EMBA Survival

grades & the beginning of the last semester

I've been absent here on this blog for the most part all of last semester.  I've had other priorities (a social life).  Not to mention it's tough to keep up a blog about an EMBA when time is at such a premium.  I don't particularly have the time and energy to wite long and insightful posts on a regular basis (or at all, aparently.)  This has been compounded by a lack of interested readership / comment love.  Not shockingly, those of you that are interested in reading  about an EMBA are likely partaking in one and have little time yourselves.

The first class of the final semester starts next Friday.  So how have I done?  One obvious yardstick is my transcript.  I've read that talking about business school grades is something that's just not done -- but that's not my experience at all.  So here's my scorecard:

MGMT	781	GR	TEAM DYNAMICS I					S	0.000	0.00
MGMT	801	GR	FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING					A	3.000	12.00
MGMT	807	GR	LEADERSHIP					A+	1.500	6.49
MGMT	809	GR	ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR					A	1.500	6.00
MGMT	840	GR	MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS					A-	1.500	5.50
MGMT	870	GR	COMPETITIVE STRATEGY					A	1.500	6.00
MGMT	895	GR	DATA ANALYSIS					A-	3.000	11.01
MGMT	896	GR	LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION I					A	1.500	6.00
MGMT	909	GR	NEGOTIATION & CONFLICT RES					A	0.000	0.00

MGMT	782	GR	TEAM DYNAMICS II					S	1.000	0.00
MGMT	802	GR	COST MANAGEMENT					A-	1.500	5.50
MGMT	830	GR	STRATEGIC IT					B+	1.500	4.99
MGMT	843	GR	CORPORATE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT					A	3.000	12.00
MGMT	860	GR	BUSINESS ETHICS					A-	1.500	5.50
MGMT	874	GR	OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT					B+	1.500	4.99
MGMT	880	GR	STRATEGIC MARKETING					B+	3.000	9.99
MGMT	897	GR	LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATIONS II					A-	1.500	5.50
MGMT	908	GR	NEGOTIATIONS II					S	1.500	0.00

MGMT	790	GR	LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT					S	0.500	0.00
MGMT	823	GR	MANAGEMENT CONTROL					B	1.500	4.50
MGMT	841	GR	ECONOMIC ENVIR OF BUSINESS					B+	1.500	4.99
MGMT	861	GR	BUSINESS GOVERNMENT RELATIONS					S	1.500	0.00
MGMT	865	GR	GLOBALIZATION OF BUSINESS					B+	1.500	4.99
MGMT	881	GR	CONSULTATIVE SELLING					A-	1.500	5.50
MGMT	885	GR	ADVERTISING					A-	1.500	5.50
MGMT	926	GR	VENTURE CAPITAL					A	1.500	6.00
MGMT	952	GR	MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS					B+	1.500	4.99
MGMT	954	GR	FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING					A-	1.500	5.50

				Attempt Hours	Passed Hours	Earned Hours	GPA Hours	Quality Points	GPA
Current Term:				14.000	14.000	14.000	12.000	42.00	3.50
Cumulative:				43.500	43.500	43.500	39.000	143.50	3.67

Next Semester - Here's what I'm taking:

MGMT	796	GR	LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT II						0.500
MGMT	804	GR	ADVANCED COMPETITIVE STRATEGY						2.500
MGMT	806	GR	EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP CAPSTONES						1.500
MGMT	817	GR	DECISION STRATEGIES						2.500
MGMT	927	GR	ENTREPRENEURSHIP						2.500
MGMT	948	GR	ECONOMIC INCENTIVES & ORGS						2.500
MGMT	985	GR	GLOBAL LEADERSHIP						1.500

I'm happy with my performance with the exception of one class, Strategic IT.  Professor Tony Gorey was tough for me to please.  C'est la vie.

I hope to return to blogging about school + business in general during this final (short) semester.  But I wonder, is it worth my time right now?

Certainly, once I graduate, I'll return to blogging about my personal life.  And, there's no doubt that I'll launch a new blog covering my professional interests.

