Studying. Yup. It kinda sucks. It can be frustrating. Growing is never comfortable. When you are learning a new skill, there’s always periods where you feel like you have no idea what is going on. The formula looks like a foreign language. The words on the page seem to make no sense. You’ve been reading for two hours and you realize you have no idea what you have read. You have a homework assignment that is due tomorrow and you’re pretty sure that everything on the page is wrong. You checked the number six times, and it’s still not right. Well my friends, this is the reason you joined a program. And this is not just unique to MBA programs, it’s relevant to really anything new that you are trying to learn.

We live in a society that expects instant results. We’re all doing it for the gram. Living for the likes, we’re addicted to the dopamine hits that occur from some type of interaction on an app on our phone. Our thinking is incredibly short-sighted. You see, the thing about learning something new is that unfortunately, it’s not going to be instantanious. It’s not going to give you instant gratification. It’s going to be tough. It’s going to hurt your brain. However, in the end, when you apply the concepts you have learned to your life, it can get you a much deeper satisfaction.

The satisfaction I have gained in being in an MBA program is much deeper than just one subject. It’s hard to explain, but you get this really deep level of understanding of how everything is working together. Like a coreographed dance. Learning these subjects isn’t always fun while you are in it, but for me, it has been highly rewarding.

When you have a bunch of subjects thrown at you, studying can be incredibly difficult. You can feel like you don’t know where to start. You’ve got so much to cover. You’ve got so many projects due and you have no idea how they are going to get done. Well, my friends, you’ve got to learn to study.

•Break things into chunks

•Decide a regular set schedule

•Take breaks

•No distractions during your study periods - this means no phones!

•Find a distraction

•Time block

•Pomodoro technique

Disclaimer:

The opinions and views expressed in this show are that of the host only. They do not represent their children, wives, dogs, employers, co-workers, neighbors, inlaws, friends, acquaintances, or esteemed university faculty.

Episode 6 - WTF is a Mentor and Why Do You Need One?

Off the rip, this is not an advice show. It’s just a dude on a microphone.

Have you ever met someone who looks like they have their shit together? You know the type, they’ve got goals, vision boards...three year plan, a five year plan...a plan in general. When asked why they want to achieve a big goal, they will explain how it fits into a series of cascading goals to get them to a destination.

I’m not really one of those people. It’s not to say that I don’t plan, but I sure as hell don’t have my life figured out. If I were to be honest, I would say I don’t know if I’ll ever have my life figured out. Life for me has been a rollercoaster of joy, happiness, anxiety, pain, loss. I was asked recently why I started this program and what I hope to gain. I didn’t have a good answer. I guess I think about my life as more about taking advantage of opportunities when they happen, rather than to force an opportunity that may not exist. That’s what I’m doing with this program. Some people I meet have explicitly told me what they hope or expect to accomplish with a program. For me, not so much. I’m in this for the journey. Right now, I’m living in an area that has some of the most amazing universities in the US, so when I started, I guess I just thought that it was now or never.

In my experience, life never goes according to plan. The presentation you practiced for hours and hours gets derailed because the projector isn’t working, the tough conversation you’ve rehearsed in your head a million times never gets the same reaction you imagined, people disappoint you. You disappoint yourself. You fail. And with any luck, you do what a resilient human would do. You get pissed. You complain. You cry. You start to ask existential questions about what you are doing with your life. But you get up. You keep getting up and you move on with more knowledge and wisdom than you had the day before.

Everyone I’ve ever known could use some help to make it through this process. To help put everything into perspective. To help them grow.

Mentor Basics

•WTF is it?

•Someone who has your best interest and can help you grow personally and professionally.

•Alternative insight. Maybe it could help you from making too quick of a decision?

•Typically not a boss.

•Usually someone who has more experience than you at something, typically work-related. Bonus points for leadership experience, but it’s okay if not.

•They’ve got some stories to tell...

•Let’s face it - quarter life and mid-life crisises are a thing and they’re a thing because this life ain’t easy and their are either way too many rules or way too few, depending on how you look at it.

•Why is it so weird?

•Just ask someone. The worst they could do is say no.

•Selecting the Right Person

•Find Someone Who You Look Up to

•Decide a Time Commitment

•Decide What You Want out of it

•Decide on a standing agenda, even if it’s a little bit weird.

