I had an intense feeling of satisfaction yesterday. It had nothing to do with the fact that the day marked the end of the worst course thus far. It had nothing to with the fact that I am no longer required to take any accounting courses. I out thought Excel. Nothing more.
If you're considering starting your MBA you need to be aware of one critical aspect of your education: you're going to learn a lot about Excel and you're going to pay a lot to learn it. Solver. Sumproduct. Reference cells. If this is making sense to you, consider trying to have a number of your courses waived.
Because if you don't, be prepared to be extremely unsatisfied by the material presented in many of your courses. Prepare to resign yourself to the fact that your triumphs will not be based on conquering a challenging subject or developing competitive transferable skills; No, your triumphs will be over the inanimate screen in front of you. This program will subtly condition you to curse it when you see the word "infeasible." A moment later you will prostrate yourself before its gaze, basking in the warming glow of the words "solution found." With these words you experience great satisfaction.
Just be careful not to consider that you learned how to use Excel for $500 an hour.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Newfound Respect
I was sitting in class last night and reflecting on the latest module. It's been rough. Every week has been a struggle to get in the car and drive 20 miles to campus for another three and a half hours of core coursework. I've had to re-evaluate whether I'm wasting my time and money. I have a number of respected colleagues and friends that appraise the MBA as a money pit: You can get all that information and development through self education, they argue.
And they're right. You can get all the education you need from self-education. It may take more time and it will take a lot of discipline. And it's the latter that is the sticking point for most self-education proponents. I have long sought after fellow self-ed enthusiasts to dedicate their time to discussion, research and reflection and I have found only a few - unfortunately thousands of miles separate me from them.
So I found that the only way to find committed people was through an organized, accredited institution. The "free" tag of self-ed is not compulsive enough for most people to participate because there is no commitment. I've been witness to this effect with different online efforts to form communities of self-taught business professionals. Getting people to commit is tremendously difficult.
The people that do commit to something financially and with their time speak volumes. I didn't full grasp this until last night. I looked around the room at people who may not be the smartest people on paper, but they exhibit committment and all that that implies. It's no wonder that people are willing to pay more for an MBA. Many people disparage its value, but it does a fantastic job of identifying people who are willing to make a decision and tough it out. Deciding to stick with a program after a full days work in the office, sitting in traffic to get to campus for a 6:00 to 9:30 PM class represents characteristics of someone I would like to work with and can move business forward.
And they're right. You can get all the education you need from self-education. It may take more time and it will take a lot of discipline. And it's the latter that is the sticking point for most self-education proponents. I have long sought after fellow self-ed enthusiasts to dedicate their time to discussion, research and reflection and I have found only a few - unfortunately thousands of miles separate me from them.
So I found that the only way to find committed people was through an organized, accredited institution. The "free" tag of self-ed is not compulsive enough for most people to participate because there is no commitment. I've been witness to this effect with different online efforts to form communities of self-taught business professionals. Getting people to commit is tremendously difficult.
The people that do commit to something financially and with their time speak volumes. I didn't full grasp this until last night. I looked around the room at people who may not be the smartest people on paper, but they exhibit committment and all that that implies. It's no wonder that people are willing to pay more for an MBA. Many people disparage its value, but it does a fantastic job of identifying people who are willing to make a decision and tough it out. Deciding to stick with a program after a full days work in the office, sitting in traffic to get to campus for a 6:00 to 9:30 PM class represents characteristics of someone I would like to work with and can move business forward.
Monday, May 21, 2007
On Making Decisions
Decisions - crucial or minor - are a facet of business that every employee faces. My decision making method is probably different than my colleague. Maybe I intuit the decision with sparse information. I might run vigorous analysis of available data instead. The point is that there is little uniformity in most business offices when it comes to decision making.
The operations course I am taking now is common across all MBA programs: Decision Modeling. The course posits that decision making can be augmented toward greater success with the educated employment of models. The three primary models available to business men and women are as follows:
This leads to an underlying issue with MBA programs: I am being exposed to a number of great practices, but will I ever use them again? The problem is that processes like decision making modeling require practice - in spades. Once you get past this class, your focus moves either to the next core requisite or to your concentration courses. Not all concentrations employ decision trees equally. So for many, this class is the last time they will see decision modeling and that seems like a waste of time and money.
