After making the tough decision last September to not continue a formal MBA program in sustainability, I decided to cobble together a program of my own. My goal was to mix good readings, tactical experience (if I could find it) and meet with others already working in the field.
I outlined a pretty broad list of items I wanted to learn. Well, I am 4 months in and I thought it would be good to review where I’m at. You can see the outline I posted back in October.
I got through the EPA lifecycle (barely). Gawd, was it dry, like chasing melba toast with saltines but contained a number of great project management reminders. What’s interesting about each of these methodologies, whether it’s GRI, Six Sigma, EPA, etc is that they all share a number of common elements: importance of stakeholders/agreement, scope definition, status updates, etc. This is not to suggest that there isn’t something worthwhile and unique in each but that they all share a common framework.
GRI Training
I did finish the GRI training down in Albuquerque, which was awesome. Nancy from the ISOS Group provides an in-depth, comprehensive introduction to GRI principles. There are a number of hands-on excerises and lots of classroom discussion. I left feeling very inspired and am trying to finding a local guinea pig, who would be willing to let me lead a GRI exercise. I think GRI can be a particular valuable reporting tool for a small business; the type of records and monitoring that are required for GRI just make good business sense in many ways. The first year’s set up can take some time but the long term value of really understanding your business and its place within both the natural environment and community cannot be overstated. I wrote up my perspective on GRI and the small business advantage for a great group in Austin called Business Earth. I met Melinda, who is an accountant ++ with them, and was so impressed by what Business Earth is trying to do.
Net Zero Energy Courses
I took the Building Net Zero Energy Homes & Businesses in December down in Denver. Dan Chiras was the instructor and handed out a great book called The Homeowner’s Guide to Renewable Energy. These types of courses or discussions can be so hard to make interesting because there really isn’t anything that sexy about insulation, HVAC systems, tight building envelopes and windows. But there was tons of great information to learn and really if we would just orient are new housing developments correctly we could eliminate a huge chunk of our energy needs. The rest of us in older homes are stuck retrofitting but that’s ok.
I have not gotten to statistics. The book is on the shelf. My goal was to get stuck in when there was a big snow here in Boulder, but there’s been very little snow. So, really this is not my fault.
The networking is going ok. I have not gotten to a Boulder Green Drinks in awhile but I continue to reach out to people, who are working in the industry and doing some interesting things. On the whole, everyone I have talked has been tremedously generous with their time and eager to point me in the right direction for more information, resources or other people to meet.
I have to give a big shout out to @billkeller, who gave me tons of great material to review. It’s so interesting to see how theory is applied to actual projects. Great Stuff. Thanks, Bill!
Well, after meeting with a few different folks working in the renewable energy/sustainability field, I am feeling ok with my decision to withdraw from a formal MBA program. There are no guarantees either way but the important thing is to continue moving forward learning and networking. I have a handful of followers on twitter and requested that this group take a look at my custom sustainability curriculum. A few did and gave me some excellent feedback and some additional resources. So, I am already stuck in reading and taking notes.
Most recently, I’ve been wading through the EPA’s Lifecycle Assessment and yes, it is a bit dry. I am only through Chapter 3 so I’ll withhold sweeping reactions but one. So far, the assessment has been superb for conceptualizing the idea of boundaries and subsystems and their impact on measurement. But there isn’t any mention of people and their impact or how they might be effected by various decisions to measure products and processes for their enviro. impact. Maybe people aren’t supposed to be included but it seems one of the biggest benefactors to a transparent assessment of a products lifecycle would be people.
Where are the people in this process
Anyway, I’ll reserve a more complete judgment until I have finished.
In the meantime, I have a couple of networking events to go to this week and next: Sustainable Ventures Meetup and Colorado Green Tech. And so in preparation I am trying to figure out how I can pass along my information without using a business card. I have found a few iphone apps via mashable. beamME looks like the most appropriate one. I think I’ll probably try a couple then decide, they’re free so worth trying with a couple.
Now that I am reconsidering the more traditional learning path for furthering my knowledge about sustainability and triple-bottom-line types of business processes, I need to come up with Plan B. I spent this weekend doing research online – I didn’t really have a set topic in mind but all of the reading I did centered around writing, web and sustainability. I’ve also been meeting people in the industry working towards a more sustainable economy. Both avenues have been illuminating and inspiring (once again I can’t help but be inspired by those I meet in face and online). So, what I have come up with is my own outline for an MBA in Sustainability program. I have a mix of formal programs, like certifications (less expensive/time-consuming) and independent study, like learning about EPA lifecycle assessment, networking and innformational interviews. The end goal is to emerge on the other side armed with a technical and theoretical understanding of sustainable business practices coupled with my writing, Web marketing and social media skills. So, here’s my outline:
Certifications/Classes
Building Net Zero Energy Homes & Businesses – 2 day course (December)
GRI (December)
Energy Master Certification (New Year)
Independent Study
EPA Lifecycle Assessment
Statistics
Write up my own market research document (topic tbd)
Networking
Colorado Green Tech
Green Drinks
Books/Studies/White Papers I should read
I need a good mix of business/sustainable. Any ideas?
