Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Next Rest Area 15 weeks

One semester down, how do I reflect appropriately on one semester of awesome? I could have titled my blog with a recognition of how far we (as a cohort) have come, but I thought I would look to the future instead. Why? I don't want to get caught up in the accomplishment of 1/6 of the way done any longer than I did on Monday.

After the test in Econ, a third of the class went to the cafeteria for a free breakfast, I think it was a called something like midnight cram session (umm, yeah I know it was from 9pm-11pm but that's ok). What I found awesome about the buffet was that the Provost Alan Runge was there serving food to students. This school has amazing values. That is servant leadership - every job is equally important, and the leaders are willing to do any job that needs to be done. Concordia, the students heard you loud and clear. That was awesome.

That evening, I got hung up with my pride again. I felt like I deserved a break, and kind of checked out all of Tuesday evening. That was a real problem, because I still had a Manifesto paper due, even though the class sessions are complete. Take note future cohorts - the Manifesto is not as easy as it leads you to believe. My paper felt forced and I still am wrestling with final edits because it can be hard to make a declaration about what you stand for when you are still learning about yourself. I think I should have waited to celebrate until that was complete. I need more patience.

I also have another hint for Cohort 3 - Consider being an overachiever and doing the Strengths Finder test before you start the program. If you understand your team's strengths you will get a 10 week head start. Also, do not wait a minute to start your econ and marketing projects. They will likely be due around the same time and you will panic. Start brainstorming as fast as possible and aim to have a rough draft three weeks before it is due if possible. That is my $0.02.

Final thoughts on Econ class:
  Started out really exciting because of the math. The last 5 weeks were not as enjoyable, but that might be due to the level of thought I started to put into Leadership.

Final thoughts on Leadership:
  Unfortunately, Cohort 3 will not get to have Dr. Ford teach the leadership course, but I am certain that Dean Christian will find a suitable successor. Dr. Ford had gained my respect very early on in the program and she encouraged me to dig very deep into my thoughts about leadership. Thank you Dr. Ford for the life changing experience.

Today has been a struggle trying to get the words out to express my leadership manifesto. All that and working from home today has been intense.

No time to slow down, the next rest stop is quite a ways away. We can do it.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Difference between a Stumbling Block and a Stepping Stone

I chose this title today based on a footer of an email I read today. It just reminds me of the week in class. Again I will try to be concise today.

The assignment for the week was titled "Journey". Using a movie or television show, we were to compare our life story to a leader from a more widely known story. This assignment meant just as much as the passionography assignment, because it required me to reflect on a work that someone else has done. Additionally, we were required to talk with our group about our journey and listen to feedback. This was a great bonding experience for the team, as we found how closely our stories are related. The nicest feeling for me came when I had a heartfelt conversation with Matt from my group about his vulnerability. I've seen him changing in the last weeks, but more so on Sunday. He completely changed his story after we all talked to him. I won't get into the personal side as they will tell their story where it is appropriate. Matt did tell me that I can expect a more opened up Matt in the future. I think he is now "All In". Previously, I would have told you he was "Reserved".

In class, we took a look back at all of our readings from the semester and were challenged with a question to discuss about how we lead with our faith, values, and ethics. The main thought I had about that was that we need to extend grace. I say this, because I am seeing God more as a leader in my life and he is most successful getting through to me by his grace. Undeserved, by nature of the term, and I feel so so enabled as a result. I see that grace may be the answer to some personnel issues I have seen at work that get me so angry. I'm not perfect, so it will surely need refining. Humans are not naturally inclined to extend grace (except for our children, makes sense to me).

Economics actually had a similar feeling to me last night, because we were asked to critique a paper and were offered a chance to respond to a critique from another group. I think I speak for the whole class when I say that it is more difficult to receive criticism (even if positive) from our peers than from our teacher. When I read the critique given to our group, I was discouraged and felt that the criticism wasn't done in a positive manner. I had to turn the thought in my head and put it in perspective. The group that critiqued our paper was, in effect, required to critique our paper. This causes a tension in their mind that forces them to try to prove they are worthy of a good grade, but also try to respect the team. This wrestling in the mind is actually a value and a desired output of the MBA program. I know that Team II was professional in their presentation, and I respected their thoughts. Team III appeared calm when dealing with our critique, but one student appeared very defensive in my opinion. This is to be expected and I don't see that as a fault. It may be a learning opportunity. This is why the stepping stone can appear as a stumbling block sometimes.

Most of you reading this know that I am very vocal and am rarely quiet, especially if I am critiqued. However, I intentionally held my tongue the entire evening. I am taking the feedback I have heard and attempting to listen instead of just waiting for my turn to speak.

Last thought, I allowed my team to show their expertise in the critique and response this week, and only opened up and closed the presentation this week. I wanted to show the other team that we were really concerned that the critique may not have been received as friendly. I am babbling here, but I thought the only real criticism we had was that they tried to cover so much. I mean they tried to show all aspects of the Texas Public School System. What a daunting task. I would have asked that they didn't take the critique so personally.

I'm out of stuff to say, but I leave this blog frustrated, because I feel like I am missing something important about the week. I'll update if I think of something. 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Deep End of the Pool

I'll keep it short today, I hope.

I don't really want to talk about what happened in class this week (John Griffin probably wrote about how class went, if you are interested). We turned in our Passionographies this week and I was so thankful to get such diverse feedback. Thanks to those that helped with this project.

