Now that I'm starting to settle back in, I thought I'd take a moment to discuss one of my favorite classes this semester - Operations Strategy. It's a case-based class, and so far we've looked at the operations of companies as wide-ranging as Boeing, McDonald's, and Amazon. That's one of the things I love about the course (and Ops in general) - it doesn't matter if you are building airplanes or hamburgers, you need to effectively identify and execute your operations (read "value-creation") strategy to be successful and grow.
This semester, the course is being taught by two amazing professors: Zeynep Ton (who is one of the best lecturers I've ever had) and Don Rosenfield (the director of the LGO program). Professor Ton brings a great degree of excitement to the course, and challenges you to really think critically about the case you are discussing to understand the things that companies do well and why they do them. Don's insight into the operations of these companies is also incredibly valuable, as he literally wrote the book on Operations Strategy. As well, here's a link to an interesting article he wrote about why Operations management is so important.
In short, the class is awesome.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Back on Campus
After another coast-to-coast drive - Seattle to Boston - I'm back. The internship went surprisingly fast, but it's exciting to be back on campus. In a few words, Seattle was rainy, and Amazon was awesome. It was a great chance for me to apply Operations Management and Supply Chain knowledge I had learned both in class at MIT and in my prior experience to a company and industry that were both quite new to me. Surprisingly enough, whether you're building engines, shipping textbooks, or optimizing patient flow through and Intensive Care Unit (a classmate's project); the same principles can be applied to improve the process and organization. It never ceases to amaze me, and I'm sure annoys my wife when I explain how Costco is doing a great job getting customers through checkout when she is more concerned with making sure our 2-year-old doesn't fall out of the shopping cart.
Anyway, now that I'm back it's a busy semester in front of me: classes, recruiting, thesis, and most importantly - Baby #2. That's right, you heard it here first (unless of course I've told you previously) - we're having a baby boy on or around October 5th! Needless to say it's going to be an exciting 4 months! I've had to make some adjustments to my course schedule as the reality of how busy it's going to be has set in, but luckily that's fairly easy, and just means my final semester at LGO will probably be a little more full than that of some of my classmates. As well, the thesis will take up a fair amount of time, but luckily I feel like I have a pretty good outline and direction moving forward for it.
With everything happening, I'll try to post updates for anyone interested in what the program is like during recruiting, as well as what it's like having a baby during the program. But now, it's time to prepare a case for Operations Strategy - ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy - it should be interesting.
Anyway, now that I'm back it's a busy semester in front of me: classes, recruiting, thesis, and most importantly - Baby #2. That's right, you heard it here first (unless of course I've told you previously) - we're having a baby boy on or around October 5th! Needless to say it's going to be an exciting 4 months! I've had to make some adjustments to my course schedule as the reality of how busy it's going to be has set in, but luckily that's fairly easy, and just means my final semester at LGO will probably be a little more full than that of some of my classmates. As well, the thesis will take up a fair amount of time, but luckily I feel like I have a pretty good outline and direction moving forward for it.
With everything happening, I'll try to post updates for anyone interested in what the program is like during recruiting, as well as what it's like having a baby during the program. But now, it's time to prepare a case for Operations Strategy - ITT Automotive: Global Manufacturing Strategy - it should be interesting.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Wrapping up
Interning at Amazon I recently had the opportunity to visit a number of fulfillment centers - the places that pack and ship you your textbooks, whey protein, lady bugs, lawnmower engine, or whatever else catches your fancy. While I'm working on a very interesting project, I'm based at headquarters in Seattle. As a result, I don't get much regular exposure to the fulfillment centers, so seeing them up-close was a great experience. It helped me to better understand how changes I make will affect the day-to day operations, and reminded me just how impressive it is that Amazon can assemble and fulfill millions of orders to people all across the country, all while making it possible to get that order the next day and offering free shipping. Incredible!
Anyway, my project is wrapping up and my internship is coming to a close. We've planned our trip back (it should be a nicer cross-country drive in August than it was in February, though while on the trip out we were able to leave our toddler with Grandma, this time we won't be so lucky... ), and I'm beginning to think about fall classes and my thesis. I'm surprised at how fast the time has gone, but I've definitely learned a lot and am excited to complete this milestone in the LGO experience.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Off-Cycle Internship in Seattle = Road Trip!