I need to point out something about this course that is more of a subtext than the headline. Whether you incorporate the models learned into your decision making repertoire or not, this class exposes you to a methodical, tested means to evaluating decisions. It does not substitute intuition with modeling. It incorporates the two. This course exposes the student to thinking about decision from an unnatural perspective: do not make the decision that "feels" right immediately.
If anything, this is the big takeaway from the course.
The operations course I am taking now is common across all MBA programs: Decision Modeling. The course posits that decision making can be augmented toward greater success with the educated employment of models. The three primary models available to business men and women are as follows:
- Decision Trees
- Linear Programming
- Integer Programming
This leads to an underlying issue with MBA programs: I am being exposed to a number of great practices, but will I ever use them again? The problem is that processes like decision making modeling require practice - in spades. Once you get past this class, your focus moves either to the next core requisite or to your concentration courses. Not all concentrations employ decision trees equally. So for many, this class is the last time they will see decision modeling and that seems like a waste of time and money.
I need to point out something about this course that is more of a subtext than the headline. Whether you incorporate the models learned into your decision making repertoire or not, this class exposes you to a methodical, tested means to evaluating decisions. It does not substitute intuition with modeling. It incorporates the two. This course exposes the student to thinking about decision from an unnatural perspective: do not make the decision that "feels" right immediately.
If anything, this is the big takeaway from the course.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Career Managment Course
A new semester is in bloom. Monday marked the first day of the summer semester. I'm taking three courses during Module A: Intermediate Accounting, Decision Analysis and Managing Your Career. I'm going to discuss the career management course during this post and its implications.
Career management courses are offered with every MBA program; however, many programs are relegating the course to a Pass/Fail elective as they attempt to make the program time competitive. SMU has followed suit. This course was required two years ago when SMU was a 56 credit program and it was dropped at the 48 credit program introduction.
There are a myriad of reasons why a candidate takes this course: to evaluate his current career fit; to determine what he wants to be when he "grows up;" and/or to better understand his strengths and weaknesses, among others. I fall into the first two options.
My first tasks were to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a Work-Life Values Assessment and the CareerLeader(TM) Assessment. Our first lecture was devoted to the MBTI.
For those of you unfamiliar with the MBTI, it is an assessment that measures your preferences according to four opposing parameters: Extraversion to Introversion, Sensing to Intuition, Thinking to Feeling and Judging to Perceiving. I must emphasize that these are preferences: just because you prefer to be a thinker does not mean you do not feel and vice versa.
Career management courses are offered with every MBA program; however, many programs are relegating the course to a Pass/Fail elective as they attempt to make the program time competitive. SMU has followed suit. This course was required two years ago when SMU was a 56 credit program and it was dropped at the 48 credit program introduction.
There are a myriad of reasons why a candidate takes this course: to evaluate his current career fit; to determine what he wants to be when he "grows up;" and/or to better understand his strengths and weaknesses, among others. I fall into the first two options.
My first tasks were to complete the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a Work-Life Values Assessment and the CareerLeader(TM) Assessment. Our first lecture was devoted to the MBTI.
For those of you unfamiliar with the MBTI, it is an assessment that measures your preferences according to four opposing parameters: Extraversion to Introversion, Sensing to Intuition, Thinking to Feeling and Judging to Perceiving. I must emphasize that these are preferences: just because you prefer to be a thinker does not mean you do not feel and vice versa.
The instrument gives you the ability to evaluate what you prefer to do rather than what you can do. And if you are throwing down a substantial amount of money on an MBA, it behooves you to figure this out.
Furthermore, you will find that you have a number of prejudices against personalities contrary to your own. If you are energized by introverted activities, you tend to give greater credence to others who are similarly energized and denigrate the extravert activities. This awareness can help you increase your emotional intelligence and be a better manager and leader in spite of your known biases.
The strength of this tool lies in identifying what elements you want in your career. I have a number of potential career paths on which I can continue. There are a number of positions that sound exciting and fulfilling. As I continue to evaluate my next career step, the tools with which I will be equipped in this course will play a role in weeding out paths that contain elements I do not prefer.
