Weeks 2 and 3 - Lessons in Time Management

We're now 3 weeks into the LGO program and I think it's safe to say that we've all been getting some hands-on lessons in time management (hence no blog post last week!).  After easing us back into the program with the "Universe Within" during the first week, the training wheels came off and we've been racing full-speed into the summer term.  Somehow my calendar has gone from "work-play-sleep" to something a little more complicated...

LGO Summer Calendar

The nice part about the summer session is that all 48 of us are in the same classes, so it makes scheduling a much easier task!  The general cadence is that we have class from 8am - 12:30ish and then have the afternoons open for recitations / group work / reading / committee meetings / local plant treks.  It has definitely taken some adjustment to get back into the pace of school; not so much for the quantity of work as the type of work.  As an undergrad, I was used to cranking through problem sets that were very mechanical: read the book, do the problems, hand them in, case closed.  Here we have a mix of what I would classify as "technical" and "soft" (by that I don't mean squishy or easy by any means, just that they focus on the "soft" skills of management rather than the technical).  The split this summer is 2 technical (Probability & Statistics, and Systems Optimization) and 3 "soft" (Operations Management, Leadership, and High Velocity Systems.  All of the latter 3 rely heavily on case studies and a lot of THINKING and REFLECTION (both of which I realize I didn't do much in undergrad!).  It has been a great experience so far (other than staying up till 1am to read cases a few times), and the classroom discussions have been phenomenal with so many great inputs from my amazing classmates.

Now just because classes have ramped up doesn't mean the fun outside adventures stop.  Quite the contrary actually; we're definitely embracing the "work hard, play hard" mantra!  Some highlights from the last two weeks have been:

• Hiking to the top of Mt. Moosilauke in the White Mountains of New Hampshire
• Learning to sail on the Charles River and taking boats out after class to relax
• Partying it up with LGOers, SDMers, and Sloanies at various locations around Boston (it doesn't take much to get us out; NBA Playoffs, Stanley Cup Finals, the fact that it's Thursday...you name it, we're there!).
• Eating some great food with teammates
• Inaugurating the Foosball table at my apartment
• Fitting in some great workouts around Boston (i.e. November Project)
• Taking our "unoffical" B-school class photo shortly after the "official" photo last week

I have been slacking off on my photo-taking recently, so I'll defer to my good friend Ammar Asfour who has become our official class photographer with his photo-a-day blog: http://likethegreatoz.blogspot.com.  Keep up the great work Ammar!

On the Summit of Mt. Moosilauke in NH

Learning to Sail on the Charles

The "Unofficial" B-School Class Photo :-)

Week 1: The Universe Within

Day 1 at Sloan

Wow, time has just flown by!  We have just wrapped up the first week of LGO, which is dedicated to a special course called "The Universe Within".  Without getting into too many details of the class itself, I'll just say that it was an absolutely fantastic week of team building with my 47 incredible classmates.  We spent the week getting to know each other and exploring aspects of our own leadership capabilities as well as those of the entire group.  Day 1 started with the assignment of our summer teams; the group of 6 students who will work together for the rest of the summer to tackle all of our class assignments.  I'm definitely blown away by the experience, knowledge, and diversity that our team possesses and am really looking forward to working with everyone throughout the summer (Shoutout to "Team 5 Alive").

Climbing Structure on Thompson Island

One of the big highlights of the week was the all-day outing to Thompson Island in Boston Harbor to participate in their Outward Bound program.  It was a quick ferry ride from downtown, but it felt worlds away from the hustle and bustle of Boston.  We really lucked out this year and had fantastic weather for the outing (the LGO class last year ended up with torrential rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon).  We spent the day working with our teams to tackle challenges such as navigating the forest while blindfolded and traversing a challenging "spider web".  The main attraction was the climbing challenge in the afternoon in which we individually scaled a 62' climbing structure while being supported and encouraged by our whole team.  I'm happy to report that every one of our teammates made it to the top!  Overall, the day gave us a fantastic opportunity to step outside the classroom and further develop our teams and friendships in a really fun and challenging environment.  I would highly recommend Outward Bound for anyone looking for a fantastic experience.

