End of the Semester

Seeing as final grades have yet to be determined, I should probably try to be conservative with my critiques of the class. But I am a senior with only a few weeks left of my education so let’s roll with honesty is the best policy.

Let me begin by saying that I enjoyed the class and its differences from other courses.  There are a number of things that I took away from the class. Some of the learning came from the books and class sessions, and some came from simply the learning process. Most of what I took away probably came from Bolman and Deal. This class really did not force you to learn stuff you didn’t want to learn. (I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing) I came away thinking about management and leadership and a certain amount of information on risk. I can’t say that I would know how to properly apply incentives but that I know people are risk adverse creatures. I know that if I am going to make changes from a management standpoint that I will consult the boots on the ground to see what’s working; stressing the importance of communication .I am going to be keeping Bolman and Deal and returning M&R. I like that you trust us to do our own reading, though it did not always happen. It is kind of like you need to take responsibility for yourself.

The size of the class made it essentially conversational. If we ever wanted to say something we were free to do so and professor usually could talk about each of our questions for a significant period of time.  I understand that the critique should be based on a larger class so that is all I will say for the size of the class. To me, the presentations are the most important part of the class. The first one was extremely challenging and the second one was something you could probably talk about without ever reading a book. Both made sure you dove into a section and worked on presentation skills.

As I said the class itself cannot be replicated because of its size, and if bigger, would only generate discussion from the usual talkative people. I personally think that sometimes the people, who do not talk much, probably have some pretty interesting stories. I understand that this is why you blog. As long as you are bringing up the prominent blog posts in class then I think they are a good idea. I do not feel as though one really can generate that sense of community online.  Graded virtual community may start as interesting but I found it became more an obligation. Don’t get me wrong though. I think in some instances that good teachers have to push a student to the direction that they need to go. I enjoyed hearing about your previous experience within the IT department and numerous other stories. I usually became more attentive when you turned off the PowerPoint and simply talked with us (Something that I do not think will be able to be replicated in a larger class).

As far as suggestions for improving the class, I think that the class could do some more actual research into real life examples or incorporate reality into the school setting. My favorite classes (which generate the most thought and learning) have all brought real life example into the course. Not just looking at a website or something but somehow include a physical experience.  Experience probably is the greatest teacher.

Political Arenas that Hurt the Students?

Are students and the University ever on a different page where students feel neglected? Do I ever sit back and say “c’mon University. That isn’t helping me one bit.”? It seems to me the question being asked is, “Is the University completely selfless or always fair in allocating resources back to the student?” There are a number of complaints where I feel the University structures itself in a way that hurts the students.

The big one for me is registering for classes. I have wanted to take a number of upper level finance classes on investing where I was prohibited from registering because I was in a different major and had to wait until a certain date or maybe I needed to have taken other fin classes which I would have had to go through a similar process.  The university does not always provide you with the classes you want to take. That is pretty unfortunate to go to school to be taught more about things you are passionate about, only to have to wait and be denied.  To restructure this you would have to open it up to all students or possibly move around or hire more professors who will teach that subject.

There are other times when you feel as though teachers just aren’t there to teach. They have a different agenda doing research and improving their credibility. I have run into a number of teachers like this and I rarely learn much (partially my own fault too). It makes you wonder if professors are simply hired for their projects being researched. We have discussed this idea in class periodically throughout the year so I will not hit the subject too hard but it is a shame when you pay money to a university to have people teach you and then they hire people who cannot seem to teach. I guess there is an attempt to monitor everything through ISIS forms but maybe there is a different way to check faculty rather than reviewing their researched and published works. (Don’t get me wrong, I have also had a number of really strong teachers who encourage my thinking).

I think that, in general, tuition costs are quite ridiculous. There are a number of fees and services that we pay for that factor nothing into our time in college.  I know there are some ways to get back some of those fees, but still we pay a number of costs that we have no use or overpay for. I like to reference my time in the dorms where once you realize how much you pay per meal you feel like you should probably eat more. After all you are paying for a steak dinner every time you swipe your card and if you don’t use all your meals in a week it is like handing the University your money. I don’t know exactly how the money is divided up but it seems like an expensive bowl of cereal, bagel, and piece of fruit. You may try to privatize or price meals and selections rather than give an overall encompassing price. This may be not too feasible because of the numbers and time constraints but it is a start. I have seen smaller universities do it.

Now I don’t want to completely bash the University. They provide services that are valuable that I have neglected myself. I probably wouldn’t complain if I took advantage of everything the University had to offer. There is an incredible amount of resources that the University offers besides its reputation and the degree.

The purpose of this prompt was to show that people are fighting for funding and support that comes at the cost of efficiency that may help the fund administrators agendas.

Leadership

It is quite difficult to think of a specific instance but I do believe I have been put in a natural position where there is almost a responsibility to empower someone. I am an older brother to a brother two years younger.  Yes there has existed plenty of cutting down that helped him know who the big brother in the relationship was, but I did have moments where I really did want him to succeed. As Ziggy said in his post “Show some genuine interest that you really care about their situation. Make them seem important by being sincere about their accomplishments”.  I try to keep my brother in line. If he ever is down on himself or has situations, I am there to help him remember his purpose or to seek it or to simply encourage him as a person. I am a big believer in people being capable of achieving what they set their mind to and I hope that has overflowed into my relationship with my brother.  I think sometimes this comes through in my confidence in him when he screws up. If he screws up and beats himself up over something, I try to do my best to simply bring the message that when you fall down the only option is to get back up. I can tell he is genuinely sorry or upset, life is a learning process and I am there to support him.  So let’s say he does something that he considers embarrassing, most of the time I try to act like that is just what it is going to take to get to where he wants. That might happen when we drive and I hand him the keys. He may mess something up but it’s a chance to learn and if he didn’t learn from the experience I will just tell him what he needs to do from now on.

