2019 was another exciting year at MIT Sloan Executive Education, from the innovative new programs added to our portfolio to new books by our faculty. But this year also saw a unique milestone worth celebrating—the completion of the 1000th Advanced Certificate for Executives in Management, Innovation, and Technology (ACE). The auspicious achievement was shared by two executives completing their requirements on the same day: Kevin Fee and Matthias Gramer.
The ACE is a special Executive Certificate for participants who attend 25 program days and complete at least two programs from each Executive Certificate track within a four-year period. (At least 10 program days must be completed on-site versus through an online course.) It is designed for executives from any industry or level of responsibility who see the value of staying current with the latest thought leadership, management insights, and business expertise provided by MIT Sloan.
“We got a cake and an MIT hoodie … and a big party, which is normal for MIT,” joked Matthias, who is Head of Provision and Maintenance for the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (the largest railway company in Europe).
Matthias’ original plan, more than a year ago, was to earn an executive MBA in Europe. The demands of his job, however, made that unfeasible. “I wanted something else, something out of the box that would allow me to choose the specific courses I wanted,” said Matthias. “I was looking all over Europe and Asia until a colleague told me about MIT Sloan Executive Education and the ACE.”
Matthias started his programs in October 2018, enrolling in a mix of week-long and two-day courses, one of which was Visual Management for Competitive Advantage: MIT’s Approach to Efficient and Agile Work (previously called Implementing Improvement Strategies: Dynamic Work Design). “This was the perfect start to my MIT experience. The course combined Lean, Six Sigma, and other methods for improving the way a company works, from an employee-centric perspective."
As he attended courses throughout the year, Matthias marveled at the incredible diversity of the participants, as well as the common threads that connected them. “In one course I shared a table with someone who worked on stealth bombers, a woman from the social security agency of Uganda, and a senior supply chain executive with the U.S. army. We saw that we all have the same problems, just different environments and different approaches to solve them. It was amazing talking about solutions with them.”
Matthias earned his Executive Certificate in Technology, Operations, and Value Chain Management in November of 2018, followed by his ACE in June. He has since returned to MIT to complete his Strategy and Innovation Certificate requirements as well, and he intends to take an additional program to complete the Management and Leadership Certificate.
“It was difficult to travel, to adjust to time zones, to speak and listen in English the entire time. But my MIT experience also felt like a vacation in some ways. I’d spend a week at a time in Cambridge, go for runs around the Charles River, and stay on campus until evening. My mind was stretched. I connected with great people, ideas, concepts, and MIT professors. I always came home mentally refreshed.”
Kevin Fee would agree with Matthias that earning his ACE was as fun as it was challenging. Kevin completed eight courses on campus and one program online over the course of two years to earn his ACE, as well as an Executive Certificate in each of our three tracks. He is currently Vice President of Engineering for Florence Corporation, where he is responsible for overseeing the engineering functions, including R&D, design engineering, and manufacturing engineering. Florence Corporation is the leading manufacturer and supplier of centralized smart lockers and mailboxes in the US.
Kevin’s journey to MIT actually started five years ago, when he completed a graduate certificate in Kansas as part of an MBA program, with the goal of helping his company increase their innovation success. He took multiple courses as part of his certificate but didn’t feel like he got what he needed.
“I had subscribed to MIT Sloan Management Review and had seen a reference to MIT Sloan Executive Education and the ACE in one of their issues. I looked it up and knew that’s what I wanted to do.”
Kevin took one course at a time, roughly every quarter, to complete his requirements, and he was very thoughtful in the sequence of the courses that he took.
“The programs I selected essentially followed an innovation practice. I started with Innovator’s DNA, then into Systematic Innovation of Products and Services, Marketing Innovation, then courses on Operations Strategy, organizational development, and leadership. Each course built on the last one and mirrored the full life cycle of an innovation program or project. And I was able to make so many connections across the programs ... it wasn’t a bunch of disconnected classes and ideas. It was fascinating to see the MIT way of doing things—of analyzing and attacking—come across in every subject.”
For Kevin, every single course offered two or three “aha!” moments.” And, like Matthias, Kevin touted the many benefits of Dynamic Work Design and the profound effect those principles had on him and his company’s engineering department. “Sheila Dodge just made those principles come to life in Leading Change in Complex Organizations. She took us to the Broad and showed us the planning boards and how they use them. I took the core DWD course on-line, but then seeing it in action was tremendous and closed the deal for me. There have been many more takeaways like that. We’re leveraging these learnings in a comprehensive way at work.”
Kevin shared how he is working with the director of HR on organizational change initiatives as the company restructures, drawing on key takeaways from his programs.
“MIT Sloan Executive Education was one of the most satisfying educational experiences of my life. I wish I had done it sooner. It offered tremendous value.”