The spring semester was cold, but even if I did not see many blooming flowers, I had a lot of personal growth. Business Strategy taught by professor Hart Posen boosted my overall spring semester experience. This class taught me how to think about a problem by taking a step back from my eagerness to provide a solution to make sure that I was solving an unmet need. I tangibly translated the lessons I learned from this subject into my approaches to clients in the Consulting Practicum setting and in my first HR Capstone class.
Challenge is not something that people are used to receiving happily and with open arms. As humans, we fear others challenging our ideas and opinions as it might jeopardize our sense of self. The mind is amazing and tries to protect our ego and concept of self, but feedback and questions are the only ways in which our criteria expand. I am grateful to Professor Hart because he pushed my boundaries and reminded me that the opportunity to grow is not in my comfort zone.
The class was my favorite because starting from week one, it made me rethink the approach to any business case. Preparing for each class gave me a strong foundation for the discussions we had in the classroom. The type of teaching method where the students built on the ideas of others brought me back to my pre-MBA boardrooms in which I created business solutions with a team.
After this semester’s new ways of approaching these forms of problem solving, I am sure that in my internship and work journey I will remember the challenges of Professor Hart every time I want to expand on a solution idea. Based on this experience, I am excited about my second year in the MBA.