We at Chicago Booth, are extremely lucky that David Booth, founder and CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors, has maintained a strong relationship with the MBA program and often visits campus to spend time with the students. When the alum and eponymous patron of Chicago Booth came to campus to discuss leadership lessons a few weeks back, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!
In a light-hearted chat with Professor Harry Davis, Mr. Booth spoke to a packed house about being a leader, building and maintaining trust, practicing creativity, and translating thinking into action.
“If you have something that works, there will be competitors. How do I do a better job of becoming better at what we do?” – Mr. Booth felt that his approach outlined below has been key to his success.
1.) On why he comes back to Chicago Booth:
“Well partly because my name in on the door (chuckles)… but I enjoy meeting students, and learning (from them). The reasons for MBA success are systematic and why universities last for a long time. You don’t hear of many businesses lasting for a hundred years. I want to come back and be inspired.”
2.) On being a leader and the value of a team:
“First decide – are you going to be the boss? Be top-down? Or do you want the firm to succeed? The firm is a team, and you need the team, because you can’t do everything by yourself. We do our research not for answers, but for insights. At the end of the day, models aren’t reality, they can’t explain everything. A business is not scalable by just you.”
3.) Taking the time to think:
Both Professor Harry Davis and David Booth encouraged students to carve out quiet time to daydream as they asserted that’s when true creativity flows and the best ideas come. While fully acknowledging that not everyone has the time or the inclination to do so, Mr. Booth recommended planes and weekends are great opportunities to get that time.
“Unfortunately, you cannot schedule creativity… saying from 8:30-8:45, I will be creative. I work hard to leave downtime to just sit and think. That’s when the rush of ideas come. I used to feel embarrassed about telling people that I’m doing nothing, but you need it! Otherwise you can’t get non-linearities.”
4.) Chicago Booth’s MBA program:
David Booth credited his MBA at Booth as a transformative experience, where he came in as an intuitive guy but learnt to fully appreciate the power of data. He also explained that it was a humbling experience working with the likes of Eugene Fama (he was Fama’s TA!) which still keeps him in check to this day.
5.) Practice, practice, practice:
According to Mr. Booth, the most dangerous kind of person is a bright person with great pedigree but who is not able to figure out how to get things done. He advised students in the room to learn and absorb the Chicago Booth approach and toolkit. And then practice, practice, practice it.
