I think Illinibucks would be an interesting idea to adopt, but it would need to be done with a lot of attention to detail though. One major concern I thought of was that there are only so many openings for certain classes, and usually those openings are needed by people to graduate. If Freshman/Sophomores used their Illinibucks to take those openings it would cause major problems for those older students. You could argue that they could use their own Illinibucks to register for that class, but if they were not smart at managing their Illinibucks they may have used them in the prior years. Essentially, the most desired classes might be impossible to access without these Illinibucks. This could also be looked at as a positive for some people though, it would allow them to register for these classes whenever they chose to do so, and not just their senior years.
I think there could be a limitation on the uses for Illinibucks as well, there really are not that many opportunities for their implementation. However, I have thought of a few ideas for their use. The first would be to be able to register for Mckinley appointments on the exact date/time you wanted. In my experience, Mckinley is always booked at least a fews days in advance, and it's usually hard to get a time that fits in your schedule. For me, this would be a great opportunity to use the Illinibucks, especially since a lot of times getting medical attention is a very high priority. I also know that many of my friends have had struggles signing up for Mckinley appointments when they needed them the most.
Another Idea I thought of would be to be able to see your counselor at any time/date. From my experience, there are certain times when the counselors are booked to the brim, especially during registration periods. During these times is normally when I need them most, so seeing them is a need and something I would be willing to spend my Illinibucks on. Another way to use Illinibucks would be to use them to talk to your professors. In some of the larger classes I have taken office hours can be a timely process. I have had very important questions to ask but haven't had the patinece to wait for the professor to give me his attention. If I could use my Illinibucks to jump the wait and have my questions asked immediately it would help clear up a lot of confusions I have in my classes.
All in all, I think there are a ton of uses for the Illinbucks and it certainly is a promising idea, but I don't know if the logistics of it are detailed clearly enough to prove to me that it would work. For instance, it scares me that signing up for a class might only be possible for individuals with a set amount of Illinibucks. If I used all my Illinibucks by my senior year but need that class then I would be tough out of luck. The idea has promise but at the end of the day I think there are a few to many question marks to start doing it at this University.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Saturday, September 24, 2016
Successful Basketball Team
A successful team I have had the privilege to be a part of was my varsity high school basketball team. We were comprised of only 18 players, but the best players that our school had to offer. In order to make the varsity team you had to be a highly regarded player, you had to prove your worth over freshman/sophomore year. One of the strengths of our team was the depth that we had, I was never a starter but I was skilled enough to be one. Our team would run 10 deep on every given game, that means 10 people would see playing time every game, and we were always pushing each other to get more playing time.
In regards to pushing each other we did so at every practice. Since the skill levels were similar between the bench players and the starters you could never be certain upon your playing time, essentially you had to earn it. This meant practices were like auditions, they were what earned you playing time or limited your playing time, and the competitive practices were one of the largest reasons for our success. I would always go all out at practice to try and earn more playing time, and my hard work was well rewarded. Over the course of the year my playing time gradually grew higher, I was becoming a better player because of the competitive atmosphere, and since I was growing as a player my playing time grew equally in hand.
To relate this to chapter five I wanted to take a look at the structural configurations, and more specifically the simple hierarchy structure. My team had a head coach who was respected and thought of highly. The players were able to talk to him, pick his basketball mind, and learn from his basketball intelligence. He was essentially the power source of our team, without him we would not have been the successful unit that we were. But there was more to the hierarchy then just him, we also had two assistant coaches who were highly respected, and had a ton of basketball experience. The assistant coaches were assigned specific tasks, one of them was specifically a defensive coach and the other was an offensive coach, which really helped with helping our team reach its optimal potential. Without these assistant coaches the head coach would not have been nearly as effective, and ultimately our team would not have been nearly as successful. The last part of the hierarchy were the players themselves, we obviously have the most important role because without us there is no team at all. We needed to be guided in the right direction from our coaches, but ultimately the success of the team was riding on us.
