A few weeks ago my MBA students, all 183 of them, did something that many of my academic colleagues had told me would be impossible. Within the first three weeks of a course I\u2019m teaching on Strategy, these students\u2014in teams of five or six\u2014all found business clients who signed contracts agreeing to give them time, attention, information, and promised to show up on campus for a final presentation. In return, students are carrying out assessments of their clients\u2019 competitive strategies.<\/p>\n
Amidst their busy academic and personal life schedules, all these students found clients by themselves\u2014despite some of their own skepticism, and that of others. I am very proud of them.<\/p>\n
Just days before the final student contract arrived in my inbox, I was in a meeting with some administrators who asked, \u201cIf the students fail to find a client, what will you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll all find clients,\u201d I asserted.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what if they don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut they will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what contingency do you have if they don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have a contingency,\u201d was my 100% honest answer.<\/p>\n
The administrators looked at me like I was a completely crazy albatross, dragging down the Ship of Education with an unrepentant belief in students.<\/p>\n
I suppose in the farthest reaches of my mind, I knew that I have enough friends in high corporate places\u2014some would probably adopt a team if I begged. But those ideas never surfaced to conscious attention. Not once.<\/p>\n
I had complete faith that my students could do this.<\/p>\n
My biggest joy in teaching is seeing students do things that I\u2019ve never done and that I\u2019ll never be able to do. In 25 years of teaching MBAs, my students never fail to amaze me with what they can accomplish. But part of the reason that I get to see those moments of brilliance is that I have removed the constraints (and much of the associated \u201csafety equipment\u201d) from my courses. I ask them unbounded questions. And I know that a few of them will come back with wild, world-changing answers.<\/p>\n
Granted, this faith is not well placed with every student, every time. Some are scared to death; some feel pushed beyond their limits; and some just don\u2019t like it because my class doesn\u2019t look like the more traditional courses to which they have grown accustomed.<\/p>\n
I had one student just last year, let\u2019s call her Becky, who groused and complained about my style and my assignments at every turn. Becky soured her whole team on my course. Her final rating of it was the lowest she could give: a 1 out of the possible 5.<\/p>\n
Then, months after the course was over, I received the kindest note. Becky wrote to thank me for opening her eyes, pushing her, and giving her more belief in her own abilities. I, frankly, did not know that I had done any of those things.<\/p>\n
For the school administrators, her 1 out of a possible 5-point rating of my course will forever be Becky\u2019s view of what she thought about my class\u2014before she had the chance to see how it might impact her in the real world. I had taught Becky hoping beyond hope that she would learn more about the subject matter and even about herself. And eventually, she did: one more student who bolstered my trust.<\/p>\n
If, as a teacher, you don\u2019t have this level of faith right now<\/strong>, there are three things you can do to boost your ability to believe:<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let them be free\u2014just a little bit more than you would normally\u2014and see if they don\u2019t surprise you. Some students will inevitably do all the dysfunctional things you feared they might, but others\u2014more students than you ever hoped\u2014will say, do, and learn things that you could never have taught them in a more traditionally structured environment.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Then\u2014and this is key\u2014let all the students see what the other students were able to achieve in this faith-inspired world you\u2019ve created. Those who did less with the opportunity will quickly realize it in the obvious comparison to what others were able to achieve, and hopefully be inspired by it.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, give really frank and honest feedback; it might be the first time some of them are really getting that. If they squandered the freedom (and the challenge), you need to say so. Oh, and don\u2019t limit this to teacher-student feedback; make sure students give regular feedback to each other as well.<\/p>\n But this faith has to be a two-way street. So students, here\u2019s what you can do<\/strong> to get teachers to believe more in you:<\/p>\n 1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In the interest of real learning, take on a challenge that wasn\u2019t assigned. I once saw a group of students in a statistics class eschew the assigned (and easily available) US-based dataset, and instead hand-input a dataset from another country, Brazil, to make the assignment more interesting and relevant to them.<\/p>\n 2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When a little leeway is given\u2014when teachers do show faith in you\u2014make sure you over perform. You\u2019ll be clearing the way for a future generation of students to enjoy more faith from professors than even you yourselves had.<\/p>\n 3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let your teacher know what worked and what didn\u2019t, and not just at the end of the class. As a student you are investing a significant amount of time and money in your future. If you\u2019ve got a recommendation for how to make a class better, by all means, speak up!<\/p>\n I go into every class believing that what I am saying to students is vitally important and that they have the ability to change their thinking and behaviors; I believe that my students can go beyond what I anticipate. I can proudly say that every day I work with students, I see glimmers of genius. Nothing can be more fulfilling to a teacher. But it is all a matter of faith.<\/p>\n Hult offers a range of highly skills-focused and employability-driven business school programs<\/a> including a range of MBA options and a comprehensive one year Masters in International Business<\/a>. To find out more, take a look at our blog Why you need to get to know your college professors<\/a>. Download a brochure or get in touch today to find out how Hult can help you to learn about the business world, the future, and yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few weeks ago my MBA students, all 183 of them, did something that many of my academic colleagues had told me would be impossible. Within the first three weeks…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[24],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n