Recently, some instructors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
questioned my qualifications for teaching a business seminar. This issue drew
plenty of mockery (for both sides of the argument) in the local press.

Since the predominant theme of all my seminars - at several universities
- is the importance of asking useful
questions, I'd like to answer one that none of the critics has bothered to ask:
Why do I teach the way I do?

Of course, that question breaks down into several others:
Why do so many students receive "A" grades in the class? Why do I provide a
meal for the students? Why do I not require exams? Why do I give rudimentary
geography quizzes to seniors in a Global business class?

I give rudimentary geography quizzes because most Americans
- and too many Global Business students - cannot identify the Straits of
Hormuz, yet when we see it on a map we understand instantly why our entire
economic future is tied to this narrow waterway. On a blank map, most Americans
cannot identify Iraq. Or Missouri. Ignorance of world geography limits our
understanding of other cultures, and that limits our ability to engage with
other people. I want students to use their eyes - as well as their minds - to
understand the lay of the land around them and around the world.

I do not require exams because I am interested in what
people know, not what they can remember for a few hours after cramming. The
students are tested every week through their required participation in class,
where each must ask three questions related to selected stories in the news.
Many students make it through four years of college without ever raising their
hand to ask a question. Not in my class. Every student learns to look me in the
eye, speak clearly, and ask intelligent questions about the news of the day.
And guest lecturers will assure you I am relentless on this point - students
are required to rephrase a question dozens of times until they can ask it
cogently and clearly.

Anyone with a basic knowledge of blood sugar knows you
cannot nourish people intellectually if you starve them physically. I provide a
meal for the students because four hours is too long to go without food. I
treat my students like human beings - why should I not? Moreover, many of the
most important conversations in business and life occur over meals, and it's a
great pleasure watching students hone their conversational skills in a relaxed
atmosphere, sharing ideas and learning about each other's business concepts and
future plans.

The most controversial and most often misreported aspect of
my class seems to be the fact that I guarantee an A to each student. This is
not correct. First of all, this only applies to surviving students. A failing
grade on any quiz/assignment is grounds for being dropped from the class, as is
arriving late or missing class more than twice. My class is a bit more like a
real world business: you either make it or you don't. I also find that grades
often say more about our measurement system than what is being measured.
Successful managers know that you get what you measure, and too many schools
measure their students' ability to game the grading system. I don't want to
deal with students trying to get a good grade. I want to deal with students who
can fearlessly engage, debate, discuss, teach, and learn with one another. 

At most schools, my classes are composed of seniors. I like
to think I'm giving them a little taste of boot camp for entering the real
world. Because, make no mistake, college is not the real world. As artificial
worlds go, it's one of the best. 
But the transition from grade-grubbing to problem-solving shocks many
straight-A students. In the real world, you must apply your education. In the
real world, your intellect must find relevance. In the real world, you must engage.
And most of all, in the real world you must abide by Cal Poly's motto every
day: learn by doing.

My responses about grades, exams, food, and geography
summarize how I teach and why. I concede that my critics have a point: I am not
qualified to teach the way many professors teach. Most students consider this
my best qualification.