Lastly, Katzenbach and Smith discussed six characteristics of high performing teams in the chapter, and I wanted to note being collectively accountable. My team had a strong sense of accountability within itself, if a player made a major mistake in a game he would take a seat and the next best player would get an opportunity. The depth of the team allowed for a strong sense of accountability. Not only did the coaches enforce this accountability, but the players did as well. If one of the team members let the team down for a particular reason, the unit as a whole would say something to that member. We were able to communicate to each other positives, but also negatives, and we were able to hold each other accountable when something was wroth addressing. All in all, my varsity basketball team made it to the semi finals, which was a huge accomplishment for my school. It marked the first time in over 20 years that my schools basketball team made it that far in the playoffs, and I know and realize that the success came from the structure of the team itself.
In regards to pushing each other we did so at every practice. Since the skill levels were similar between the bench players and the starters you could never be certain upon your playing time, essentially you had to earn it. This meant practices were like auditions, they were what earned you playing time or limited your playing time, and the competitive practices were one of the largest reasons for our success. I would always go all out at practice to try and earn more playing time, and my hard work was well rewarded. Over the course of the year my playing time gradually grew higher, I was becoming a better player because of the competitive atmosphere, and since I was growing as a player my playing time grew equally in hand.
To relate this to chapter five I wanted to take a look at the structural configurations, and more specifically the simple hierarchy structure. My team had a head coach who was respected and thought of highly. The players were able to talk to him, pick his basketball mind, and learn from his basketball intelligence. He was essentially the power source of our team, without him we would not have been the successful unit that we were. But there was more to the hierarchy then just him, we also had two assistant coaches who were highly respected, and had a ton of basketball experience. The assistant coaches were assigned specific tasks, one of them was specifically a defensive coach and the other was an offensive coach, which really helped with helping our team reach its optimal potential. Without these assistant coaches the head coach would not have been nearly as effective, and ultimately our team would not have been nearly as successful. The last part of the hierarchy were the players themselves, we obviously have the most important role because without us there is no team at all. We needed to be guided in the right direction from our coaches, but ultimately the success of the team was riding on us.
Lastly, Katzenbach and Smith discussed six characteristics of high performing teams in the chapter, and I wanted to note being collectively accountable. My team had a strong sense of accountability within itself, if a player made a major mistake in a game he would take a seat and the next best player would get an opportunity. The depth of the team allowed for a strong sense of accountability. Not only did the coaches enforce this accountability, but the players did as well. If one of the team members let the team down for a particular reason, the unit as a whole would say something to that member. We were able to communicate to each other positives, but also negatives, and we were able to hold each other accountable when something was wroth addressing. All in all, my varsity basketball team made it to the semi finals, which was a huge accomplishment for my school. It marked the first time in over 20 years that my schools basketball team made it that far in the playoffs, and I know and realize that the success came from the structure of the team itself.
Friday, September 16, 2016
Opportunism
In life you are presented with moments of extreme opportunity, sometimes you can see it while others you don't, deciding whether to act at the chance is a decision in the hands of whom the opportunity is presented. When I was a Sophomore in high school I was given a very opportunistic chance and did not act upon it. My brother is six years older then me, and he has a passion for cars. He loves to buy them on a regular basis, for the right price, and then sell them later for a profit. After he had been doing this for multiple years, while having extreme success, he wanted to teach the trade to me. He found a car that he told me was extremely under priced and told me that he would let me buy it, allowing him to mentor me through the process. It was a bright red 1987 Corvette with only 52,000 miles on it, all while in beautiful condition. The owner was asking only $4,500 for the car, my brother went on Ebay and showed me that the exact same model with 57,000 miles sold for $8,000 a week prior.
It was very clear that this car was a extremely underpriced, a car that I could make a ton of money on, and a great opportunity. However, I was too afraid to pull the trigger on it. I kept thinking of things that could happen to the car, all of the what ifs were killing me. At the end of the day, I let my brother have it for himself, he ended up buying the car for $4300 and selling it for $8,000. While I did miss this great opportunity, it was a wake up call for me. That car showed me how lucrative this could be for me and how easily it was to do. After that missed opportunity I diligently searched for good deals and ran them through with my brother. When I did find an opportunity I did not run away from it this time around, I jumped at it. To this day I am still buying cars and selling them for a profit. With school I am limited to my summers, but it is a fun hobby that pays for a good portion of my school, all while also giving me a car to drive.