Class Picture on Thompson Island

Outside of class, we've spent the evenings exploring the restaurants and bars around Cambridge and Boston.  Out of the 8 evenings that I've been here so far, I've eaten out for 6 of them.  I imagine that it will settle down a little bit once classes start in full swing next week, but for now I'm enjoying the opportunity to get to know the other LGOers and do a little exploring in Boston.  So far we've spent evenings in South Boston, Chinatown, Harvard Square, Kendall Square, and Central Square.  The picture at right was our Malaysian-themed meal in Chinatown with resident expert Weng Hong.

MIT Track

This week has also been great for exploring the athletic facilities on campus.  One of the many perks of being a student here at MIT is that there is free access to all the workout facilities.  A few of us went out on Tuesday evening and did a workout on the huge track that is next to the rec center.  Compared to the 3-lane track at a community center in Seattle that I was used to, the 8-lanes here felt like a wide-open freeway in Los Angeles!  There is also a full indoor Olympic-sized swimming pool that will be great for swim

Fantastic On-Campus Swim Center

workouts throughout the year.  And of course the running path along the Charles River is great at any time, and I've found routes ranging from 4 all the way up to 10 miles without having to backtrack at all.  And tomorrow, about 10 of us are taking an introductory sailing course on the Charles River that is being run by one of our classmates.  It looks like I'll definitely be able to keep in shape out here!

Running Trail on the Charles River

Next week the whole class will be participating in a 3-day "Lean Tools" workshop to explore some of the fundamental concepts Lean manufacturing.  Then on Thursday we start into the regular summer
courses that will keep us busy until mid-August.  I can sense that the pace of work will definitely be accelerating soon, but for now I am enjoying the luxury of time to get to know my classmates and this amazing city.

First LGO Challenge: The Move

For those of us who are not living in Cambridge or Boston already, our first hands-on LGO assignment is to arrange all the logistics of relocation.  The process can be broken down into 4 simple steps:

Step 1: Find an Apartment

KBL Apartments in Central Square

The LGO ‘13s and ‘14s were a HUGE help when I was looking for an apartment.  I would highly recommend finding an apartment during the Open House weekend in April, especially if you are from out of town like me.  The current students put out a Housing Guide and an shared Google Doc with all the available apartments which I found to be very helpful.  The biggest benefit of working with the current students is that you can usually bypass the broker fees that are usually required for apartment in Boston (up to a month’s rent in fees!).  During Open House, I found an place near Central Square that was being vacated by a current LGOer.  The best part: they had been renting furniture from CORT and I could arrange to just take over the lease and not have to worry about moving any of the big stuff or dealing with it when I moved out.  

Step 2: What do you actually need?

Storage in Seattle

One month ago, I was living in Seattle in a 5-bedroom house full of furniture and tons of stuff (much of which I didn’t need!).  As soon as I got into LGO, I started looking around and deciding what I would take and what I would sell/donate/toss/store.  Since I’ve been looking for an excuse for a fresh start, I decided to take it to the extreme: get rid of everything that wouldn’t fit in a suitcase.  I was also aiming to complete the whole move for less than $500.  Since I like to plan ahead, I started posting all the furniture on Craigslist and had several garage sales to get rid of the smaller stuff.  The sales went so well that I soon found myself living in a house with no furniture, with over 2 weeks left before I moved to Boston!  Oh well, I soon discovered that plastic Adirondack chairs could be a good substitute for a kitchen table and office desk.

Although my original plan was to leave nothing behind in Seattle, it soon became clear that there was some stuff that I didn’t want to move but that I didn’t want to get rid of (old childhood memories, model airplanes from my grandpa, etc.).  I decided to concede and get a 5’ x 5’ storage unit.  That took some of the pressure off to sell everything and allowed me to keep some of the stuff I wasn’t quite ready to part with. 

Step 3: Car or No Car?

I was really torn whether to ship my car to Boston or for the first time in 12 years go without one.  During the Open House, I talked to a lot of the current students and heard both sides of the argument.  A car would be a lot of hassle and parking is expensive, but it would be nice to have it for shopping trips, weekend road trips, and it may be needed during the internship.  In the end, it came down to a cost analysis.  Between parking, insurance, gas, and maintenance, I estimated that it would cost about $500/month to keep the car.  For that same price, I could use a Zipcar for 45 hours a month, rent a car every-other weekend, or some combination of both.  With that, I decided to take a leap and sell the car.  I’ve always had a car since I was 16, but then again I’ve always lived in the suburbs and never in a city with credible public transit so I’m looking forward to the new adventure.  By the way, MIT students get a discount on Zipcar, so it only cost $15 to join and there is no monthly fee.