On Monday, I had a great conversation with a classmate and it left me pondering my behavior over the last two days. I think I have resolved the issue in my mind, but really it came down to my attitude. I probably appeared a little cocky in this program when I spoke up about being challenged on our first econ test. I came off as abrasive, but I was actually stating my desire to be challenged, and the fact that I want this to be the best Master's program. I can't single-handedly change the prestige of the program, but I was trying to ask my peers to step up to the challenge.

I named this post "Deep End of the Pool", because today I totally engaged myself in the experience of growing with a classmate. John Griffin and I met for lunch today, and we pretty much could have held the table until dinner as well. We talked for three hours over a nice Thai cuisine lunch. Thanks again John. I honestly feel I am in the deep end where life isn't easy because you can always "touch". I like the freedom of this deep end. John and I were able to roll out our stories and peel back the outer shell to see what we are truly made of. My consensus was that we are alike in many ways, and its probably evident by how similar our posts are. We both agreed to the rule that we don't read any Concordia blogs from the week until we write our own. That's how it has been in the past any way, but there is a running joke about John and I getting to the same stuff each week. I look forward to more of these meetings with my cohort. In fact I have scheduled a lunch with Travis next week already. By the way, Travis and I both like to talk, I imagine that lunch could be just as long as today, but I love that. I wouldn't go to lunch if I didn't want to do this.

By the way, I feel like I have done a better job of listening lately. Reflection and Listening are two areas I was aiming to improve on, and I feel like the growth has been happening.

See ya next week, hopefully I'll be able to focus on the class discussions.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Last Week of my 20s

The end of this week brings with it the sadness of reaching my 30s. I shall bask in the glory of my youth for two more days. At which point, I will then be required to carry my "OLD" card with me at all times. I have felt my youth slipping in the past months. In fact, I missed the beginning of the Super Bowl and both the NCAA Football and Basketball national championships. This is a major change in my behavior. Last year I could honestly tell you there was no way in the world I would not watch those games. This year, I will tell you it was an easy choice to make. I also have noticed that sports are taking a toll on my body and have had to cut back. This seems like enough evidence to prove I am getting older, but I think the physical is just scratching the surface.

I believe I am maturing rapidly in my work, spiritual and home life. I feel that I have been embracing my gifts and continue to build on them. Patience is now a word that doesn't have the negative connotation it had when I was such an anxious young engineer. Patience used to be an excuse for lazy in my mind. There would be times that I would get so excited even with speaking that I made a fool of myself. I will hopefully continue growing throughout the next ten decade of my life, at which point I believe I will be in a very pleasant state of mind (with a red mustang convertible, maybe a lamborghini, yea right not me).

With all joking aside, I wanted to talk about 2 great songs that spoke to me today. I heard them in succession today during the KLove pledge drive. J.J. Heller's "Love Me" and Casting Crowns "Who I Am". If you haven't heard these songs they are both beautiful songs about God's Love, and I recommend you have a listen on YouTube. There is a theme that relates back to my education and a quote that Dr. Ford (Leadership-Self) posted on the whiteboard this week from the Talmud. It stated God will not judge Akiba for not being Moses. God will judge Akiba for not being Akiba. What this means is that we must not worry about being great people or not having the gifts that are so deeply admired and left to permeate the history books. Instead, we must use our gifts to the best of our ability and not worry about the gifts we don't have. So Heller's song begs the question "Who will Love me for me? Not for what I have done or what I will become?" At the end of the song a criminal cries out the question, and hears the voice of God. The response is, "I know you've murdered, and I know you've lied. I have watched you suffer all of your life. But now that you're listening. I'll tell you that I will love you for you, not for what you have done or what you have become". That's a real father. The other song by Casting Crowns (my favorite band) has a chors that says "Not because of who I am, but because of what You've done. Not because of what I've done, but because of who You are." This song flipped everything I was feeling about having to perform at the highest level to please God. I was so motivated about my strengths that I lost sight of that fact that I will be loved not by my accomplishments, but instead because He is God, and He is Love. This shook me today.

So, I am a learner, achiever, strategic, all those things so I had to do really well on the Economics test, but why? Because those are my strengths? Well, as I mentioned earlier in my blog, I try so hard as a sign of respect to my wife. There may be a hint of trying to prove myself to myself, since I didn't focus on high marks in my undergraduate studies. That said, My preparation paid off once again. After the last test, Dr. Estrada stated he was happy with my effort but reminded me that this is a cohort system and I need to focus on helping others achieve high marks as well. Well this time (as well as last time) I met with my group for a 4 hour study session. I believe everyone did better on this test than last test from my group.

There is still one more test and maybe we can all ACE that one together. Additionally, I am going to start ask each group to host a study session on a different day before our next test, so that there will be 4 options for sessions to attend. Also, each group doesn't necessarily have to go to the session they host. I have to see how receptive everyone is to the idea, but I like it for the most part. There may be some details that end up making it on 3 days or whatever, but the point is to try a little harder to reach out for those finding the material to be more challenging. This is a team effort and I want to treat it as such.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Recognition of Personal Strengths

Today was a fantastic day in my life (Surpassed only by a handful of days), so this log entry will be very long-winded.

I honestly don't know where to start because everything is so exciting in my opinion and it all means so much. In that case I'll start with a short comment I made to my wife this morning. I told Whitney that "I think today is going to be a really good day". I don't feel prophetic because there were signs in my life that pointed to it being a good day. I already gave it away that it was a fantastic day, darn, I should have left you in suspense.

Since my last journal entry I have spent about 5 extra hours a day at work looking for an elusive software bug. The issue was severe and complicated, and every lead that I found was a dead end. I spent a total of 57 hours looking for it, but today was finally able to pin it down. That was one thing that helped start the day off right.

