Tuesday Top Ten

This week marks the end of the best class I've ever taken. It's a six-week class called "Critical Thought" taught by Leo Linbeck (if you're from Houston, he would be the CEO of the parent company of Linbeck Construction), a brilliant 40-something who teaches at Rice each Fall and at Stanford every Spring. My brother-in-law Chris actually took a class from him while at Stanford and luckily encouraged me to stay in the class despite the reading list we received over the summer with a dozen books on it. Books included everything from "War and Peace" to "An Inconvenient Truth" to "Blink."

These are my top ten favorite things from the class:

1. Uniqueness - The class is unique in both format and content. We go to school each Monday morning for a lecture on a given "theme" (for example, heresy versus genius), turn in a 3-page paper each Wednesday applying the theme to a given topic (for example, poverty), and then meet at his house on Thursday or Friday in small-group seminars to basically debate our stance on the topic. The following Monday, Linbeck applies everything that was discussed back to a business context and then presents the next theme.
2. "Reading" the classics - Though some of us technically "watched," I actually know the plot and could discuss "War and Peace," "Pride and Prejudice," "Othello," etc. and their major themes. Linbeck double-majored in undergrad in engineering and classic literature, so he incorporates these into a business course in a very odd but effective manner.
3. Al Gore lied - (well at least manipulated) "An Inconvenient Truth" is such a half-truth. There is no definitive scientific evidence that humans cause global warming or that it poses an imminent threat to our planet. I will scientifically karate-chop anything you have to say about that. (Global warming was my favorite topic.)
4. Eating dinner at Linbeck's house - Linbeck lives in an awesome house right by Rice that was built in the 1930s. Every week when we meet there, he feeds us. And this week, he's taking all of us plus guests (so literally 50 people) to the River Oak Country Club for a closing dinner. Very fancy.
5. The Mini-UN - Linbeck has 5 kids, 3 of which are adopted from Ethiopa, Guatemala, and Columbia. They range in age from 1.5 to 14, and we eat with them each week at their home.
6. The Ghost Map - This was my favorite read from the class (both for style and content...very interesting).
7. Weekly "Take-Aways" - Take-aways are such a Stanford B-school thing but really are so nice and efficient. One time Chris gave me, Lauren, and Kath take-aways in analyzing what we should get my mother for her birthday.
8. Linbeck drives a hybrid - And his wife drives a mini-van. His shoes look old and worn. I'm pretty sure he wears the same blazer to class every week. The man's got money, but he spends it giving an exuberant amount away to charity, not on anything he owns.
9. I might actually get an A+ - Somewhat shallow, but I still haven't gotten an A+ in grad school. Those are reserved for people like my little Jun who sit at home studying literally all the time. This might be my best chance...
10. Message of humility - Overall, this class was not just about problem-solving but leading an organization with humility.