A Sailor's reflections on an MBA programme...

In January 2021, with some trepidation at the prospect of ‘going back to school’, I began a part-time Executive MBA programme with Cranfield School of Management. Having recently handed in my final piece of coursework a few weeks ago, this felt like a timely moment to reflect on what I had gained from the experience whilst my recollections were still fresh. Whilst the military have a number of avenues open for Masters level mid-career education, MBA programmes remain difficult to access and perhaps now harder still as I understand the programme at Cranfield School of Management is, sadly, now no longer being run for students from across Defence.?

That is a shame (if understandable given budgetary pressures) as an MBA programme differs from other Masters level programmes in both the sheer breadth of topics covered and the amount of assessed group work (and associated team skills that promotes) necessary to complete the programme.?Moreover, it also allows access to a more diverse set of perspectives than is ordinarily the case of military institutions which, arguably, still remain somewhat closed off from the broader professional UK societies we serve.

The programme itself covered significant ground (I recall one of the teaching staff in the first phase proudly noting that we covered more teaching credits that a ‘standard’ masters, which at the time, I didn’t necessarily recall as especially good news!).?Over the course of two years we covered 22 modules and the experience was made more intense by the fact that we would always have at least two modules (with attendance reading and assessed coursework) running concurrently throughout. We were also required to undertake three days on campus per month during the programme for face to face tuition, though the Covid pandemic meant much of the tuition was delivered remotely during the various lockdowns of 2021.?All of this added up to a being a significant commitment for a student cohort who already had demanding day jobs and were often at a point in their personal lives where young families were also a factor.

This wasn’t my first ‘part-time educational rodeo’. I arrived armed with the knowledge that part-time study is hard work (my first degree is with the Open University and I once memorably had to write an essay on the Russian Revolution whilst my wife and friends disappeared to a Cypriot beach party…) and that any MBA programme is notorious for being full on and pretty relentless in terms of the workload. On meeting my course-mates I was immediately struck by the diverse nature of my fellow students (the majority of whom were civilians from an interestingly and accomplished array of backgrounds) and, early on, hit with the realisation that it was unlikely I was going to be that ‘smartest person in the room’.?Whilst a brief punch to the ego, this was of huge value as it meant I had a rich environment in which to benefit and grow.

So what did I learn? From a military viewpoint I initially wondered about the utility of some of the modules – after all, aspects like marketing and accounting are not disciplines many military officers need to call on routinely.?And yet the surprise was that I was consistently wrong and understanding such skill-sets can add value in the military environment as much as it can in a commercial one. For example – marketing could be viewed as selecting and understanding your audience and then communicating a message relevant to that audience.?I found the principle of market segmentation especially interesting in that regard. In such a context, Defence is an increasingly complex endeavour where gaining influence and building ‘market share’ in the thought-leadership and transformation/ change spaces can be slippery areas in which to gain traction. Arguably this becomes more important the higher one goes in Defence because the work becomes ever more greatly conducted through matrix-management and complex programmes rather than, as is often misconceived, a stereotyped ‘barking of military orders’.

There were other surprises – I (complacently) headed into the Supply Chain module assuming there was little new I could learn as a military Logistics Officer with over two decades of experience and having served at almost all levels of the value chain (and in two of our three armed forces to boot!).?Instead, case studies looking at how fast-fashion had successfully integrated upstream and downstream logistics to improve the competitive advantage of the business was fascinating and provided a refreshing perspective on how both the Defence supply chain and acquisition cycles work at a macro level and would benefit from such comparisons. I left the module with a new appreciation of the end to end supply chain and an understanding of how other sectors had successfully optimised their operations accordingly. That there are lessons for Defence in such respects is certain and I was struck by the critical importance of ensuring a supply chain was optimised to directly support the strategic business objectives of the organisation.?Given world events, this has never been more important and the supply chain looms large around questions of national resilience in a way it hasn’t done for quite some time.

Meanwhile, other disciplines were wholly new to me.?The negotiation module underscored the science behind breaking into a win-win space and highlighted the value of prior preparation and seeking understanding of your ‘opponents’ position rather than assuming an adversarial exchange is inevitable. The final assessed exercise saw us take part in a simulation where we sold fictional airliners to each other in syndicates and those who did best understood the need to ‘give a little to get a little’. ?Again, such skills are extremely useful given the degree of contractorization now evident across UK Defence and where such contracts cannot possibly cover every eventuality that may be faced in times of crisis. Being able to step back and understand where compromise can be reached is therefore a useful skill.?Similarly important is knowing when you must cut your losses.

Other modules were similarly interesting and standouts included the mock press conference where we had to justify an outbreak of serious food poisoning on our fictional cruise ships. This scenario was made all the more real by the presence of real-life journalists on the media panel and I think it’s fair to say that each of the syndicates was left a little bruised by an experience that brought to bear the reality of scenarios where things have gone wrong and the media scrutiny becomes intense!

Lastly, the organisation behaviour module was worthy of mention.?I am apparently an INTJ (the ‘architect’ type) in myers-briggs typology (which may, as an introverted type, explain my need to recharge away from others periodically) and an ‘owl’ (very much aware but not an active participant unless necessary!) in matters of organisational politics.?Such psychometrics and coaching in how to get the best from others (and indeed ourselves) who may have different strengths and weaknesses to myself was fascinating and underscored the fact that people are complex and any one management style is always going to be insufficient if not allied with other approaches as required.?In hindsight, such lessons are delivered during our basic officer training courses, but with such experiences some years in the rear-view mirror at my own stage, a mid-career reminder is a timely one.

The teaching and support team at Cranfield were exemplary and faculty put on a first-class educational tour de force.?But the real standouts were my six colleagues (and I am proud to say friends) in ‘Grey Stream, Group 6’ shown in the article cover picture.?I owe a debt of thanks to the small syndicate I stayed with throughout this two year journey, whether that was offering support, being patient when I was slow on the uptake, good times in the student union bar at Cranfield or helping me get through modules that were tough for a confessed Excel ab initio (the thought of calculating discounted cashflows or the weighted average cost of capital still brings me out in a cold sweat!).

Working with such a gifted group of people with such a diverse set of backgrounds was in of itself an education and a real privilege.?I am also grateful to the Royal Navy for both sponsoring me through the programme and giving me the time to attend Cranfield campus for the tuition days; the Armed Forces remains a challenging and varied career choice – as showcased by this outstanding opportunity - and I would recommend an MBA experience to any of my military colleagues.