Thirty minutes later I checked my grade for Marketing and every grade turned in was an A. That guaranteed the final grade I was looked for in my first Masters class. Awesome. Fifteen minutes later, my boss stopped by with even more great news that I won't go into. I'll revisit a part of my conversation with him here shortly. Without all the details of this scenario it may not sound amazing, but I assure you it was fantastic for me.

Backtrack to last week. Last week was full of stress because of the second econ test that I hadn't really studied for. All my attention has been so focused on Marketing that I really hadn't gotten a full understanding of the econ concepts like on the first exam. With work keeping me late each night, Friday rolled around and I was panicking about studying for the test. So, I sent a shout out to John Griffin and another classmate to see if I could join their study session on Saturday. Of course they were gracious enough to let me join them, and I think we all benefited from the session. Paradigm Shift is their team name (they even have a logo, overachievers). I invited Paradigm Shift to attend Team 1's (my team) review session to reciprocate the favor. Paradigm Shift made review sheets and prepared a great study guide for the test including videos and webpages with graphical displays that were quick, concise and not confusing. I am very thankful for their efforts. All in all, I felt prepared by the time that we had to take the test.

Ironically, that was the abridged version of my thoughts toward the study session. Needless to say, I will be joining forces with Paradigm Shift again, soon. I really enjoyed opening up to another group and starting to operate as a team with the entire cohort and not just my team. Previously, I had been working with one other classmate, but not another group.

Leadership class - To start the course, we were required to take an online assessment that accompanies the book Strength Finder 2.0. This helps readers to identify the areas that they are particularly talented at. They are identified as areas that are likely your natural strengths. There are 177 questions to answer and each must be answered in 20 seconds to make sure that you answer with your gut and don't over think your answer. My gifts were the following with a brief (biased) description:

Learner - I find it easy to learn new information and am always trying to attain knowledge
Achiever - I like being busy and getting things done
Significance - I need to feel important in other people's eyes
Strategic - I can quickly come up with solutions, and have a good sense of logic
Communication - I like to talk a lot

So those aren't exactly the descriptions that go with these as a talent, but they were what I saw when I read the results. I was actually very upset with one because I thought that it wasn't something to consider as a strength. That one I had an issue with was Significance. I have always been very humble and never try to be important to others. This leads to a conversation we had in our leadership course.

Dr. Ford asked for our thoughts on our strengths and I spoke up to say mine pretty much stunk. It sounded so selfish. Then she asked everyone to quickly review significance. There was a roar from the class, and others were saying I wish I had that, and I was completely puzzled. Who, in their right mind wants this gift. Then, the craziest comment came from my teammate. She said "You're a poet". I replied "What?" She whipped back with "You wrote your wife a poem to propose to her." Again, puzzled I said "How is that ... oh". She finished my thought by saying "You obviously wanted that moment to be important for your wife." This was a revelation. Her comment flipped my perception of the word. So much so, that I have spent all day focusing on how awesome this is. It made so much more sense. Also, I'm now realizing that my work is the quality that it is, because I honestly believe the things I do in life have meaning. I'm very excited to think about my gift in this way.

Learner and Achiever were givens and everyone would get that after a 15 minute talk with me, but I'm more interested in learning more about significance.

This week in class was a moment where the whole class came to my defense so that I could embrace my gifts. Also, through my transparency, displayed through this blog, and my communication gift, others were able to help me grow as a leader. This was a priceless moment. My wife and I agreed that already the cost of tuition paid off in that one evening.

Back to my discussion with my boss. I handed my boss, Toby, a list of my strengths this week and he quickly glanced at the meanings before we spoke today. He had the same thought about significance that I had, but after sharing what I learned in class last night I was able to explain how this is truly a gift that will help to mold me into a great leader. This is important to note, because while I have a mentor at work, we tend to have a similar perspective since we are a part of the same work culture and we are engineers by trade. This is a great reason to surround yourself with different types of people with different talents.

I look forward to any thoughts you may have about talents and strengths. If you know what strengths you possess, I'd love for you to post them in the comments. If you don't know your strengths I recommend buying Strengths Finder 2.0 ($10) and taking the online test. It's easy. Thanks for hanging in there to read the whole post.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

End of Marketing Management

Last night was the end of my first master's class. I'm sure I made an A, but not guaranteed just yet. We finished class by turning in our two group projects, performing group presentations, and finishing up a few individual presentations.

My final thoughts on Marketing were that I originally was frustrated by the fact that I "had" to do a Facebook project. Professor Warren didn't show his hand as to why the project until the end. I won't give it away for the next class. I was pessimistic on the project, and it didn't yield anything incredible, but it did allow me to look into the issue a little further.

In an odd twist, I met up for coffee today with someone I met in August at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, and he is currently writing a chapter for a book where he will discuss Facebook marketing. I found that ironic and was able to point him to the David Meerman Scott book that we just read in class. He already had read the book, so at least he was going in the correct direction. This can be a small world.

Marketing was a lot of fun and set the pace for the program. It's cool to think that we are 1/9th of the way done.
It's been stressful as all Concordia MBA bloggers have pointed out. For future students, I recommend you start your group projects immediately. I had to sacrifice some family time as a result of poor planning early.

Economics papers were also due this week, but no presentations just yet. We discussed different business competition markets and Dr. Estrada recapped the items that will be on the exam next Monday.

