Grazie

I would like to extend my deepest congratulations to those graduates of 2020 (of which I too hail as I just completed my doctorate in Management and Sustainable Systems from Case Western Reserve University). It is a piquant experience, looking forward to the completion of something challenging and exhausting only to have the celebration fall a bit short. I am sad, not only because my 'goodbyes' were truncated but also because my 'thank yous' were, too. So, for me, I'm looking to spread some thank yous to those who have helped me along my recent journey. Below please see the acknowledgment section of my dissertation. This is only a start as I have students, and friends and colleagues to extend this same sentiment to as well.

Acknowledgment

I would be woefully remiss if I did not thank, effusively, my most supportive friend, partner, inspiration and wife Jenifer who has without fail listened for over 20 years to my loud passions bounce off the walls without judgment and with only love and support. This journey has been massively nutritive to my evolution as a thinker, citizen, and teacher. You, my dear, however, have made me something profound, a far better man. Thank you for enduring my gripes, the rearing of my less than charismatic insecurities and stressed out doppelgangers and for creating a home for me, where-ever we are, that nurtures me to my soul. I, like the ancient Aristophanes states in Plato’s Symposium, have found a true other half in you.

To my silly, squirmy, fantastic boys, Henry and Samuel,

Thank you for letting your dad learn alongside you in libraries and cars and baseball fields.

At your current, respective ages, where views tend to focus internally, perhaps one day you will read this tome or some other writings of mine and be able to decipher from this academic verse a subtext that, ultimately, I wish to make the world a better place—for you specifically. I have prayed quietly since your respective births that you live only ‘long, happy and healthy lives.’ This quest to better myself is in service to you two. Your ability to harbor both brain spheres, the empathetic (my favorite) and the analytical (my new friend) is inspirational to me. The new world that awaits you will not always hug you but it will surely challenge you. Thank you for letting me out of your direct ‘orbits’ these past three years. You may never quite know how much you have influenced me, but here’s an attempt…

Henry Atticus,

your ability to take on work, go at it full-force and ‘get it done’ helped me write on days I didn’t want to, read on days I wished to be swept into various other riptides, and ‘get it done’ on days that I merely wanted to do anything but. Your ability to see the best in me and in those around you illuminates the world.

Samuel Linus,

you are my intellectual hero. As much as we have in common, you stand alone in your ability to share your beautiful mind with a variety of interests. Your ability to play the trumpet, throw curveballs, create gorgeous ceramics, fix everything that needs an engineer’s eye, or find a cool angle to what others may find banal is a constant reminder to me that the world is a beautiful, beautiful place, full of wonder, joy, art, music, knowledge, and kindness.

Thanks, too, goes to my jazz family especially Wynton Marsalis and Albert Murray whose wisdom harkened me into manhood with style and in the groove. The books, and in turn ideas you shared with me have been my spine, supporting my movement ever since. Your artistry, but especially, your artistry in service to understanding and bettering the human condition has inspired me in my small way to take up the same fight. The blues you taught me will continue to provide me a 12-bar framework, a solace in the valleys, and a means of appreciating the delights to come.

For my Case Western and Columbia Coaching Families, thank you Richard Boyatzis, Ph.D. for welcoming me into your intellectual genealogy, I plan to make you proud. Angel and Rick—the brotherhood—you may very well be the best thing that came from all this. Dr. Terry Maltbia your agility to dance between the worlds of the practitioner and scholar continues to inspire me.

THANK YOU ALL...

#costefficiency #returns