What I learnt from Harvard Business School Online (HBX CORe)
Yesterday I found out that I had PASSED my Harvard Business School; Credential of Readiness (HBX CORe) course!
20 hours per week on top of my job for roughly five months. It was a hard yet rewarding processes. I’ve highlighted a few key takeaways below, but feel free to ask anything else on Twitter @JamesNicholsFry.
Lesson 1: Understand how people think
As a product marketer I spend most of my time juggling a creative and strategic mindset, as both are critical for success. However, I hadn’t had a lot of engagement with other business functions (Finance, Business Analytics, Economics, etc.).
Harvard’s course gave me insight into how people’s minds work, both through peer-to-peer learning and recorded (“live”) case studies with industry and Fortune 100 leaders.
Learning through case studies not only helps bring the theory to life, but it also gives tremendous insight into how people’s minds work.
Lesson 2: Time management
Well, this goes without saying. Working for GE in a global marketing role means I already have a busy schedule, finding an additional 20 hours a week for five months was an incredible challenge… but I survived.
I was very strict with my time; declining evening activities, forgetting to eat dinner, and even buying WiFi in airports! I managed to fit in a two week vacation to Vancouver, spending a large chunk of the flight time revising concepts and finding the quiet coffee shops to cram in some additional work.
Lesson 3: Support
I had a lot of support during these months, and I learnt a very valuable lesson on the need to thank the people in your life who are supporting you through the challenging times.
Take 30 seconds and message the last person who helped you. It really doesn’t take a lot to do (everyone has 30 seconds!), but forgetting this can be costly.
Lesson 4: The world is global
We live in a global world now, and although a lot of the case studies were US focused (I didn’t understand the references to American Football for example!) there were case studies from emerging markets (eg; India) which gave insight into the different mindsets and cultural ways of working.
Plus, it was a great experience logging into the Harvard learning platform and seeing people from all over the world who were also logged in and learning.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience that I would whole heartedly recommend for anyone wanting to gain a fundamental understanding of business.