While we as a class are collectively anxious for the econ test, I think a few of us are anxious to begin our leadership "self" course. It is only a five week course but this is the real reason I wanted to get an MBA. Leadership is not just important at work. I think that everyone leads something regardless if they know it, but not everyone is highly effective at it. Some people also lead others to places they didn't want to go to. I use the words intentional and effective when I describe what kind of leader I want to become.

One issue I have been dealing with and learning about at work is understanding the difference between controlling and leading. My frustrations with my ability to lead at work, may be related to my inexperience at the moment. I like that I have support from my boss and director, and they have given me votes of confidence with my project. It may not be a perfect ride, but it is effective enough this time around. That's as much detail as I feel comfortable getting into in this forum. I will say that discomfort in a position can cause some people to buckle, but others transform as a result of the difficult circumstance. I think that is the mold I am from.

For those wondering about my grandma, she is back at home and was in great spirits tonight. I didn't expect my grandma to be doing so well, as today was her first day home after 3 weeks in the hospital. Grandma and I had a great chance to catch up. I told her I was coming by this week, but I don't think she expected me tonight. I hope that was a good surprise for her.

<Here's were I let out a big sigh> There's a lot going on in life, but everything is positive. I will try to stay up-to-date with my blog now that all the papers are complete. Just a lot of reading left mainly.

10 classes down, 80 left. I can do this.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Speed Limit

Personal thoughts (Not really school related, but I need to share these thoughts)

I would describe my last two weeks as very difficult, because I have been running at full speed. My school and work life have consumed all my time over that period. Fortunately, I have been getting the results I want from work and school. I have maintained high marks in class and my project at work is functioning as desired.

There is a problem though, I am not giving myself time to relax, time for family, or time for reflection. Up to this point I have been very good at turning work off after hours, but that has changed now that I'm in school.

Last weekend my grandma emailed me to say that she is so proud after reading my blog, and I got a chance to respond and apologized for not making time to come see her, as I'm so busy. Unfortunately, on Monday morning I got a call to tell me that my grandma is the hospital. I don't want to share the details, but my grandma has suffered a serious health issue, and it kills me that I couldn't even make time to get over to see her this week. I plan to try this weekend, hopefully I can wrap up my paper, my presentation and get a rough draft of my team project also. Put that with sharing some time with my precious daughter and wife.

I never expected that going back to school would be easy, but I didn't realize exactly how free I was before starting the MBA program. I could have easily handled this load nine weeks ago. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I've been keeping something from my journal. My wife is (16 weeks) pregnant. I've described this time as "having a full plate, with no reason to go for seconds".

I apologize that the content hasn't focused on school so much, but this was therapeutic for me this week.

Reflection from school: Second Marketing test complete, and I think I scored a 100 on it as well. I'm kind of owning school, I would consider focusing less on school and more on my personal life, but for my family I want them to see that I didn't sign up half-heartedly. I'm in to win it, if I can say that.

I need to work on my paper, because I really want to see my grandma this weekend.

Grandma, if you read this soon, please know that I was glad you read my blog, and I'm glad I make you proud. I've always been proud of your courage as well. You are in my prayers tonight, as you are always.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Results from the First Econ Test

When preparation meets opportunity, is that Luck or Success? I've heard it both ways, so the answer is probably whatever you say in your thesis or whatever book you are trying to sell at the time. Well, I was either lucky or successful on my first Econ test. At this point, I am no longer worried about sounding snobby or bragging on my post. I am focused on my actual experience, and keeping it in a journal to remind myself of the experience. For those reading, I hope you can share in my joy. I actually Aced the exam with a 100. I don't recall ever doing that in my undergraduate studies. I think my best written test grade up to this point was a 95. There always is a question that gets you caught up. However, I prepared for all the material on the test, and understood the concepts well enough to lead our study group. What felt really nice was that Dr. Estrada shook my hand today at the end of class. That felt great, because I thrive on respect. What really felt great was telling my wife the score, because it let her understand that I am out to do my very best for this family, and average is not my intention for this life.

The major challenge I now face is the fact that I have set a very high standard for myself, which can lead to disappointment. However, this is a major milestone for me, because I proved that I can certainly meet this challenge in my life.

I'm looking forward to some small breaks coming up, but I will have three or four assignments due in a span of 4 weeks. That's gonna be a challenge, but my group is finally getting our ducks in a row. If I haven't said it before, I really like my group (+1), we can accomplish a lot. I wish we didn't have to change after next semester, because we are powerful.

7 weeks down, only 83 to go.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Moment of Reflection

This week I had a very real conversation with a classmate that has left me considering my behaviors. The timing of the conversation was perfect, because today at church our pastor, John Burke, asked the challenging question of "are we acting like Jesus or the Pharasees?" John shared the story where Jesus tells Simon a story of two men owing money to a moneylender. The first owed 500 denarii, and the second owed 50. Both debts were forgiven and Jesus asked which person will love the moneylender more. Simon stated that it was the one that had more debt to forgive. Here is the one of the only places where love has a qualitative property. Typically, we don't think of love having different levels at least when it comes from the mouth of Jesus.

I love that Jesus was pointing out that the greatest sinners could be the greatest lovers of God, especially considering the only person willing to wash Jesus' feet in this occasion was living "a sinful life" in other words "sexually immoral". This all goes back to the fact that I was out of line when making comments about Eminem in class. I stated that companies may not want to have a celebrity endorsement if the man beats his wife. This was not the character of Jesus, and therefore I want these thoughts removed from my life. I hope that my classmates will continue to hold me accountable for comments. Especially, if I think I am being funny.

