Bill Acheson (VP & GM Services, Diebold Nixdorf) received his MBA 20 years ago and decided to update his skill set with courses from MIT Sloan Executive Education. His goal was to find new approaches and applications to benefit his organization. The pandemic provided a perfect opportunity to do so.

When the pandemic caused closures, he was already set up for remote work. At the same time, MIT Sloan Executive Education was able to quickly pivot to a new course delivery format, Live Online, which enabled participants to safely continue their education journeys. Bill was thrilled to have this option to help meet his education goals. However, Bill was also very excited once on-campus courses were able to run again and jumped at the opportunity to be in person. We sat down with Bill to ask about his experience in our courses firsthand.

Why did you choose MIT Sloan Executive Education over other schools?

“I’m responsible for bringing strategic initiatives to benefit our customers with the best possible experiences in our $1 billion+ Services business. I thought it was time to bring new ideas to the 150+ year old company. I want to grow by bringing outside ideas inside. When faced with this challenge, I was particularly inspired by MIT’s motto, Mens et Manus. Mens et Manus, meaning mind and hand, is the cornerstone of learning at MIT. To me, it’s not just about lifelong learning. Mottos and brands are often trite – innovation, our people, etc., but Mens et Manus is different. It’s not just learning – it’s applying.”

What learnings were you able to bring back to work?

“Thanks to my Executive Certificate journey, I bring new tools and approaches to challenges at work. Many people ask where I got these new skills … I’m not selfish … I share the learnings with the rest of the organization.

Whenever I complete a course, I implement ideas quickly and experiment. I always try to apply concepts within 60 days of exiting class—doesn’t always work the first time or the second.

I brought frameworks from Professor Nelson’s course [Visual Management for Competitive Advantage ] into the office as soon as I returned from MIT. I ordered hundreds of sticky notes and started showing my team ‘dynamic work design’. Our first workshop aligned the new team on critical priorities, with all stakeholders’ active participation and voices heard. Everyone was suddenly blown away by their own productivity.

Also, I created a OneNote and folder for all of my MIT-related notes and attachments. There’s a section labeled ‘to do’ to be able to reference ideas in real time.”

What would you tell someone who is thinking about pursuing a similar learning journey?

“It’s not about a piece of paper. Asking yourself the following questions: Do you want to grow? Do you want to improve your capabilities with an outside experience? Do you want to learn from some of the greatest minds? Do you want to deliver your current responsibilities better? Do you want to try something new – defined or exploratory? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the learning journey at MIT Sloan Executive Education is perfect for you.”

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