What We're Reading Now

A Taste of Darden Wisdom

30 October 2012

Allison read Professor Ming-Jer Chen’s Case in Point: Using the power of ‘one’ as a business practice from The Washington Post and appreciated an opportunity to return to a University of Virginia Darden School of Business classroom by reading just 488 words.

Tags: allison read, leadership, uva

I've always been proud that my first degree from the University of Virginia was a Bachelor of Arts in English. I come from a family that appreciates the critical thinking, ability to digest large amounts of information, writing skills and powers of persuasion that a strong liberal arts program can bestow upon a willing student. I thoroughly enjoyed my first job out of college with Accenture’s Human Performance Service Line and was glad they thought an English major could do good work, too. However, when I realized that I wanted to start my own organizational development consulting practice, I knew I’d be well-served to round out those liberal arts skills with an MBA, and that’s how I made my return to Charlottesville in 1999 to attend UVA’s Darden School of Business.

My Darden professors challenged me in ways I could never have imagined and inspired me to work as hard as I ever have in my life. They were artists in the classroom as they facilitated the unique case method of instruction explained on Darden’s web site, “In contrast to a lecture-based approach to education, Darden class time is spent discussing cases about actual business problems and potential solutions. Under the skillful direction of a faculty member, you will strengthen your communication and leadership skills by learning to make difficult decisions with limited information and significant uncertainty. You will learn to persuade and inspire others, to reconcile differing viewpoints and to prioritize objectives and capitalize on opportunities.”

As I help our clients navigate their individual, business, government and nonprofit challenges, I often find myself wondering what my professors and classmates at Darden would say about a situation. Sometimes we even partner with current Darden professors to provide executive education and other client services and in those cases I don’t have to wonder what they would do. However, more often than not, I’m unable to tap into their wisdom as regularly as I would like and that’s why I’m glad The Washington Post / Darden School of Business “Case in Point” Series appears every other Sunday in the Post’s Business Section.

In 600 words or less, a Darden professor summarizes one of his or her current areas of research by sharing a big idea, the real-life business scenario behind the big idea, the resolution and the lesson. For example, on 7 July 2012 Professor Ming-Jer Chen wrote, Using the power of ‘one’ as a business practice, and included examples of how Warren Buffett, Starbucks and Disney have applied this principle. Are you wondering how can you apply the power of "one?" Just ask yourself one of the professor's big questions:

• Which e-mail, among dozens received daily, should I reply to if I have time to reply to only one?
• In a meeting, what is the one item we should discuss if we have only a few minutes left?
• If I am giving a speech or presentation, what is the one takeaway I want the audience to leave with?
• If there is one thing I can accomplish in my career, or for my family, or one dream I’d like to fulfill in my life, what is it?

I think you’ll find adding the Case in Point Series to your reading list will serve you well. Here’s a sampling of some past cases.

• An outsourcing model for nonprofit endowments by Richard B. Evans
• When innovation is a risk for small businesses by Greg Fairchild
• Uprooting unconscious bias by Erika James
• How process improvement principles can save time in your day by Elliott Weiss and Rebecca Goldberg
• Short-term profits vs. long-term value by Ron Wilcox

I’m looking forward to the 11 November case.
 

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