Author Archives: Kara McFall

Congratulations 2017 AIM Program Graduates!

Below is the transcript of AIM Director Kara McFall’s commencement address from June 19, 2017.

To our 2017 AIM graduates, their families and supporters; our AIM faculty and staff; and all others who are here to join in the celebration of our 2017 AIM graduating class—welcome. I’d like to start as I do at each graduation luncheon by asking the graduates, faculty, and staff to stand and join me in honoring the families and friends who supported our graduates throughout the AIM Program. Every one of our AIM graduates has worked hard to achieve the right to stand here today as a graduate of the program; but every graduate also had the help and support of their families and loved ones, who agonized along with them over proper APA citations, assignment deadlines, and countless rounds of edits in Capstone 1. The role that each of you played—as supporters of our AIM graduates—is an important one, and I would like to say thank you.

I will admit that I procrastinated in writing this address—I always do. There is always plenty of work to do in higher education so it’s easy to prioritize other work ahead of sitting down to write. Those of us who make graduation speeches feel the urge to say something profound and memorable, and I spend a lot of time searching for inspiration and the perfect words to say. Eventually, the realities of the calendar impose, and I’m forced to put the words on paper. As I pondered this annual ritual of procrastination, it occurred to me that I could take inspiration from this struggle and pass on a related and valuable lesson I’ve learned: the power of good enough.

The fact that all of you are here today as graduates of a demanding master’s program indicates that you are all high achievers, so the idea of settling for good enough may seem like an odd choice of inspirational themes for your commencement address. I know however that each of you were forced at some point in the program to settle for good enough instead of perfection; the demands of attending class, working full time, and meeting family and other obligations while still squeezing in sleep necessitates completing some assignments to standards that don’t meet your vision of perfection. My intention today as you head out as AIM alumni is to convince you that not only is the practice of sometimes settling for good enough acceptable, it is actually a best practice.

I was first exposed to the idea of good enough by my doctoral dissertation chair, who described the best dissertation as a finished dissertation. Writing a dissertation can be a paralyzing experience; you feel obligated to bring forth some amazing bit of knowledge that is brand new to the world, and to do so in a way that is brilliant and profound; this idea may strike a chord with those of you who recently went through Capstone 1. The result for me was a hesitation to put anything to paper, and my meetings with my chair were frustrating for both of us due to my lack of progress. We finally settled on the approach of setting hard deadlines for different sections, and when I left her office after each meeting she often reminded me that “The best dissertation is a finished dissertation.” In her own way she was advocating that I settle for good enough. This change in my approach is what enabled me to finally start the writing process in earnest and eventually earn my doctorate. Similarly, being forced by the calendar to complete this address is why I am reading a finished speech rather than standing up here winging it.

Some tasks benefit from a systematic approach to completion, while others benefit from a more fluid approach that may include procrastination. You don’t need to be creative when doing your taxes unless your goal is to be a tax evader; a systematic approach in this scenario is best, and it’s obvious when you have reached a point of completion. It can be hard to identify when you have finished a task that requires creativity, as the urge to edit, rewrite, and strive for perfection can be strong. In these cases, procrastination can force us to let go of whatever doubts have been holding us back and achieve a level of brilliance that might have otherwise eluded us. Sometimes pushing ourselves to the point of good enough actually results in a better outcome.

The realities of our schedules dictate that we make the decision to settle for good enough on a regular basis. One of the insights I’m hoping you take away today is to realize that the results of these decisions are not causes for regret, and that you will actually achieve more in life by giving up the standards of perfectionism that cause us to agonize later about not turning in the perfect paper, planning the perfect vacation, or throwing the perfect birthday party. While research backs up my advice, there are challenges all of us face that keep us chasing perfection. In addition to having more choices today than in previous times, we also have more opportunities to compare ourselves to others, through the media and especially through social media. But comparing your decisions and actions to the unreal and sanitized versions we see online doesn’t lead to improved decision making; it inevitably leads to regret. Don’t fall into this trap.

