Going back to school

By Steve Epner -- Industrial Distribution, 3/1/2006

This is the tale of a “nontraditional” student. Nontraditional is the politically correct way to say older.

You see, I have been out of school for about 35 years. At 57, I am truly nontraditional, but no longer uncommon. More and more people are going back to school at many different stages of their lives. 

Many of my management peers are considering school as an option to sitting on the front porch. Personally, I do not like to even use the “R” word (retirement). It is too much of an ending, where I see myself at a new beginning. Some “R” words do fit: reinventing, reinvigorating, repositioning, reviving, releasing (the past), and revising (the future).

The best news is that these descriptions also fit for the 20-somethings who want to make a difference in the future.

When I first went to school, it was described as an investment in our future. It still is.

Only now, we can not only invest in ourselves, but in our key employees as well. As a matter of fact, we have the opportunity and the obligation to help, encourage, and build our future leaders.

Since my focus is industrial distribution, I have enrolled at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. Their weekend masters program in technology was exactly what I wanted and needed.
 
It is designed for professionals with real-world experience who are interested in expanding their horizons without having to drop out and go to school full-time.

This is not another one of those ubiquitous weekend MBA programs. This one earns you a master of science degree in technology.

Our country needs more innovators. People with business and technical knowledge are needed to find and implement new ways to do things. We need people who will find new and better ways to compete in a global economy which is more and more dependent on technology.

Most businesses today could not operate without a computer. But, most businesses today barely scratch the surface of their computer systems’ capabilities.

The only way to survive in this market is to be as technically competent as the competition. Sadly, the competition is more and more off shore. If you look at the statistics, there are more technical people being graduated by India and China than anywhere else.

As leaders, we cannot only improve the balance; we can use the opportunity to re-energize our best employees. We can show them we are interested in their future by investing in it.

Once you recognize the benefits and are ready to start the application process, contact Mark Schuver at Purdue. His job is to help business people make sure the program is right for them, then to get them enrolled. He made sure I understood what I was getting myself into.

The Purdue program is a five-semester process. You become part of a “cohort” group that completes the plan of study together. The cohort group I am in is very diverse. Ages range from the mid-twenties to my 57.

We have many different backgrounds, work for small and large companies, and have returned to Purdue for many different reasons. The diversity is a bonus. The challenge is amazing. The new ideas are wonderful and the renewed excitement is what I needed.

My advice to business owners, managers, and those interested in learning is to step outside of your comfort zone. I started my business in 1976 and could easily have been content to just slow down and become complacent. Instead, I decided it was time to force myself into new challenges.

The business world is changing fast. All of the business graduates in the world cannot manage and implement the new technologies necessary to compete. It will take a special brand of manager. Industry will need people who are well versed in business, technology, and the dynamics of the supply chain.

I guarantee that by shaking up the cobwebs in your brain, you can keep the spiders from taking over.

Steve Epner is a technology consultant with Brown Smith Wallace Consulting Group. Watch for more articles about his trip “back to school” in future DMO’s. For more information on Purdue’s program, log on to www.purdue.edu/technology/wmp.