Another area of my life that I wanted to bring up today is that I really feel blessed in a friendship that has recently been created. At the end of last year I met up with another volunteer at my church that wanted to start meeting weekly. For all he had told me, he was married, had a kid and in about the same point of life that I was in. On our first meeting, we laid our lives out on the table and both decided that God put us together in this accountability group for a reason. I did not judge this person, and he didn't judge me. I'm glad to call this person a good friend after just 4 months. Through this set of meetings, I have been able to see my friend work to remove his selfish desires and place God and his family in the proper order.

Watching my friend's transformation reminds me that people really can change, but more than that God loves us regardless of where we are. I just need to remember that Eminem deserves the chance to no longer live in his past, but more importantly, I didn't earn the love that is gracefully given to me, instead it is a gift.

For everyone reading this, please help to keep me accountable in not judging others and help remind me to love without discrimination. Thanks.

Friday, February 18, 2011

Acknowledgment of God's Gifts

Today I don't want to focus on me, but I will start with a back story. Instead, I need to acknowledge one of the special people in my life. I lean on my wife heavily now that I am in school, but today I need to tell you about my precious daughter.

Last night was very rough for me. I began working on my weekly assignment of summarizing four chapters from a text that I personally am not impressed by. It was about midnight, and I decided to email the professor to let him know that I would have rather been given questions to answer than summarize my reading. There was no reflection in my opinion. Ironically, I hadn't checked all of my email accounts which would have let me know that the assignment was canceled, and we were to talk about the text in the classroom. So, I then retracted my original email and looked a little foolish. Checking the scorecard, it is midnight and I have not done any work that is due. I guess I was just warming up to do real work. I then stayed up until 2 working on laying out my research paper. Our professor stated that we should be wrapping up our papers right about now. Oops, I finally put a pen to the scratchpad last night. I ended up with a nice brainstorming effort.

That sounds typical for studying, but the kicker is that I have my alarm set for 5am so that I can go to ACE (Austin Christian Executives), which may be the source of my motivation to go back to school. I have missed a few weeks and I wanted to check back in with the group. I functioned at an average level of performance today.

As promised, here is the awesome story about my daughter. I picked Riley up around 6 tonight, and told her that I was really tired so I needed her help tonight. Whitney had plans to go out with her family and uncle, so Riley was going to need to help me out tonight. I told her that I really needed some sleep, so she recommended we pick up dinner and eat at home so that I could get to sleep faster. She is so thoughtful. I told Riley that she had to be a big girl and she needed to take care of her night time routine and go to sleep at the correct time. So, we ate dinner quickly and then I went upstairs to set up a video game that she was allowed to play until bedtime. I set an alarm on her cell phone. She knew what to do and when to do. She was so obedient. I did end up getting up to tuck her into bed, but I was so proud of her. I don't think I do much justice to the story as I still am operating on three hours of sleep plus 2 hours that Riley let me nap. I woke up because I wanted to see my wife before bed, and I thought a blog update might be nice.

I left out one detail, my daughter is only six years old, and she makes these responsible decisions all the time. She has a caring heart, considering the small neck massage she gave me while we waited for our order at Church's chicken. She likes that place because it has the word Church in it, how adorable. This child makes the decision to have more kids so incredibly simple to make. Thank you God for the gift of a beautiful, loving, responsible daughter. I love your perfectly designed plan.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

First Econ Test Tomorrow

I wanted to capture my thoughts before I take the Econ test. In general, I feel ready for this test. I am only a little foggy on the Producer/Consumer surplus concept. I will look into that a little more this evening. I am comfortable with all the other items that will be on the test.

To follow up my last blog entry, I only missed one question, which I knew I missed after the test was over. Not bad for my first Master's exam. I learned a lot from that test. My preparation for the course is adequate, and I need to start focusing more on the projects that are due in 3 and 5 weeks.

The reason I feel comfortable with this test tomorrow is that on Friday, my cohort team (plus another classmate) had a conference call. We talked for two hours about the chapters. This was a quick recap. More importantly we scheduled a review session for Saturday at my work. Luminex allowed me to use a conference room to host the review, one of the many reasons I love my company. The review lasted for 4 and a half hours, but it flew by. I actually hosted the review by breaking each concept into the basics so that it would be easy to remember on the test. I was still a little confused on some concepts, but my teammates helped me when I made mistakes. I think that teaching others is one of my callings. I have been considering tutoring students for the last ten years, but it is starting to become something I really plan to pursue. I have my sights set on eventually teaching in the Concordia MBA program. I think it will be about 10 to 15 years after school, but I felt so rewarded to help others fully get the content.

If this is something that I really am suppose to pursue, I think God will make it very clear in some way. I don't want to replace the teachers before me, instead I want to give back to the program that is helping me.

That's all I have today. I'll post again after the test to let you know if I was as prepared as I needed to be.

Oh yeah, my family joined us today at my church, Gateway. That was so cool. They want to join us again next week, wow.

Monday, February 7, 2011

First Master's Midterm

Okay, you noticed I didn't post last week. I'm sorry to have placed this task as a low priority, but the truth is I was being a little selfish last week. I wanted to watch television one night, another night I had soccer, and I had to review 11 chapters for the midterm that came tonight.

The good news is that the time preparing for the test paid off. I know that an open-book test is simple by nature, but having highlighted the major items gave me a leg up, because I spent little time searching for answers. I didn't feel unnecessary pressure as a result. This was very beneficial, in my opinion.

Last week was a solid week in classes, but I don't recall anything major. I was excited that I received comments such as Great on my first marketing grades. The grading was very sensitive on some areas, so to see the word great really gave me a fresh "'atta boy" that was necessary. I remember being excited on Tuesday to show Whit the scores. I still feel the need to impress my wife, which I think is a good thing, because it shows how her opinion of me really matters. She has been very valuable when the load was tough two weeks ago. She wasn't feeling well, but she still offered some great comments after reading a few of my papers.

