The Most Obvious Thing… MIT Sustainability Summit and the Brass Rat
Malaika Thorne MBA'10
Issue date: 5/12/09 Section: Student Life
Aside from being personally offended at his comfort in telling you to leave a class where he is the guest, it's the lack of response from anyone else in the room, and even your classmates' averted eyes during the break that gets you thinking. Here are three takeaways resulting from testing a guest speaker in class:
1. Silence (or the absence of dialogue) generates waste
Each year there are around 750 MBAs walking through Sloan. They are from all over the world, with rich perspectives and experiences. What a waste of time it is to leave this place after two years without engaging at least three or four of them in real dialogue, whatever your opinion is on any issue. When else will you get such a great opportunity to learn from smart people who are different from you? If someone says something that strikes you as odd, absolutely right, or impossibly incorrigible, seek them out and ask them about it.
This year the Sustainability Summit was held on April 24th at Walker Memorial. The event brought together faculty and students from across MIT, legislators, business leaders, and sustainability practitioners to discuss sustainability programs, metrics, new partnerships and opportunities. It was a success: the number of attendees exceeded 250. The event finished in the black and although it was the first warm and sunny day in Boston, there was a full house all day. The biggest gain was the rich dialogue that happened among people with very different perspectives who work across a range of industries and roles.
2. Beware of group-think
If you haven't bought one yet, I'm sure you've at least seen the announcement for the Brass Rat. The ring is meant to signal to other MIT alumni that you have something in common: that you've worked hard, challenged yourself, even grown a little or a lot at this school. Of course, one of the great things about Sloan is that no one's MBA education is the same. We come here looking for different things and fortunately have the flexibility of choosing our training from a large selection of classes. Nevertheless, when we leave MIT with a ring on our finger, the expectation is that at least we know how to think. What you think about and how you verify your thinking are probably the more important questions. Whether you get a Brass Rat or not, whether you believe in climate change or not, make sure you get as much information from primary sources as possible. Make sure you use your own, good brain. Don't just rely on someone else's.
3. Self-congratulatory-ness is gross
Never get so comfortable in your own thoughts or skin that you forget that there are people in the world who will disagree with you. Despite all of the training we've had, there is still a vast and complicated world out there. Unless you are omniscient, never be so confident as to assume who is in your audience, who knows what you know, or how you will come across to others. And just on an OP note, never tell someone they should leave the room just because they disagree with you.
1. Silence (or the absence of dialogue) generates waste
Each year there are around 750 MBAs walking through Sloan. They are from all over the world, with rich perspectives and experiences. What a waste of time it is to leave this place after two years without engaging at least three or four of them in real dialogue, whatever your opinion is on any issue. When else will you get such a great opportunity to learn from smart people who are different from you? If someone says something that strikes you as odd, absolutely right, or impossibly incorrigible, seek them out and ask them about it.
This year the Sustainability Summit was held on April 24th at Walker Memorial. The event brought together faculty and students from across MIT, legislators, business leaders, and sustainability practitioners to discuss sustainability programs, metrics, new partnerships and opportunities. It was a success: the number of attendees exceeded 250. The event finished in the black and although it was the first warm and sunny day in Boston, there was a full house all day. The biggest gain was the rich dialogue that happened among people with very different perspectives who work across a range of industries and roles.
2. Beware of group-think
If you haven't bought one yet, I'm sure you've at least seen the announcement for the Brass Rat. The ring is meant to signal to other MIT alumni that you have something in common: that you've worked hard, challenged yourself, even grown a little or a lot at this school. Of course, one of the great things about Sloan is that no one's MBA education is the same. We come here looking for different things and fortunately have the flexibility of choosing our training from a large selection of classes. Nevertheless, when we leave MIT with a ring on our finger, the expectation is that at least we know how to think. What you think about and how you verify your thinking are probably the more important questions. Whether you get a Brass Rat or not, whether you believe in climate change or not, make sure you get as much information from primary sources as possible. Make sure you use your own, good brain. Don't just rely on someone else's.
3. Self-congratulatory-ness is gross
Never get so comfortable in your own thoughts or skin that you forget that there are people in the world who will disagree with you. Despite all of the training we've had, there is still a vast and complicated world out there. Unless you are omniscient, never be so confident as to assume who is in your audience, who knows what you know, or how you will come across to others. And just on an OP note, never tell someone they should leave the room just because they disagree with you.
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