The First Day of the Second Quarter

After wrapping up the most-appreciated holiday break I've ever had, today marks the first day of the second quarter (out of a total of nine).  After reviewing the syllabi for the two courses we're taking this semester (Corporate Finance and Statistics), a couple of things are becoming evident:

• Homework is about to look little / nothing like it used to.  There are a lot of case-based assignments this quarter, and the term "case write up" just got a bit more intimidating.
• The intensity of the group-work dynamic of the program is kicking up a notch.  Where the first quarter saw the occasional group assignment, this quarter sees 1-2 per week.

On all of this, our second-year mentor offered some words of wisdom that I think are worth passing on to those considering their MBA:

• The concepts you learn early on will be reinforced over-and-over again as you work through the remaining core curriculum.  Many of us experienced "weed-out" courses in undergrad... These core classes are meant to set the stage for the management science and strategy work you will do later on - they are not meant to thin the heard.
• The volume of work is like mental endurance training.  Becoming a top manager is not about simply learning the most information and getting on the Dean's list.  It is about learning to process the most information, accurately and without being limited by mental fatigue.

And so, the mental Ironman continues today.  Interestingly, my teammates and I are all starting to think more about the non-class activities available to benefit us during our time as students - mentorships, career advising, professional organizations.  One thing's for sure: we'll have to make time for those things, because it will be easy to focus only on the classwork at hand.

If any of my classmates are reading - what were your big takeaways from AUT 2013?

Learning while you're learning

As you can see, it's been a while since my last post.  The reason for that will be easily understood by my classmates: when school is in session, there's not a lot of free time to be found.  There are several days a week where it's non-stop from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed, between workloads on the job and for school.  A note for those of you beginning your application process: Be prepared to cut out some of your hobbies for a while and have less time with your loved ones...!  If you've got a significant other in your life, you'll be looking for new ways to spend time together.  If you've got a dog, now may be the time to hire that dog walker...


Amidst this insanity, one thing I'm realizing is that the education of an MBA is as much about  learning while you're learning as what you're learning.  Regardless of where MBA students want to end up after graduating, every one of them will have to take classes that have little or no material relevance to that end state.  Yet there is always learning going on.

For one, you're learning how to operate under serious time constraints.  I'm only halfway through my first quarter and already I'm thinking that no crunch time at work will ever feel like a crunch after finishing this program.  Secondly, you're learning how to operate under multiple people's serious time constraints.  Our program is cohort-based, which means working in teams and handling several schedules.  (Luckily, our program kicked off with a weekend crash course on working in teams and personal leadership - two skills that, unlike accounting or economics, are guaranteed to be required for success in any job any of us is aiming for.)  Thirdly, because of all these time constraints, you're learning to make trade-offs given the best information you have - something highly likely to occur time and time again at work post-graduation. 

This is part of that whole "grades don't matter" thing I'm also learning to getting used to.  All these assignments, tests, and cases are opportunities to practice self-awareness, empathy and motivation under very stressful circumstances.  Anyhow, steady on!

Lessons from Before the First Day of Class

Well, we haven't had our first day of class yet and I already feel like I'm learning - about myself and what the MBA experience will be like.  One of my favorite sayings is, "You don't know what you don't know."  Thanks to student orientation, I've become aware of some of the things I didn't know I didn't know.  The biggest is that as often as the letters "MBA" get thrown around, there is no singular MBA "thing" that exists out there.  Every person's MBA experience is entirely unique to them.  Academics are important, yes - but there's a lot more to it.  There are more tools and experiences available in a top tier program than any one person could or should try to leverage.  What matters most is leveraging the right tools and experiences for your unique situation.  Between your professional and personal goals, be they tangible or intangible, you'll get out what you put in. To use a phrase from business, I've got to start out with my exit strategy (or as close as I can get to one) in mind and gravitate to the activities, people and opportunities that make sense for me.  It was weird to hear from multiple people that grades don't really matter - between my primary education and work life, it's always been about performance.  In this case, however, it seems to be about learning by leveraging resources both in- and outside of the curriculum.

Introducing Lessons from My MBA

Hi, readers.  Welcome to my new blog: Lessons from My MBA.  In a nutshell, the idea for this blog started when my wife and I were first considering applying for an MBA.  We asked several of our MBA-packing friends, colleagues and acquaintances a simple question: What was the best thing you took away from your MBA experience?  We got a few semi-tangible answers about things like more confidence, the ability to better articulate points during important conversations at work, and networking.  However, more often than not folks didn't answer the way I expected: Namely, with examples of classroom lessons generating improvements in their day jobs.  This was partly because my expectation was under-developed - a lot of folks aren't looking to get better at their current job, but rather to transition into something new altogether.  It was also because I was asking folks who'd finished their MBA already - some a few years back.  It's really hard for anyone to remember exactly what he/she was discovering then and there in the past.

Now I have an opportunity to ask myself and my new classmates now and here in the present what we are getting out of our MBA experience, be it big or small.  In addition to my posts, I hope my classmates will comment and share their own thoughts along the way.  Ultimately, my hope is that others who are considering applying for an MBA can benefit from reading about the experiences of folks who are in the midst of it all.  What do you think?