I wrote this (first draft) essay today. On finishing, I was immediately gripped with the notions that a) I detect hot air, b) I need to find a real-world challenge to focus on and c) I'm leaving ambitions out. But here it is...
1) Describe how you would like to see your career develop. Explain how your academic background, prior professional experience and the Florida MBA degree will help you achieve your career goals. Limit your response to 2-3 pages.
My aim is to grow in my ability as a software development practitioner and consultant, and to add value to the consulting services I offer.
I have been a software development practitioner for the last 17 years, and a consultant to business for the last seven. In the time I have worked with them, computers have moved from the fringe of society and business to somewhere much closer to center stage. For this reason, technical knowledge is no longer sufficient to be the consultant I intend to be. I seek to acquire education in business principles and analysis techniques for reasons of responsibility and opportunity.
Responsibility
Where software developers once could separate their discipline from the 'real world', they can comfortably do so no longer. Software design and mistakes have impacts that can shake the business world, as can be seen in the 'program trading' glitches and virus warnings that make headlines and the daily news with increasing frequency.
There is a growing body of knowledge in how to organize software development teams and how to design software to deal with this environment, but there is an equivalent need for software developers to understand business. A software system can only be as good as the knowledge on which it is based. And technical options must be expressed in business terms in order to be properly decided upon by executives. For these reasons I believe that an enhanced grasp of what matters to consumers, shareholders, Wall Street and the Government will be of benefit to the clients I serve, and to my career.
I have also come to believe that economics has a controlling effect on the actions of people and governments, and that time spent in its study has benefits for my clients, my career and my own personal affairs.
Opportunity
Software is everywhere, and growing. My cell phone has more processing power than the Apollo Command Module's on-board computer. With the advent of the Internet, GPS, PDA's, cell phones and other tools of communication and computation, new opportunities for business are emerging.
A recent quote from Ray Ozzie, architect of Lotus Notes, and Groove, from an article 'Extreme Mobility', at his web log captures this idea:
Where's it all going?
I believe we're currently in a transition period for personal computing: from a tethered, desk-bound, personal productivity view, to one of highly mobile interpersonal productivity and collaboration, communications, coordination. … If technology, molded into forms such that teams of individuals can virtually and dynamically assemble into highly productive organizational units, what will ultimately happen to the large-scale enterprise? In what industries will the mega-corporation continue to exist as a large scale employer, versus being more-or-less an aggregator and connector of highly productive smaller companies?
A solid understanding of how business is done will play a role in exploring this space, and in helping ventures based on these technologies succeed. I believe that a person trained in both technical and business disciplines, with an eye toward how things are unfolding has an opportunity to make a lasting impact on both business and society.
For reasons of both responsibility and opportunity, I see pursuing an MBA as beneficial to my clients and complementary to my career and personal goals. An MBA will not accomplish all of my educational or career goals, but I believe it to be a step in the right direction.
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