Why MBA and why now for Veterans

A few people have asked me why an MBA and why now. I'll try to write this from the perspective of a veteran with some civilian experience.

As I was leaving the military I had a difficult time choosing between going to an MBA program versus going straight into industry. At the time I had a great offer from GE in my hand (November) and had yet to hear back from the MBA programs I had applied to. My wife and I discussed our situation and decided that going to work was the best course of action for us because I was pretty sure I wanted to work in energy and rotate among different business functions (pretty much what GE was offering me). I thought that if I went straight to GE I could either skip studying for an MBA or do an MBA on the side.

I left the military to pursue a career in business because I thought that I could make a bigger impact in business rather than the military. At GE I was working in the quality function as a six sigma guy and learning a lot about operations. The more I learned the more I wanted to study operations formally. GE had a certain way of improving operations, but this did not correspond with what I was learning about how Toyota operated (the model operations company).

Ultimately, I left GE to learn more about operations and investigate opportunities at other companies and industries. In the military I was taught to be happy with the positions and units I was given by my branch manager, but while at GE I learned that I could be most productive and happy by pursuing positions and companies that I fit in best. I knew this theoretically, but making the decision to leave GE for business school was a difficult one.

Leaving a stable job in a booming city (Houston is doing very well right now due to all of the oil and gas companies in the area) was very difficult and scary. I think it would have been less scary if I did not have a wife and two young children that I was responsible for. I went from receiving a pay check to receiving tuition bills. So far one month into business school I have not regretted my decision at all, but I do consider myself blessed. Not everyone has the opportunity to leave work for graduate school. 

Why leaving GE was difficult

Related to my post about why MIT LGO and why now is this post about why I decided to leave GE and pursue a full time MBA. This post is about why it was so difficult for me to leave GE and come to MIT.

1. Unique rotational program for junior military officers.
At GE I was hired on under the Junior Officer Leadership Program (JOLP). What that really meant was that I was working as a Lean Six Sigma Black belt and rotating amongst different functions in GE Power and Water (the Aeroderivatives business which has now been subsumed into the Distributed Power business). Not many other companies of GE's caliber offered up true rotational programs for junior military officers. I did receive an offer from Siemens for the Sales and Marketing Development Program but the salary and rotations were really geared towards those straight out of college and not the military.

If you want to know more about the program you can see the link below:
http://www.ge.com/careers/culture/us-veterans/junior-officer-leadership-program

2. Opportunity to work in a great industry.
The energy industry is one that I have a great deal of respect for and interest in because it underlies most of what allows modern society to operate. I had a taste of working in that industry at GE and I would not mind working in it post-LGO.

3. Adding up a few more moves for the family.
Moving with a family is difficult and thinking about the added stress of a move to business school, a move for an internship, a move back to school, and then a further move to a permanent job was a bit daunting. After a year in Houston we were just making friends. 

Moving- Part 3: Preparing our toddler

Isn't it amazing how much children know? Many times surpassing our expectations of them. Our toddler continues to surprise me with how sensitive and aware he is about what is going on around him and how much he picks up from me and John.
The last time we moved, Isaac was too young to understand (or maybe he would have but I didn't try! gulp!), but now that he is 2.5 we put more effort into preparing him for the transition.

We showed him the pictures of our new house.

We counted down the days until the movers would come to take away all our things and then the days until we would actually get on the airplane to go to Boston.

We also borrowed books about moving.
Check out: Moving to a New House by Nicola Barber which Isaac really liked and related to right away with the pictures of people packing things in boxes.
Do not check out: Moving House by Mark Siegel which is actually about a house that moves.....great story...just doesn't fit the occasion.. (yeah...definitely one of those times i wish i scanned before reading to him....)

Since packing our own boxes was a long process, I think that gave him more time to get used to the idea. We involved him as much as possible in the packing process, such as letting him write on the boxes, and put things in boxes.

Finally, we took lots of pictures of our favorite places in Houston and said good-byes to our friends.

I also told Jonah (our 7 month old), but he just cried...

Interesting Operations Question: Should homes be designed to be modified

Below is a very interesting post about the Netherlands where architects and the government are collaborating to create affordable homes for first time home buyers. The interesting thing about these homes is that the interiors are designed to be easily modified according to what the user requires (I think... The article digresses into a history lesson on the 'Grow Home' in Montreal which I think is similar). So if a new home buyer's family includes only himself and a significant other, then the second floor of the home may include one large bedroom. When (and if) the family expands then you can add modular walls to create more bedrooms, thus re-configuring the home as needed.

I think that the ability to reconfigure your home is a very interesting feature that may be important for mainstream home building.

Article from treehugger:
http://www.treehugger.com/green-architecture/grow-home-back-these-flatpack-houses-dutch-first-time-homebuyers.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+(Treehugger)

Article about the 'Grow Home' from the Atlantic:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1991/02/living-smaller/306205/?single_page=true