Fast-forward to 2013, when UFM-Guatemala will be offering the Acton MBA in its entirety, after three years of success offering Acton courses on an open enrollment basis. Entrepreneur Hugo Diaz was instrumental in launching the curriculum, and told us how Acton grew in Guatemala.

In 2008 there were two students from UFM studying entrepreneurship at the Acton School of Business and there came a point during the year when Hugo Diaz, Rodrigo Rodas, and Giancarlo Ibárgüen discussed bringing the curriculum to Guatemala. That first year Diaz just kept his eyes open while going through the rigors of the program. The next year UFM sent 2-3 of its people every week to observe classes in Austin and Ibárgüen asked for help to bring Acton to Guatemala.

Diaz lauds Ibárgüen’s strategy as “starting something new in a very disruptive way.” Recognizing that the Acton curriculum and its Socratic application are revolutionary, and that existing UFM business school faculty would need to be retrained and convinced, they decided to launch the Acton MBA as a second business school within the same university. This made the product very competitive and very noticeable, and capitalized on the fact that the Acton MBA appeals to a different population of business school student and faculty than does a traditional MBA.

Starting with a small experiment in true Acton fashion, UFM, Acton, Rodas, and Diaz first launched just the EJ (Entrepreneurial Journey) course to learn from the experience. When 38 students enrolled and reacted overwhelmingly positively, they said, “OK, let’s launch the program.”

There were set backs: In the second year there weren’t enough students for a full-time program so the program grew to three open enrollment courses—EJ, Operations, and LOM (Life of Meaning) instead of the originally planned full roster. Diaz explains that Acton was the first full-time MBA program in Guatemala, and that, traditionally, Guatemalans seeking a full-time program were used to the “attractiveness of going abroad,” rather than learning in Guatemala. Nonetheless, 32 students signed up for the three courses and the program grew fast. This year there are 20 MBA students and 22 open enrollment students. And in 2013 the whole program will turn full-time.

WHY THE ACTON CURRICULUM WORKS…EVERYWHERE

The Acton curriculum and teaching methodology at UFM-Guatemala (licensed by the Acton Foundation for $1) is exactly the same as that administered at the Acton School of Business in Austin. Marcel Roehrs, a current Acton MBA student in Austin, took the very first EJ class offered at UFM. Roehrs hadn’t been planning on getting an MBA at all, but he says when he took the UFM Acton course, “It blew my mind. It was amazing.” Then when he went to his cousin’s wedding in San Antonio he decided to stop in Austin to see Acton for himself. With only one month left to apply he took the plunge. “EJ [at UFM] changed my life and that’s why I’m here,” he says. “I realized I knew so little about business.” He was attracted to the challenge and says, “Acton was exactly what I needed to become an entrepreneur.”

Roehrs thinks that the curriculum works so well in such different contexts because there is a method, the Socratic approach and case process (“the conversations in the room are so interactive”), and because the curriculum is guided by entrepreneur-teachers that really know what they’re doing. Oliver Leonowens, the first Guatemalan to sign up for the full-time UFM Acton MBA and a participant in this year’s Boot Camp in Austin, agrees, and wrote to us about the Acton curriculum at UFM:

…As an entrepreneur in Guatemala, people are not so open, or we don’t have an open culture of talking to other people too much about our businesses, so I always felt alone with my ideas or troubles. At Acton I am surrounded by coaches, from all industries, that I can talk to and get to learn from them. Having time to discuss is so great, being Socratic is great…

…The system behind it is great: As long as the facilitator maintains the class energy up, and the strict rules are upheld, it works marvelously, very much by itself…

…The reading and the cases are great—having the opportunity to discuss it with the study group, and then in class is far greater…One great tool is the teacher ratings. This to me is very powerful, because as a student I can voice my concerns, and teachers are really in touch with reality, rather than becoming divas…

…As a young entrepreneur, I hardly was interested in university education, so I dedicated my self to work on my business. After 10 years I was stuck, because I was nowhere near reaching my ambitious goals. Acton has been an Oasis of very practical hands-on information for understanding what I was doing wrong, and correcting that course in my life, with all the lessons learned in class discussion, and the readings…