Wow, it's been a while. During and after plant trek things got pretty hectic, and as a result my blogging has lacked significantly. However, it's time for an update.
A lot has happened really. As many of you probably know, part of LGO is a 6 month internship with one of the partner companies, and the research done on this internship serves as the basis for your engineering thesis. Most people tend to do their internship "on-cycle", which means it starts after spring semester and ends around the end of November, and then only one semester of classes remain until graduation and the professional world. However, a portion of each class also does their internship "off-cycle", meaning it starts at the beginning of February and ends sometime in August. Various partner companies offer off-cycle internships, and about 20% or so of the class will take one of these internships. It's completely up to the student whether or not they want to apply for off-cycle, and there are various different benefits/drawbacks to either option. Some course offerings are only possible if you go off-cycle (and vice-versa), off-cycle internships allow you to be back on campus for all of Sloan recruiting (although there are plenty of recruiting options for on-cycle as well), and you get a break from classwork after two semesters. As well, some companies only offer off-cyle internships, and some only offer on-cycle, so it's good to start thinking about your game-plan and what you want to do for your internship soon after arriving on-campus.
With that long-winded explanation (and as evidenced by the title), I'm doing my internship off-cycle with Amazon in Seattle. For me it came down to the company/industry, internship project, and location. I worked for Caterpillar (also a partner company) prior to LGO, and for my internship I wanted to work on something different from my prior experience, to broaden my horizons and give me exposure to something outside of large, steel-cutting manufacturing. Don't get me wrong - I love heavy manufacturing, equipment, and everything that comes with it - but I wanted to try something new. As well, the project I'm working on is very interesting, and my wife and I thought it would be fun to live in Seattle for 6 months or so (we're finding it's quite rainy, but beautiful when the sun shines!).
In order to get to here, however, we had to drive across all of the purple mountains majesties and above the fruited plain. And while the trip was largely uneventful, the first of February is not the ideal time to spend any considerable amount of time in Fargo, North Dakota. Coast-to-coast in a few short days was a marathon of a trip, but it's what made sense for us. We left almost all of our stuff in storage back in Cambridge, and have found some cheap things second-hand. Some people will rent furniture, and others will take their stuff with them, it really just depends on the situation.
One of the highlights of the road trip was the picture above, we saw a 737 fuselage on a train headed to Boeing (another partner company) in Seattle! It was coming from Spirit Aerosystems (yet another partner), and it was awesome to see this part of a supply chain, in the flesh and right next to the freeway! I had just seen these planes being assembled at Boeing as part of our plant trek, so this was especially awesome for me. I was notably more excited than my wife (although she did think it was cool to see, it's not every day you see a big green airplane being pulled by a locomotive), so she was forced to take the picture because I was driving. She calls me a nerd, but it's okay - operations nerdity is encouraged at LGO.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Plant Trek 2011
One of the cool parts about LGO is that we have a number of student-run committees in charge of different parts of the program. These committees provide great teamwork experience outside of the classroom, and work with different aspects of the program including (but in no means limited to) internships, curriculum, new partners, and - you guessed it - the annual plant trek. I've had the pleasure of being on the domestic plant trek committee, which is in charge of our annual trip around the country to visit partner company facilities.
We kicked the trek off yesterday visiting a Pratt & Whitney facility in Lansing MI, learned all about jet engines and that facility's transformation to a more efficient and profitable operation. They work a lot with composite aerospace components, and I never cease to be amazed at the feat of engineering that it is that allows us to safely fly all over the world.
Today began at the Henry Ford Museum, which is an incredible collection of Americana. They have everything from Henry Ford's first car (the "quadracycle"), to the Allegheny 1601 (a gigantic steam locomotive), to an old diner, and countless other feats of american ingenuity. They even have an old Model T that they let you help build - I bolted the muffler to the frame. We then toured the Rouge factory in Dearborn where they assemble the F-150. It was really cool to see the impressive assembly operation, and to learn about the history of the site and all of the things that have been done there - it was at the Rouge that Henry Ford was able to vertically integrate automotive manufacture and revolutionized american industry. At one point they not only formed and assembled car here, but also processed the steel from raw ore and processed rubber for the tires.
