So, I started at @MITSloan & @MITSloanFellows with a huge amount of faith & probably placing institution a bit excessively on a pedestal. (Also, it is ridiculously expensive)
Had to adjust expectations
Some is disruption from pandemic & online
Some is just reality
Assessment:
What this year allows me is to explore, expand, acquire new skills within a specific structure & with a cohort that is committed to each other.
I chafed when assigned teams. I have always been a self directed learner. Need to go at my own pace.
Have some kind of neurodiversity (I was curious & got neurocog tested but they told me my results made no sense to them after they held a conference to discuss - it fit no pattern) - is one reason I chose @MIT, not establishment staid places
To be around:
It has been tough, I’ll admit. It is super hard to stay focused in lectures via Zoom + Zoom fatigue. I don’t really care about calculating confidence intervals & want to go straight to building models. There is none of the in person connectivity or random hallway encounters.
Instead of direct & lacking EQ I expected (wanted), my group is super polite, “you first”, kind, risk averse, needs permission to say no or try saying something wrong. They think at a different pace. I was so frustrated had to mentally check out
They may as well be pediatricians
I have spent my whole career worried about harm & being perfect (one cannot accept lower standards when others’ lives on the line). Tiny blip in BP - is the kid about to crash? Balancing parent satisfaction scores with practicing #EBM (like #VaccinesWork medical advice).
I vented with mentor and some select friends in cohort. I assessed sunk cost fallacy and gave myself permission to ask if this program really was going to serve my long term goals at all.
What were the costs & opportunity costs for the outcomes I wanted?
My mentor, who is awesome & I call my “major me” (I am his “mini me”) agreed that some things not as he would expect but helped me boil it down. 1- is online learning going to be a barrier, ill suited to my brain? If so, that is real & wrong year 2- do I want an MBA at all?
Decided
-All my usual self management hacks must be re-developed for this medium - am sorta figuring it out
-I am doing this at a particularly stressful time in history, must accept that will affect my cognitive function
-if am already assessing sunk cost, I *am* learning
Already, a @MITSloan & @MITSloanFellows alum who founded a healthcare start up in Latin America reached out, seeking a potential medical advisor. I can leverage my education & recent faculty in residence at @AKUGlobal.
Escape constant fighting of US healthcare for #globalhealth
There is SUCH a cool set of alums. I chose this setting specifically. There are other schools that create a lot of traditional executives who use an MBA to accelerate up the ladder & established institutional path. That's not who I want to be around
Instead, disrupt status quo
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@ErinMarieMHCMEd@danpreston@JoshuaMZeitz@AmandaMarcotte All of this was already tested out vs American Muslims - the country was just fine with it. Regardless of what you think of the dad, killing/executing American citizen children by drone, along with father, should have been a big red flag on due process.
@ErinMarieMHCMEd@danpreston@JoshuaMZeitz@AmandaMarcotte ~Half of Americans approve of/support torture. The idea is you can use profiling/bias to assume someone is a terrorist or sympathizes with terrorists, assume has information, torture them first, then retroactively justify violation of human rights.
pandemic killed >1 million dead but CDC has removed mask mandate & FL just refused to order vaccines=no interest in saving lives/prevention 9/11 killed 3K➡️police state
I think I need to go to law school. It might be a bit late to be #RBG & make it to SCOTUS… but seriously, it is all about the courts, the law, legal precedents.
Or maybe I just need to make myself small/silent enough to be able to fit into a government job again?
As hard as it is for me to stay in government long term given all the regulations that box you in/tie you up
plus needing to be a public servant to serve every taxpayer, even the ones you don’t agree with/like
Despite that, you *can* have an impact…small things at scale matter
There are times like this I want to be a cat & have 9 lives because there SO too many things I want to do…
…even though other times I am like, okay, how long exactly am I supposed to serve in this life because I am exhausted. (Albeit I did just recover from anemia.)
For the first time in my life I felt unsafe doing #GOTV & got personally targeted & my photo posted on a QAnon type site.
More appalling was how many on #healthcare & #academia, if you are connected on social media like FB, are pro-violence & anti-rule of law & support J6.
We *need* the ppl who typically enjoy more safety to step up. It feels “ick” to report, like you are an informant in Nazi Germany or something, but it is opposite: being “nice” & “not controversial” & “let’s all get along”
➡️empowers bullies
Anyone who did not see this coming does not understand #tech…(which includes people who design #AI).
“Important nuances were lost in translation when a rule commonly used to measure disparate impacts on protected groups in hiring was codified for easy-to-use tools…AI fairness”
Every time I see “our #AI will solve bias! Give us your #DEI budget!” win an #innovation award, accelerator, #hackathon I feel exhausted…
institutions would rather purchase ineffective & worsening-the-problem #tech than hard work of holding ppl accountable or change culture
And this is how #DEI - how currently approached - is ineffective & wastes money because a small amount of money is thrown at it with zero/minimal real hard work & unwillingness to be uncomfortable. Hence these bills: amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/01/19…
When will we admit that “clash of civilizations” of Islamophobia narrative is not only false but dangerous. “War on Terror”=waging war vs Muslims but #J6 & #BuffaloMassacre reveal terror is not one religion. When Muslims are “legit” targets…that supremacist hate spreads further.
The “Great Replacement” is an extension of “Clash of Civilizations” that conflict/war is “inevitable” between “different” humans defined by race or religion. It dehumanizes some humans as “less than” or “threat.” Once you label as such, violence follows. vox.com/science-and-he…