I should probably put a time frame around this specific outline but some of the items should probably be areas where I continue to research and be involved. I’m sure I’m missing something and now that I have written it out it seems a bit sparse.
This is a hard post to write because I’m admitting I’ve given up on something, that something is my goal of earning an MBA in Sustainability from Marylhurst. At lot of thought went into my decision, my only wish is that I had made it sooner. I’m not disappointed that I enrolled because I think the program is great, the students seem to be really sharp and the campus has its own cemetery. Really, the school has all the ingredients for a superb learning experience. I just couldn’t handle the debt – well, more specifically I couldn’t handle the thought of all the debt. If this past year has taught me anything is that there are no guarantees and I just didn’t feel comfortable with where I am at professionally to assume that level of financial commitment. So, now what? I still believe in the value of education but perhaps my route is through short, less expensive certification types of programs that I can pay as I go. But if you are looking for a super, online program in sustainability I still recommend you check out Marylhurst.
I’ve never really like that phrase about the journey of a thousand miles beginning with one step if only b/c you still have the thousand miles to walk…which is quite far. However, this week I started on my own journey, I started the Marylhurst MBA program in sustainability. I’m going to reserve opinion because it’s only just begun and although I feel like I am holding my own it’s only been three days. But so far, I have been very impressed with the opinions and level of expertise of my peers in the program. I was very concerned that an online only program would be spare on the discussions but everyone appears to be thinking hard about each of the topics and expressing themselves very well.
I recently saw a TED talk about where good ideas come from:
Steven Johnson talked about how when people started to meet in coffee shops in London the spread and sharing of ideas accelerated. He goes on to say how the Web is accelerating collaboration. So, what does this have to do with a my online MBA program? I think a lot. I think increasingly this idea of everyone going to single location, whether that’s an office building or a campus will become increasingly anachronistic. But the need to have a place where you can talk, share ideas and collaborate will still be critical. Today, you can go into just about any coffee shop in Boulder and people are working on projects and talking about ideas. I don’t think the value of face-to-face meetings can ever be underestimated but I do think as our online tools become more sophisticated the type of spontaneous sharing, working and collaboration that occurs in coffee shops, or shared spaces will happen online.
This program embodies a number of topics that interest me obviously but it is also the context that I find most fascinating. From medieval guilds, to Benjamin Franklin organizing printer meetings, to pursuing an MBA online, there has always been a desire to meet and advance our learning from our peers. That desire coupled with the technologies available today make collaboration a possibility with people from all over the world; a truly sustainable and sustaining next step.
Now, it’s serious. I’ve registered for my first two classes in the MBA in Sustainable Business and I’ve scheduled an advisory meeting for tomorrow. I don’t really feel like a lemming but I do feel like I’ve taken a leap. I’m registered for:
Principles of Sustainability
Strategic Leadership in Sustainable Management
and I start on September 27th. I feel like I should go out and buy new notebooks and pens and quite possibly a quart of ice cream.
But I also know statistics is out there…at some point…in the future…it’s there. Despite that looming cloud of destruction, I’m getting really excited about the readings, learning from my fellow students and just being included in discussions about ideas and new ways of doing business. I have no idea what to expect and that’s primarily because I know very few people in these types of programs. However, I am really hoping that as I progress through the program, I can begin applying some of these business principles to projects on which I am working. Maybe I am expecting too much, I am just optimistic that the exercise of learning and sharing ideas will energize my way of thinking and working. Or perhaps, I’ll just be exhausted. Hard to say until I get in there.
I just checked out a sample syllabus, which makes my decision feel much more real, immediate and life-changing (if only for the 18 months I’m enrolled) – I mean I’m going to have to do that work in the outline.
In the meantime, I’ve been reading a couple of life-changing books about cycling and cycling culture, which I’ll write about soon.
Last week I got the chance to head on up to Oregon to check out Marylhurst University. I wanted to head up there and get a tour of the school, where I’ll be working towards an MBA in Sustainability online. And while I am totally on board with the idea of using technology to enable distance learning, collaboration and networking, I also wanted to make sure they weren’t selling ginsu knives and chia pets in the parking lot.
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the little town of Lake Oswego, which is located about a kick-off’s distance from Marylhurst campus. The hotel room, where I stayed the night before my tour of the campus, was perfect and when I parted the drapes of my room, a lake of blues and grays stretched out from my deck towards hills dark green with trees. Coming from Colorado, it seemed like the world was in technicolor.
My tour wasn’t until 1pm, so I had plenty of time to wander around Lake Oswego and still be on campus a little early. I got to campus around 12:30, gave my tour guide the heads up that I was on campus but early and would hang out at the coffee shop. The campus was pretty quiet and that may have been because of the summer session but it is also a commuter school. And although the school used to have dorms, they have been converted to classrooms. I got some coffee, wandered around campus for a bit taking in the scene.
You can't easily dismiss a place with its own cemetary
At 1pm I met up with Barbara, my guide, and she was super. She explained how the school was originally founded by Catholic nuns in the 1880s. Some of the nuns still associated with the school actually come back to retire on campus; there are a separate set of homes somewhat away from the main campus where they stay. What was very interesting was the cemetery reserved for the nuns, who started the school. Barbara mentioned that these women came from all over the country to help set up this school. She retold the story of a young girl of 5 dropped off at the school doors during the great depression, her father could no longer feed her and her sibling and she was orphaned to the nuns.