…Acton should be spread all over the world like fire flies, because to my point of view it has the exact tools entrepreneurs need to be very successful, and this will spread wealth and capitalism, which countries like mine hunger for…

Current UFM Acton student Gabriel Salguero adds that the curriculum works in different contexts because

…The curriculum covers aspects all entrepreneurs face no matter where: detecting customers’ needs, creating rapport with customers, dealing with people, detecting an opportunity and valuing it, raising funds, the art of pricing, etc….Students get to enrich their knowledge by the diversity of their classmates, who have different skills in their local environment…[And the curriculum is] Given by professors who have failed and ultimately succeeded in local markets.

You can find out more about the Middle School and Acton’s revolutionary approach to education by registering for the Open House held this Tuesday, February 7 from 4:30 to 6 pm at Acton School of Business. The format is an open exchange about the school’s history, philosophy, and future vision with founders Jeff & Laura Sandefer, as well as a Q&A with staff members, including James Duncan, Director and Lead Teacher of the Middle School Program.

A teacher, father, writer, entrepreneur and mentor, James Duncan graduated from Baylor University and embarked on a fifteen-year career in the business world before following his true calling to be a master teacher. After spending the past four years teaching subjects ranging from English and Philosophy to Business Law, as well as being an integral part of the International Baccalaureate program for an Austin area public high school, James realized that much more needs to be done to help young people prepare for the rest of their lives. Whole-heartedly adopting the Acton vision of student-directed, life-long learning, James has joined the Acton Academy team to head up the launch of Acton’s Middle School program in the fall of 2012.

The Middle School program will build on the established Acton Academy curriculum of project-based learning, Socratic discussion, and continuing exploration of The Hero’s Journey, and in addition, introduces middle school students to Apprenticeship, an opportunity for the students to independently discover a passion and develop the discipline and drive to pursue it. Duncan tells us, “This is an opening no other school in the area offers to students at this level.”

He adds,

…Too many parents and educators consider this to be a time in a student’s development where the years are transitional rather than transformational. A culture of excellence mandates that nothing could be further from the truth! The Acton approach seeks not only to develop further the skills learned at the Elementary level, but to master them and move on to the development of new skills and talents.

From top to bottom, the entire Acton Community is dedicated to the idea of doing everything with excellence… to continually prepare yourself for the next level. We understand that the students who attend our school are still children at heart; but, despite their age, there is no more fascinating sight than seeing a child whose imagination has been ignited by their love of learning.

For more information about Acton Academy’s Middle and Elementary Schools, attend Tuesday’s open house and visit their web site.

Master Teacher Ted Beasley

Entrepreneur Ted Beasley is an executive coach, a strategic and financial consultant, the co-founder of Gateway Church, a husband, and a father of three. As if that weren’t enough, he is also one of only two teachers who have been awarded Master Teacher status at Acton in the past four years.

It is not an easy title to earn. Only practicing entrepreneurs are eligible to teach at Acton, and only those who have advanced far in their careers will have the freedom and flexibility to take time away from their businesses to do so.

The journey toward becoming an Acton teacher is rigorous. It involves teacher training, Socratic and case method training, and observing classes, and then about 20 (unpaid) hours a week of class preparation and practice for five to nine months. Only those teachers-in-training who earn average ratings of 4.3 from the students for two semesters and are backed by the current teaching staff become teachers. Acton teachers put in those same hours for compensation that depends on student rankings. Those who achieve average student ratings of 4.5 or higher for at least four semesters may be awarded the title Master Teacher. (That’s 4.5 out of 5 by the way. And if that seems easy then you haven’t met many Acton students.)

According to Acton MBA Executive Director Tracy Balboa, “It is a huge achievement to become an Acton Master Teacher (very much akin to a Sensei) and it really signifies the blood, sweat, tears and energy a teacher has put into Acton and its students. There is no higher distinction at Acton.”

And Ted Beasley has achieved this honor faster than anyone has before. Here’s some of the wisdom he shared with us while on a break from teaching the People course this semester.