This week in class, we were given more of our graded assignments back, which I am glad to report everything has been a high A. Also, as I mentioned there was a test this evening. It was an average to low difficulty test considering this is a master's program. That said, it was the right message to the class. The message I took was, don't freak over these tests, it isn't the point of the program, the faculty is focused on getting the information into our minds and let us truly learn. The point of the tests is mainly to pace us, and make sure we are still hanging on. I know that I got tricked on one question, but since I know there may be cohort students from the North Lamar campus reading this, I don't want to give anything away. If they are reading this, they should know not to panic, because the test is exactly as he stated it would be.

After the test, which I most likely got an A on (fingers crossed), we discussed Super Bowl ads. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I studied for my marketing test so much on Sunday, that I forgot the game was on and missed the first 25 minutes of coverage. I probably missed the best commercials, darn. We talked about the Eminem Chrysler commercial which was very awkward in my opinion. That commercial was almost 2 minutes long, and considering the price of 30 seconds ads, that was probably worth 15 to 20 million dollars. What a waste, in my opinion? I did like the idea of rising up, and it had an underdog's theme, so maybe that was the right time for the message. But I don't think Eminem and luxury cars at the same time.

Tonight, I felt especially close to my cohort mates. I think that we, as a class, are really getting a great understanding of our personalities. I liked talking with students like Travis about the ads. Also, I think this is one of the most comfortable settings I have been in during my educational and work career. It is true that I speak freely and often in the course, but I think I am insightful and spur good conversation. It's ironic that I say that too, considering what happened in Econ class.

Before class, I spoke with Dr. Estrada briefly to get a little more comfort about next weeks test. He eased my nerves, and told me that we would go over it in class. In speaking to the class, it was evident that the Dr. Estrada believed as a class we may be really nervous, and he was trying to make concessions in order to ease the pain of this first test. He would offer a little helpful thing on the test, and more questions would arise, so he continued to concede every little tool he could think. I personally felt the need to speak out, even though I may have rubbed some folks the wrong way. I mentioned that I didn't find it necessary for him to give us much except for maybe the equations, as he has stated all along he would do so, because this is a master's program, and I don't think we should be living in a state of safe. Yes, we all want good grades, but I prefer the chance to be challenged. If I didn't want an honest challenge I could have bought a textbook, and took online quizzes. Instead, I really feel a strong call to leadership, but also it is very important to me that this degree is not a handout or a gimme to whoever pays for it. I want to impress my teacher enough that he feels comfortable saying that I deserve to be called a Master's graduate at the end of the program. I hoped others would feel the same, and I saw enough head nods that made me feel like other's feel the same way. I was afraid of ridicule originally, but I think I showed natural leadership because I didn't let that dissuade me from doing what was right.

Econ class continued with Estrada highlighting the main concepts that we have covered. We then jumped into indifference curves and budget constraints. it all made so much sense, because this is what we do when we go shopping every week. We are trying to maximize our utility and we have a limited budget, we want to get as much as we can, and there are some items that we are indifferent in buying. Again, I think that Dr. Estrada bends time somehow, because that class just flies by every time. Marketing not so much, maybe because there are so many items that are quickly jumped to. In econ, it is typically a single point that we drive home, maybe two or three facets to the equations, but generally it all ties together with a single theme. I know that I am weird because I enjoy Econ more than Marketing. Although, I am feeling better about Marketing each class.

I think I might post again this week after the study sessions to report how I feel before the first econ midterm. I wish I would have captured my feelings before the marketing test. I would summarize them as a little nervous but nothing major. We had the book as a crutch or a just in case. I wouldn't say I was cocky, I would instead say I was prepared.

Final thought, I was thinking today about my decision to get this MBA and the stresses that it entails, and I heard a song by Francesca Battistelli that rang true to me. In a song named "This is the stuff", she mentions a whole list of bothersome things that happen in life such as misplacing your keys or phone, or getting a speeding ticket and your already running late. Its cute, but there is a line that reminds me of something really important that I haven't been embracing much lately. The line is "In the middle of my little mess, I forget how big I'm blessed". That meant so much to me because not only am I blessed with this chance to go to school (which I could have easily not done, and avoided the stress), but really I am loved by a fantastic wife and daughter, additionally by such a great family that has always shown me such respect. Most importantly, I'm saved, by the best lover in history, and that is a big blessing.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Recovery From Last Week

I eluded to the amount of work that would be necessary last week, and was correct in my assessment of the load. I spent over 16 hours. We had a full plate and I didn't complain about it. Luckily, this week was different. I didn't write a blog entry earlier in the week because I was recovering from the stressful load. I actually got the chance to play some soccer this week to relieve some tension.

I'll just summarize the class this week, and keep the entry short. We performed another SWOT analysis in class over the iPad. I honestly think that we have spent too much time doing the analyses in class. We have read 7 chapters over the semester coming in to week 3, but have really only talked about 2 of the chapters. I think that the material in the book is good, but it really is common sense, plus I had an intro to marketing class at UT. They are almost exactly the same concepts, but there have been some changes in the last six years that have been captured in the text. The only part of this course that feels like a graduate level course to me is the Facebook fan page competition, and the research papers. Everything else feels like Intro. I am a little put off by that, but I still find myself learning through repetition. Previously, I was reading the text word for word and trying to put all the data in my brain for easy recall, but have decided this is costing too much. I am now going to scan the chapters for the highlights, learn the concepts, and then use the textbook during the exams (open book).

