Opportunity cost

This week I officially authorized my resignation from the military after 10 years of service. It's something extremely difficult to do because the military is more than a job; it's an identity and a way of life. It can be an agonizing transition to walk away from the service, its mission, its people, its sense of purpose, and its history.

I turned in my original resignation in January. In an effort to retain me, several weeks ago the military offered to both pay for HBS as well as full salary during my two years of study. The catch? 4.5 years of commitment on the back side.

I have done a lot of soul searching about this option, and queried many opinions. Some said I would be a fool to not take the offer. Others said the opportunity cost of 4.5 years would just be too high. Opportunity cost is a term I am quickly learning to appreciate.

Earlier in my life I could pursue one path without necessarily closing the door to another. For example, I could serve in the military and still be a doctor, a lawyer, or a businessman later. I could move to one country, and still expect to eventually establish roots in another. As one becomes older and more experienced, options may be more abundant, but choosing one option inherently negates many others. The post-HBS 4.5 year commitment would take me into my late 30s, and essentially negate many opportunities coming out of HBS. On the other hand, it's very plausible to return to the military should I change my mind in two years.

When weighing my options, I considered two key points:

• The opportunity cost of 4.5 years of my life versus that of several hundred thousand dollar investment in me today. Of the two options, I believe the 4.5 years is a riskier proposition.
• The assumption that I can serve as a greater agent of change in this world coming out of HBS than I can following my current path in the military.
  

That analysis represents a judicious approach; it does not take into account the emotional and mental aspect of saying goodbye to such an integral part of one's life. Only time will tell if my leap of faith is wise, but that's the risk I have decided to take.

Finding your way versus making your way

I just finished reading "Ahead of the Curve" by Philip Delves Broughton. Philip did not find what he was looking for at HBS. He learned a lot about business, but got neither a summer internship nor a job offer coming out of school. His internal struggle to find a successful career yet not follow the corporate path drew him in two directions that he could not bridge. I looked him up online and it seems he has gone back (for now) to what he was doing before: conventional journalism.

Phlip and I have several things in common, so learning from his experience is very valuable. For one, we are a similar age entering HBS. For another, we are both leaving a highly successful career that we enjoyed greatly. I can't speak for Philip, but for those wondering why one would leave such a career; careers change and evolve, and although you enjoyed getting to a certain point, it doesn't mean you will enjoy getting to the next.

When I started applying to HBS I thought that business school would be a great way to "find my way." It would be a great forum for a career transition. While the latter is true, taking it for granted is a mistake. Although, HBS can be used to "find your way," its benefits are exponentially leveraged if one instead uses it to "make your way." This may sound like a serious statement from somebody who hasn't even began school yet, but that is my point. The earlier one starts to plan his career, months before school starts, the better off he will be. It's not necessary, but it adds an advantage.

I've long stripped the idea that my two years at school will be used to find my way to a new career. I'm now very proactive in searching and learning about different career opportunities, and I haven't even signed a lease in Cambridge yet.

In the military one starts out as an expert and becomes a generalist as he moves up the ranks. In business, the trend appears to be mostly the opposite. The sooner one can get himself in the right business lane, the further that road will take him.

About me and this blog

My military career provided me with profound fulfillment, satisfaction, and progressive growth. Sooner or later though as one advances through the military ranks, he is "developed" (i.e. forced promotion) into more senior positions - positions that may not be well aligned with one's passions. Positions that are more and more detached from the military' greatest assets: its actual troops.

The best way to explain this is through a simple analogy: a Captain is like a quarterback of a NFL football team. He is in the prime of his physical career and competing in the most prominent league of his profession. First he leads his team through intense training, and then he leads them in the field of battle to spectacular achievement and success. But like the NFL quarterback, a military officer can only lead on the field for so long. Those who decide to stay in the military enter "staff" and can progress to senior positions equivalent to offensive coordinator, head coach, and maybe even General Manager. These are critical positions with great responsibility, but few NFL quarterbacks joined the NFL to play from the sideline. And so, with my options quickly narrowing, I sought to find an alternative. Where else can I possibly replicate the kind of fulfillment and satisfaction that comes from directly leading some of the military's most elite soldiers during challenging and intense missions throughout the world? Where else can I serve as an agent of change and have the greatest possible impact? These were questions I struggled with for years as I knew the day of reckoning would eventually come - and this is something I and many others still struggle with.

Life has a very strange and unpredictable way of unfolding. Most of us will probably meet our spouse by complete coincidence. How else would our lives have looked if we never crossed paths? Perhaps one got his first big job because of a random rendezvous with old alumni. How else would his career have looked if he stayed at home that day? Like evolution, our lives often change with leaps and bounds.

In the spring of 2008 I was in Iraq, reading many books on the side as deployed soldiers commonly tend to do. One of the books particularly peeked my interest. I thought it was extremely well written and addressed topics I had never been exposed to. It excited me academically and sparked dreams I had never imagined. As I finished the book and put it back on my plywood and sandbag shelf, I noticed the small Harvard Business School Press logo on the binding and thought "hmm... if that's the kind of stuff they teach at Harvard Business School, that sounds like a pretty interesting place." And with that the seed was planted. Over the next 6 months this seed would grow into a burning desire fueled by the excitment and challenge HBS offers, and the career that it might enable. A career I hope will come close to the level of satisfaction and fulfillment that Marines and Soldiers experience leading others through adversity and making a difference in the world.