Adding pieces to the puzzle

7 years has passed since I (H) have studied for real. Of course there has been various courses and training activities provided at work since I left the Technical University in Lyngby, but this summer I returned to the real school bench again as I attended an eMBA class at Temple University’s Tokyo campus titled: “Managing the Enterprise from a Global Perspective”. The aim of the course has been to add additional theory to my practical experience at work, partly through studying the course material and equally important through the discussions with fellow alumni and the teacher. The class consisted of Mexicans, Japanese, Americans, an Australian and an Austrian, whom all presented different perspectives because of their cultural background and their different corporate cultures. This is for sure an effective way to broaden ones perspectives.

The classes took place on Saturdays, starting 6:16 a.m. at Koriyama station catching the train to Tokyo and ended again in Koriyama 8:29 p.m. (The trains are always very precise in Japan!) Long days. In matter of fact - long weeks, but worth it. Imagine that you have a lot of puzzles to solve (plus some puzzles you didn’t even know existed…), in some cases you are missing a piece to complete the puzzle, in other cases you don’t know what the puzzle will look like when it is finished. The theory and discussions in this course has helped solving some of the puzzles I have been working on for a while, like answering questions like “Why is it such a challenge to engage in business between different nationalities?”

The biggest lesson though, has been the realization of a need and desire for continuously discovering new puzzles, pieces and outlines. It will most likely not be long before I return to the school bench again.