 
Step 4: Pack and Go!

It turns out that my plan to fit everything in suitcases was a bit ambitious.  Since I wanted to bring one of my bikes with me, I ended up packing a big box with the bike, helmets, pump, etc.  That box soon grew to three as I finished packing, so I started looking into shipping options.  For the airlines, there’s a minimum $150 fee to ship a bike, plus extra fees for the boxes.  I looked into FedEx, UPS, and USPS and found that the cheapest way to ship from Seattle to Boston was FedEx.  So after a month of cleaning house, I leave Seattle with 3 boxes, 3 checked bags, 1 carry-on, and a backpack.  It definitely feels good to simplify a bit and not be tied down by so much stuff.

Costs of Relocation:

Airfare: $267.90 (Alaska direct flight SEA -> BOS)
Checked Bag Fee: $20 (2 free, 3^rd is $20)

Box Shipping: $185.45 (116lbs in 3 boxes)

Taxi from BOS to Apartment: $30

Total Cost of Relocation:  $503.35 ($3.35 over budget, but pretty darn close!).

Why LGO?

Hi everyone, and welcome to my blog where I plan to document some of my adventures throughout the Leadership for Global Operations (LGO) program at MIT.

I thought I'd start out by explaining my rationale for choosing LGO.  For me, it was quite simple.  While I was an undergrad at the University of Arizona, I saw a flyer for the program (then called LFM) and started reading more about it online.  From the start, it seemed like the perfect program for me.  At the time I really didn't have a clear picture of what I wanted to do after graduation, but I knew it would involve some combination of engineering and operations management.  LGO seemed like the perfect combination, and let's be honest, what beats getting two graduate degrees from MIT?  I also liked the fact that everyone in the program had at least some industry experience.  By the time I got into my senior year in school, I was itching to get out into the industry for a while and I knew that I didn't want to go straight into grad school.  After two summer internships at Boeing, I was ready to get out and work.

Once I started to work full-time, I kept LGO in the back of my mind but focused mostly on my job and the new-found freedom I had after 5:00 everyday.  That experience also reinforced my preference for attending a full-time grad school rather than try to complete it part-time while working.  I knew that when I did go to grad school, I didn't want to have to worry about fitting in 40+ hours of work per week at the same time.

After about a year of working, I found out that Boeing had a sponsorship program to LGO through which they sent 1 or 2 students every year.  I started getting in touch with the current students and alumni and learning more about what I could do to qualify for the sponsorship.  Over the next couple years, I took on projects and assignments that would help me gain the experience necessary to apply for the program.  I also visited Boston a few times for campus visits and was blown away by the quality and energy of the students, faculty, and staff.  I knew that this would be the only program I applied for and I really didn't have a backup plan.

After working for an LGO alum while on an assignment in Italy, I decided to go for it and apply for the Class of 2014.  Unfortunately, by the time I decided to apply I was right up against the deadlines set by the company.  I took the GMAT on 3-days notice and scrambled to get all my essays and letters of recommendations submitted by the end of October.  I made it through the initial company screening and then sent the same application into MIT in December.  In the spring, I completed interviews at both MIT and in Seattle and then the waiting game began.  In March, I was thrilled to get the call from Don Rosenfield (LGO director) saying that I got into LGO!  But that excitement was soon quashed by the call from Boeing saying that I didn't get the sponsorship.  I could have gone into the program on my own, but I made the difficult choice to hold off and try again for the sponsorship the next year.

That extra year turned out to be one of the best that I can remember.  After getting feedback from the sponsorship committee, I spent the year taking on a few different management roles and can definitely say that I had the most personal and professional growth in this last year of all my years at Boeing.  By the time I submitted my application for the Class of 2015, I felt much more prepared and more excited than ever.  I went through all the application steps again, but this time with a different result: I got into LGO and would be sponsored by the company!  From there, it was a no-brainer to commit to the program and start packing my bags.