It wasn’t long ago that I received an email from my alma mater, Biola University, about it’s Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership (MOL) program. With the new president’s vision came the announcement that the program would go by the wayside.
Since I completed my MOL degree, I have often found myself answering the question: “What is that?” The fastest answer I have found is that it is like a MBA, but focused more on the people skills and the application of the concepts.
It turns out, Biola might have been on to something.
“The Economist” reported this week that Harvard will be testing a new concept for their MBA program, entitled FIELD.
FIELD incorporates a few new elements to the Harvard MBA program that are reminiscent of the MOL program at Biola.
As reported in the article published in The Economist on Dec. 3., “Asked what should be expected from someone with an MBA, [Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria], replies that “obviously, they should master a body of knowledge. But we should also expect them to apply that knowledge with some measure of judgment.” The elements being piloted by HBS include team-building exercises, working at existing companies for a week or longer, and starting a new business with $3,000 and 8 weeks provided by the program.
At first blush, these elements seemed exciting and novel. Then I realized why I connected so much with the article – I had done much of this through my MOL program with Biola.
Biola’s CSOL550: Leadership Challenge provided teambuilding in a framework of a weekend retreat; other classes incorporated hands-on projects that brought about the very outcomes of collaboration and feedback as are desired by Harvard.
The structured “learning by doing” strategy that Harvard is attempting to employ through their one-week internships at businesses. Biola’s model intentionally has students still in the workforce during their program so that they could immediately implement, test, practice, and refine the theories and practices they are learning in class.
The third piece of Harvard’s program is perhaps the most intriguing to me. Though starting a business sounds alluring, I wonder what will be done once the eight weeks is complete: will the businesses be viable enough to sell; will students continue to lead them while continuing their studies; or will they wither and die for lack of attention? This piece of the FIELD program may be the most ripe for innovation. In Biola’s MOL program, though the foundation for business was laid through projects that students completed, at least one student in my cohort sought funding to actively pursue the development of a plan he designed through the course.
Though Harvard’s application of these goals and teaching methods will look different from those implemented by Biola University, I am grateful that the educational strategies and outcomes that I have found useful in my career will continue in the absence of the Biola MOL program.
