Personal Blog

Here is my personal blog, including trips we have taken and other random thoughts. I also have a more extensive blog covering electric vehicles, sustainable energy, peak oil, global warming and other topics.

Blog: Presidio Reputation

Posted by: Max Dunn on December 30, 2008 10:20:02

A friend was asking me about the reputation of the Presidio Sustainable MBA program in the greater business community, and this is what I replied:

First off, inside the community Presidio does have a very good reputation. One reason is that Hunter Lovins is a professor there and is famous for co-writing "Natural Capitalism". Also, Presidio seems to be the top sustainability MBA program, maybe even a little more respected than Bainbridge and Dominican. Outside of these three that were designed with sustainability woven throughout the entire curricula, the other programs seem to be more traditional MBAs with some sustainability thrown in.

Secondly, since the Presidio program is new - only starting its first Sustainable MBA class in 2004 - it will be years before they have been around long enough to build up a strong reputation in the greater business community. Certainly schools that have been around for a long time like Stanford, Harvard and Berkeley will always have higher reputations and the big, traditional firms will focus on recruiting graduates from there. So if you want a job with Citibank, Lehman Bros, AIG, or another top-notch firm, then the traditional business schools are the way to go. ;-) But if a company is looking for someone that can help with sustainability issues to reduce costs while also helping the environment, they will likely recruit at Presidio rather than Harvard. So while Presidio might not be as well known now, as sustainable issues become more and more important, their reputation will grow.

Lastly, it is true that if you say that you have an MBA from Stanford, people go "Ahh" but if you say you have an MBA from Presidio, they ask "What's that?". But in the end, I decided that reputation didn't matter that much to me. I didn't want to spend 2 years engulfed by people that just wanted to make as much money as they could, but instead wanted to be immersed with people that were passionate about being involved with businesses that would make the world a better place. I also didn't want to spend 2 years learning about classic business theory which got us into this financial mess in the first place, but instead wanted to learn the next generation of sustainable business theory that will produce a businesses that are resilient to turbulent times and that our grandkids would be proud of.

So it is a good question on whether to opt for a traditional MBA program that has strong credibility or to take a chance on a "startup" sustainable MBA program that isn't as well known. However for me, the credibility of the program wasn't as important as what I would learn and who I would be around.

Blog: Presidio Sustainable MBA Acceptance

Posted by: Max Dunn on December 30, 2008 10:00:39

It has been a lifelong goal of mine to get an MBA. However, for years I was busy starting and running 4 businesses so when I finally retired in 2005 and looked at the traditional MBA curriculum, there was not much there that I didn't already know. But then last year, I picked up a brochure about the Bainbridge MBA at the Green Fair and became intrigued by the idea of a green MBA.

The Bainbridge program looked great, but it seemed hypocritical to fly to Washington once a month for a "sustainable" MBA program. So I started looking for one closer to home and found the Presidio School of Management in San Francisco.

The Presidio program is a "startup" and had its first class in 2004. What attracted me is that sustainable issues are woven throughout all curricula, rather than being confined to a few extra classes. So for instance in economics, they teach standard economic theory, like how GDP counts a heart attack the same as installing solar panels, but then continue talking about ways of evaluating the benefits of these money flows differently. Also they cover the basic accounting principles, but then go on to teach how to account for the "three P's": profit, people and planet. Now this is something that is interesting to me!

So I applied to the program and on December 18th, heard:

Congratulations! You have been accepted into the MBA in Sustainable Management program at Presidio School of Management for Spring 2009.

The orientation is on January 14th and the residency weekend starts right after that, so I am excited to be starting right away!

Blog: Emotion Matrix

Posted by: Max Dunn on December 17, 2008 09:14:34

Often we think of emotions in a one-dimensional way, like thinking of a person as being either happy or sad or somewhere in between. But in reality, I think emotions are much more complex and are produced by the interaction of several different moods. For instance, if someone is sad and tired, these moods will combine to produce depression. But if someone is sad and energetic, it will likely produce an anxious state.

Here is a matrix that illustrates these combinations:

	Tired	Energetic
Sad	Depressed	Anxious
Happy	Kick-back	Manic

These interactions are actually continuous, so if someone is happy and in between tired and energetic, it will likely manifest itself as being bored. This produces a whole range of emotions as the various moods change subtly.

There are lots of other mood interactions as well. For instance, acceptance/anger versus tired/energetic. The important point is that emotions are not simply one-dimensional but interact with other moods to produce new emotions and if we want to fully understand emotions, we need to consider these interactions.

Blog: Overcoming Gender Differences with Couples Communicati

Posted by: Max Dunn on November 18, 2008 08:50:40

My friend, Janelle Tamm, wrote a very interesting paper for her Master's Thesis about gender differences in couple's communication (see below).

