A change of perspective

I have just completed my second week of schooling in the UMUC doctoral program, and I feel like i live in another world. In addition to the incredible amount of reading and writing required, I am already anxious about the upcoming first paper (and shortly followed by the second paper).

I really enjoy the type of thinking we are doing, it is no longer transactional. Dealing with theory and conceptual frameworks is a new way of observing a situation that I find compelling and petrifying at the same time. That being said, I am very anxious as to how well I am truly grasping the deep concepts (right at the top of Bloom's taxonomy).

In addition to the reading, a large part of the class is online interaction (forums) with my fellow classmates. For the most part, I am very impressed, and sometimes intimidated, with my classmates. Some of them are able to read and see at a level I am (not yet) able to.

What is a credit...

So I got the answer, 1 credit is supposed to equal 3 hours/week of work. 1 hour of lecture is supposed to give you 2 hours of homework.
Now I cannot imagine there is much calibration to ensure this happens, but at least I have the answer.

This does work with the guidelines of the class that state there is 15-20 hours/week of homework (6 credits = 18hr/week).

Why the Title

As an aside, the title of this blog came from an attitude I've experience towards academic work in the business world. Unfortunately in the greater business community there is often a dismissing of academic research and findings. Many times the business attitude is that 'theoretical' = 'impractical. And after all, the executive profile promoted often is that of a solitary superman who innately knows the answers to everything.
Therefor, my hope in both my professional and academic work I can bridge this gap and show where and how academic research can be applied to practical business solutions.
Part of this challenge, is that real change takes time and patience, something many leaders are not comfortable with.

DMGT800 - Week 1

So this week starts the next adventure in my doctoral work, DMGT800 - Foundations of Management Theory and Strategic Thinking. My first question was, how do they determine the credit load for a graduate class where the vast majority is self-guided research and online work....I know traditional 1 hr/week of lecture = 1 credit, 2 hr/week of lab = 1 credit and apparently this amount of work equals......carry the two....divide by pi.....SIX.

Once again, I cannot thank my job enough for paying for this!

I'm started doing my reading in preparation for my three day residency later this week. I've found the articles to be very interesting. A number have been on topics I'm familiar with, but they give a much deeper and complex explanation of the foundations and research behind them. The books are not quite as engaging. Well, in fairness, Schein's book on culture and leadership I do find interesting. In my Master's program culture was a big part of my focus so I do like it. However, Bell's book on "The Coming of Post-Industrial Society" so far does not grab me. Maybe it's the tiny text that reminds me of a phone book. I had forgotten so quickly just how much reading there was. Several articles, commentaries, book chapters, etc... each week.

I am also going to check the rules on posting some of my writing, just to give an idea on some of the topics I've been researching and writing about. My initial thrust of research was going to be on evidence based management, something I feel very strongly about (if you want to make me angry, tell me about 'best practices'). However, after diving deeper into research, I'm starting to narrow my focus specifically into the evidence around human capital (that's people for the not-so cold-hearted ones). Every company says people are their most important assets, but their actions sure do not align with that.