On his favorite teaching moments:

At the end of every case discussion we spend ten minutes discussing lessons learned. My favorite teaching moment is when a student says, “I changed my mind today.” For example, last week we did a case about a Harvard grad who worked at GE for many years, but wanted to run his own business. Rather than launching a new venture, he went through a rigorous process to purchase an existing business. At the end of the class session during lessons learned, one of the students said, “You know what, I came to Acton believing I would start a business, but it never felt right as we’ve been going through all of these classes. As a result of today’s conversation, I now realize my temperament and abilities are more suited for a turnaround situation. As soon as I graduate, I’m going to start looking for a company to buy.” These kinds of realizations keep my fire burning as a teacher. When a student changes their mind about an issue large or small it means they deeply listened to their colleagues during case discussion, they wrestled internally with the subject and they were willing to swallow their pride. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Ted has taught both Life of Meaning (LOM) and People courses at Acton. He tells us about what courses he might teach in the future:

Definitely not Cash & Valuation. I am neither a masochist nor sadist. Fortunately, we do have a couple of sadists on our faculty who tend to gravitate toward C&V. You know who I’m talking about, right?[*] I’d like to teach Opportunity in the future. The framework is simple and elegant, but so often never applied by most people who are looking to start a company. In my years as an executive coach, I’ve worked with many a CEO who jumped into an opportunity that didn’t match him as a leader or didn’t have a real customer. After enjoying some limited success, they hit a wall and realize that maybe they are in the wrong place. Opportunity is one of the most valuable courses we teach at Acton.

On one of his top lessons learned during his time at Acton:

Teaching is about creating moments for students to surprise you (and themselves). Every student who comes to Acton is brilliant in their own way. The role of the teacher is to draw out this potential. I used to try to control the classroom – make sure we get through my lesson plan and anticipate every path the students might go down. The turning point for me was when I started asking questions that I really wasn’t sure how the students would answer. It made for some scary moments, but I’ve come to find out that the students always rise to the occasion, and they really don’t want discussion that is dictated by a control freak.

When he’s not at Acton or with his family, Ted helps manage Coaching By Cornerstone, a nationwide coaching firm that assists executives as they succeed in business, personal, and spiritual opportunities. Ted has coached hundreds of emerging and senior leaders in the corporate, entertainment, media, non-profit, and government arenas and specializes in helping “Young Gun” entrepreneurs to become polished CEO’s.

Prior to his career in executive coaching, Ted served as a pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, and later co-founder of Gateway Church, a 5,000 member postmodern congregation in Austin, Texas. As a consultant, he has brought strategic and financial expertise to small businesses and Fortune 500 companies. As an entrepreneur, Ted has launched ventures in the U.S., Eastern Europe, and Australia. He holds an MBA from The University of Texas.

Outside of work, Ted enjoys writing, filmmaking, and outdoor sports. You can also catch him doing some stand-up comedy to blow off steam. Below is a video of a community discussion led by Ted at 2011 RISE entitled, “What Will an Entrepreneur’s Life Cost My Family?”

*Of course we officially have no idea to whom Ted might be referring above. Feel free to peruse the bios of our other esteemed faculty members if you’d like to hazard your own guess!

2012 Sales Challenge Champions

It’s easy to identify Acton’s most sacred traditions if you visit campus, because those highly-valued aspects of the school’s culture are literally part of the architecture. Carved in stone, etched in glass, hung from the ceiling, Acton’s mission, supporters, and rules of engagement are prominently and permanently displayed. As a student, there are only a few ways to get your name on a wall: You can win one of two coveted end-of-year awards…or you can be on the team that wins the Sales Challenge.

The Acton MBA curriculum is unique for its emphasis on first-class hands-on learning and simulations, and the Sales Challenge, which annually kicks off second semester, is one of the most powerful of these, and the only one whose victors are memorialized on the campus.

It’s difficult to discuss the Sales Challenge without sharing specifics or strategies with future competitors, but in brief, the class is split into teams and must sell items door-to-door. The team that sells the most product wins. Sounds simple, but in reality the Challenge is a divining rod, surfacing each student’s deeply held beliefs about sales and entrepreneurship, rejection and self-worth.

