"Engineering Management Thought of the Week" Jeff Glass

Dear MEMP Students,

Welcome to the Master of Engineering Management Program and
congratulations for making it through Orientation! Last semester I began
sending out “Thought of the Week” emails which simply provide my
perspective on relevant issues to your education and career. For those
of you who are new to the MEM program, this should be your first
“Thought of the Week.” For now, I simply want to welcome you to
the program, encourage you to get to know your classmates, and provide a
few initial suggestions for your time here:

• First and foremost, we are trying to transition you from an
undergraduate mindset to a professional mindset. This means that
professionalism will be a strong emphasis throughout the program. Acting
professionally has many different facets which we will review throughout
the year, but suffice it to say here that one of the key elements is
“doing what you say you are going to do.” By this I mean everything from
following through on projects and commitments to attending meetings
which you have agreed to attend.

• Get to know your classmates, and not simply those from the same
geographical region with whom you are most comfortable. Every year both
domestic and international students come to me and complain that they
are surrounded by people from their own region of the world. And yet
every year at seminars, social events, and various parties I see
students interacting with people from their own geographical region
because they are most comfortable with that. This is certainly
understandable! Especially when so much effort is expended elsewhere and
fatigue sets in. But think about it and consciously make an effort to
achieve what you want to achieve in the program. This will also improve
your opportunities to network with new people.

• Be careful of over committing! Many, if not most, students want to
accomplish three years worth of work in one year when they first arrive
in the program . This is an admirable trait and I fully support very
hard work and focused effort. However, the main problem with this is
over committing and under delivering. This is also related to the
professionalism issue that is discussed above. Your goals should be to
under commit and over deliver on projects which requires good planning
and managing your colleagues’ expectations. Although there are many
fantastic extra curricular opportunities at Duke, make sure that your
core responsibilities are taken care of first. One manifestation of this
is that every year students will come to me complaining about the team
scores they received in their classes. They indicate that they did a
better job and worked harder than their team mates scores indicate. But
team scores are meant to reflect the team’s perception of your effort
and accomplishments. Thus, regardless of what your self assessment might
be, the team score accurately reflect the team perception. If you manage
expectations and under commit-over deliver, it is likely you will not
have any reason to come to my office and complain about your team scores!

• There are many other areas that I could discuss in this welcome note,
but I will end simply with the idea that you are in control of your own
experience here. Some instructors will be better than others, some teams
will be better than others and some activities are better then others
but all provide an opportunity to learn. This is also the case in the
“real world.” If you can learn from every aspect of your experience
here; observing and analyzing situations to determine how to work
through the struggles that you have in any interaction, you will have
optimized your time in this program. It is a safe place to try different
ways of approaching each situation (i.e., you won’t be fired!). Follow
the honor code, practice basic ethical behavior, observe, reflect and
try different approaches that you have been taught for handling
different situations. AND HAVE FUN!

Sincerely,

Jeff Glass