            An example of failed empowerment was when I got this kid a job by referring him. I told him everything he needed to succeed, including describing an attitude that would lead to success. I told him to call me and that I would help if he needed any help. He ended up going for a few days and then quit. I was very disappointed that after trying to help my buddy out in so many ways that the process still failed. Now he was not fired so I don’t think my advice and support was bad. It just did not work out. I ended up apologizing to my former boss over this failed attempt. This example may be a bit of a reach (if not completely off base).

            This blog is referring to leadership and putting others before you. I have been through a lot of books on leadership and most of them involve a certain amount of selflessness. There are many other traits that are covered that empower people to perform better.  The workplace is a great place to apply these ideas as we get placed in leadership positions within groups, etc.

Unexpected Authority

            I have been in Detroit over the weekend. ..When it comes to power growing up, I was at the mercy of the parents, teachers, and whatever authority felt like taking control. The specific one I will focus on is the parent child relationship. I will try to make this a bit broad as there may be value in a few stories.

            So there is the obvious one. My parents often tell us to clean the house or cut the grass. After that, there is minor supervision until work is either not getting done (sometimes a form of wrathful chaos ensues) or something needs to be clarified. Then the task is completed. But there is a certain amount of freedom in delegating tasks within the three children and that sometimes includes the father of the household. There is a certain amount of freedom in who gets to do what. It is often an attempt to come up with something fair. One individual gets the larger set of grass to cut, while the other has the wonderful task of PUP (picking up poop), one of the disadvantages of a dog. Anyway the tasks are then completed with the amount of effort and detail the individual inputs into the action.  There is a certain amount of authority under the authority of the parents when it comes to cleaning.

            My next example is a story from my childhood, which may apply. We had grown pumpkins when we were younger and do to a surplus of pumpkins, our mother instructed us to go out and give the block of neighbors our extras. These were some solid pumpkins. Well, it turns out people are suckers for three small children giving away large orange spherical gourds.  Our neighbors began offering payment for our door to door delivery. While we were instructed to give them away, we took it a bit farther and began to make up some prices for our pumpkins.  I guess we took a certain amount of authority into our own hands even though it was not designated for us. We made everything up on the fly and became door to door sales munchkins. I remember making a fairly good profit too. Of course everything was reversed once we got back to our head authority with an unexpected supply of dollars. We were required to return our well earned dollars. I guess the purpose of the pumpkins was just to be nice and nothing was expected in return. (Possibly favor within the neighborhood, but I think it was genuine selflessness)

            My guess for relation to economics is that this is to demonstrate that leaders cannot control everything, and there is often going to be some responsibility that falls on individuals in non leadership positions. This sort of falls right after the idea of monitoring. Now we are going to assume some unexpected leadership will fall on the lower levels that we accept as part of the normal process. Maybe we will be analyzing what the effects of this are. Or we will just talk about it.

Group Dynamics

                As I stated in class, I actually have not had the juicy situations where a school group project just goes wrong. I guess I have been simply fortunate, either that or I really am to go with the flow. But my experiences with work in Illinois football have had their moments. I work for the Illinois football equipment staff, with the official title of student managers.  Let’s just hope they don’t stumble across this post.

            We have had moments where we work together like a machine. When we do field set up at Camp Rantoul, it is like magic. We have managers who enjoy the grunt work, (setting up the small stuff and moving the heavy or awkward shaped) the guys who do the busy work. Then we have the guys who do the showy work, driving around in a golf cart setting up the major stuff, the expensive stuff. You chat while you’re on the cart and entrusted with a type of leadership role.  Rantoul has plenty of work for both types of managers. The managers who do the grunt work are often quiet and less outgoing. The non grunt guys are talkative, slightly arrogant, and often seem to enjoy the spotlight. With age someone who is a grunt worker might turn into a showier manager. You could say that they think they are bigger than student managers. I tended to do most of the grunt work and felt like I grew into a respected leader/hard worker over the years. While setting up the showier guys hangout with the boss, because they want the recognition, and the grunt workers set up the little but important things. Everyone works and it feels fair. So yes, in Rantoul everything is in sync.  We each finish at the same time.

            Then there are pretty much all the other situations where the grunt workers could complain or the showier guys could complain. While setting up practice the one group rides on their cart and set up some of the more expensive stuff. They do less manual labor. Then during practice there are certain tasks that they are simply too good to do. They determine their own overqualified status. These tasks include running hats during special teams. Hats are those things you put over your helmet to show that you are the opponent. Basically we run out and make sure everyone who needs one has one. Some individuals seem as if they would rather die than help or do this simple step. No one has an official title of hat guy but a grunt worker will adopt the position just because he takes on the task so the job gets done. In the end the job gets done but it can be pretty frustrating. Then there is locker room cleanup. While everyone does a fairly decent job, the grunt workers end up doing the garbage pickup. This means we pull up piles of fresh game worn ankle tape and toss them in the trash. This may cut down on how fast we get out of the stadium so it can be frustrating. I have had my fair share of hidden anger against one guy in particular but as we aged we became leaders and simply respected each other as people who were good at what they do and took on tasks that the other did not.

            My guess is this prompt is to analyze group dynamics and why or why not groups succeed. Our group in the end did get the tasks done but sometimes we wish egos were put to the side.