I would say that the various explanations all tie together. In my eyes being a "good citizen" means you abide by the rules, essentially being unethical. If you are doing unethical things, like for example stealing, then you are not being a good person. Even though it may be tempting to steal the delicious cake while no one is looking, it is not ethical and it is not what a "good citizen" would do. The last explanation is that "good things come to those who wait" and that people are patient. This relates to being unethical as well as being a "good citizen". For example, it is really tempting to take the cake that is right in front of you, but if you don't take the cake then when you eat later the food you eat will be that much better. Essentially, being ethical, a "good citizen", and waiting to eat food later over stealing the cake allowed for that person to be better off. For that reason I would say that the reasons you stated amount to the same thing and are all related.
In life you are presented with moments of extreme opportunity, sometimes you can see it while others you don't, deciding whether to act at the chance is a decision in the hands of whom the opportunity is presented. When I was a Sophomore in high school I was given a very opportunistic chance and did not act upon it. My brother is six years older then me, and he has a passion for cars. He loves to buy them on a regular basis, for the right price, and then sell them later for a profit. After he had been doing this for multiple years, while having extreme success, he wanted to teach the trade to me. He found a car that he told me was extremely under priced and told me that he would let me buy it, allowing him to mentor me through the process. It was a bright red 1987 Corvette with only 52,000 miles on it, all while in beautiful condition. The owner was asking only $4,500 for the car, my brother went on Ebay and showed me that the exact same model with 57,000 miles sold for $8,000 a week prior.
It was very clear that this car was a extremely underpriced, a car that I could make a ton of money on, and a great opportunity. However, I was too afraid to pull the trigger on it. I kept thinking of things that could happen to the car, all of the what ifs were killing me. At the end of the day, I let my brother have it for himself, he ended up buying the car for $4300 and selling it for $8,000. While I did miss this great opportunity, it was a wake up call for me. That car showed me how lucrative this could be for me and how easily it was to do. After that missed opportunity I diligently searched for good deals and ran them through with my brother. When I did find an opportunity I did not run away from it this time around, I jumped at it. To this day I am still buying cars and selling them for a profit. With school I am limited to my summers, but it is a fun hobby that pays for a good portion of my school, all while also giving me a car to drive.
I would say that the various explanations all tie together. In my eyes being a "good citizen" means you abide by the rules, essentially being unethical. If you are doing unethical things, like for example stealing, then you are not being a good person. Even though it may be tempting to steal the delicious cake while no one is looking, it is not ethical and it is not what a "good citizen" would do. The last explanation is that "good things come to those who wait" and that people are patient. This relates to being unethical as well as being a "good citizen". For example, it is really tempting to take the cake that is right in front of you, but if you don't take the cake then when you eat later the food you eat will be that much better. Essentially, being ethical, a "good citizen", and waiting to eat food later over stealing the cake allowed for that person to be better off. For that reason I would say that the reasons you stated amount to the same thing and are all related.
Friday, September 9, 2016
Experience Within Organizations
Over the Summer I had the opportunity to intern at Enterprise Holdings, the structure at Enterprise was constant while I was there, but it was constant because it was structured well. What I really liked about the structure was the fact that it was well managed, every position had someone above them to act as a mentor and to be a leader. What this also meant was that there is ample opportunity for promotions within the company, with many different levels within an organization comes many chances for personal growth. I noticed this while I was there, people were always interviewing for better jobs, and this is only possible due to the structure they have.
On campus I am part of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, which has a very distinct structure. We have an executive board, which has various positions that handle different tasks. Each individual who is on the executive board has the job of forming a committee of people who help with doing the tasks of the job. A few examples of positions on the executive board are philanthropy, social, recruitment, secretary, as well as president. The recruitment chair is in charge of finding and bringing in new people to join, which is not an easy task. They have to be the right fit, and in order to target the right people it takes a lot of time. This is where the committee comes in to play, the leader of recruitment assembles a group of 10+ people to help him, they host events at the house to meet potential new members. When they have these events everyone on the committee networks, and once the event is over they have a meeting to talk about who was liked and or disliked. After lots of events and networking, the recruitment chair finds enough new members to join the house and his job is completed.
