During the coronavirus pandemic and its periodic lockdowns, people are trying to pass the time and continue their education.
Online education has gone mainstream, classes are meeting on Zoom, and professors and students are communicating via discussion forums, email, and videoconference.
Soon, summer vacation will be upon us, and a few professors from top business schools want to help you enhance your education even if you can’t get to a campus or library. These professors shared their recommendations with QS, to make social distancing a little more bearable, not to mention productive:
Prepare for the aftermath
The world and the global economy will be transformed when this pandemic is over. Already the changes are overwhelming, so reading material that can help you deal with whatever comes next could be helpful. Deborah Ancona, Seley Distinguished Professor of Management and founder of the MIT Leadership Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management, suggests the following titles:
Immunity to Change: How to Overcome It and Unlock the Potential in Yourself and Your Organization, by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey (Harvard Business Press, 2009)
“This book offers a systematic way for people to choose an improvement goal and determine how to achieve it,” says Ancona. “Their change process is unique in that it takes into account the assumptions and cognitions that get activated to thwart change efforts—and a way to deal with them. This book includes a step-by-step guide to personal change that can be useful to MBAs with time to further develop as leaders, managers, parents, and people.”
Simple Rules: How to Thrive in a Complex World, by Donald Sull and Kathleen M. Eisenhardt (Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt, 2015)
“Simple Rules provides guidance, and many examples, of how organizations can replace complex, onerous rules, and regulations with simple rules that direct, align, and shorten decision making and innovation cycles,” says Ancona. “One activity for MBA’s at this time would be to read the book and come up with ways that organizations might employ this strategy to come away from this moment better able to cope with a new landscape.”
Get closer to your dream programme
Your consent preferences have been set.
Time to start exploring.
Your account has been removed.
You can still browse the site or sign up again once you have parental consent.
Get closer to your dream programme