One very interesting conclusion is that she found men tend to communicate for information while women tend to communicate for connection. This was an "aha" moment for me because I finally realized why my wife sometimes comes home and starts talking about some random topic, and why I get impatient waiting for her to get to the point. It is just that she is trying to connect with me through conversation while I am just expecting her to convey information. So now that I realize this, I am better able to relax when talking with Suzanne and just enjoy the interaction.

There are also a lot of good insights here into workplace communication between men and women and pitfalls to avoid. Highly recommended!

Blog: Purpose of Recessions

Posted by: Max Dunn on November 18, 2008 08:22:45

I have been reading Stratfor for a a year now, and am always impressed by their knowledge, insight and ability to communicate clearly on world affairs. Their latest post "On G-20 and GM: Economics, Politics and Social Stability" contained this nugget of harsh, but true wisdom:

This is what recessions are supposed to do. As in China and everywhere else, recessions reveal weak businesses and destroy them, freeing up resources for new enterprises.

Blog: Campaign Contribution Limits

Posted by: Max Dunn on November 4, 2008 07:54:10

While it is a noble cause to try to reform campaign financing so that money doesn't play as big a role, it is also a futile cause. No matter how tightly contributions are restricted, there will always be a way around it. For instance, instead of contributing directly to the candidate, contributions can be made to their party. Or better yet, pick an issue that defines the candidate's stance and contribute a lot of money to that issue. There currently are no limits on this type of contribution and there won't be - because this would be a restriction on free speech.

While this has been rather a theoretical issue in the past, this year it became a reality in California. Proposition 8 is a highly divisive issue and is serving to energize conservative voters to turn out to the polls. So if someone wanted to do more for conservative candidates and has already maxed out on their direct contributions, they can simply contribute to this proposition. Over $35 million dollars was spent by both sides on this proposition - more than any other proposition and more than spent on most campaigns.

So in the end, trying to limit campaign contributions is a futile cause and we should instead concentrate on making it easier for all politicians to raise money in a way that guarantees transparency, rather than forcing them to go through this type of subterfuge which ultimately serves to hide the source of campaign financing.

Blog: Mozy Backup

Posted by: Max Dunn on November 3, 2008 11:50:04

People sometimes ask me what backup system I use. I certainly have used many over the years including tape drive and floppy disks. However, now I prefer to backup my files offsite and use an automated program to do it called Mozy. Mozy works great - it automatically finds most of the files you will want to backup and then just does it automatically. They even have a free service for about to 2Gb. If you want to signup, use the link below and then I will get some extra backup space too!

Mozy Signup

Blog: Gocart Racer

Posted by: Max Dunn on October 31, 2008 15:19:36

Ok, I have to brag a little. Today at Gocart Racer, I got a pretty good cart and scored some good times. My buddy Chris did beat me, but I got the second best time of the month!

Top 100 Racers of the Month For October 2008 Track 1(Monza)

Date as of 10/31/2008

Rank	Racer	LapTime	R.P.M.	Date	City
1	Chris Depuy	28.943	3136	10/31/2008	Hillsborough
2	Max Dunn	29.064	2645	10/31/2008	San Jose
3	Matt Robison	29.351	2956	10/31/2008	San Francisco
4	Dan Lassen	29.581	3090	10/17/2008	Santa Rosa
5	Alex Ratcliffe	30.760	1467	10/14/2008	Berryville
6	Michael Cardozo	30.774	2078	10/17/2008	SANTA ROSA
7	Zach Younker	30.874	2229	10/04/2008	Sunnyvale
8	Chris Vannoy	31.018	1421	10/16/2008	Napa
9	Nick Binkley	31.131	1959	10/04/2008	santa clara

Blog: Buffet Investment Advice

Posted by: Max Dunn on October 23, 2008 10:40:42

In today's volatile market, it is easy to be fearful and want to sell in case the market goes down further. However, Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha,” has often been quoted for his investment philosophy, “Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.” Buffett said he’s buying U.S. stocks for his personal portfolio to the extent that they will soon comprise 100 percent of his account. So maybe this is the time to be greedy and hold on in the expectation that stocks will soon rise back up again.

Blog-Powering the Future

Posted by: Max Dunn on August 21, 2008 19:00:24

This was the last in the series of outdoor science talks at the Cantor Arts Center (EVT 173). I wasn't able to make it to the others ones - or wasn't interested in the topic. Most of the information was review, but it was interesting to hear about the work Stacey's group is doing with thin-film CZTS technology.

Max S. Dunn

...when there is a will, there is a way