From PA to the World: GSB getting Touchy Feely

There are a lot of reason to be at Stanford. Some say it's being close to potential investors, other say it's because you can come to class with a tank top and yet others because they want to take classes with Condi.

A reason that always comes up though, is that Stanford helps you become a better person. Person could be substituted with entrepreneur, manager, social worker, consultant, PE guy, husband, wife, father, sibling. Well, in the end it's all just persons. But how is that actually done? Through a lot of things, but first and foremost through a flagship class. A class that has been taught for more than 60 years and that is always named when talking about the transformational Stanford experience.

Touchy Feely

Or "Interpersonal Dynamics"

The goal of this class is to make you more aware of yourself, to understand and articulate your emotions and to be willing to bring your true self to the table. It is like a leadership class, and like an OB class, and like a sociology class. And like therapy I guess.

I have Touchy Feely on Tuesdays from 3pm -10pm. First 3 hours lecture, then 4 hours T-Group. Let me describe T-Group for you:

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It is unstructured conversation. And it can look different every time. And sometimes there is silence.

Basically you talk, and then you talk about how others feel when you talk, and then you talk about how you feel about what others feel when you talk. And so on. And in the end you realize that you are afraid of letting go of control. Or that you are afraid of taking risks. I am not there yet, but I have actually learned a fair bit already.

The class might actually be really helpful later on. One always talks and people always listen, so it might come in handy to understand why one says the things one says and how others feel about when one does this.

A more comprehensive overview about the class is probably this here.

Whats happened besides that? Well, a lot of class. But better classes than last quarter. So thumbs up for that. I moved from big parties to smaller wine/cheese/gin tonic evenings. Thumbs up as well.

Oprah was on campus. Big deal for Americans. Smaller deal for the rest.

Oh and I am realizing that time actually moves really fast. And I need to sleep more. 5 hours are not enough. I realized this because my left eye lid started twitching. A fairly random thing to write I guess. Should be an indicator that its time to stop. Which I will do. Now!

Cheers + bis bald,
TIM