MBA and Social Work

Discussion on Course Reflection, Reponses to other students post and Final Paper Revisions and PowerPoint due!

2 Other Students Post For How David Beats Goliath:

Howard Thompson

U6D1 How David Beats Goliath

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How David Beats Goliath

     In the article “How David Beats Goliath”, Malcolm Gladwell discusses the success of those who take an unconventional approach to a structured problem. Mr. Gladwell uses examples from the fields of battle, sports and business to illustrate how techniques that conventional wisdom holds should never work succeed almost a third of the time (Gladwell, 2009). Mr. Gladwell notes that in cases of a clear underdog carrying the day it often comes down to creating a more level playing field by choosing tools or techniques with which they are comfortable and applying those techniques with exceptional vigor (Gladwell, 2009).

     In order to prevail the underdog must generally approach the rules as a set of “don’ts”. This approach leaves a fair amount of room for maneuver as long as you are willing to run afoul of the unwritten rules. Operating in this manner within most any establishment the underdog may win many battles but seldom wins the war (Gladwell, 2009). The establishment will simply change the rules in response to losing to an outsider or underdog. In the article Mr. Gladwell tells the story of a girls’ basketball team that skillfully employed the “full court press”-basically an aggressive defense whenever the ball is in play- as opposed to the more normal, regimented version of basketball seen on courts all over America (Gladwell, 2009). This team was composed of girls who lacked the skills to play good offensive basketball, instead substituting endurance in order to keep the opponents off balance (Gladwell, 2009). Guerrilla warfare has always relied on similar tactics, substituting tireless effort for battlefield technical skill. Mr. Gladwell demonstrates that the amount of effort the underdog requires to win is much higher, and teams used to winning based upon skill are unable or unwilling to exert that level of physical effort (Gladwell, 2009).

     Given the demonstrated effectiveness of this type of approach, it is a wonder more teams do not use these tactics (Gladwell, 2009). In the workplace the concept of “thinking outside the box”-when taken close to its extreme-can be viewed as a variation of this technique in that it often frames challenges in terms of the literal rules of the situation. Army Noncommissioned officers commonly state this as “just tell me what I cannot do”. In order to function effectively within this environment, Mr. Gladwell states it is important for the underdog to decide which rules or social expectations the team is willing to accept the consequences of breaking (Gladwell, 2009). This is an important decision as when the underdog’s tolerance for the social consequences required to win is met the underdog begins behaving as the rules would expect and dutifully losing as expected (Gladwell, 2009).

     The major implications are that given an honest assessment of your skills and a specific set of rules you may be able to devise an approach that compensates for your challenges. It is important to note that this system does not work unless everyone but you is acting according to a given set of expectations. As Mr. Gladwell points out, the underdog often wins when they work harder and act in a way the favorite is not trained to counter by using their strengths.

References

Gladwell, M. (2009). How David Beats Goliath. New Yorker, 85(13), pp. 40-49.

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Jacquelyn Kelly

U6D1 - How David Beats Goliath

                In this unit’s reading, there were a few quotes that highlight milestones my own triumph against my own metaphoric Goliath. My leaving Milwaukee, Wisconsin was my own personal battle against Goliath. Why would my hometown be my Goliath? Hometowns usually evoke connotations of fond feelings of nostalgia, safety and happy childhood memories but not for me. Imagine a place that seems designed to order your steps toward your demise. Milwaukee was a place where the people that looked like me had very little in common with me and silent segregation was a line drawn to keep certain type of people from achieving too much. Resilience was a very sweet lesson in a town full of monkey wrenches, round abouts, dead ends and delay fish. Even when I visit, I anxiously await my departure. Leaving Milwaukee for good was my Goliath. However, it was the only place I ever called home and it was still a comfort zone, a small speck of the Earth that I knew and understood. Some of my friends and family often talked about leaving but it would be too hard to save the money, get new resources and find another job, too uncomfortable. It was too big of a risk for them. Leaving Milwaukee, the methaphoric Goliath, was too much of a giant for them to apply a new creative strategy to get the hell out of Milwaukee. They played by the rules, settled into the jobs and the resources available or prescribed to them. Not bothered by opting out of the chance to live in a more diverse neighborhood or work jobs that were described as a passion instead of a paycheck. This is why this quote speaks strongly to me. “The prospect of playing by David’s rules was too daunting. They would rather lose.” (Gladwell, 2009) I hear them complain all the time but unconventional methods of taking down Goliath is not worth it. They would rather lose the battle than risk the raggedy comfort zone called Milwaukee. Four years ago, I moved to Arizona with about $182 in my pocket and I made it work. The second quote that stood out to me also relates to one thing that Ranadive discovered when coaching teenage girls in basketball.

