Business graduates today are facing a whole new playing field where many past assumptions are being challenged. A new “normal” is evolving. How do we prepare our students with the skills needed to succeed in this rapidly changing environment?
The academy will debate the specificity of those needed skills---technical skills, critical thinking skills, communication skills, and interpersonal skills. Faculty members will exercise their appropriate academic freedom and their dedication to student learning in many diverse ways and with many diverse themes of needed skills. The breadth of diversification of faculty responses and perspectives concerning change will benefit our students as they will need to be broadly equipped for the challenges.
My role as dean will be to stimulate the discussion of changes needed (such as in curriculum and advising of our students)---by persuasion and dialogue I need to keep us all focused on being a business school that is open to diversity of opinions on how best to prepare our students for a new normal. Change is hard work and can generate material conflict. We must be open to that process of conflict and open to compromise –and open to fixing our mistakes. And change is never done—just when you think you have it right, the environment changes and we need to adjust.
We all have our perceptions (even some firm beliefs) on what is the answer. Our success, however, will be driven by many observations from your complex real experiences. I welcome and value posts regarding your insights and guidance on your perceptions of the new normal and the skills needed by our students.
