(I occasionally write notes to my students. The latest is below. The second-year students are about to graduate.) Dear Section G and VCPE: I write this to you on a Saturday morning from my HBS office. The campus is largely empty and quiet, and I hope you’re all sleeping in. It was a joy to
Category: Personal
Note to My Students: A Reflection on Time
(Periodically, I send a note to my students. Here’s one from this morning.) So, I’m at my HBS office this Saturday morning. It is a wonderful time to decompress and prep. No one is around, the sun is just starting to glimmer, and the chilly morning air sharpened my senses as I walked across an
Hunger
I read Bertrand Cooper’s interesting essay today in The Times: “I Escaped Poverty, but Hunger Still Haunts Me.” As I’ve written before, for a period in my childhood, I went hungry. And, I’ve never forgotten that gnawing feeling. When you’re eight years old, you don’t know what “normal” is, as you have no perspective. You
The Funeral
I have long thought of weddings and funerals as mirror images: similar but opposites. For both, guests are invited, the guests dress up, a notice is put out on social media and the papers, there’s often a gathering at a Place of Worship, eloquent words are spoken, and there is usually a reception. For one,
Reunion 2022
I went to my 25th/27th business school reunion this weekend. It’s hard to describe how amazing it was to gather with friends and act like not much time has gone by. It’s trite but true: time goes by quickly, and reunions are life milestones. I’ve volunteered to help out with nearly all of my reunions,
My Second Story
I have this theory that people have two stories in their lives. They have their First Story: that’s what goes on the CV and LinkedIn profiles, and it’s the one we tell publicly. But each of us has a Second Story, one that we hide. We want to show the world the shiny and clean