Getting My MBA

One week down, two classes complete, and I’m still doing okay. We haven’t had too much homework so far and I haven’t had to use my fancy new laptop (bummer!).

The class is called “Organizational Behavior” and it isn’t at all what I expected. Someone called it an experiential class. I guess that means we discuss in class and don’t do a ton of work outside. Hey, suits me for the first class. I’ve got almost two years left, a gentle introduction isn’t all bad.

We’ve been covering what seems to be very un-businesslike topics. We’ve talked about different states of mind: frantic, distracted, calm, and inspired. There have been discussions about love, spirituality, and family. We watched an excerpt from The Andy Griffith Show and the 1957 classic, “12 Angry Men”.

So what the heck does this have to do with business?

It took me a while, but I think I get it. To be successful in business, you need to be successful with people. At its root, business (as used in “Master of Business Administration”) is commerce or exchange. It’s deals and agreements and negotiation and management, all of which require a deep, fundamental understanding of people and how they work.

I stink at this. That’s why I’m in software engineering.

The class is concerned with the behavior of organizations. Organizations are made of people. People have needs and drives and desires and baggage. The states of mind above have an impact on productivity, among other things. Businesses and their managers care about productivity. I think the point of the exercise so far is two-fold: (1) an organization’s behavior is defined by the behavior of the people involved, and (2) the culture of the organization has a strong impact on the state of mind of the employees which feeds directly into the employee’s productivity and the organization’s behavior.

So, are these graduate-level thoughts? Am I learning anything? If anybody actually reads this, sign in and add your thoughts.

As an aside, human behavior is so fundamental, so global, so unchanging across cultures [1], that I wonder what will happen when we meet a different intelligence (”space aliens”)[2].

My daughter is 13. She’s a very strong, intelligent, and independent person. I don’t know that many young teenage girls (except for her wacky friends), so I don’t know what’s “normal”. I do know that she’s a joy to be around and that she doesn’t let much get to her.

That’s why it hit me so hard. She was looking quite unhappy one day recently. I asked what was wrong. Typical teenage response, “I dunno.”

Something, I don’t know what, prompted me to ask, “Are you sad because your friends are leaving?” I’ll remember her look forever — a mix of sadness, loss, surprise that I had figured it out, and a last vestige of a childlike awe. Then she let me hug her.

People come and go in life. It’s normal and natural. It was my daughter’s first adult realization of what that means. Going into high school, her group of friends is scattering. Several are going to different private schools, a couple will be going to public school with her, and one has already moved several states away to go to a very prestigious school. My daughter is feeling this pain of separation with a new intensity, born of raw teenage emotions and a very adult understanding. She no longer sees it with the childish belief that things can someday be the same.

She’s growing up.

It hurts.

My parent’s didn’t want us to call ourselves lucky when something good happened. They preferred that we give thanks to a loving God or benevolent Fortune. They were wise and I understand their point.

Today, though, I beg to differ. I fully believe in a loving God, but I have trouble understanding why He would bless me and not others (or vice-versa). Deep down I know that He’s got bigger plans and He’s looking out for our best, not just what we’d like. The best is sometimes (often?) far beyond our current understanding and can only be comprehended looking backwards. Some things we won’t get until we see Him face to face. The danger is that giving God the glory, which He deserves, seems almost like taking it for granted. Of course He’s good. Of course He loves me. So it’s obvious that good stuff is going to happen.

As far as benevolent Fortune, that seems too impersonal — an idealized figure in a toga on a Roman frieze. A handsome, kindly face and eyes without pupils. It might notice you, it might not. It might just be some haze of goodness in the general vicinity, blindly bestowed on whomever wanders by.

Lady Luck, though, makes sense. A beguiling, teasing, cruel taskmaster that nevertheless bewitches. She’s arbitrary and capricious, but she’ll look you in the eye. Most of the time, she’s doing it to see what you do when she isn’t smiling, but she is taking the time to look at you. You can never get complacent; a loving God always loves you, but Lady Luck smiles only now and then. She can be wooed but never won.

So God, please understand. You really deserve the credit, but I’m saying I’m lucky to try to preserve the wonder.

I have an amazing family. I have a wife who loves me (and smiles on me slightly more often than Lady Luck does) and some great kids. Money is often tight, but we have a nice house and I never have to skip a meal because we don’t have food. I get to share my house and life with six other wonderful people who really are fun to be around. It’s not fun to try to get them to clean their rooms, but that’s normal. I enjoy playing catch, running sprints, going to the beach, or just talking to any of them.

I am blessed, fortunate, and lucky. I hope my MBA will enable me to do a better job providing for them.