More than ten years ago, psychologist Barry Schwartz coined the terms “satisficers” for people who settle for good enough and “maximizers” for people who always try to choose the very best option. Schwartz’s research was anchored in the idea that all of us now face overwhelming choices for even simple decisions like which brand of cereal to buy. This kind of paralysis can be even more striking when the consequences of a decision are higher. I hold my own versions of the “good enough” discussion with many of my Capstone 1 students who admit they are stressed about picking the right topic, and are worried about the consequences of choosing the wrong topic. If you were one of those students, I hope you will soon discover a fundamental principle of the theory of good enough: you don’t need to achieve perfection in order to succeed. I hope you take the time later, when enough time has passed to put your time with AIM into context, to discover that all of the occasions when you were forced to turn in a paper that did not meet your ideas of perfection are not cause for regret, but instead enabled you to achieve your ultimate goals of gaining new knowledge, learning valuable skills, practicing innovative ideas, and ultimately becoming AIM graduates.

I want to close by clarifying one point: I’m not advocating that you give up high standards and start taking a lackadaisical approach. Instead, I’m suggesting that you recognize the limitations of time and energy and do the best job you can in the time allotted, even if you fall short of your version of flawless. Balance is achieved by learning when to go all-in on a task and when good enough is a smarter goal. You can’t achieve perfection in every task and striving to do so is counterproductive. Doing your best is different from seeking perfection, and if you make doing your best your goal you will find that your sense of satisfaction and of a job well done will rise.  One of the key findings that Dr. Schwartz found in his research is the fact that satisficers, those who pursue good enough, are much happier than the perfectionist maximizers.

AIM class of 2017, I am proud of each one of you and wish you well in doing your best and pursuing the satisfaction that comes with good enough. I hope you will take the opportunity to keep in touch with us as you move into your next phase as AIM graduates. Congratulations to you, AIM class of 2017!

Congratulations 2016 AIM Program Graduates!

Kara McFall, UO AIM Program director, speaks at commencement.This week’s post is the transcript of AIM Program Director Kara McFall’s 2016 commencement address. Commencement took place Saturday, August 13 on the University of Oregon main campus in Eugene.

To our 2016 AIM graduates, their families and supporters; our AIM faculty and staff; and all others who are here to join in the celebration of our 2016 AIM graduating class—welcome. I’d like to start by asking the graduates, faculty, and staff to stand or raise a glass and join me in honoring the families and friends who supported our graduates throughout the AIM Program. Every one of our AIM graduates has worked hard to achieve the right to stand here today as a graduate of the program; but every graduate also had the help and support of their families and loved ones, who agonized along with them over proper APA citations, assignment deadlines, and their nitpicky Capstone 1 instructor. The role that each of you played—as supporters of our AIM graduates—is an important one, and I would like to say thank you.

You are here today with no looming paper deadlines, no assignments that are due, no need to meet with your classmates to complete a team project. I hope you’ve had time to enjoy your new role as AIM alumni and the transition from your previous role as AIM students. I’ve spent the time since your newfound freedom writing and rewriting this address. I struggled honestly with how to frame my message to you, and I finally decided to take inspiration from the 2016 presidential race. Please bear with me.

The fact is, I love politics, and every election cycle I find myself caught up in the campaigns. As a political fanatic of many years, I’ve noticed over time that while each campaign is different, there are some parallels that are universal. In particular, political candidates have a set of terms that they’ve coopted and, in every election cycle, you’ll hear these terms lobbed at the opposition. For my address today, I will be applying those terms to you, our latest AIM graduates. My fellow Americans, I present you with the following indisputable facts about the AIM graduating class of 2016.