In short, the trek is shaping up to be an awesome experience. We are set to visit GM tomorrow and see the Chevy Volt be built, stop at the auto show, and then leave Detroit for the rest of the trek to visit Boeing, Amazon, Dell, Amgen, and Hamilton Sundstrand. It's been fun to help plan, and even better to experience. I'm sure I'll post a recap after it's all said and done.
We kicked the trek off yesterday visiting a Pratt & Whitney facility in Lansing MI, learned all about jet engines and that facility's transformation to a more efficient and profitable operation. They work a lot with composite aerospace components, and I never cease to be amazed at the feat of engineering that it is that allows us to safely fly all over the world.
Today began at the Henry Ford Museum, which is an incredible collection of Americana. They have everything from Henry Ford's first car (the "quadracycle"), to the Allegheny 1601 (a gigantic steam locomotive), to an old diner, and countless other feats of american ingenuity. They even have an old Model T that they let you help build - I bolted the muffler to the frame. We then toured the Rouge factory in Dearborn where they assemble the F-150. It was really cool to see the impressive assembly operation, and to learn about the history of the site and all of the things that have been done there - it was at the Rouge that Henry Ford was able to vertically integrate automotive manufacture and revolutionized american industry. At one point they not only formed and assembled car here, but also processed the steel from raw ore and processed rubber for the tires.
In short, the trek is shaping up to be an awesome experience. We are set to visit GM tomorrow and see the Chevy Volt be built, stop at the auto show, and then leave Detroit for the rest of the trek to visit Boeing, Amazon, Dell, Amgen, and Hamilton Sundstrand. It's been fun to help plan, and even better to experience. I'm sure I'll post a recap after it's all said and done.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Question and Answer - Life Balance
"Braden, Random question that may seem off topic for your blog but I was wondering how hard it has been for you to balance the LGO work load with family? The reason I ask is because I am thinking of applying for the 2012-2014 class and I have a wife and 3 month old son. I've heard that the LGO experience is intense because you are fitting in two degrees into two years. I was wondering if you could talk a little about your balance on the blog?"
You're right, LGO is intense, but in my experience (and that of many other parents in the program) it is very doable. In fact, that's really the reason I have this blog. It was one of the things I was most nervous about when coming to the program, but some of the parents in the class of 2011 assured me it was doable, you just needed to make sure to keep your priorities straight. Here are some of the things that have helped me and my family.
Living On-Campus
The on-campus family community at MIT is really great. We moved to Cambridge from Peoria Illinois, and both my wife and I are from the western US, so moving to an urban area in New England was quite the transition. As well, because we knew we would likely be moving for 6 months for the internship (while some internships are local, most aren't) we were worried about finding a place where we could adjust quickly and my wife could make new friends while I was at class. Living on-campus allowed us to do just that. There are a lot of families with children, so my wife and daughter were able to quickly make new friends in our same situation. As well, my commute is all of 10 minutes, so I'm able to spend more time with my family and less time commuting.
Setting Up "Family Time" Boundaries - & Sticking to Them
For me, this has been really important and helpful. When you come to LGO, there is so much to do and so much happening on campus that it would be easy to let school time over-run family time. However, at the end of the day my family is more important and will still be with me after I graduate, so I don't want to neglect them. I also want them to be able to look back at the time we spent here as a good experience as well. To try to make that happen, we set up Sunday and Saturday as "Family Days", and advised my groups that I would be unavailable to get together for assignments on those days. While I did get some push-back at first, we were able to work it out. It does mean that I generally have to get more done during the week to free up my weekend, but having that time with my family has been essential. I must admit, some Saturdays in fall when thing got especially heavy I did have to go to school for a few hours, but I never missed a Sunday, and we were able to maintain this family time throughout the summer. It allowed us to take advantage of all the exciting things to see and do in and around Boston, to go to church, and it gives me a chance to play with my daughter and give my brain a much-needed break from school.
Making LGO an Experience for the Family, not Just for Me
This doesn't mean I bring my family to class, but there are a number of more social events where significant others and children are invited ("Spooky Sloan" at Halloween for one, and other bbq's and such). I make it a point to bring my wife and daughter to these whenever I can to help them get to know the people in my class that I'm spending a lot of time with. It's always a lot of fun, and my classmates love to meet and play with my daughter.
