The 2nd Semester Approaches

I think I'm finally caught up with my summaries and impressions from the 1st semester, so it's now time to take a look at the upcoming (2nd) semester, which starts next weekend.  The course list looks like this:

Operations Management - Dr. Jack Meredith

Managerial Accounting - Dr. Bern Beatty

Strategic Marketing - Dr. James Narus

Financial Management - Dr. Sandra Dow

IT Management - Dr. Charles Iacovou

Commercializing Innovation - Dr. Tom Clarkson & Dr. Stan Mandel (Elective)

Based on some initial reading and syllabus review, both Strategic Marketing and Operations Management appear to be extremely interesting.  StratMktg includes an online simulation model, and OpsMgmt appears to be very much about active discussion and the case-study model.  As much as I like Dr. Beatty, I can't say that I'm really looking forward to another accounting course.  I know it's good for me, and so are certain vegetables, but that doesn't mean I have to like them.  Luckily I have a few teammates that seem to grasp it better than me, so I'll be leaning on them again this semester.  I'm interested to see what is covered in the ITMgmt course, since I've spent the past 15 years in the IT industry, although almost entirely on the side of the vendors selling products as opposed to the day-to-day management of those systems.  I'll be interested to see what ROI models and metrics are discussed...maybe it'll help me position and sell my vendor-side products better. The FinMgmt course doesn't have the syllabus released yet, but I suspect that will also be a favorite of mine, as I'm a closet finance junkie.  

I suspect this semester will be as challenging as any in the program, both in terms of the coursework (seems like quite a bit in several courses) and the navigation in the economy in early 2009.  I suspect that we'll all be learning alot from each other as we cope with additional layoffs, economic swings, a new government in place and the overall uncertainty in our connected world.  

The break for the past couple of weeks has been nice and much appreciated, but I'm looking forward to getting back in a routine next week.  I just need to keep reminding myself that 2009 is not 2008, and new thinking and optimism will rule the day.

Bullish on 2009

I suppose I couldn't officially consider myself a blogger unless I jump on the bandwagon of making predictions and look forward to 2009. As I stated in an earlier post, I believe that the turmoil that so many companies, markets and countries are dealing with now will begin the spark of great things to take us into the next decade of growth. So the only attitude to take into a period like this is to be positive, show leadership and look for greatness. Some of my favorites echo those sentiments - Fred Wilson, Om Malik and Seth Godin.

As I told my MBA team a few weeks back, "2009 is going to be an interesting year. I'm filling my glass up to at least 3/4 full, regardless of what happens. Too many opportunities ahead."

Happy 2009 to all of you!!

A Welcome Break and a Place to Think

The last couple of weeks have been very strange in terms of activity levels.  MBA classes ended on Dec.6th, and don't resume until Jan.9th, so I'm able to shutoff my B-School brain for a little while. Throw in that my company has decided to shutdown from Christmas to New Year's, and this is about the longest stretch I've ever had of no school or no work.   One of the things I've been doing lately is to create some 2009 plans and goals, both for school and work.  With all the doom and gloom in the media these days, many people are worried that 2009 is going to be miserable, a 21st century depression.  I'm taking a different outlook on 2009.  I think it will be the beginning of huge opportunities for people willing to change the way they think about the world.  It's a year of re-investment in yourself, in education, in new ideas and in new ways of thinking about difficult challenges.   

These aren't minor tweaks I'm talking about here, so it helps to have a place to get away and think.  If you don't already have that place, wherever it might be (coffee shop, in a library, yoga class, rock climbing, etc.), I highly suggest you find one.   Mine is usually in the backyard (pictured above), overlooking the pond.  I find a great set of music on the iPhone, and periodically use QuickVoice to keep track of ideas.  Today was a great example.  Leaves from about 15 trees still needed to be raked and the kids were off with mom at the mall, which meant 2hrs of uninterrupted quiet time for me.  The combination of fresh air, some moderately hard work and nature are a great way to refresh your mind or think clearly.

btw - One of things I thought about today was sort of a combination of two things:  (1) an upcoming Strategic Marketing class, and (2) the 300,000 applicants for 3,300 roles in the Obama administration.  With the odds of success at no better than 1%, how would I go about creating a way to get myself noticed in less than 1 minute (probably less) as the applications are reviewed?  Thinking about this led me to think about all the noise we deal with on a daily basis and how any of us can get ourselves or our products/services noticed in today's world. Needless to say, it generated a number of ideas that I need to explore further in 2009.