Semester I - done

I haven't had a chance to blog as much as I had hoped I would this first semester.  With the workload, I feel guilty about blogging and not studying.  I have good news about my grades.  I did much better than I thought I was going to:

                           

Data Analysis	A-
Financial Accounting	A
Organizational Behavior	A
Leadership	A+
Leadership Communications	A
Managerial Economics	A-
Strategy	A

I didn't get grades for Team Dynamics or Negotiations yet - I think those continue into the 2nd semester.  I think they are pass/fail anyway.  I'm not exactly sure, isn't that funny?

Here's what I do know.  My GPA is 3.92.  A+'s are more than a 4.0 and A-'s are less than a 4.0.

With work and school and commuting I felt behind all semester.  Given that, my good grades really blew me away!

know thyself

The ancient quote by Socrates, "know thyself", has nearly become a cliché, because not many people undertake a rigorous process for actually doing that.  Make sure you get to know yourself better during your MBA program.  Rice gives it's students a FIRO-B and a Myers-Briggs evaluation.  It's great information, especially if you learn how to apply it in your work, life, and self-development.  Another tool that I like, as I have already mentioned, is StrengthFinder.  Here are my results from that eval:

Restorative
You love to solve problems. Whereas some are dismayed when they encounter
yet another breakdown, you can be energized by it. You enjoy the challenge
of analyzing the symptoms, identifying what is wrong, and finding the
solution. You may prefer practical problems or conceptual ones or personal
ones. You may seek out specific kinds of problems that you have met many
times before and that you are confident you can fix. Or you may feel the
greatest push when faced with complex and unfamiliar problems. Your exact
preferences are determined by your other themes and experiences. But what
is certain is that you enjoy bringing things back to life. It is a
wonderful feeling to identify the undermining factor(s), eradicate them,
and restore something to its true glory. Intuitively, you know that without
your intervention, this thing—this machine, this technique, this person,
this company—might have ceased to function. You fixed it, resuscitated it,
rekindled its vitality. Phrasing it the way you might, you saved it.


Achiever
Your Achiever theme helps explain your drive. Achiever describes a constant
need for achievement. You feel as if every day starts at zero. By the end
of the day you must achieve something tangible in order to feel good about
yourself. And by “every day” you mean every single day—workdays, weekends,
vacations. No matter how much you may feel you deserve a day of rest, if
the day passes without some form of achievement, no matter how small, you
will feel dissatisfied. You have an internal fire burning inside you. It
pushes you to do more, to achieve more. After each accomplishment is
reached, the fire dwindles for a moment, but very soon it rekindles itself,
forcing you toward the next accomplishment. Your relentless need for
achievement might not be logical. It might not even be focused. But it will
always be with you. As an Achiever you must learn to live with this whisper
of discontent. It does have its benefits. It brings you the energy you need
to work long hours without burning out. It is the jolt you can always count
on to get you started on new tasks, new challenges. It is the power supply
that causes you to set the pace and define the levels of productivity for
your work group. It is the theme that keeps you moving.


Analytical
Your Analytical theme challenges other people: “Prove it. Show me why what
you are claiming is true.” In the face of this kind of questioning some
will find that their brilliant theories wither and die. For you, this is
precisely the point. You do not necessarily want to destroy other people’s
ideas, but you do insist that their theories be sound. You see yourself as
objective and dispassionate. You like data because they are value free.
They have no agenda. Armed with these data, you search for patterns and
connections. You want to understand how certain patterns affect one
another. How do they combine? What is their outcome? Does this outcome fit
with the theory being offered or the situation being confronted? These are
your questions. You peel the layers back until, gradually, the root cause
or causes are revealed. Others see you as logical and rigorous. Over time
they will come to you in order to expose someone’s “wishful thinking” or
“clumsy thinking” to your refining mind. It is hoped that your analysis is
never delivered too harshly. Otherwise, others may avoid you when that
“wishful thinking” is their own.


Command
Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no
discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your
opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set,
you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not
frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the
first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life’s
unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no
matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people
and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. You push them to take
risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this,
labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People
are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain
direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You
have Command.