Barbara took me around talking about the school’s relationship with Portland; sometimes the Portland symphony will come out to play at Marylhurst. She took me to the art gallery and church, which had amazing stained glass. So far, so good. The place had history, a story, and from what Barbara said a real commitment to providing knowledge and education. You can’t so easily dismiss a place with a cemetery. She also mentioned how they have students in some of the more rural areas of Oregon, who are taking advantage of these online programs.
So, the campus tour took about a half hour. Not very long but it was great. Then I met up with Paul, one of the directors of the program. And here’s where I thought would be the final test of credibility, where either I would walk out comfortable with investing the time and money or fly home with a case full of chia pets. Paul and I talked about the program, the level of intensity, the types of instructors, etc. He made some insightful observations. I asked where he saw the program in 5 years and he responded there won’t be an MBA in sustainability because running your business sustainably will be the only way to run a successful business. There will be no distinction between a traditional and sustainable MBA. So, how do I feel now? Definitely more comfortable and although there are no guarantees I feel like this is right step for me.
Well, I have placed one more cobble in my path to what’s next and realized as I was typing that phrase how terrible it was/is: anachronistic, and a bit dull. Nevertheless, good news! I was accepted into Marylhurst’s MBA in Sustainability program. Never heard of Marylhurst? Neither had I until I began researching schools that provided programs centered around the sustainable business principles. Most schools have single tracks or maybe a class or two within their MBA program but Marylhurst’s appears to be one of the few with a program devoted to it. And they let you take the program online, which really makes sense as it not particularly sustainable to have people driving to a campus. However, having said that, I am trying to arrange a flight out there to meet some of the professors and get a look at the university so I’ll probably blow through all those saved carbon credits.
What I am really hoping to do is combine my experience and love of technology and all things Web with the importance of sustainable business practices. I read a pretty good article about just that called Technology as the enabler of sustainability; the ideas the author described really resonated with me and I’m interested to learn more about the role of technology in promoting sustainability beyond comments and blog posts.
In the meantime, there are a couple of networking events this week.
Tomorrow is the Boulder Open Coffee Club at Atlas Purveyons on Pearl St. in Boulder at 8am and then there is Sustainable Ventures on Wed at 5:45 in Denver at Greenspaces Colorado, 1368 26th St., Denver, Co 80205. I don’t know if I’ll get to both but definitely one.
The job hunt continues but at least I can now eliminate those companies that don’t want resumes from the unemployed from my list. Really if I weren’t a innately optimistic person, I might be having a nervous break down right now.
I think I’ve decided to apply for an MBA in Sustainability. I’m looking at an online program through a university in Portland, Oregon and have just submitted my application. I now need to turn my attention to writing an essay and gathering up character references. I say “I think I’ve decided” because part of me has no idea if this is the right thing to do or not. I earned a BA in History so that should be enough to explain the tentativeness I feel about the decision. I love history, I still read history books from all time periods, about all types of people, from all over the place. I love reading about how people lived, what they talked about and wore, their passions and dramas; I think it’s fascinating but also, in practical terms, not very lucrative by most general standards of making a living. And so my only hesitation is a fear that after the money has been spent and I’ve spent a couple of years thinking groovy thoughts with similar-minded groovy people, I’ll be forced to server Shiner Bock and BBQ at the Rib House in Boulder. And I simply cannot afford that financially, professionally, emotionally and any other -ally(s) you can think of. But I also have a strong belief that this is the right path for me. I’ve been studying the field for a couple of years now; I’m a LEED AP, I’ve mentored with some great people in the field and I’m currently enrolled in the Sustainability Management Program at CU so I’m invested.
So, I spent this morning working on my personal essay, identifying my goals and professional history and ambitions. It’s kind of tough. I have had to think back through my career and see if I can detect any themes that have brought me to this point and to continue successfully show how an MBA can help. I’m having to think about important professional experiences and I suspect they don’t want to hear about the time my co-worker and I laughed so hard people on the other side of the building could hear us, or how we coped being unable to drink the water at another place I worked. I’m fairly certain that graduate schools are swelling with new applicants since the economy did its dance on the brink and lots of people are casting their attention backwards at their experiences over the years. One thing about it, we do spend a lot of time at work. A LOT. And I do wonder how much of it is a luxury to say I want to do something meaningful or fulfilling, if it is just self-indulgent crap to think this way. But I guess if you are given a chance to make a difference why wouldn’t you. And if you do have the luxury to look back over your accomplishment I guess your more beholden in many ways to have actually done something other than makes gobs of cash a la Goldman Sachs (I mean, really, all that education and breaks in life and what did they produce or create other than wealth for themselves).
Tonight I am off to yet another networking event. This one is called the “Colorado Green Tech Group April Meetup” and it’s a biggie and I only have two remaining biz cards. What happens if I’m a hit. Maybe I’ll auction them off.
