Thursday, August 29, 2013
Thinking Templates
*/By Rick Nason, PhD, CFA/*
Partner, RSD Solutions Inc.
I am currently in the middle of marking exams for a MBA course I teach on
Quantitative Decision Making. In this course, as in all of my courses, I
strive to convince students that knowledge is a commodity and learning how to
think is more important. In part to walk the talk, I allow my students to
have open book exams and to use a computer on the exam. This of course
means that they can use computer software packages etc.
In preparation for the exam, many students will create answer templates for
the types of questions that they expect me to ask. Some students go so far
as to seek out commercially available packages. I am all in favour of this,
since in the process of doing so the students are probably doing a better job
of studying than they would if they were attempting to memorize a textbook (a
deadbrain exercise in and of itself).
The problem arises however with students who blindly follow their
templates. Rarely in life does a problem conform exactly to whatever
template you might construct, and in the case of my exams that is also
generally true. However students are more confident in the ability of their
template than they are in their ability to think. Or perhaps they are too
lazy to think and thus rely on the template. Either way it generally does
not end well. Templates do not think. Furthermore, any problem that is
solvable by a template is probably not worthy of the attention of someone
with a graduate degree such as an MBA.
In risk management we also tend to rely on templates. (Anyone seen a risk
audit template?) In regulation we are almost totally reliant on templates
– although bureaucrats would never label their proclamations as such. As
with the students writing my exams who rely on a template, risk practitioners
and companies (and regulators) that rely on templates see outcomes that are
rarely satisfactory. Templates do not think. The real world rarely
conforms to a template except in the most simplistic of situations.
I realize that many consultants rely on templates – they generally have
fancier names for them. Many consultants market themselves on the strength
of their template(s). But again, templates do not think. Templates do not
adapt. Templates do not create paradigm shifts. Templates do not see
unique opportunities. Instead templates are static, backward looking,
unthinking processes that time and reality quickly pass by.
Now if only there was a foolproof template for marking.
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4 comments:
There is a foolproof template for marking, it's called a TA.
As I read your post, I can not help but think that there must be some emphasis placed on the system that produces students who create the templates in the first place. In other words, I feel that there needs to be just as much frustration at a system that produces students who need/feel the need to use templates.
I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on how companies and institutions can produce employees/students/staff that reflect your opinion here. For example, templates are very helpful in situations where instructors themselves dislike having to mark complex problems and find it easier to grade based on memorized material.
Same situation happens within employment settings where managers like staffs that are trained to fit the mold. It becomes easy to rely on templates in these settings because we can predict the results of our workers. In an environment where a template will ease the mind of our customer or create a feeling of confidence, it becomes easy to understand why it is used.
In the end it comes down to the lizard brain and the concepts of failure. For a student there are marks on the line that may or may not determine their fate at school. For an employer, they may lose thousands by using different approaches. The real result then must focus on how we deal with a failed attempt. For if it is the attempt that matters and what is learned from its failure then a pass may simply be a really good try that failed miserably. If templates go, so to must the measure of success that is deeply connected to it perhaps.
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lacybrown
^Adrian....your comment is verbal diarrhea. And you completely missed the point of the post.
And the point (I think) you're trying to make by saying templates are so awesome is like telling people who shop at Whole Foods that shopping at Costco is better.
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