Learner
You love to learn. The subject matter that interests you most will be
determined by your other themes and experiences, but whatever the subject,
you will always be drawn to the process of learning. The process, more than
the content or the result, is especially exciting for you. You are
energized by the steady and deliberate journey from ignorance to
competence. The thrill of the first few facts, the early efforts to recite
or practice what you have learned, the growing confidence of a skill
mastered—this is the process that entices you. Your excitement leads you to
engage in adult learning experiences—yoga or piano lessons or graduate
classes. It enables you to thrive in dynamic work environments where you
are asked to take on short project assignments and are expected to learn a
lot about the new subject matter in a short period of time and then move on
to the next one. This Learner theme does not necessarily mean that you seek
to become the subject matter expert, or that you are striving for the
respect that accompanies a professional or academic credential. The outcome
of the learning is less significant than the “getting there.”

What happens when you fail to measure

What is true in business is often true in life, and vice-versa.  About a year a go, the nice lady that cleans my apartment accidentally broke my scale.  I've been meaning to replace it, and the year just sneaked right by.

During the Rice MBA preterm, we heard the stories that the average student weight gain is 10-20 lbs over the 22 month program.  "Yikes", I thought, "my pants already are too tight."  Back when I had a scale, I religiously measured my weight and % body fat.  I even have this cool spreadsheet that interpolates by day for the occasions when I missed.  It made it easy to say no to the freshly baked cookies.

The broken scale is a very lame excuse, but it's been about 12 months since I've taken stock of myself.

Numbers don't lie.  I used to be in shape.  I finally replaced my scale.  Today's numbers are damning:

			Interpretation from the user manual	My Interpretation
Input	Age	34 years old		Still young :)
Input	Height	5''11”
Input	Naked Body on Device
Output	Weight	182.2 lbs
Output	Body fat	22.0%	“Overfat”	No duh.
Output	Total Body Water	53.0%	“50 to 65% is Healthy”
Output	Total Muscle	134.8 lbs
Output	Physique Rating	2	“This person is flabby and pathetic.”	Oh no!
Output	Base Metabolic Rate	too many calories		Daily Double-bacon cheeseburger required
Output	Metabolic Age	41 years old		OMG. O.M.G.!!
Output	Bone Weight	7.0 lbs	“Average is 7.3 lbs”	Fine boned
Output	Visceral Fat Rating	7	"1-12 Indicates you have a healthy level of visceral fat."	Ick.

Numbers don't lie.  If you read the Venture Capitalists and CEO bloggers, they are always measuring performance from a variety of metrics.  You should too.

And so, I've converted my disappointment into resolve, and I took some additional measurements:
Thigh           20"
Biceps         12.25"
Calf                  15"
Shoulders  49"
Chest            40"
Belly             37" (oooohnoooo!)

Assuredly, I'll be keeping track of things again.  I'll report back in a year or so into the program and either confirm or deny the massive student weight gain claims.  I sure hope they aren't true!

Heed this story and apply it both to your life and your work.  If you cannot manage yourself, how can you be expected to manage others?

The mission of this blog

The purpose of this blog is listed briefly, right up at the top.  Just for you lucky readers, I'm going to put myself through a marathon EMBA program, and then tell you how to do it.  And when I get through, I'll tell you exactly what I got out of it, both in terms of measurable achievements as well as intangible benefits.  Just to make things interesting, I'm going to make things a little more challenging for myself:

• I'm going to a school located in a different city from where I work and live.
• I'm going to a school ranked very high in terms of student competitiveness.  With everything graded on a curve, that means I will have to work hard in order to graduate.
• I'm going to a school that demands 30-40 hours per week of study/projects outside of class.
• I'm going to simultaneously advance my career.
• I'm going to take time away from work/school to keep this blog up-to-date.

I sincerely hope to help other people by sharing what I learn.  Wish me luck :-)

Where the conversation started

I began blogging about my pursuit of an EMBA before launching embasurvival.  The conversation started at businessweek.

test drive

zoom! zoom!!