•Does it matter - Check out the Scholarly Articles, including Does Mentoring Matter? A Multidisciplinary Meta-Analysis Comparing Mentored and Non-Mentored Individuals by Lillian T. Eby, Tammy D. Allen, Sarah C. Evans, Thomas Ng, and David DuBois.

Disclaimer:

The opinions and views expressed in this show are that of the host only. They do not represent their children, wives, dogs, employers, co-workers, neighbors, inlaws, friends, acquaintances, or esteemed university faculty.

Episode 5: Statistics is for the Sadistics by MBA Hole Podcast

Episode 4 - How to Manage Stress

Find a Distraction

•Sounds counterintuitive, but your mind can only handle so much

•Do not cram for an exam or wait until the day before it is due

•Incubation - one of the four stages of creativity, Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Verification. All problem solving involves creativity

•Set time Limits - You hit a point of diminishing returns

•Float Tank

•Exercise

•Plenty of Sleep

•Set Your Schedule - Do Not Deviate

•Take a Day Off

•Avoid Alcohol

•Prepare to Be Complete Lost During Breaks

Disclaimer:

The opinions and views expressed in this show are that of the host only. They do not represent their children, wives, dogs, employers, co-workers, neighbors, inlaws, friends, acquaintances, or esteemed university faculty.

Episode 3 - Production Junction - What’s Your Function?

Warning! The MBA Hole podcast is not intended for children. The explicit tag is there for a reason. It is only intended for adults that are masochistic enough to consider taking on an MBA program. If you like the show, please give us a five star rating and review on apple podcasts. This helps us fool our robot business overlords that we are, in fact, more important than we actually are. Follow us on the Twitter box @mbaholepodcast.

Sunk Cost

Production

Have to figure out what to produce because of scarcity

Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF)

Creates graphical representation to show specialization

Law of Increasing Opportunity Cost

As you specialize in one product, the opportunity cost to produce it is going to increase

Opportunity cost - basically what are you giving up? Cost associated with opportunities forgone when your resources are not put to their best alternative use - the empty building, or even owning and operating a building.

Marginal Product of Labor - MPL=change in output/change in labor input - the goal is to find the highest MPL

Point of Diminishing Marginal Returns

Production Function: Q=F(K,L) where Q is output, K is capital, L is labor

Specialization

Technological Advances

The more units produced, the less the production cost

Productivity assumes...

People act rationally

People reactive to incentives

Principal-Agent Problem

Disclaimer:

The opinions and views expressed in this show are that of the host only. They do not represent their children, wives, dogs, employers, co-workers, neighbors, inlaws, friends, acquaintances, or esteemed university faculty.

Episode 2 - Economics is Demanding

Warning! The MBA Hole podcast is not intended for children. The explicit tag is there for a reason. It is only intended for adults that are masochistic enough to consider taking on an MBA program. If you like the show, please give us a five star rating and review on apple podcasts. This helps us fool our robot business overlords that we are, in fact, more important than we actually are. Follow us on the Twitter box @mbaholepodcast.

My first MBA Course

Get ready for HBR case studies

Get ready for group projects!!

Market Structure

Monopoly

Competitive Market

Market Power

Econo mies of Scale

Supply and Demand

Supply and demand curves only shift right or left

Quantity demanded rises as price falls

Substitution effect: price changes relative to another similar good

Income effect: change in price effectively changes disposable income

Demand can shift for many reasons, substitutes, income, demographics, consumer tastes, etc.

Qd=a-b(P)

Quantity supplied increases with price

Qs=c+d(P)

Supply can shift when productivity increase, costs decrease, etc.

Equilibrium - NO PRESSURE TO CHANGE PRICE

Surplus vs. Shortage

Break Even - Marginal Cost=ATC - where marginal cost equals change in total cost/change in quantity & ATC = TC/Q

Elasticity

Sensitivity of demand due to price changes

Ep=(%changeQ)/(%changeP) Elastic if E>1elastic, less than 1, means inelastic. Basically, if something is elastic, it means customers are price sensitive. You will make more money with a decrease in price. In this case, there are a lot of substitutes. An inelastic product has customers that are not price sensitive. If you cut the price, you’re leaving money on the table.

Other elasticities; income, arc, cross/price, etc. Price elasticity of supply basically a percentage change in quantity that comes from a 1% change in price.

Disclaimer:

The opinions and views expressed in this show are that of the host only. They do not represent their children, wives, dogs, employers, co-workers, neighbors, inlaws, friends, acquaintances, or esteemed university faculty.