We have weekly meetings that we call chapter, at these the executive board is front and center, they talk about everything that is necessary to be accomplished for the week. After all the important business is handled the executive board opens the floor for general discussion, this allows for any member who wants to say something to have there voice heard. If people have anything to bring to the table, or anything to say at all they are given the opportunity to do so at this time. This structure is nice because it gives everyone the opportunity to help better the fraternity and have there voice heard. Something that has changed recently is that we don't allow potential new members to go to our pre games unless they commit to joining before hand. We do this so that people are joining for the right reasons; we want them to join for the brotherhood and not because of particular events. I think this is a great strategy as it allows us to really meet these people before giving them a bid to join the house.
On campus I am always striving to get a good grade in my courses, and to do so I need to have the right resources in order to succeed. Like for instance, I need to purchase the books, access codes, and proper school supplies. All of these goods I would consider to be transaction costs in the process of me getting a good grade. If I avoid these transaction costs the transaction (getting good grades) doesn't happen. The books (transaction costs) mattered because it is significantly harder for me to succeed without them.
Over the Summer I had the opportunity to intern at Enterprise Holdings, the structure at Enterprise was constant while I was there, but it was constant because it was structured well. What I really liked about the structure was the fact that it was well managed, every position had someone above them to act as a mentor and to be a leader. What this also meant was that there is ample opportunity for promotions within the company, with many different levels within an organization comes many chances for personal growth. I noticed this while I was there, people were always interviewing for better jobs, and this is only possible due to the structure they have.
On campus I am part of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, which has a very distinct structure. We have an executive board, which has various positions that handle different tasks. Each individual who is on the executive board has the job of forming a committee of people who help with doing the tasks of the job. A few examples of positions on the executive board are philanthropy, social, recruitment, secretary, as well as president. The recruitment chair is in charge of finding and bringing in new people to join, which is not an easy task. They have to be the right fit, and in order to target the right people it takes a lot of time. This is where the committee comes in to play, the leader of recruitment assembles a group of 10+ people to help him, they host events at the house to meet potential new members. When they have these events everyone on the committee networks, and once the event is over they have a meeting to talk about who was liked and or disliked. After lots of events and networking, the recruitment chair finds enough new members to join the house and his job is completed.
We have weekly meetings that we call chapter, at these the executive board is front and center, they talk about everything that is necessary to be accomplished for the week. After all the important business is handled the executive board opens the floor for general discussion, this allows for any member who wants to say something to have there voice heard. If people have anything to bring to the table, or anything to say at all they are given the opportunity to do so at this time. This structure is nice because it gives everyone the opportunity to help better the fraternity and have there voice heard. Something that has changed recently is that we don't allow potential new members to go to our pre games unless they commit to joining before hand. We do this so that people are joining for the right reasons; we want them to join for the brotherhood and not because of particular events. I think this is a great strategy as it allows us to really meet these people before giving them a bid to join the house.
On campus I am always striving to get a good grade in my courses, and to do so I need to have the right resources in order to succeed. Like for instance, I need to purchase the books, access codes, and proper school supplies. All of these goods I would consider to be transaction costs in the process of me getting a good grade. If I avoid these transaction costs the transaction (getting good grades) doesn't happen. The books (transaction costs) mattered because it is significantly harder for me to succeed without them.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Alan Krueger
Although I did not personally know of Alan Krueger, he is a very important economist, and someone I am glad to be impersonating while blogging. He was nominated a chair in the White House Council of Economic Advisors due to his diverse knowledge of Economics. One of Krueger's biggest assets is his expertise as a labor economist, since unemployment is a perpetual problem throughout the country being well regarded as a labor economist pays huge dividends. Krueger received a B.S. degree from Cornell, an A.M. in Economics from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He wrote a book titled, What Makes a Terrorist, which takes a look at the economics and roots of Terrorism. He claims that the assumption of terrorists coming from impoverished areas is actually false, and that terrorists actually often come from the college-educated backgrounds. I believe Krueger to be of major importance to this class, the fact that he served a chair in the White House Council of Economic advisors gives him a personal understanding of Economics within a major organization. He had to deal with the Economics of the government, all while studying and analyzing the Economy as a whole, and how different organizations played roles in affecting the Economy. All in all, Krueger is one of the most well regarded Economists of our time, he is someone that we can study and learn a lot from in this course.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)