The Facebook Fan Page project got ramped up this week, and I'm excited about the fact that we have, as a group, something we are excited to be fans of. It gives us a chance to have an experience that is relevant, even though I still haven't joined Facebook. I'll probably join at the last minute, just don't count on it.

Economics - Here's where my excitement comes from this week. First, I was riled up because we lost points on our first assignment for items that we felt should have been given full credit. I agree with the grading now, but at the moment I think I didn't want to be responsible for my group losing points. I realize that we can use that to grow now. I think my group trusts me still. I have been responsible for keeping the communication between members. The real excitement came after a member of another group asked to me to tutor her and that they would be willing to pay for my effort. This was flattering, but I declined based on the fact that I don't have the time for one on one tutoring. Instead, we asked this member to join us for our study sessions. We started our weekly groups by meeting at a Barnes and Noble this week on Tuesday. The first meeting was 2 hours and we got through Econ chapter 1. Thursday, we got together on Skype for another 2 hours and made it through chapter 2. I actually think my entire team could easily get through these chapters after we broke each of the equations into what they actually stand for. I find myself driving these discussions, but I'm hoping my group members start taking the lead at some point.

I really felt that this was a good break week for me as there is only one deliverable for the week, but we have been working on our long term projects as well.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Realization that Facebook Matters

I try not to start every blog entry with "So...", but it feels so natural. It's the way you pick up a conversation after a few moments of silence. It reminds me of Dr. Ford's reference to SWWC in Week 0. "So what, who cares?" The conversation has made it to the exhaustive point that you have covered everything you need to say, and then there's this "So" followed by your personal call to arms. I'll come back to this later.

This week we talked about marketing insights and discussed the importance of recognizing fads, trends and megatrends. Trends are interesting in my opinion because in the early phase of adoption, people think they will be the next megatrend and try to encourage momentum. Going back to fads, its funny to think of the items that catch on in America, and even more hilarious how long these stick around. Key fads that were mentioned were silly bands and snuggies. Megatrends piqued my interest, because I'd love to be a part of creating a product that revolutionized the world. iPod has changed the way people work, play, exercise, travel, shop and I've probably not even stated half of the places iPod is marketed to. The iPad is next. What blows my mind is that they really just made the thing bigger added some futuristic touches and again every company is considering using this product in their every day business.

Ok, you were waiting for the segue, here it is. Our major project for Marketing class is a facebook fan page. [I'm probably suppose to capitalize the F, we know Zuckerberg capitalized on it.:)] I just can't get behind this movement. I see that it has mesmerized way more people than I can imagine, but I wonder about the marketing impact. I've been thinking SWWC for about 3 years now. Well, I have to do this assignment regardless of my desire, so I picked up "The Social Network" movie this evening at a Redbox (I can get behind the Redbox movement, sorry Blockbuster, it was nice while it lasted.) I hoped that the movie would help me to understand why people have such an insatiable desire to feel connected online. I didn't get my answer, in fact I felt like maybe I don't have what it takes to see a real winner of a product. Honestly, the company is valued at 25 billion dollars. The only positive takeaway I got was that I don't have to worry about getting sued by my friends. I feel so confused and I think I would like to read comments about what it is I am missing on facebook. I get this feeling that if people spent half as much time on social networking sites they could spend that saved time being helpful in the community. The answer to SWWC is apparently a lot of people care as well as a lot of businesses, too. Maybe, just Maybe, I am waiting for someone to make me a believer.

Marketing class flew by again this week, and I was so engaged in the conversations about the Hyundai Equus and Infiniti that I basically forgot to write anything down. This is becoming a "trend". I'm hoping that I can retain the information as a result of actually caring about the content rather than forcing it down my throat. I really felt again like this program is the right fit for me in where I am at. I wouldn't have gotten anything out of it three years ago.

Economics has a very professional feel to the class, and I really liked the way Dr. Estrada pulled three or four questions and answers together to make one larger question in the end. Questions about who bears the responsibility of an ad valorem tax, why are we outsourcing jobs, why not tax foreign companies for selling products to make our countries more competitive. These are questions that my coworkers and I will discuss in our break room at lunch but I always find that the engineers of the world all seem to think so similarly. When Dr. Estrada facilitated the discussion I found myself "chewing" on unfamiliar thoughts. This is why I'm sold on the cohort based system of education.

The work load last week was manageable since I was ahead in Economics reading, but this week looks to be twice as much work, and we need to get rolling on this facebook page. As a group, my four teammates and I are secretively creating a fan page (which I won't disclose on this blog), because the other groups are going to attempt acts of "corporate espionage" to help them gain more followers. For this reason, I hope everyone uses the correct privacy settings when joining the fan page.

Sorry so long, good night.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

First Week

Ok, so Week 1 started with almost every student in class fifteen minutes before 6pm. That indicates one of two things, either we as a cohort are really excited to get the ball rolling, or 620 traffic backs up something nasty around 5:30 and no one wanted to be late. Ok, so one classmate was late and I know she felt horrible about that first impression with the professor, but she'll impress him in the end.

All joking aside, there were great conversations while learning who our team mates will be for the first two semesters. It may not have been explained before, but we are a cohort of 20 students and are divided into 4 teams. Three of the 4 groups have 3 ladies and 2 men, with the remaining group having 3 men and 2 ladies.