            “Effort can trump ability…” (Gladwell, 2009) A good strategy can easily outshine perceived ability or weakness. It can be the difference between just meeting the minimum requirements and that extra credit that bumps you up a notch on the list. I can remember my journey back to college after taking a six year break right after my sophomore year in undergrad. It was rough, finding financing for that first semester. There was a federal program I read about that was willing to pay for up to two years of college toward a degree. What began as a no from a cranky case manager in some little dumpy government office turned into the ticket to my bachelor’s degree. Since I was a sophomore in a four year program already and their program would finance up to two years of school, I could finally earn my bachelor’s degree. I will never forget her telling me that they only approve two year degrees and I refuted. The case manager advocated for me to earn an associate’s degree in something else on her approved list but her boss saw the effort in my ability to challenge the conventional and approved my funding for a BA at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee instead. The program had limitations but the right effort applied to the right weakness opened doors for me in my academic career. Overcoming Goliath means more to me than throwing stones, it’s being an undertaker of the conventional methods and challenging limitations.

            Reading this passage, made me think of the time, I returned to college after a six year break and found funding for tuition and fees to carry me into my ultimate goal of earning a MBA. How David beats Goliath reminds me of the first time I moved 2,000 miles across the country to create a new comfort zone and a better lifestyle for my family.  My story is parallel to how David threw that stone except I used resilience, creative thinking and challenged the conventional as my stones to throw at big stupid Goliath.

References

Gladwell, M. (2009). How David Beats Goliath. New Yorker, 85(13), 40-49.

Course Reflection

Throughout the course, you have been building toward the achievement of the following competencies:

· Apply frameworks and theoretical concepts to systematically analyze business issues.

· Communicate in a manner that is professional and consistent with expectations for members of the business professions.

· Apply collaborative techniques to the virtual environment.

For this discussion, reflect on the knowledge and skills you developed over the past six weeks. Address the following questions in your post:

· Considering the course competencies, how has your ability to perform these skills and apply this knowledge evolved?

· What concepts, skills, or insights were most relevant to you? How will you apply them to your professional work?

· What new ideas have you developed about how the MBA might apply to your career and about how you might further develop the skills you self-assessed in Unit 1?

Response Guidelines

Responses to this discussion are optional. When responding to others, provide encouraging feedback about how learners have grown over the past six weeks. If applicable, provide recommendations for how learners may continue to develop these skills and knowledge or suggest additional strategies for leveraging the knowledge gained in the course.

Note: Share only what is appropriate to share. Respect confidential information, and when writing about personal experiences, do not identify actual companies or individuals.

Respond To 1 Student:

U06d2 Course Reflection

This course has taught me way more than I expected, and has challenged me to be better in many aspects.   Competencies such as critical thinking, writing, utilizing APA format and using Excel are skills that have been more than helpful to me through this course.  Prior to this course I had not written a paper or used Excel in over four years so upon beginning my MBA program I was very weary that my skills would not be enough for me to be successful.  I now feel extremely confident in writing papers and using APA, a format that I had never used prior to beginning this course.  I also now think more critically in my daily activities at work and in my personal life. 

Another competency that is very important to me that I will continue to utilize is the ability to interact with other that have many different perspectives.   The discussions in the course have helped me to understand myself better by learning from others, and I enjoyed the feedback from my peers.   The perspectives of others have made me view my own thoughts in a different light. This is a much needed skill in the business world as you will always work with others, and being open to different perspectives will help all you to make better decisions.  This has helped me to learn to be a better professional at work, and I will continue to utilize these skills to incorporate others ideas in my decision making. 

                I thought prior to beginning my MBA program that I had good time management skills.  The MBA program has forced me to manage my time and think more critically that I have ever before.  I feel more confident in my time management and communication skills than I have ever felt before.  I plan to continue to utilize excel on a daily basis to build on my competencies.  Also I plan to continue to build upon my writing skills by utilizing the writing center to become a better writer.   The skills obtained from this course and through my MBA program will serve as life tools to make me a better professional and person.  I look forward to the rest of this journey.

Navarone Dozier 

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