Wonderful idea, Ed, and fraught with potential angry
reactions, I know. But it is worth it. Good for you!
Edryce
--- Edward Hampton <
ehampton@mail.ucf.edu> wrote:
> I join Jack Ring in applauding Ruth's post.
>
> Likewise, I use weekly reflective statements in a
> leadership course that I teach.
>
> What I would like to add to the discussion is that I
> take experiential learning to a broader arena. I
> use the entire course as a kind of meta learning
> environment or proving ground. By that, I mean that
> I structure opportunities for students to apply (or
> fail to apply) concepts taught in class. I may
> effect a bad management policy or practice; I may
> create an unjust situation, I may introduce
> significant change, etc. For example, to test their
> grasp of concepts like locus of control, power
> dynamics, etc., I create an overload situation in
> course demands along with clear indicators that
> negotiations is an option. Or to test change
> management understanding, I will evoke a sudden
> change. Or I may withhold feedback. I am looking
> to see if they apply leadership concepts taught
> during the course or merely suffer in passive
> aggressive silence. In other words, it is my check
> to see if they have generalized what was taught. At
> some point we discuss their performance, applying
> the experiential learning model. Often, it is not
> until the discussion of the "meta experience" that
> the student realizes that what was presented
> academically actually has value in real-life
> application.
>
> While most students do not enjoy themselves for the
> bulk of the course - the main reason given is that I
> (gasp) make them think; most tell me by the end of
> the semester that it is one of the most useful
> educational experiences that they have had. I have
> had a few graduates come back to tell me that the
> course not only provided a needed proving ground but
> enabled them to begin to develop the skills needed
> to develop tools and skills to move concepts from
> the academic to the applied.
>
> Kind wishes.
>
> Ed
> Drive On!
>
>
>
>
> >>>
raxelrod@gwu.edu 01/06/02 07:21AM >>>
> Paul--
>
> It seems to me that what you are talking about is
> what we learn in a
> liberal arts education and by reading the "wisdom
> books". I certainly
> don't think that we teach it in any of our
> professional schools. I have
> read time and again that top CEOs read
> constantly--and the wisest don't
> concentrate only on the latest management books, if
> they read them at
> all. To teach that type of thinking, I think that
> we would need to
> change our paradigm--scrap the textbooks and
> assign/discuss Aristotle
> (ideal worlds), Machiavelli (power), Sun Tzu
> (strategy) and so many
> others.
>
> We are focused now on teaching a body of knowledge
> that has been
> digested and regurgitated in the form of formal
> models and theories.
> That's not the same thing as teaching people how to
> think. Learning to
> "think", I believe, can only occur in a raw, messy
> context (which is why
> I don't use many canned case studies) complicated by
> conflicting
> information, emotion, multiple agendas, stress,
> frustration, and
> personal barriers like psychological blinders.
> Because the type of
> "thinking" that you are talking about is not just an
> intellectual
> activity. We are good at training the intellect but
> I think that most
> profs don't pay much attention to the rest of our
> sensing, processing
> and decision-making apparatus.
>
> I try to teach students to think by assigning them
> to write reflective
> papers analyzing experiences in their work
> environment (since I teach OB
> and leadership). Surprisingly, perhaps, even the
> undergrads who are
> assigned weekly papers love it. Many of them tell
> me that it's the
> first time in their business education that they
> have been asked to
> think and write about the totality of organizational
> life--emotional and
> spiritual as well as intellectual--and about how
> they make decisions in
> that context. Most of them haven't written such a
> paper since Freshman
> English. Why not? How do we expect people to be
> able to use the
> knowledge we hand them unless we teach them how to
> integrate it into
> their every-day reality? (BTW, I am not implying
> that I am the only one
> who does this. Far from it! I know that many profs
> have creative ways
> of "teaching to reality"--probably most of the
> people who bother to
> subscribe to this list do so in various ways.)
>
> Ruth
>
> Paul Wong wrote:
> >
> > I want to thank all of you for your helpful
> suggestions. However, what I
> > was trying to get at in my original posting is
> some illusive leadership
> > quality which may be called intuiion, insight, or
> crative genius. CEOs who
> > possess this kind of quality are able to judge
> people accurately, have a
> > deep understanding of all the issues involved, and
> make sound, snap
> > decisions in very fast-moving, complex situations
> which do not allow time
> > for rational analysis or consultatnion. My
> question is: Can we teach this
> > kind of leadership quality in Business Schools?
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Edryce Reynolds
> > To:
MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
> > Sent: 1/5/2002 6:17 PM
> > Subject: Re: Can we teach how to make good
> judgements in Business Schools
> >
> > I am sure the suggestions already given are
> helpful.
> > I have one of my own.
> >
> > To make good decisions, one should remove one's
> own
> > interests FIRST. I think many CEOs think first of
> > whether the decision will make them "look good"
> before
> > they think of whether the decision is good for the
> > organization.
> >
> > To remove one's own interests takes some doing. I
> > recommend meditation and perhaps some study of how
> to
> > quiet those "chatterboxes" in our heads. If the
> CEO
> > (or the Business student who wants to be a CEO) is
> > worth anything, she/he will be able to apply the
> > knowledge to the situation, think of the future of
> the
> > organization, and make a good decision.
> >
> > I know this is not according to conventional
> wisdom,
> > but I believe it works best.
> >
> > Edryce
> >
> > --- "Roy J. Lewicki" <
lewicki_1@cob.osu.edu>
> wrote:
> > > You ought to read the work of Paul Nutt. Paul
> has
> > > several books and
> > > numerous articles out on top management decision
> > > making.
> > > His claim is that 50% of all top mgt decisions
> > > fail., suggesting that all the
> > > work we do trying to train managers to make
> better
> > > decisions may or may
> > > not succeed better than chance. For reasons why,
> > > consult his
> > > work. Methodologies are controversial but it
> will
> > > get you going in a direction.
> > >
> > > Roy Lewicki
> > >
> > > >Managers and CEOs are paid to make good
> decisions,
> > > because one bad decision
> > > >has the potential of ruining the buiness.
>
=== message truncated ===
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