A question I remember wondering a lot growing up as a math major (and hearing repeatedly from others) is “What the heck do managers actually do?” One of my readings for class provides the best answer I’ve heard, and not only that, I think it’s a good answer.

The Manager’s Job: Folklore and Fact (PDF), by Henry Mintzberg in 1990.

In short: people think managers organize and plan things, but in practice they are information arbiters. Their formal authority gives them several important interpersonal roles, which give them unique perspective and information, which give them important decision-making responsibilities. A key insight is that most of the information that flows through managers is verbal (for a few reasons, read the article) and is very difficult to organize in a formal/written system (which is what we’d need to do to replace them with robots or otherwise outsource them).

Also worth noting: managers in the real world are highly reactive and rarely able to actually plan or reflect: “superficiality… is an occupational hazard of the manager’s job.”

It’s only the second week of class, and I’ve met about two dozen new classmates. It seems like they’re all smarter, more focused, and more accomplished than me.

Stanford is intense. and awesome.

I’ll post more soon about the results of my job search (looks good!) and my classes this winter soon. But for now I just wanted to say that I entered this quarter determined to give myself a more relaxed schedule, with more time for personal development and relationships, and that while I’m only taking 3 classes, every time I shave something from my schedule I immediately seem to find 3 more exciting opportunities to use the time I just saved. As long as I can avoid the temptation to do everything, I think everything will be sweet.

Also, the Bay Area — I find myself in a place where it’s easy to meet accomplished mathematicians, adventurous nature-lovers, ambitious world-shapers, and genuine, friendly people. It’s easy find people who miraculously combine all of these traits. It may sound arrogant to say I feel like this is where I belong, but being here, surrounded by people with the qualities I strive for, is a humbling and inspiring experience.

Welcome, Deloitte, and recruiters yet to visit. In the end, we all want a good fit, and I’m glad we have so many ways to learn about each other.

On June 21 I start a 1-year Masters of Science degree at Stanford University in Management Science & Engineering. My job here is great and I love Park City, but for the next year there’s no place I’d rather be.

Before that, from May 15 – June 18, I will participate in an Mountain Instructor Course with the National Outdoor Leadership School. This will cause me to miss two of my friends’ weddings but, again, there’s no place I’d rather be.

I’m totally psyched about this next chapter…

It made me realize how great business is. For a liberal arts grad it can be scary that there are no guarantees that we get to keep our lifestyle. The U.S. does provide Welfare, but most of us would consider anything that doesn’t pay at least $25,000 and also make a noticeably positive impact on the world as failure. But it’s liberating to know that in the world, there is a higher grade than an “A.” You can do absolutely as well as you can do, and you can apply any skills you can muster. On a philosophical level, I’ve always loved the quote (from a song)

I don’t need to hear your answer.
I just need to you feel like there are no boundaries at all.

What you or I do or say or decide today or tomorrow is pretty much OK with me. What matters is that we have faith that anything is possible.

In college when I felt stressed I used to drive up to the mountains overlooking Los Angeles and just stare at the city. I could draw a line in the cityscape between Los Angeles County and San Bernardino County. The line makes tremendous difference to anyone who lives there and wants buy a house, send their kids to school, talk to their neighbors, or find a job.

But the line is not real. It’s a man-made fiction that has a profound immediate impact on many but, at the same time, is trampled every day by the bustling activity of the life around it. Government has some influence based on how the highways are routed and lines on maps, but the fact that houses extend for 100 miles in nearly every direction from LA is due not to the WPA but to 20 million individual people building their lives. I love LA despite despite how disgusting it can be because it creates dreams and gives rise to so much that would seem impossible.

It is easy to see from the perspective of the mountains, above the smog, far from classes, and amid the scent of desert sage which I will always love.

Every year it looks like fewer of my loved ones will be living in Claremont, but then I meet more amazing people. OA the last two years was great because I knew most of the leaders and they were some of the coolest kids in the world. Somehow it seems like I’m still friends with most of them, even if some were in junior high when I came to Pomona. There’s nowhere I’d rather get up at 8am to teach leadership techniques, explain all of the 50 items in a first aid kit to 90 different people, go over the medical history of all 387 incoming students, and then get back to the office at 9pm to write computer code for four and a half hours. I’ve put off leaving for a year and a half, and there’s still too many people here I’ll miss. But I think I’ve done well at making the most of it, and it’s time for a change of venue.

I’ve listened, laughed, and cheered through five convocations and three graduations, and for the first time one of them actually means I’m moving on. Few people have ever had the freedom and opportunity I have now. I think these will be the most exciting years of my life. I will make the most of them. And I’m willing to bet everyone else is still as nervous as I am.

If you’re interested in public education drop me a line. Between three and eight years from now I’m going to call you back. Promise.

This weekend was fun. On Saturday I got up at 6am to go to LA (conference at Occidental) and give a talk on the Electoral College (based on my thesis, yeah I give that talk a lot). It went well because I gave the exact same talk in my Math Forum class on Monday, and it’s like the 5th time I’ve presented that work. I’m actually better at talking than doing math.

But then I was tired and wanted to get to the mountains, so I left right after my talk and stopped by my aunt’s house in Pasadena to wish her a happy birthday and return my cousin’s camera which I accidentally stole after rock climbing.

Then I went to Halona, a lovely rustic cabin that Pomona owns in the mountain village of Idyllwild, for the semesterly math department retreat and it was hella fun. Just look at the pictures.

Check out what you can do when you’re not doing homework! (And check out what a dork I can be!) Just find a good pangram and fiddle around.

I think the closest shape to a U (besides the U) is an upside-down question mark. What do you think?

Sixty liquor jugs is a lot.

I’m in trouble if I ever forget how to touch-type.