MBA courses are supposed to be highly applied. I once worried that this might mean they are taught by rote, or at least lack room to think about things on a higher level than learning the mechanics of management. I’m less worried now. The shot above is of my notes from a particularly engaging discussion about monopolies, during our economics course.
The notes?
- Blog about avoiding binarism, or about avoiding manufacturing false binary choice architecture
- Blog about avoiding saying ‘they can’, instead shifting to ‘is it likely that they will’ (particularly in creating good design)
- Note to self to ask a friendly faculty member who I should ask in the school about ‘how ideas spread’
- Suggestion by my prof to check out Wittgenstein’s ideas (in response to my frustration with black and white definitions - some friends will be familliar with this)
- Note to self to ask the careers service for distributions of the last few years of post MBA salaries
- ‘livid green’ - a description of a fluorescent green line that I enjoyed
- Note to self to read about the economics of prohibition, specifically that as you ban something, you remove existing barriers to market entry, allowing unregulated competition, driving the price down, and quality up. The war on drugs might have been an economically flawed policy. Shocking.
- Blog about approaching higher-ups on their level, not by unintentionally presenting yourself as an underling
- Blog about how online purchasing might be making me a more rational consumer
- Blog and think about Schumpeter’s beautiful theories, and how they are gaining popular momentum
Why write about this today? Alanna over at Blood and Milk was wondering what strategy to take while attending the upcoming TEDIndia conference (a place of inspiring ideas). I suggested she just try to seek out, trigger and capture all the ideas she can. Then I looked down and realized that I was doing the same thing in a particularly exciting class. My sister asked me recently how I blog about something different every day. My answer was simple: we all think of interesting new ideas every day. I just try to capture them for later.
And maybe learn a little about economics.
B
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Lots about doing something later. When is ‘later’? Only 24 hours (last time I looked) in a day. I can never find that ‘later’, it seems. On this ‘binarism’ thing: looked it up and still don’t get it. Are they saying beware of dualities? Reduction (falsely, often) to only two choices? That’s how Raff The Bike Man sold bikes: put the customer into a simple duality and let them choose.
[Reply]
raff Reply:
October 28th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
quit giving away my best tricks. that’s how I sell tacos too.
[Reply]
Brendan Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:21 am
then you’re using a salesman’s technique, and not a bad one.
Reduction to a complex scenario to two options. Two perspectives. Two outcomes. Two opinions. We do it all the time because…I don’t know. We’re uncomfortable with complexity? We need defined categories? Love the ‘vs.’? I don’t know. But our current societal challenges are too complex to be solved with a ‘aid is bad’ or ‘aid is good’ discussion.
B
[Reply]
Brendan Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 1:22 am
Good comment about later. It’s when it happens.
One or two of those blog posts got drafted after this post. A couple will never make it. But you touch on something important with the question.
B
[Reply]
I ran across your blog in Chris Blattman’s and just would like to say I have really enjoyed perusing your posts. This one especially. Economics is passion and love of mine and happy to see a “noneconomist” enjoying it. Keep posting.
[Reply]