The Class of 2012 Sales Challenge winners were Kyle Davis, Brad Holden, Evan Sekulic, Richard Ure, and Evan Van Ness. Their rallying cry, crafted by Brad, was “Activity is the antidote to fear.” Here are some of their thoughts post-Challenge:

Brad’s quote really set the tone for the week. We decided that since we didn’t know what we were doing we better start right away so we had more time to iterate and find out what works! –Evan S.

We definitely tried to keep a positive attitude…We also eventually tried to help each person find their niche in selling, and we found that we all had different styles and beliefs that made us most effective in different situations…My biggest lesson learned was probably to watch any salesman in action before I hire them. –Evan V.

My main goal with the sales challenge was to play full out. I wanted to make sure that I was different at the end of the challenge as compared to when I started. I accomplished that!…Top lesson learned: We all improved immensely as the event went on. I attribute that to our positive attitude and our willingness to keep trying new things. It was a great experience! –Brad H.

Congratulations to the 2012 champions!

Sales Challenge Retrospective: One Year Later

The lessons learned from the Sales Challenge stick with you, whether you were on a winning team or not. Here’s what members of the Class of 2011 have to say, one year later.

It has helped me to be less scared of the prospect of sales, specifically cold sales. Perhaps more important for me, since I am not currently in a sales role, it increased my comfort with failure. I don’t think I have ever failed so hard, repeatedly, and consistently with something as I did with the sales challenge. But, as I went along, each failure bothered me less and less. … My top lesson learned was that you CANNOT let failure in sales affect your self esteem. I did so early, and I think it stayed with me. If I had to do sales for a job, that simply wouldn’t be an option. And when I one day start a business of my own, letting my failure to sell affect my self esteem is simply not an option. When it’s my business, I have to continue to believe in myself and my product, because it’s my product… If I let sales rejection affect me, my whole venture is doomed. I have to rely on my opportunity analysis and keep my head up, knowing that I will find customers who have a need for my product. –Nick Dyer

It has given me a benchmark to compare difficulty of sales processes. I sell intricate software packages, and when I get “down” on my sales process, I remember the sales challenge and how difficult it was. –Chase Nall

Top lesson learned [was] emotional control: It was humbling to be talked down to by so many people and frustrating…I had to press on to the next door regardless of how I felt post rejection. –Sam Whiteside

It taught me that behavior drives attitude. No matter how scared you are to knock on a door or make a phone call, if you push yourself to do it enough it will eventually not be scary anymore…I learned the importance of customer qualification and how a strong qualifying or disqualifying process can really focus and improve your sales efforts. –Charlie Nettles

[I’m] more apt to experiment when selling. [Top lesson learned is] the need for technique rather than shooting from the hip. –Dave Michaels

Targeting your sales funnel is better than being really persuasive. Great marketing leads to great buying discussions. I sold door-to-door for years as a Boy Scout so this was familiar territory, but not with such an expensive product. I thought I’d be good at it, but it was hard at first…took me a while to get back in the rhythm of selling. –Trafton Esler

It’s helped me get a little more comfortable presenting my business ideas to potential customers and business partners. It got me used to feeling nervous beforehand and during – yet still doing it…It is okay to feel nervous and uncomfortable when selling something. But that doesn’t mean it’s not something worth selling or that I can’t sell it. –Anonymous

Come to class. Class visits begin again on January 9. Watch the Class of 2012 wrestle case studies in the Pit. Second semester courses include Opportunity, Raising Money, Launch, Growth, People, and Harvest.

Attend an Info Session. The Spring Info Session is February 1 from 6-7:30 PM. Have your questions answered by current students, alumni, and teachers, and participate in a Socratic dialogue led by Acton founder Jeff Sandefer.