Be sure you take advantage of a course like this during your MBA career. The dividends are well worth the investment.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Back to Earth
Had you asked me what my opinion on an MBA was eight weeks ago, I would have espoused the virtues and necessity of getting the MBA. I'd call this my honeymoon period with graduate school.
Eight weeks later, two more classes completed and I'm singing a different tune. All the articles I read denigrating the value of the MBA make more sense. The successful entrepreneurs like Guy Kawasaki that fight against MBA education sound less like popular self-deprecators and more like sage advisers.
This has been quite the pendulum swing. And I haven't quite made sense of it.
This past week I had a reading assignment for my Organizational Behavior. At the same time, I finished one of the best books I've read the past year: How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman. Both reading pieces used statements from Adam Smith to make points: Specialization is good because it moves society/business forward. I agree. However, business school forgets the warning Adam Smith and Alex Ferguson gave: the pitfall of specialization is a society that allows people to focus purely on their specialty and does not encourage a liberal arts education that enables citizens to think "outside the box."
This needs to be restated: if we allow people to specialize without explaining the source of ideas and how ideas fit together, we develop myopic people and a myopic society. This rings true for me in the broader scheme - i.e. United States, the World, etc. - and more specifically in my microcosm of life - i.e. School, Workplace, etc.
My biggest disappoint with this module has been this issue. Last night our course had a guest speaker that disparaged some of the natural sciences, arguing them as irrelevant to business. I wrote on my paper, "Everything that is left on this presentation is now suspect." And I've realized, that the professors I've had this module teach from this perspective: their specialty is paramount.
What a let down. Coming into the program, I was excited about the tools I was going to walk away with. Through the first module, the material presentation impressed me. My feet are now firmly back on earth: the burden for insuring that I have a firm grasp of multiple mental models rests squarely on my shoulders.
I'm sticking with the MBA program. I'll finish it. Some of the other benefits I listed for pursuing the degree are still valid. However, my view about the content has been skewed. I have professors who are true authorities and worthy of emulation. Others leave little to be desired. This empowers me to continue reading books on physics, social behavior, microbiology, etc. I'm the better for it.
Eight weeks later, two more classes completed and I'm singing a different tune. All the articles I read denigrating the value of the MBA make more sense. The successful entrepreneurs like Guy Kawasaki that fight against MBA education sound less like popular self-deprecators and more like sage advisers.
This has been quite the pendulum swing. And I haven't quite made sense of it.
This past week I had a reading assignment for my Organizational Behavior. At the same time, I finished one of the best books I've read the past year: How the Scots Invented the Modern World by Arthur Herman. Both reading pieces used statements from Adam Smith to make points: Specialization is good because it moves society/business forward. I agree. However, business school forgets the warning Adam Smith and Alex Ferguson gave: the pitfall of specialization is a society that allows people to focus purely on their specialty and does not encourage a liberal arts education that enables citizens to think "outside the box."
This needs to be restated: if we allow people to specialize without explaining the source of ideas and how ideas fit together, we develop myopic people and a myopic society. This rings true for me in the broader scheme - i.e. United States, the World, etc. - and more specifically in my microcosm of life - i.e. School, Workplace, etc.
My biggest disappoint with this module has been this issue. Last night our course had a guest speaker that disparaged some of the natural sciences, arguing them as irrelevant to business. I wrote on my paper, "Everything that is left on this presentation is now suspect." And I've realized, that the professors I've had this module teach from this perspective: their specialty is paramount.
What a let down. Coming into the program, I was excited about the tools I was going to walk away with. Through the first module, the material presentation impressed me. My feet are now firmly back on earth: the burden for insuring that I have a firm grasp of multiple mental models rests squarely on my shoulders.
I'm sticking with the MBA program. I'll finish it. Some of the other benefits I listed for pursuing the degree are still valid. However, my view about the content has been skewed. I have professors who are true authorities and worthy of emulation. Others leave little to be desired. This empowers me to continue reading books on physics, social behavior, microbiology, etc. I'm the better for it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
