MIT – “the nicest of geniuses” – knowing the world
MIT – “the nicest of geniuses” – being pleasant and helpful
MIT decided to partner with the company gapingvoid for a series of whimsical drawings with sayings that distill MIT Sloan School of Management’s cultural frameworks, one of which is “We hang out with the nicest of geniuses.”
That might seem a little self-serving, but I worked at MIT for 5 years (2 1/2 years at Sloan and 2 1/2 years in the Office of the Dean, School of Engineering) before I went to Oman. When I moved back to the States, I returned to Sloan.
The “genius” part is justified by the awards given to people who work at MIT; the “nicest” part is justified by the MIT expectation that the more important the position held, the kinder the demeanor. When I came back to Sloan in Sept. 2024, I had not worked in the States in 19 years. I had a lot of catching up to do and, during my first weeks, I often bothered my boss with basic questions and I always got a serene explanation, no “just look it up” or “ask X.” The person with the least spare time is the person most willing to walk me through the details I need to know.
But my stronger example comes from my previous job in the School of Engineering. I did stewardship which means explaining to donors what was done with their money, i.e., asking professors who were given funds for their labs to write (or have me write) a letter back to the donor.
When I started that job, I was a little nervous going into the office of world-rated, much-decorated, famous professors to ask them to write a letter in lay-man’s terms for their donors, but what I found is that every single academic was able to say what they were doing in a simple and straightforward way without condescension or impatience.
After I would tell them why I wanted a letter about their work, they would usually ask, “Do you have a background in…” whatever their field of engineering was. I would shake my head and say, “I was an English Lit major.” They would nod and start in on a cognizant explanation. Every letter they wrote included both gratitude for the gift to MIT and a clear description of how they money furthered important research.
The visual metaphor I have is someone standing lost on the ground floor of a building with a large atrium. There is a crowd of people up on the 10th floor balcony, trying to tell the lost person where to go. Some point; some yell, “Go to the East 6 cubits, then turn South for 18 cubits.” Some hold up their phone saying. “Here are the directions” and others yell, “It’s easy! What is your problem?” And then there is the person who walks to the elevator, goes down to the ground floor, walks up to the person and says, “Please follow me.”
MIT hires the people who go to the elevator.
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Practicalities of Moving to the Arabian Peninsula: Dealing with Loss
Come From Away 
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