Archive for August, 2009
The 4 Most Valuable Things I Learned in Business School
Great post – thanks! I’d like to add a comment on two of the points you raised:
1 – The reminder to consider opportunity costs is something I’ll take to heart. A lot of opportunities come my way, and I tend to jump on them without thinking through what else I could do with my time. Opportunity being the topic, I’ll throw in a favourite quote from that well-known management theorist, Ann Landers – “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.”
2 – I couldn’t agree more with your observation about the value of experience over credentials, and I’d add that you can (and should) invest in creating your own credentials, even if you have a good degree. When I was in university I had a co-op term and never went back to finish my degree – I just liked the world of work too much. (Funny, given that your post also talked about the value of a co-op program.) That was over 30 years ago, and in all the time since, no one (other than immigration authorities granting work visas) ever asked for my credentials, or even a resume, at least until a request came out of the blue this year. What’s key is to (a) regularly take the time to reflect on your experience and capture it (not just think about it!) and (b) find ways to demonstrate/share your growing experience and knowledge. Even in that first job, I didn’t hesitate to share what I’d learned through presentations within the company and to relevant groups around town. Later, I built courses to teach it to other people, and started getting asked to travel to conferences to speak. I did a lot of that, and eventually wrote a book that is widely used as a text in MBA programs. (Ironic, given that I don’t have a degree.) The point – lots of people are smarter, more articulate, or have richer experience than me, but even in the age of blogging and social media, a surprisingly small percentage of professionals take their *own* experience, distill an asset from it, and then do something with it.
I’m still glad that all four of my kids have, or are working on, their university degrees – I don’t want to sound like I’m saying that isn’t important, because it is, and increasingly so. But experience, and demonstrating that you’ve learned from it, counts for more than some might think.
This comment is already too long, so I’ll resist the urge to go on about the apparent conundrum of “you need the credentials before you can get the experience.” In short, it’s more cliché than fact.
Thanks again for the excellent post – I’ll be sharing it.
This a great experienced shared by this writer on business school experience. This will give you some insights on what is important to move forward
Dare to Dream Again
–>“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.” —Teddy Roosevelt
Do you remember when you were a child and no dream seemed too big? Some of us thought we would walk on the moon; some dreamed of riding with Roy Rogers; others imagined stepping to the plate in a big-league game. Every one of us, when we were young, had a common trait—we were dreamers. The world hadn’t gotten to us yet to show us that we couldn’t possibly achieve what our hearts longed for. And we were still years from realizing that, in some cases, we weren’t built for achieving our dream.
Eventually, we started to let our dreams die. People began to tell us that we couldn’t do the things we wanted. It was impossible. Responsible people don’t pursue their dreams. Settle down, get a job, be dependable. Take care of business, live the mundane, be content.
Do you know what I say to that? Hooey!
It is time to dream again!
Why? Here are just a few reasons:
- Avoiding regret. The facts are in, and someday we will all lie on our deathbed, looking back through our lives. We will undoubtedly think about what we wished we had done or accomplished. I for one don’t want to regret what could have been, what should have been. So I am deciding today to pursue my dreams.
- Making the world a better place. All of the great accomplishments that have ever happened began with a person who had a dream. Somebody rebuffed the naysayers and said to himself or herself, “This can be done, and I am the one who will do it.” And in many instances they changed the world for the better.
- Personal and family fulfillment. Stepping up and pursuing your dream rekindles that passion and zeal that everyone has the capacity for and lets us experience fulfillment. Having a purpose puts the zip in our step and the zing in our emotions!
- Leaving a legacy. How will your children remember you? As one who sought all that life had to offer, using your gifts and talents to their fullest extent, leading the family with a zest for life, or as an overweight couch potato who could have been? Our children need to see that we dream; that we search for something better. They in turn will do the same!
So where do we start? Here are some ideas:
- Reconnect with your dream. Set aside some time to let yourself dream. What have you placed on the backburner in order to live the status quo?
- Decide that you will do it. This may seem elementary, but many people never decide and commit fully to their dream. They simply keep “thinking” about it.
- Tell others that you are going to do it. This puts you on record as to what you are dreaming about. It makes you accountable.
- Develop a step-by-step plan. This is absolutely essential. You must sit down and write out a few things:
- A timeline. How long will it take to the end?
- Action steps. Point-by-point what you will do and when you will do them.
- Resources you will need to draw from. What will it take? Who will need to be involved for help or advice?
- An evaluation tool. You need to evaluate from time to time whether you are progressing or not.
- A celebration. Yep, when you are done you should already have planned what you will do to celebrate. Make it big!
I have found that there is no better time than now. So, set aside some time today to get started on your dream. Follow the action plan and set your sights for the top of the mountain! You will be glad you did!
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This is a great article about dreaming and success.
Some notes on Success Techniques
This is probably just going to be a ramble on something that came to mind about success recently. The thrust of this article will be short.
Here are the pointers
1. Strive to have clarity about what you want in life or for a specific area. When you really don’t have a specific goal in mind you will waste a lot of time in general. Strategic clarity is powerful to really achieving long term success.
2. Put yourself in the situation that you want to be mentally as often as you can. Imagine yourself reaching the goal before you even started but make it as real as you can. Spend some time daily to think about it. If your goal is spiritual, think about what it would be like to be in that ultimate spiritual state of mind.
3. Break things down in steps. As I always say, you take a GAP analysis of where you are and want to be. Then look at the little steps you need to achieve the ultimate goal. This is an important discipline to achieving that end game.
4. Let go of negative emotions. Try to be a good person and be honest with yourself and others. In fact you would be surprise how this can help to channel energy towards your ultimate goal or aspiration.
5. Adding a bonus. You need to focus. To break it down, focus is based on you really wanting that end game. If you find yourself not focusing then maybe you are not really convicted of your goal in the first place or maybe you don’t believe its possible. Remember that once you remove negative emotions , you will have sharper interest in that goal.
6. Another Bonus – This one is Leverage – This is the operative word to move forward once you have a clear goal. This leverage could be skills, money or people. An important one is people. Don’t be afraid to approach people and ask them how they did it. Don’t be afraid to ask for help but this is critical to moving fast in your journey forward.
7. Seven must be a magical number since I have one more pointer. This one is simple, as of now the word failure does not exist in your vocabulary. What I mean is that when you are locked into your goals, the steps may have setbacks along the way. The key here is to consider these setbacks as learning opportunities not failure as in time to give up.
That’s basically it, lots more than I had in mind to write today. While we tend to use money as targets for success this to me is wrong. Anything can be seen as success. I hate when people go to some developing country and loosely use the word proverty because people don’t have 2 cars in a garage or maybe living in a hut or something. Most times people with less material possessions have better spiritual outlook than those with the bank account flowing over. Our current economic situation speaks to that clearly. It was bankers who already had lots of money that created this crisis as we know it. So take note on that.