I view learning, and teaching, as the noblest pursuits in life. I believe that truly great teachers possess, and are driven by, elements of three complementary, but distinct, orientations: the need to use teaching to develop academic programs and help “change the world” (Crusaders); an inner drive for knowledge itself and a desire to share that knowledge with others (Artists); and the wish to deliver knowledge in the most efficient and effective way possible (Technicians).

In this context, I would classify myself primarily as an Artist, with a blend of the crusader and the technician in him. I have felt a love for learning blossom in me, beginning from as far back as I can remember, increasing in intensity throughout my life. I feel that I have been given a wonderful gift – a passion for discovery, a need to understand, a drive to challenge convention and wrestle with new ideas, and a hunger to create new insights. Teaching is the craft with which I express this gift artistically. Like so many other artists, I love to share what I discover or create, to inspire others to experience the same joy that I feel in my own intellectual endeavors. 

I firmly believe in the importance of technique in teaching, as well. Over the years, I have found that I am most effective when I teach through analogies and personal examples and experiences. I try to create a warm and comfortable learning environment, where learning is fun and students feel supported, encouraged and self-confident. I work hard to challenge them at the edge of knowledge and “coach” them in raising questions at that frontier. 

Part of teaching technique involves mastery of the most effective pedagogical tools. Notwithstanding my love of theory, I have always been a passionate advocate of the case method and the focus on practical knowledge applications. I have taught through Harvard Business School case analyses throughout my entire career, and have written cases for marketing texts. More recently, I have begun to incorporate the use of newer technologies, such as Internet assignments and decision support tools. In some of my classes, I use a set of decision support systems that a group of my colleagues and I have developed over the past ten years through competitive grants I have received from federal agencies. 

Another part of my technique involves the integration of my own learning into my teaching. I believe that a truly great teacher must be involved in the knowledge frontiers of his/her discipline. Not only does this make the knowledge live and take on perspective, but it causes the teacher to radiate excitement about the new discoveries that are moving that discipline. This excitement, in turn, increases students' desire to model the teacher's passion and intellectual behavior; it moves them to question those discoveries.