Wednesday, March 17, 2004
Year One
So far I am almost two-thirds through Year One. It has been a nice read, it actually reminds me a lot of The Goal, which I read in college for engineering economics. The author creates these individuals that kind of sum up a broad group of people, and then uses conversation to discuss the particular issues they face at HBS. You know, the european, the black student, the woman, the investment banker, the engineer, the consultant, etc. Anyway, the book has raised a few concerns:
First Month: The first month of class, while everyone is up-tight and raising their hands every second, really does seem like a drag. I already brought this issue up in another comment, so I won't belabor the point.
Pace of Class: Since everyone is in one class together (unlike Stanford), the discussion never moves at a pace that is appropriate to everyone. A third of the class is bored, another third is hopelessly lost, and the middle third follows along but no one fully benefits from the dis-jointed discussion. Since I will likely fall in the middle third in almost all classes, I am not terribly worried about this, but it does point out limitations of the section environment.
Overall, the author paints a very favorable picture of HBS, but I don't think he pulls any punches. I'll let you know how the rest goes.
First Month: The first month of class, while everyone is up-tight and raising their hands every second, really does seem like a drag. I already brought this issue up in another comment, so I won't belabor the point.
Pace of Class: Since everyone is in one class together (unlike Stanford), the discussion never moves at a pace that is appropriate to everyone. A third of the class is bored, another third is hopelessly lost, and the middle third follows along but no one fully benefits from the dis-jointed discussion. Since I will likely fall in the middle third in almost all classes, I am not terribly worried about this, but it does point out limitations of the section environment.
Overall, the author paints a very favorable picture of HBS, but I don't think he pulls any punches. I'll let you know how the rest goes.
