“The course may be over, but it will remain tattooed in our minds and hearts forever. I think it is still the most talked about subject when I see former managers around campus, at parties or even downtown.”
- from a former student
“This course has had such an incredible impact on me, how could I possibly put it all into words?… I would walk away from each class and suddenly view each circumstance that I was faced with in a completely different light. Real life instances of concepts were everywhere I turned.” - from a couse evaluation
“In short, XB is a learning experience by design. And you can say
that any class is a learning experience, that all of college is a learning experience, and for that matter, that life is a learning experience.
Yet, when a course can somehow take precedence over all your other courses in the time, energy, and pieces of yourself that you put in, you know that this isn't your typical class. When it seems like your whole college life, no matter how hard you try, cannot escape the people and ideas you encounter in XB, you know you are getting something extra out of the college experience. And when, in all honesty, you feel as though your life is bending over backward to accommodate XB and
all it demands, then you know that you are learning far more than the old management textbook has to offer.” - from a former student
“XB was a mishmash of good and bad feelings, hard work, and new experiences. It was an opportunity to learn by doing and to observe management and organizational behavior as it occurred. I wouldn’t trade my experience in XB for a traditional Management and Organizational Studies class any day.” - from a former student
“For some of us, XB has done great things. It is an organization
which I'll always refer to in the present tense. I see it as a way of living, almost as a religion. It gives me great satisfaction to learn how you are managing situations at work in a different way based on what you got out of XB. That's great, keep it up. I really admire you. Don't turn off your XB mode, keep identifying the learning opportunity in every situation that comes to you.” - from one Pepperdine XB participant to another
“I thought I would let you know that my 8:35 p.m. class is supposed to quit at 11:00 p.m. Most evenings class goes until 11:30 p.m. Last night the campus police came to check on us at 11:45 p.m. Students have made the comment that they think about missing class because they are so tired, but they can't let their colleagues down. One student shared this was the first class that he hadn't missed at least one time. It is exciting to hear and see their enthusiasm. But it sure does make for short nights when I'm 'too up' to go to sleep until 4:00 a.m. like this morning!”
- from a Senior Manager (teacher)
“I just wanted to let you know that [my company] got the benefit of a meeting run according to the decisionometer. People came up to tell
me how well the meeting was run and what a relief it was to get through an agenda so quickly. Watching the meeting progress and keeping everyone on task was a really good experience. I was able to differentiate between what I wanted to have happen (which was recognition of an issue, identification of the theory, goal setting yata, yata yata) and the actual technical aspects of the implementation
which were not planned for this initial meeting. I caught the tangent
in time and brought the meeting back on focus. Afterwards, I sent everyone a very tight e-mailing reviewing my understanding of what
we agree and who was taking responsibility for what and by when.
I was very, very pleased with the process. Thank you very much.
I would love to have this seminar incorporated in our institutional strengthening/reorganization work.” - from a non-traditional student