The Evening MBA cohort at the University of Texas at Austin's McComb's School of Business kicks off their academic year with the Austin Intensive--a four-day weekend jam-packed with classes. learning activities, team building exercises and, of course, a lot of fun. This was my first Austin Intensive so I wanted to post a few highlights.
Texas Army Leadership Challenge
I think I've got to start with the coolest activity of the weekend, the Texas Army Leadership Challenge! Bright and early Saturday morning Major Travis Habhab of the US Army led us through two leadership training exercises. We were divided into groups of about 10 people. The classes of '16, '15, and '14 were all mixed together. My group was first tasked with a planning scenario. Each of us represented a different interested party in planning the security logistics for an upcoming event. For example, I represented the Austin Police Department, while others represented a private security firm, event organizers, etc. The goal was to align our competing interests and priorities and come up with a solid plan to brief the "mayor" in an hour's time. During that time, Captain Jackson, with his Army Special Forces background, stressed the team by pulling our team members out, turning out the lights, making last minute changes to the objective and so forth. He, along with one of his colleagues, was observing how we reacted and how we exercised under duress. After the activity we had the chance to get some one-on-one feedback. What a great opportunity--to get personal feedback from someone who had spent years in the Special Forces.
My key take aways from the planning portion were:
1. Sometimes you have to step up and lead
2. When there's no clear chain of command or leadership structure it makes it more difficult to get things done
3. You need to be able to communicate clearly and concisely. I have a tendency towards circumlocution which can be counterproductive at times.
4. Most importantly, every single person needs to have a clear understanding of the objective and what the non-negotiables are.
Next was the obstacle course! Not going to lie, that was pretty fun, although it was more physically challenging that I thought it'd be. The objective was to get every single member of the group, along with a "victim" on a stretcher, through the obstacle course as fast as possible. My team ran a great time but we were hit with a few penalties. Here's a low-quality photo of the course...I haven't been able to find a better one.
My key take aways from the obstacle course:
1. Again, clear, concise communication makes decision making more efficient.
2. Strategy. Before we actually started we had he chance to see the course and as a team we discussed a strategy which helped tremendously.
3. The importance of flexibility and adaptability. There were things in the course that demanded we modify our tactics within our strategy to more efficiently cope with an obstacle. Sometimes in life you've got to change things up.
After each group had the opportunity to complete both activities and get some personalized feedback, we regrouped and Majore Habhab lead us through an "After Action Review" or "AAR." We discussed what we had experienced and learned. My key take away from that was the importance of an After Action Review, or to analyze your performance, what went right and what you can improve upon. I have found this to be extremely useful.
Saturday Night
After the leadership challenge we spent a few hours in class learning how to analyze a case. That was very interesting. I'm not sure anybody anticipated how detailed and deep we were going to go with that.
After class we headed over the the McCombs Red Zone in the Darrell K. Royal stadium. It was fun to mix and mingle. Most of us stayed until something like 10pm making new friends.
Change Management Learning and Simulation
Sunday morning met us with some discussion and learning about managing and leading organizations through change. There was this SIM sort of game that simulated an organization experiencing significant problems. The challenge was to first, recognize the core problems. Second, identify those within the organization who had identified the key issues (we could conduct interviews of everyone in the organization). Then we had to come up with a strategy on how to get at least 60% buy-in from those within the organization. Our team was very successful for at least a few reasons:
1. We divided up the tasks to make most efficient use of our limited time. We had two members of our group writing down each and every tactic we could use and placing it tentatively on a timeline. The remaining two of us conducted the interviews.
2. Cooperation. We didn't have anyone dominate or try to strong-arm. But, at the same time, everybody spoke up. There was one decision where most of us were in agreement but the young lady in our group had the guts to point out different option. We ultimately went with her recommendation which I think brought us closer to the goal.
3. Trust. Since each of us had sort of specialized in certain tasks, we were relying on the thoroughness and judgement of another,
In the end, our team reached our goal of 60% buy-in and we did it under time and under budget!
Sunday Night
Sunday we had another dinner party. We sat in groups based on who our mentor is. My group, naturally, consisted of folks coming from San Antonio. After dinner they had karaoke and an open bar, which was a big hit. Many from my table actually went to Mass and were kind enough to let me go with them. Most of you know I'm Mormon, but my grandmother is Catholic so I've been to Mass several times before. It felt good going to Mass, especially since I didn't have a chance to go to church Sunday morning. I really like how we sang a lot of hymns. One thing that stood out to me was the singing by the choir a verse from
Hebrews 12:
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he
a, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye
a b, God dealeth with you as with
c; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
It was nice to share that moment with my MBA colleagues. If any of you know me and would like to know more about my faith or come to a Mormon function, let me know or message me and I'd be happy to oblige.
Here's most of the folks that were at my table.
Monday--Personality Types/Myers-Briggs
Monday started off strong as we learned about personality types. We each took a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and then we spent the rest of the day learning about our types and how to leverage that to build teams, work with others, and help us lead. It was a lot of GREAT info. By the end of the afternoon it felt like a marathon. I think we were all very tired by the end of the session. It's interesting to note that I had taken a Myers-Briggs indicator about 15 years ago and the one I took this weekend came up with nearly identical results. I see the benefit of using these types to better understand others and what makes them tick.
All in all it was a fantastic weekend spent with a lot of smart, engaged, and amazing folks. I look forward to the next three years!