Planning and Communication
This one almost sounds like an item in a marital advice column, but I think it's a crucial part of maintaining a good life balance with family while at LGO. I put my school calendar on my wife's computer (you learn to love google calendar at LGO), so she knows which days/weeks are going to be heavier and which ones are going to be lighter. She also adds to our shared calendar so I know when she has other commitments or when our daughter has a checkup with the doctor - MIT medical is only a 2-minute walk from Sloan, so I've actually been able to be there for most of her checkups. We've also agreed that because some weeks are heavier and some weeks are lighter, I'll spend more time with my family on the lighter weeks to make up for the heavier ones.
Coming to LGO with family you undoubtedly have a different experience than your unattached classmates, but it is definitely something that can be done. There's always at least a few people in each class that have kids, and a good portion with spouses or significant others. As well, a few students generally become parents each year, so you definitely won't be alone. I've found LGO and MIT to be very supportive of my family, and while it has been an adjustment we've been loving the experience.
Thanks for the question!
You're right, LGO is intense, but in my experience (and that of many other parents in the program) it is very doable. In fact, that's really the reason I have this blog. It was one of the things I was most nervous about when coming to the program, but some of the parents in the class of 2011 assured me it was doable, you just needed to make sure to keep your priorities straight. Here are some of the things that have helped me and my family.
Living On-Campus
The on-campus family community at MIT is really great. We moved to Cambridge from Peoria Illinois, and both my wife and I are from the western US, so moving to an urban area in New England was quite the transition. As well, because we knew we would likely be moving for 6 months for the internship (while some internships are local, most aren't) we were worried about finding a place where we could adjust quickly and my wife could make new friends while I was at class. Living on-campus allowed us to do just that. There are a lot of families with children, so my wife and daughter were able to quickly make new friends in our same situation. As well, my commute is all of 10 minutes, so I'm able to spend more time with my family and less time commuting.
Setting Up "Family Time" Boundaries - & Sticking to Them
For me, this has been really important and helpful. When you come to LGO, there is so much to do and so much happening on campus that it would be easy to let school time over-run family time. However, at the end of the day my family is more important and will still be with me after I graduate, so I don't want to neglect them. I also want them to be able to look back at the time we spent here as a good experience as well. To try to make that happen, we set up Sunday and Saturday as "Family Days", and advised my groups that I would be unavailable to get together for assignments on those days. While I did get some push-back at first, we were able to work it out. It does mean that I generally have to get more done during the week to free up my weekend, but having that time with my family has been essential. I must admit, some Saturdays in fall when thing got especially heavy I did have to go to school for a few hours, but I never missed a Sunday, and we were able to maintain this family time throughout the summer. It allowed us to take advantage of all the exciting things to see and do in and around Boston, to go to church, and it gives me a chance to play with my daughter and give my brain a much-needed break from school.
Making LGO an Experience for the Family, not Just for Me
This doesn't mean I bring my family to class, but there are a number of more social events where significant others and children are invited ("Spooky Sloan" at Halloween for one, and other bbq's and such). I make it a point to bring my wife and daughter to these whenever I can to help them get to know the people in my class that I'm spending a lot of time with. It's always a lot of fun, and my classmates love to meet and play with my daughter.
Planning and Communication
This one almost sounds like an item in a marital advice column, but I think it's a crucial part of maintaining a good life balance with family while at LGO. I put my school calendar on my wife's computer (you learn to love google calendar at LGO), so she knows which days/weeks are going to be heavier and which ones are going to be lighter. She also adds to our shared calendar so I know when she has other commitments or when our daughter has a checkup with the doctor - MIT medical is only a 2-minute walk from Sloan, so I've actually been able to be there for most of her checkups. We've also agreed that because some weeks are heavier and some weeks are lighter, I'll spend more time with my family on the lighter weeks to make up for the heavier ones.
Coming to LGO with family you undoubtedly have a different experience than your unattached classmates, but it is definitely something that can be done. There's always at least a few people in each class that have kids, and a good portion with spouses or significant others. As well, a few students generally become parents each year, so you definitely won't be alone. I've found LGO and MIT to be very supportive of my family, and while it has been an adjustment we've been loving the experience.
