Activating Critical Thinking

I don't know about you and your college experience, but my undergraduate years at BC were largely focused on balancing classes, taking copious notes, prepping for exams, working part time jobs and commuting back and forth-rain or snow-on my $250 motor scooter.  I was younger than most, wicked naive about what to expect and how to act, and very rarely got the opportunity to critically think.  When I had the opportunity 22 years ago to teach at MIT, which I still do every fall, and I'm now in my 20th year at Tufts teaching Marketing and Sales, I structured everything around activating critical thinking among my students by working in teams around complex projects. In fact, that's exactly what we've been doing in our consulting practice so transferring that discipline of project-based critical thinking to the classroom has been very direct.  

If we're not providing real-life skills to students, then we're not teaching!

Don't get me wrong, I believe in a well-rounded education, but if college students are not learning practical skills that enable them to get solid jobs that they love and are also being well compensated for, then we're simply not providing value!  Those skills, in my case, are in teaching Marketing and Sales which balance strategy with tactics and promote critical thinking within team-driven projects...just the same as the environment that the majority of these students will be working in their careers.  “Learning" to me means learning by doing the work that needs doing and completing a transfer of profession and life skills.  In my own courses, that transfer of skills and life lessons is measured by semester-bound projects for real companies.  


Tufts Fall-1I teach in a style of "Content in Context" where I and my TAs provide detailed, leading-edge content in two courses-one in Marketing and the other in "The Science of Sales".  The context is brought to us through complex projects provided by real-life companies requiring weekly interfaces with management and final project completion where management provides 40% of the semester grade. 


The Ask:

We work on 6 Marketing projects and 4 Sales projects in teams of 5-6 juniors and seniors, and in the annual rhythm of business and teaching, I'm currently looking for projects for the Winter-Spring, 2025 semester which begins in early January. Of this fall's Marketing projects, the companies range in size from two tech startups to a $50m software company.  Two of the companies are repeats from prior semesters.  Two are B2C, the others B2B across widely diverse industries.  

The syllabus and their related projects are sent to the incoming students on December 6th and over the interim 6 weeks, there are readings to do and software certifications that need to be completed. 

If you're interested in applying for either the Marketing or the Sales courses, just connect with me, and I will send you the instructions.   

Have a great day selling today and a superb weekend. Perfect Fall Day tomorrow! 


working on your 2025 Planning!

Derby Boot Camp 2017-2For a few ideas on your own sales and marketing planning for 2025, click here for our Writing the Winning Sales Plan, and Writing the Winning Marketing Plan, outlining a few ideas on structure, models, process funnels, and productivity tools. 

Give me a call and let's discuss having us facilitate your 2025 planning process. I drive a ton of miles every week, and there's nothing better than having a call to talk about your current thinking about 2025 as I challenge the wicked end of day commute out of Boston.

 

www.derbymanagement.com  
Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts.

 

 

 

Tags: Sales Management Best Practices, how to write a business plan, business planning meetings, Teaching at Tufts University, Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts, 2025 Business Planning