If you discover that Acton’s challenges are what you’ve been searching for, apply here by February 20th and you’ll know in March whether you’ll be a member of Acton’s inimitable Class of 2013. We have big plans for you…

1. Write your resolutions down. Whether your resolutions this year involve getting more organized or preventing a hostile take-over of your business, the simple act of writing them down can increase how much you accomplish by almost 20%. Goal setters in the DU study who put their personal business-related goals in writing achieved 61% of their goals, compared to those who only thought out their goals, who achieved 43%.
2. Tell a friend. Goal setters in the study who sent written goals and action commitments to a supportive friend achieved 64% of their stated objectives. (Interestingly, a group who formulated and wrote down action commitments but did not share any of their intentions with a friend achieved only 51% of their goals. Telling the friend is the important part here, not just writing down the action commitments.)
3. Keep that friend in the loop. Let your friend know how you’re doing with weekly progress reports. A weekly emailed check-in increased study participants’ goal achievement by another 12%, allowing them to accomplish an impressive 76% of their goals over the four-week time period.

Even more significant than the DU study’s observed 33% increase in achievement is the anecdotal evidence of combined lifetimes of successful entrepreneurs, which also teaches us that written goals, public commitment, and accountability are the tools to accomplish what we resolve. Participants in the Acton curriculums at both MyEJ and the Acton MBA program choose a Running Partner early in their entrepreneurial journeys, to make goal-setting more effective. So let the first resolution on your list this year be to choose a partner for accountability, with whom you’ll share your written goals and your (significantly increased) progress in making them realities.

Photo courtesy of Ludie Cochrane

While you’re at it, take a look at the library of 45 videos that we’ve uploaded over the years.

In addition to the series we’ve featured on this blog, like the Acton in the Wild videos, you’ll find playlists of Informational videos such as “A Day in the Life,” Alumni Testimonials, Simulation Exercises such as “Waterloo Call Center,” and Recruiting FAQ such as “How exactly does the Socratic method work at Acton?” from Susie’s Video Blog.

Subscribe to the channel to be notified of new installments!

The new section aims to test candidates’ ability to develop solutions to problems, a “microcosm of what you do in class” and in real-world business, according to GMAC CEO David Wilson. Whereas the current GMAT already allows schools to screen applicants for quantitative and verbal reasoning, the new format will give schools insight into applicants’ ability to interpret and work with data from multiple sources, and to formulate solutions based on that limited data.

The length of the test will remain 3.5 hours, and the Quantitative and Verbal scoring will remain the same. The 30 minute Integrated Reasoning section will simply replace one of the two Analytical Writing Assessments and, like the AWA, will be scored separately and will not be adaptive (the IR section questions won’t adjust based on your performance).

The new section consists of 12 questions of four types (Graphics Interpretation, Two-Part Analysis, Table Analysis, and Multisource Reasoning). It will be partly administered via headphones, testing candidates’ auditory learning style and the answers may be in multiple parts and in drop-down menus, rather than in standard multiple choice. Sample questions can be found here.

So, what does the change signify?

The GMAC added the Integrated Reasoning section in response to a 2009 survey of business school faculty who indicated that they increasingly want to admit students who can make real-world decisions with complex and limited information. These students have a better chance of success in the business school classroom, and a better chance of success in running real companies. More and more, b-schools are looking for the kinds of students Acton has always sought, and they can use the new section to screen for an aspect of entrepreneurial thinking.

In fact, in speaking about the GMAT changes, Dave Wilson goes on to suggest that the MBA student of the future is a “different, creative person,” that there will be more “musicians, artists,” and “more and more entrepreneurs.” (Watch Wilson’s interview here–the pertinent minutes are from 2:46 to 5:24.)

This potential trend in business education is great news for the economic future, since jobs and innovations are created by those who start and run businesses, and the better-prepared our entrepreneurs are, the more opportunities they’ll create.

But I wonder whether the typical, traditional business school is really prepared to teach the new student it hopes to attract? Entrepreneurs seeking MBA degrees are hard-pressed to find a curriculum that stresses doing rather than merely knowing, and that gives them opportunities for experiential learning in decision-making.

It is exciting to think that a more entrepreneurial GMAT points to a more entrepreneurial MBA student who will demand a more entrepreneurial education. And why stop at graduate education? Acton founder Jeff Sandefer recently spoke about a “tsunami of change” in education that will foster entrepreneurial thinking in students at every level.

