Cog In Training ..... What the?

So I don’t really have anything related to the purpose of this blog to write, but I want to get into the habit….. So here is some semi-related information.

I thought I would briefly describe why this blog is called “CogInTraining”. It’s really not that good of a name but naming things has always been a week point of mine. This name comes from an inside joke between myself and a coworker at my student jobs. We spent quite a lot of time discussing the characteristics of the students at the business school (FYI we at one time or another interacted with almost every student at this school). While working we would over hear their conversations. Most of the conversations revolved around getting into a corporate settings and working for large companies. We started to think of these people as training to become interchangeable parts within corporate machines. Later we decided that they weren’t just any parts but cogs.

Now it’s not that we have any real disdain for anyone. It’s more that we saw a lack of reasoning behind why people were as focused on some goals and why so many had such similar – even in some cases identical – attitudes about becoming successful in corporate America. It’s amusing because when you go to any of the other colleges on campus most people (even though they should be more concerned) don’t generally look for jobs or know what exactly what they want to do. There are exceptions, people who go on to be lawyers, engineer, doctors, or other professionals know what they want to do but generally are as singularly minded as the business students we encountered.

One item that I should note is that I am talking about my classmates here, and I was sometimes guilty of similar thinking. During job hunting season (always in the fall, that’s right a year ahead of time) I was as guilty as anyone about talking about this interview, that company, or who could help me talk to the right people. I also spent a lot of time going to info sessions for companies, sending e-mails, and looking at job postings. So I would have to say that I am guilty of some of the same behavior that we like to joke about. But that’s ok, I’ll admit the hypocrisy. So now I joke that I am just one of those who is in training to be a Cog.

Now for my personal disclaimer: I do think that my attitude overall was different, at least different from the worst offenders in the school. One of the reasons I took Political Science as ½ of my degree was to get some perspective. I got this in volume from these classes. I also carried a Union card for more than three years, if anyone can put some non-business ideas into your head it’s a Union! LOL. Finally as a returning student I was generally 3-6 years older than my classmates, this will make a difference in your outlook (trust me when your 26/27 there is a bit of a difference). I was/am able to see more sides to any situation than just the profit or margin. My goals aren’t just to make money and move up the corporate ladder – I will do this along the way – but to have some adventures and unique experiences. I think I’m lucky to have gotten a job in consulting and think it will let me do this.

Anyway here is my own joke about being a Business/PoliSci major