I was very excited about the team I was placed on as I had already had good discussions with two of them prior to learning of the arrangement. Ironically, I was placed in a group with the student I disagreed with in week 0. I think that Dr. Ford may have observed the way we debated the hot topic of taxes and placed us together because of the way we engaged our problem. I already feel that my team has a great blend of experience and talent.

Class started with Professor Warren's Marketing Management class. We introduced ourselves, discussed the syllabus and then jumped into an intriguing question. Monday evening was the night before the much anticipated announcement of Apple joining forces with Verizon to introduce the iPhone 4 on the Verizon Wireless network. So, as most people may gather, I am a technophile, and I love considering the challenges that technology companies face. Technology companies do not have the luxury of time. Delaying a release of software for 3 months can cost a company dearly. Consider the phone I just got back in September, the Samsung Vibrant. This phone came out in the summer, maybe June or July. By October internet forums were talking about how slow T-Mobile was to update software for the phone. Seriously, the operating system was less than half a year old. The fueling force behind that is version 2.1 (nicknamed Eclair) which the phone was released with is already 2 versions behind Google's latest offering 2.3 (Gingerbread). Sorry about the tangent, but it sure illustrates that companies have a fanatical customer base, luckily only about 10% of people are early adopters.

Professor Warren led us while we attempted to prepare a SWOT analysis as a class. So, it seems easy to find Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats for such a high profile company, but it certainly became apparent that Strengths and Opportunities are difficult to differentiate between. The same goes for Weaknesses and Threats. More than once, I spoke out to voice a facet I didn't feel had been revealed, simply to realize that my concern boiled down to an issue that was listed already. Admittedly, it wasn't my finest hour, but I liked being a part of the brain trust. Everyone else in class seemed engaged with the problem as well. I will fill in details about future assignments as they get closer to my radar. I am not able to think about some of the upcoming projects yet for fear of my brain drowning.

Next we had Managerial Economics with Dr. Joselito Estrada. I want to be fair when I say this, but Dr. Estrada's class topic is nowhere near as exciting as Professor Warren's by any stretch of the imagination. Also, considering that Dr. Estrada gets our minds at 8:10pm in the evening after our 8 or 9 hour day of work and prior class. The odds were completely stacked against our Economics professor. That said, I was interested the entire class. Yeah, I saw people losing some steam during class, but by no fault of the teacher. This class will not be focused on the mathematical calculations of economic textbooks, but instead deciphering what the values would mean, and getting comfortable with the lingo.

I've got to end this post, it's long-winded, but the best question of the evening came from Travis when he asked if the content from this discussion was covered on the test, what would that question look like. Here is where you would assume I took good notes, right? Yeah, I had already put my notepad up. That's what I learned on Monday, don't pack up until you are sure it's over.  Tchau!

Friday, January 7, 2011

Beginning of the Exciting Journey

Week 0 - Launch Workshop
So I have to admit that the Launch Workshop was a great idea on the part of the administrators of this program. There was a high level of anxiety, fear, and excitement coming into the first week of the semester. There would have been no way for me to focus on economics or marketing.

The evening was devoted to getting Cohort 2 acclimated with the learning environment we will use for the next 2 years, as well as getting to meet with our teammates. I wasn't expecting to learn so much about 19 different people on the first class, especially since I talk so much. This fact made itself apparent quickly. I joke about this, but it truly is an area I will be focusing on this semester. Luckily, "listening to others" is one of the core competencies that we are working toward. In order to jump start my corrective action I have begun listening to the Andy Stanley Leadership podcasts during my work day.

Prior to Week 0, we were faced with an issue, "Leaking Talent Pipeline", and asked to form a one-page situation brief focusing on one of the many aspects. As a father of a six year old I focused on the education of our children and collaboration. What's somewhat bizarre about my choice is that I constantly am amazed by how stinking smart she is in comparison to what I was doing in first grade. In that regard, who am I to say there is a problem with the education system. AHHH, that's when I had the revelation that my daughter may just be an out-lier. There is truly an issue with the system, and this is one area that I was glad to get some perspective of my classmates on.

See John Griffin's blog for more specifics about how we discussed the issue http://jgriffinmba.blogspot.com/. Each of the groups I was in focused mainly on Education and Collaboration. So, in discussing the issue with one table I heard a solution that frustrated me. The proposal was taxing companies more if they used labor from other countries. I was initially upset because it seemed discriminatory and completely against free enterprise and capitalism. As the evening went on, I realized that being upset about proposed solutions would be the worst way to go through the MBA program. We all obviously need to think outside the box, and we have to throw ideas out there even if they are half-baked or are counterproductive. I'm glad I realized this in week 0.

I also realized that there are certain students that share my exact same strengths and I am very similar to some students. At the same time, there are people in our class that are going to be very good at providing insight that I could never produce. I am proud to be a part of Cohort 2 already. As Jim Collins, author of "Good to Great" and "Built To Last", states "You need to get the right people on the bus". I think I'm on the correct bus, and this bus is definitely headed for an incredible destination.

Start of My Own Blog

Preface: Multiple influences have pointed me to begin blogging my experience, and I admit I am not the most experienced journalist. Amanda Keeter's blog was inspirational in my decision to blog as well as Dr. Ford's recommendation to begin capturing my experience before it is mandatory. Additionally, another cohort peer, John Griffin, has decided to blog his experience as well. At this point, I am not interested in mimicking their blogs, but I plan to cross-reference their experiences, to create more multi-dimensional picture of what the Concordia MBA experience has to offer for prospective students.

A special thanks to Amanda for providing information to Cohort 2 students about what to expect. I know that you helped to ease some anxiety in the weeks leading up to the Orientation and Launch Workshop.