Tuesday was a continuation of the programme, with a series of busy discussions, case work, team work and an initial introduction to working on every assignment in our teams. We did a team kickoff, involving creation of an ad for Columbia Business school, and a pitch for said ad. We ended up winning the award for most innovative (we went with taping a pencil to the blank paper and choosing the slogan "Write your future"). Off to a good start then!
We also had to choose superhero names for ourselves (following in the theme of Cluster Z Zuperheroes). I went with "Die Wit Gevaar", which the Dutch guys found hilarious and bewildered everyone else. We began work on a team charter that will govern the ways in which we interact in our team. I'm glad that our group (group 13, named, appropriately enough, Lucky 13) chose the terms "laid-back" and "simplicity" to describe our chosen approach. I think that will fit my general mentality quite neatly.
After our team sessions we had lunch, and an introduction to the case method. The frustrating thing about the case method is that we argue circularly. I appreciate the need to explore the case and understand and become comfortable with ambiguity and complexity, but I think that we overemphasise exploration and underemphasise decision making. I think this will change as we become more comfortable with it, or at least I hope it will.
We returned from the case session to go through a diversity seminar. It began with the host getting tearful about the shooting in Connecticut (it happened in her hometown), and dedicating her work to the families of the murdered children. I certainly have huge sympathy for the tragedy, but I have to question the melodrama of such a gesture in the context of our class (I strongly doubt anyone is a proponent of school shootings, so it had a bit of a histrionic flair to introduce such an issue into a completely unrelated session). I digress. The session itself was valuable, I think, for many people in the audience (a few, particularly white American males, said that it was very interesting to think about race and mindfulness of diversity issues). It was a bit less compelling for me, largely because race is so ubiquitous to the South African narrative that it is something I've explored deeply and thoughtfully. Jo and I have had many conversations about race, steps to restore equity, and mindfulness of the historical context of one's own privilege, so I feel like this is an issue I'm pretty engaged with. In the session we managed to avoid discussion anything substantive - like the fact that we have one black student (an American local) in our class of 204. Or the fact that women make up only 30% of the class. It seems very odd that we are so self-congratulating on our diversity, when we actually are only diverse according to a pretty skewed definition.
Anyhow, after the frustrating diversity session we spent two hours doing case prep with the team. We pretty much debated different ideas, proposed scenarios under which certain decisions would have to be made, and argued the merits of particular courses of action. It's a very experiential way to learn, due to the aforementioned ambiguity, so I think I started to enjoy it more than I anticipated, just because it provides a safe space in which to construct thought experiments and then test them, in mental simulation. Quite intellectually taxing, but invigorating despite the frustration and exasperation inherent in the process.
I tried to study some statistics for the exemption exam next Tuesday, but was exhausted, so I headed home and to bed.
Things I've learned today:
- Despite South Africa's struggle with race, the prevalence of the issue equips us uniquely to articulate sensitive and difficult ideas about transformation
- I'm missing everyone (particularly Jo) (and Dyl and Tas and parents and Gavin and Margie and family and friends, of course)
- I'm really enjoying New York, and business school is far more fun than I thought it would be (from an intellectual stimulation point of view)
- The view from my new apartment is amazing
- 15 months with Jo has flown by - you are the greatest adventure I've ever experienced.
On to Wednesday...
Wednesday dawned, cold and miserable. It was the coldest day I've had in NY, and there was snow on the ground for the first time (admittedly, not very much). It was a busy day in the programme, starting with a discussion on Values-Based Leadership. It was pretty mundane, and stuff we've discussed many times at McKinsey. I think one massive benefit of the McK background is the emphasis on making values-based decisions. I think the session had potential to unpack some of the real grey areas for making ethical decisions, but we kept it relatively high-level, so it remained unsatisfying as a debate.
We had a very interesting session with Prof Ray Fisman on Corporate Social Responsibility. He looks about 12, so it was really interesting to be lectured by someone we initially mistook for a classmate. I liked his measured style, and the fact that he's very thoughtful about his word choice, so his meaning is always precise and clear. I'm keen to try to join the Social Enterprise track so I will spend some time with him in the future, I believe.
I subsequently fell asleep in the lecture on Corporate Governance (so if I end up in jail in 15 years for some ethically questionable thing, it will be traced back to this moment). After the marathon lecture, we headed out to dinner at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Pier (a revamped area that now hosts sports games and weddings). Dinner was great, lots of great wine, good food, and interesting conversations ranging from techniques for managing political scandal (with a political marketer who works on Obama's campaign ads), to using cognitive behavioural therapy and mindfulness to improve neuroplasticity and reduce cortical thinning as a way to improve adult education outcomes (Dad and Jo - thank you for introducing me to these terms so I could actually hold my own in a chat with a psychiatrist), to the socio-economic effects of breaks in football vs continuous rugby play. The best thing about business school so far: the fact that any conversation turns into something that challenges and stretches me, and makes me think harder about the topic than before. The views of the city were incredible - google it!
We went bowling next door, and sang cheers, drank beers, and struck fear (s) into the heart of opponents in the bowling alley. I bowled 119, a fair bit of beginner's luck in play.
Bus home, into bed, Cluster Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
First snow!
Cool building downtown near Chelsea Piers
Cold but pretty morning on Thurs
Butler Library by night
116th St onto the campus
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