Rest, Rats, and Publishing

Winter break is a fantastic phenomenon that I had almost forgotten. I cherish these days off because I recognize just how rare they are. It seems that only students and Europeans know what it means to take a month off at a time.

It's a time to rest, but it's also a time to take on projects outside the walls of the school. So, I've put on my publicity hat and begun to help my dad with his first book. The (dying) publishing industry has long been an interest of mine, although I've never formally worked in it. The old guard is unquestionably on its way out, and while on-demand publishing leaves much to be desired, we are on the brink of a meaningful change in the way books are publicized and distributed.

Consumers now have a voice (beyond simple purchasing power) and it's not much of a stretch to ask why a high-profile reviewer at the New York Times or WSJ is necessarily more capable of writing a sound critique than some of the most prolific reviewers on Amazon.com.

But reviewers and publishers alike need to protect their interests and with some degree of success they have created barriers by simply closing their networks. Reviewers won't even look at a book unless it's from a major publishing company. In turn, publishing companies won't look a book unless it's from a specific sub-set of agents. And, increasingly, the only relevant question that an agent or publisher asks is "what's your platform?" not "how good is your book?" There's nothing overtly unethical about this paradigm, but just consider all the good literature that you, our culture and our world are missing out on because of it.

Aptly, my dad's book, which I will blog more about later, is about business ethics. Specifically, the book addresses the rat-like behavior that greed creates and corporate structures endorse. It's no doubt timely, with Madoff representing merely the latest, high-profile example of business gone awry.

Our challenge will be to break down those traditional barriers that publishers have created, or of course, given the opportunity, to sign on with one of them. After all, it's just business.

On the Synergies of Minds

First semester came to a close on Monday with a capstone experience known to the Johnson School as the integrative case. The case gave us a 48 hour opportunity to utilize some of the knowledge we gained in Strategy and Finance to conduct a valuation of MGM Mirage and make some strategic recommendations.

A few of the teams recommended that MGM sell properties in Vegas to improve liquidity, and by a most timely twist of fate, MGM announced the sale of Treasure Island on the morning of our presentations. This was a welcome dose of reality to be sure. All-too-often cases seem like such retrospective snoozefests (particularly the older cases), where we solve for an answer that has already played itself out. There's no imagination in it, no entrepreneurial insight. But this case was different, and although it wasn't without pain, the experience was a valuable one.

Beyond the merits of the exercise itself, the case once again reminded me of the nature of the people that the Johnson School attracts. Thus far, I've worked with three different, randomly assigned groups for various projects throughout the core. Each of the groups, in its own way, provided a distinctly positive experience. The group assignments gave us the opportunity to work with people who would have not come together otherwise, and it never ceased to amaze me how truly rewarding such forced collaboration could be.

Group work does take longer than individual work--the coordination of five minds is not always an easy task--but the product is well worth it. And there's nothing quite like burning the midnight oil to establish enduring friendships. So, if you happen to be reading this, deep thanks to Kelly, Lailee, Dan, Ryan, Bruce, Matt, Melissa, Mark, Ben, Dave, and Karey...you all made group work a true pleasure this semester!

Perspective.

Here I am in the midst of final exams (one down, two to go), and I can't help thinking about what the great thinkers of the ages would say about the corporate world and this special degree we call an MBA...

One thing is for certain--my studies thus far at the Johnson School, particularly in Economics, Finance, and Statistics, have expanded my mind in particularly salient ways. These are subjects that I now can't imagine knowing nothing of, while still understanding our modern world.

I'd wager that most of my favorite philosophers would approve of these subjects that are so fundamental to the MBA, but I'd be hard pressed to find one that would fully endorse today's corporate milieu. Thoreau had some powerful ideas about "work" and he, more than anyone, would point out flaws in the system. Ironically, Thoreau would have made a great business person--truly a great entrepreneur--both because he was adept at just about everything he did, but also because he understood how to see past the unnecessary, often self-imposed, structures that we so blindly adhere to.

That I continually hearken back to the words of a man who spent two years in relative solitude by a pond and refused to pay taxes is ironic. Still, his ideas ground my studies here with a unique perspective and I hope that nostalgia forces me to never lose sight of them, even as I wade, knee-deep, in rules, regulations, and pesky exams.

Here's one of the many intensely relevant things he said: "...if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live a life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings."

Cheers to all my classmates who took the Finance final with me today. May we all beat the mean ;-).