My dissertation adviser, in contrast to his optimistic demeanor, embraced the harsh “VUCA” reality of our macro-environment—volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The pandemic heightened the jarring VUCAness of our times. With every news of death—be it our loved ones or even our favorite establishments—the world seems to impose its will of stopping its movement. We are left struggling to find balance. Do we stop, grieve and dwell on recent memories before they become distant nostalgia? Or do we march forward, carry our Sisyphean boulders, and attempt to find meaning in this most absurd situation?
Teaching management online truly felt like carrying a Sisyphean boulder. Just as I felt momentum adjusting to new pedagogical platforms, there would be internet and technical interruptions. When it felt like I am about to hit my stride, I would encounter draining news like loved ones getting infected with COVID. Most heartbreaking would be hearing news of death.
Numerous times, I had to cancel my online classes. Maybe I felt worse than Sisyphus; at least he gets to carry his boulder near the top of his hill. Whereas for me, there were dark days when the boulder felt too heavy and too heartbreaking. As I attempt to teach management, I struggle to find authenticity as an ‘expert.’ I do not know management formulas to solve this pandemic. I feel challenged balancing grief, rest and progress.
During these times, I wonder how my dissertation adviser did it: how can he remain so optimistic yet so accepting of our VUCA reality? As our Ph.D. professor, he made statistics easier to understand and eased our quantitative research method anxieties. As our former Dean, he had this undeniable charisma that made it easy for my colleagues to approach him yet respect him to the fullest.
Perhaps the secret to his optimism lies in his talent for building authentic human connections. Every statistics lesson was an opportunity to brainstorm (and even laugh at!) potential dissertation topics. Every administrative meeting was a coaching session for our personal and career development. I realize that rediscovering optimism in a dire situation is not about knowing details, formulas, or specific answers. It is about empowering each other to enjoy the duality of the learning process: trial and error, success and failure. I realize that optimism means being comfortable with not knowing the answers right away. Optimism happens not despite, but because of sober awareness of this VUCA times while virtuously choosing to be human for others.
As I continue to carry this Sisyphean boulder of authentically teaching management online, I realize that pedagogy should not be dictated by topic coverage and quantity of requirements. Perhaps the key to the authentic teaching of management lies in a brand of optimism that puts faith in the power of authentic human connections and our ability, as a collective, to be resilient.
I write this piece in honor of Dr. Brian C. Gozun(+), my dissertation adviser, and former Dean of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business at De La Salle University. We will always be inspired by his legacy and optimism.
The author is an assistant professor from the Management and Organization Department, Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. He advocates humanistic management and social entrepreneurship as head of the Social Enterprise Research Network of the Center for Business Research and Development and a committee member of the Lasallian Social Enterprise for Economic Development committee at De La Salle University. patrick.aure@dlsu.edu.ph
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the position of De La Salle University, its faculty, and its administrators.