Thanks for the question!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Leaders for...
For me, one of the best parts of the LGO program is leadership development. While some would argue that leadership is innate and can't be learned, I disagree. That fatalistic point of view says that becoming a better leader is something that just happens and is out of your control, which really isn't the case. It's like anything, some people have natural leadership ability, but we can all work to develop whatever ability we have to become better leaders.
Because of that, LGO puts a lot of focus on leadership - which you probably gathered from the name. One of the courses that I took this fall was an elective leadership seminar offered by the program, and it was one of the best courses I've taken. While the other classes you'll take for LGO - accounting, operations management, economics, engineering courses, etc. - are all very good, this one stands out because it focuses on your personal development. The title of this post "Leaders for..." is what the facilitator of the course feels is the most important part of the program (I call him a facilitator rather than an instructor or professor, because he really just facilitates discussion rather than dictates it, and is a retired business leader that volunteers his time for the course). It means "Leaders for Global Operations", but also things like "Leaders for Our Communities", or "Leaders for Sustainable Development", or Leaders for anything really that we think is an issue and needs to be addressed. In this sense, LGO is about more than just getting an MBA and a Master's in Engineering from MIT, it's also about learning from ourselves and each other to become better leaders that will be able to make a difference in the world.
Throughout the course we had several discussions about leadership traits, qualities, and examples of good leadership that we've experienced. As well, we had LGO alums from the early years of the program and other business leaders visit to talk about their different experiences with career development, family, entrepreneurship, and how leadership development will play a role in our lives post-LGO. Finally, the last day of the course everyone in the course stood up and spoke for a few minutes about what leadership meant to them. I must admit, at first I was a little skeptical about how this was going to turn out, but it was a pretty cool experience. It was a 90 minute barrage of thoughts on leadership, and not only did it make me put my feelings into words, but I was able to hear from my classmates what they thought, which in turn helped me to better understand both them and myself. In all it was a great experience and I'm glad I took the course. It helped me to learn to take a step back and reflect on my life, where I'm at, and what it will take to achieve my goals, which I think will be valuable throughout my career.
Now, the semester is coming to a close, I'm preparing for my internship, and I just have my accounting final between myself and winter break - Woo-hoo!!! Good luck to everyone submitting applications!
Because of that, LGO puts a lot of focus on leadership - which you probably gathered from the name. One of the courses that I took this fall was an elective leadership seminar offered by the program, and it was one of the best courses I've taken. While the other classes you'll take for LGO - accounting, operations management, economics, engineering courses, etc. - are all very good, this one stands out because it focuses on your personal development. The title of this post "Leaders for..." is what the facilitator of the course feels is the most important part of the program (I call him a facilitator rather than an instructor or professor, because he really just facilitates discussion rather than dictates it, and is a retired business leader that volunteers his time for the course). It means "Leaders for Global Operations", but also things like "Leaders for Our Communities", or "Leaders for Sustainable Development", or Leaders for anything really that we think is an issue and needs to be addressed. In this sense, LGO is about more than just getting an MBA and a Master's in Engineering from MIT, it's also about learning from ourselves and each other to become better leaders that will be able to make a difference in the world.
Throughout the course we had several discussions about leadership traits, qualities, and examples of good leadership that we've experienced. As well, we had LGO alums from the early years of the program and other business leaders visit to talk about their different experiences with career development, family, entrepreneurship, and how leadership development will play a role in our lives post-LGO. Finally, the last day of the course everyone in the course stood up and spoke for a few minutes about what leadership meant to them. I must admit, at first I was a little skeptical about how this was going to turn out, but it was a pretty cool experience. It was a 90 minute barrage of thoughts on leadership, and not only did it make me put my feelings into words, but I was able to hear from my classmates what they thought, which in turn helped me to better understand both them and myself. In all it was a great experience and I'm glad I took the course. It helped me to learn to take a step back and reflect on my life, where I'm at, and what it will take to achieve my goals, which I think will be valuable throughout my career.
Now, the semester is coming to a close, I'm preparing for my internship, and I just have my accounting final between myself and winter break - Woo-hoo!!! Good luck to everyone submitting applications!
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