First, I would like to state for the record that AIM graduates are flip floppers. In a political campaign when you hear the term flip flopper, it comes when one candidate accuses the other of changing positions on an issue, oftentimes with videotaped evidence showing a candidate proclaiming to take one side of an issue, and at another time proclaiming to take the exact opposite side. I believe that flip flopping is a virtue, and it is my sincere hope that you as AIM alumni live up to the name. There is a reason why we asked you to research and write so many papers exploring various topics during your time in the AIM Program. The intent was not to encourage you to take a rigid stance, but rather for you to learn to gather evidence from sources; examine the sources critically to ensure they meet the five criteria of being of high quality, authoritative, timely, relevant, and lacking in bias; and then, based upon the information you’ve gathered and assessed, make a determination of your position on a topic. We gave you similar opportunities in discussion boards, where our hope was to provide a forum for the exploration of important and timely topics and to foster debate with your classmates and your instructor. I know through working with all of you that some, if not all of you, are emerging from the AIM Program having changed your positions on different topics – you have engaged in flip flopping, and I am proud of you for doing so. The opposite of a flip flopper is someone who is rigid and refuses to learn and grow, someone who clings to a belief despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. I hope that you will continue to base your positions not on what you believed yesterday, but rather that you will continue to gather information, examine what you find critically and, when warranted, that you will change your stance and embrace your role as a flip flopper.

Next, I would like to point out, ladies and gentlemen, that AIM graduates are uninformed. This may seem like an odd statement for the director of a master’s program to say to a group of graduates who have spent considerable time and resources in obtaining their degrees, so let me explain what I mean. I hope that your time in the AIM Program has taught you that, however much you think you know about a topic, there is always more to learn. I sincerely hope that each of you who leaves the program as an AIM graduate has nurtured or developed a love of learning. Once you have settled into your role as AIM alumni, I want you to continue to fuel your desire to learn by embracing the fact that you don’t know everything—that there are topics on which you are uninformed. I can think of no worse fate than knowing everything—to be stripped of the opportunity for the joy of discovery. I hope that saying the words “I didn’t know that” come to mean not the admission of ignorance, but instead to represent the opportunity to indulge a continued love of learning.

Finally, I would like to take a moment to talk about failure. Before you get your backs up, let me share my philosophy on failure. Everyone—everyone—fails in achieving a goal at some point in their lives. Those who fail the most are those who have tried the most. Most of us have a hard time when we fail to reach a goal—it’s a horrible feeling and, for goal-oriented people, having to admit that you’ve failed at something can be devastating. Reactions can range from defensiveness—explaining why you didn’t actually fail or why the failure was someone else’s fault—to feelings of negative self worth. I have students every year who view a less than perfect grade on an assignment or in a class as failure, and I understand—grades and what they represent are important, and most of you came into the AIM Program with goals related to your grades. But I hope that one of the lessons you take from the AIM Program is to look at failure to reach a goal as a gift. I want to repeat those words, because the lesson is the single most valuable lesson I have learned in my own life: Failure is a gift. Failure gives you the opportunity to honestly assess why you fell short in your efforts and identify opportunities for you to hone your skills or alter your approach, or even to sometimes let go of one goal for the opportunities represented by another. I want to encourage you to approach failure with grace and with gratitude, and to treat each failure to reach a goal as a gift that provides the opportunity to learn something new about yourself or the world, to improve, and to move in a new direction. I challenge you all to embrace your failures.

To sum up—I hope the AIM Program has provided you with the skills and confidence to pursue the knowledge that will enable you to flip flop on issues rather than remain rigid in your stances, that you will continue to seek out topics on which you are uninformed so that you can indulge a love of learning, and that you will embrace your failures for the opportunities they present. I also hope that you are able to embark on your post-AIM journeys without CNN chronicling your every step. AIM Class of 2016, I am proud of each one of you, and I don’t need an exit poll to tell me that all of you are winners. I hope you will take the opportunity to keep in touch with us as you move into your next phase as AIM graduates. Congratulations to you, AIM Class of 2016!

Congratulations to Our 2015 Graduates!

Photograph of AIM Program Director Kara McFall, EdDThis week’s post is the transcript of AIM Program Director Kara McFall’s 2015 commencement address. Commencement took place Saturday, August 15 on the University of Oregon main campus in Eugene.

