First quarter is over...

First quarter was an intense time. Aside from managing all the increased content, there were some technical and logistical learning curves I had to overcome. Attending class online, collaborating with team members online and working within our web based classroom was a major adjustment from attending class physically. Once I got into the swing of things, it became easier to focus on absorbing the content and delivering on assignments. However, integrating my schedule with school was not an easy task. It was challenging to manage my time between school, work and personal while still feeling like a balanced human. I learned a lot about what is expected of me during school and how to best manage a life balance. I feel like second quarter will be much easier to strike this balance without the addition of a technical learning curve.

Course material

I really enjoyed learning about the history of economics. Learning about the origins of the industrial revolution helped me to situate our current capitalist mentality and further understand modern economic theories. As anyone can tell from my blog posts, I’m fascinated by what we associate with value and how our relationship with value has evolved throughout history. What I find most striking - what has remained constant in our relationship to value creation rather than what has changed. I enjoyed observing the common human behaviors behind our collective historical actions. Rational actors are expected to ‘want to belong’ or ‘feel loved’ or at least be perceived as such. I feel like these are some of the most powerful motivations behind our actions throughout history and will continue into the future.

Our exploration of business models was another interesting part of our course material this quarter. I was able to see value in some of the more traditional business models as well as the alternative models. Examining different ownership models is a good example of our work this quarter. Looking at shareholder, private and stakeholder models allowed me to further examine how business structures can affect decision making, effectiveness and overall happiness of employees. I look forward to learning more specifics about business modeling and how different structures can yield varying results depending on the goals and culture at play.  

BGI culture of learning

Its clear to me that BGI values holistic business practices, integrated systems approach, strong presentation skills and a solid foundation of business basics like accounting. This past quarter has taught me a lot of these skills and opened the door for further understanding. I particularly enjoyed the ‘flipped classroom’ approach which allowed for enhanced discussion and further development of ideas instead of simply lecturing. Working in teams was also a valuable experience for me. I felt like it was the epitome of the ‘integrated’ approach to learning. Not only were we expected to produce several products as a team, like our presentation and white paper, but we also had to develop team agreements through our team log. I learned through direct application the effectiveness of intentionally building team dynamics and upholding shared agreements in order to be the most effective team we can be.

Overall I learned a lot, both professionally and personally. I learned to really value the power of observation. So much of our modern economics has abandoned this undervalued skill while fields like science have thrived by utilizing it. I found that by observing my team mates, professors and fellow classmates, I gain insight into their human experience. When one can further understand the perspectives of others, they are truly participating in their community. I look forward to developing my observational skills further in quarter two as well as refining the skills I have established in quarter one.