The next phase
What happens after a PhD
My daughter made this sign for me 3 years ago.
After defending my PhD thesis on Monday, it has become a reality:
The sign was a daily reminder, sitting on my desk, encouraging me to keep going. It worked.
Here are a few things I learned from doing a PhD:
1) Doing a PhD is really hard.
The rigour and depth of the research were, at times, mind-numbing. It was a lesson in tenacity and the value of keeping going even when it was tedious.
2) Doing a PhD is really valuable.
It teaches a way of thinking that highlights leaders sometimes cut too many corners in their decision-making. Pragmatism is always important, but I now expect more robustness and depth from myself and others.
3) Great research rarely hits the mainstream.
This was my greatest surprise. As someone generally interested in new business ideas, I was shocked to learn how many research papers get stuck in academia and receive just hundreds of views (this post, for example, will reach many thousands). This is a treasure trove, and I will use my platform here to share the best research I find.
So, now it’s done, what should I do with it?
I see little point in having my research sit on the shelf in my office. This was never the plan.
Instead, I will share what I found, learned and concluded on LinkedIn, on my personal website, and on a (to be launched) dedicated website on Thematic Strategy.
I’ll start tomorrow.
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