders are being nurtured with the right mindset, one that balances ethics, responsibility, and innovation.
How About Your Kids’ School?
I learnt that few more schools have similar iniatitives. exposure to real world scenario at such age is needed if India needs to be “Aatma Nirbhar” and promote “Vocal For Local”. We need 1000s of entrepreneurs to build toys to rockets.
Does your kids’ school have such initiative? If yes, please do share experiences.
What’s one crisis-handling lesson you wish schools taught the next generation of leaders?