RWL Newsletter #89
Greetings from the University of New Hampshire! Where if you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. We've gone from scorching hot last week to rain and gloom this week. Honestly, rain and gloom is a bit more par for September in New Hampshire. But that's ok - the cooler weather is starting to bring on the changing of the leaves, which will give us a few weeks of real beauty.
This fall I am teaching two classes for the fourth time - Management I and Finance I. There's usually something magic about the fourth time through teaching a course. You've usually got your schtick down - you have the same jokes you tell each year at a particular point, you have lots of examples that you know work and resonate with the students, you have a good idea where the students are going to have trouble, so you know where to slow down, and you know where the students are going to just get it, so you can go fast. And that is all true for my Finance I class. I can spend just a few minutes preparing for each class and go in and wax eloquent about income statements and balance sheets (it really should be called intro to accounting, but whatever). But Management I never seems to get easier. This semester I dumped everything I had done the first three times through, got a new text book, stopped inviting the same guest speakers, and basically started all over again. I probably spend eight hours getting ready to teach an 80 minute class. It's a lot of work, and I'm never quite satisfied with the product. And I guess that's why I keep reinventing it each year, and it never really gets easier. I started to outline my ideal course in August and as I wrote down all the topics I would want to cover, I realized I would need about 90 class sessions to cover it all - and I get 29. That's a big part of why I am always frustrated - I know there is so much the students need to know, and I can only scratch the surface.
Well, here's a couple of things I have shared in my Management I course this past week, and one thing I am looking forward to using when I have the chance.
Read
What: MIT Sloan Management Review, The Leadership Challenge -- A Call for the Transformational Leader
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/the-leadership-challenge-a-call-for-the-transformational-leader/
Why: I introduced my Management students to the theory of Transformational Leadership this week. Tichy and Ulrich's article is a classic treatment of the topic. If it's been a while since you've looked at the theory behind the word, it's worth refreshing. When I talk to leaders in the field and I ask them what their leadership philosophy is, the two most common responses I get are "I'm a Servant Leader" or "I'm a Transformational Leader".
Watch
What: Apple - 1984 (1 min)
https://youtu.be/R706isyDrqI
Why: This is a blast from the past. As we talked about Transformational Leadership, we also talked about creating an emotional support for change. In addition to the article above, we watched Sinek's TED Talk, How great leaders inspire action, which of course led us to talking about Apple. So I had to bring out the original Mac ad, which is what this video is. It's still powerful, even if the protagonist's athletic outfit is dated. Any change requires a vision, this is a powerful vision. Too bad Apple has gotten too big and entrenched to be what it once was.
Listen
What: Planet Money, Episode 700: Peanuts And Cracker Jack (24 min)
https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2018/07/03/625700057/episode-700-peanuts-and-cracker-jack
Why: Learn about the quasi-market that happens under the stands at Fenway Park that bring you the peanuts, cracker jack, and Bud Light during a Red Sox game. I am super excited to use this the next time I talk about incentives at work. This is such a clever mechanism that takes into account the knowledge of each of the sellers and their own abilities and motivation - it's really a remarkably powerful way of getting the individuals to make the system as efficient as possible. If only all operations were as simple as this, but maybe they are and we just don't have the right incentives in place.
Thanks for reading and see you next week! If you come across any interesting stories, won't you send them my way? I'd love to hear what you think of these suggestions, and I'd love to get suggestions from you. Feel free to drop me a line by e-mail, or you can tweet to me at @mbonica .
Also, if you find these links interesting, won’t you tell a friend? They can subscribe here: https://tinyletter.com/markbonica
Have a great weekend and do amazing things!
Mark
Mark J. Bonica, Ph.D., MBA, MS
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Management and Policy
University of New Hampshire
(603) 862-0598
mark.bonica@unh.edu
Health Leader Forge Podcast: http://healthleaderforge.org
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor." - Henry David Thoreau