Friday Funny - Tips for success in life

Want to succeed at study? Want to go the best results you have ever achieved?  Then I recommend you follow these ten tips for success -

Get up early (five o’clock)
Go to bed early (nine to ten o’clock)
Eat little and avoid sweets
Try to do everything by yourself
Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for one section of your life, a goal for a shorter period and a goal for the year; a goal for every month, a goal for every week, a goal for every day, a goal for every hour and for evry minute, and sacrifice the lesser goal to the greater
Keep away from women
Kill desire by work
Be good, but try to let no one know it
Always live less expensively than you might
Change nothing in your style of living even if you become ten times richer

(Source: Leo Tolstoy.  Prolific writer and academic).

 

Ever wondered what business school looks like?

I completed my Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies with Waikato University in 2010.  People ask me what was it like and would I recommend it.  Watch this short video and then I will give some ansers -

What was it like - exactly like the video.  There was a very diverse and wide range of people put together in one classroom and given the task of producing quality business outcomes using their knowledge and skills.

We had doctors, accountants, lawyers, people in education all the way through to retail managers.  So as you can probably tell - it was a pretty diverse group of people.  Lots of opinions, points of view and heated discussion for sure!

The best bits of our course had to be the case study discussions.  We would spend hours poring over the case studies looking for different angles and possibilities.  Always on the hunt for the right answer or a knowledge advantage over everyone else.

Working in groups certainly had it's fair share of trials and tribulations but at the same time the value added through interaction was totally invaluable.

The other best part were the tutors.  We were fortunate enough to have Jens Mueller who is a total inspiration and motivator.  Jens has diverse experience and his constant mission was to stretch the students and question the boundaries they have established in their minds.  And he did it!

I actually miss the cut and thrust of the discussions and the fabulous input of the teachers (although my wife doesn't miss me disappearing for study nights and classes on the weekends, not to mention the endless hours of essay writing and revision). 

So - yes, I do totally recommend it.  100%.

Professional Development

One of the interesting points that came out of one of the talks at the ATEM conference was around professional development (PD).

Should PD always be linked directly to achieving the workplaces business goals? That is where does training end and development begin?

A number of organisations blur the lines between the two. One great story was about a manager who encouraged their person to engage in raranga (weaving). Through this practise the person became more relaxed in the workplace and then their work rate and quality improved.

This semester I have decided to do a course in creative writing, particularly poetry in the second half. Will this directly change or improve my performance towards the business goals? Maybe - but indirectly.

As managers we need to be aware of people's needs at the time, and maybe not doing formal study, such as a diploma, is as valuable to a person. However through them doing study that engages them on different levels - that may be of more value and worth, primarily to them, and then on to us as an organisation.

Here is a poem I coined to begin the course with -

The Urge.

And so it begins, the urge to write,
But do we begin, no that can't be right,
And so the tutor says - don't start just wait,
And I sit here musing, restless, going stagnate

Bring on week two, with pencil and pen,
Maybe I'll start, maybe begin,
In the meantime, I'll muse and I'll dream
Of stories well written, and eclairs filled with cream.

Waikato Uni Economics

Well after a 6 month lay off from study I have to finish economics to get my Post Grad Dip. Well how has it gone? Not too badly.

Anna Strutt is a really fascinating person (and very attractive as well), and Steven Lim gets good reports but I have yet to be awed by him.

I will be pleased to finish the studies so that I can get a life again. Am I fussed about moving up the ladder? Not yet. Has the PGDip been worthwhile? Absolutely.

People ask - why Waikato? Why not Waiariki? Simple really. University qualification or Polytech qualification? The answer is clear.

Economics 501 and 503. Good all round economics papers for the uninititated.