What about the other days?  The gurus, whether entrepreneurial or spiritual, tell us that gratitude is a hallmark of fulfillment.  It’s hard to disagree with this wisdom, but it’s also hard to do anything with it.  Gratitude, as commonly defined, is a state of being—an emotion.  In any given moment you feel it or you don’t.  So is fulfillment available only to those who are naturally disposed toward feeling grateful, as happiness is available to those who are naturally disposed toward feeling happy?  Not fair.

And not true.  You can’t force yourself to feel gratitude, but you can force yourself to practice gratitude.  And practicing gratitude actually does lead to feeling grateful, in time. 

(I am told the same is true of exercise.  My excuse for lack of exercise is that it doesn’t feel good, and that I’d do it more often if it did.  Healthier and smarter people than I tell me that I need to go through the motions regardless of how it feels—and that eventually practice will lead to feeling will lead to actually craving exercise.)

Start today.  Practicing gratitude is easy in that it takes up very little of your time (let’s say 10 minutes a day) and requires only a writing or recording device.  It’s difficult for those of us who are out of the practice because it feels unnatural, silly, or stupid at first—pointless.  I promise you, there is a point.  It could be a week or six months from now, but there is a point at which practice begets genuine feeling.  And genuine feeling tends to demand expression.

To practice gratitude, simply start by making a list, once a day, of a handful of things you could be grateful for.  My lists were pretty lame, when I first started doing this.  In searching for things that a grateful-feeling person would be grateful for, I found I had to begin with things I didn’t have, as in, “I’m grateful no one ever abused me, I’m grateful I don’t have any broken bones or missing limbs…”  It took me a little while to start coming at it from the other end, “I’m grateful to have all of my limbs, I’m grateful to be able to see.”  And a while after that when I asked myself why I was grateful for eyesight anyway, I could discover, “I’m grateful for sunlight, I’m grateful for the color red, and kids smiling.” 

At some point making gratitude lists became easy, and the hard part became having this full-to-bursting feeling of gratitude and nothing to do with it.  That’s when I started writing letters and making phone calls and toasts to make sure that people who generated my gratitude received my thanks.  People aren’t too surprised to receive thank you notes when they’ve sent you a gift, but they don’t expect to get gratitude notes for their great sense of humor.  You’ll make some people feel shy with your expressions of gratitude, but keep it short and sweet and private for the people who need it that way and you’ll find willing recipients.

You’ll have to get creative about how to express gratitude for things of nature or circumstance.  If you’re grateful for trees or for your innate talent in math, thanking your sister might not be the most satisfying way to express it.  That’s when you thank your higher power, if you’ve got one.  And if you can’t express thanks, you give back—you plant a tree or tutor someone in math or write a poem.

But that’s for later.  For now, just phone it in, fake it ’til ya make it—-write down five things that you “should” be grateful for, and write down six tomorrow.  Happy Thanksgiving.

Photo courtesy of woodleywonderworks

Pay No Attention to the Man Behind the Curtain
CNBC Street Signs features Carl Schramm, CEO of the Kauffman Foundation and initiator of Global Entrepreneurship Week. After discussing the state of new business, Schramm suggests that the government ignore new companies for their first 3-4 years, collecting no taxes and enforcing no regulations. He also calls upon universities to reimburse tuition for graduates who create new jobs.

Game Changers
Last month Startup Open announced the winners of GEW 50, the fifty most game-changing startups launched between GEW 2010 and 2011. This week they announced that Kavita Shukla, founder of Fenugreen, and Jason Ethier, founder of Dynamo Micropower have won the top two prizes, an all-expenses-paid trip and VIP delegate credentials to participate in Liverpool’s Global Entrepreneurship Congress in March 2012 and one year of mentoring from Redbox founding members and serial entrepreneurs Michael DeLazzer and Biju Kulathaka.

Everybody’s Working for the Weekend
More than 50 cities will have hosted Startup Weekends bookending GEW 2011. Startup Weekends bring entrepreneurs together to take ideas from pitch to prototype, building teams and providing feedback needed for successful startup. The GEW Startup Weekends will be followed by the Global Startup Battle, pitting GEW winners from each city against each other for over $20,000 worth of championship prizes including professional services and international presentation opportunities. Winners will be announced on November 30.