To our 2015 AIM graduates, their families and supporters; our AIM faculty and staff; and all others who are here to join in the celebration of our 2015 AIM graduating class—welcome. I’d like to start by asking the graduates, faculty, and staff to stand and join me in honoring the families and friends who supported our graduates throughout the AIM Program. Every one of our AIM graduates has worked hard to achieve the right to stand here today as a graduate of the program; but every graduate also had the help and support of their families and loved ones, who agonized along with them over proper APA citations, assignment deadlines, and their nitpicky Capstone 1 instructor. The role that each of you played—as supporters of our AIM graduates—is an important one, and I would like to say thank you.

Today is a big day. Each of you started the AIM Program with a plan, and with hopes—for the knowledge you would gain in the program, the connections you would make with your classmates and faculty, or the impact this degree would have on your career upon graduation. I hope that now, with no looming paper deadlines facing you, you can stand back and take stock of what you achieved and realize that you achieved your hopes, or replaced them with even greater achievements that you couldn’t even visualize when you started this journey.

I also have hopes for you as AIM graduates. Most of you have more experience with me as an AIM faculty member than as the AIM director. My ten years in the AIM Program serving as a faculty member have been a pleasure, and I am honored to now serve as the AIM director. As I was preparing this first commencement speech, I thought about what I wanted to say to you as we all celebrate your achievements in the program. I decided to keep it simple and share my hopes for you as you graduate from the AIM Program. I’ll keep the message short and focus on my top three hopes for you.

I hope you met with adversity during your AIM studies. For some of you, this may have meant a team member who had a different philosophy of how to approach a team project, or who submitted work right before a due date while you liked to get the work done early. For others, it might have been a faculty member whose teaching style did not perfectly gel with your learning style, or a class whose content did not immediately capture your interest. Whatever adversity you were faced with in the AIM Program, I hope you took the opportunity to learn the lessons of compromise, seeking out guidance from trusted colleagues and advisors, delayed gratification, and working hard to achieve a goal even when the work required is unpleasant. As an instructor and now as director, I sometime receive phone calls and e-mails from students who are faced with challenging issues like team conflicts. I usually remark at some point in the conversation that I’m glad the student is getting the opportunity to work through the issue in my class; typically, the response to this statement is less than enthusiastic. But my point is that no one makes it through life without adversity. For our AIM graduates, we fully expect you to be successful in your chosen careers—to be leaders. You are the people that others will turn to when times are tough and there are adversities to overcome. I hope that the AIM Program provided you with sufficient adversity to hone your skills in meeting a challenge with grace.

I hope you missed out on some things while you were in the AIM Program—sleep, the luxury of kicking back on the couch when you got home from work, or even a special occasion. I recognize that this sounds cold hearted, so let me explain my point. No worthwhile goal is achieved without sacrifice. Getting a master’s degree is not meant to be easy or effortless; if it were, more people would pursue their master’s. Instead, you join only 12% of Americans who currently hold a master’s or professional degree. I hope you take away from the AIM Program not only new knowledge and abilities but also the recognition that any goal that is worthy of your time and passion is going to require you to sacrifice something in order to achieve it. Those of you who are parents already know the huge sacrifices that come with having children, mainly from loss of sleep and an astonishing diversity of ways that your kids can spend your money, but you also know that no sacrifice is too great for your children. I hope that your achievements in the AIM Program provide further proof that any meaningful goal is worthy of your time, your passion, and the occasional sacrifice.

Finally, I hope you take the time to appreciate the role your family, friends, classmates, and support system played during your pursuit of your the AIM degree. All of you are high achievers—you would not have pursued a challenging master’s degree, or even qualified to enter the AIM Program, unless you were goal-oriented individuals who know how to work hard to achieve those goals. But the pursuit of a challenging goal is rarely an individual effort. This can be a humbling thought for the high achiever, who has been taught that individual talent and hard work lead to success. At some point during the program though, you undoubtedly faced a situation where you couldn’t succeed on your own—you needed someone to take care of things at home while you finished a final paper, you needed an understanding boss to let you leave early to work on homework, or you needed to vent to a classmate in order to relieve the pressure you felt in a particularly challenging class. Instead of feeling like you need to rely only on yourself to achieve your goals, I hope that the AIM Program taught you that relying on others makes you more capable of aiming high and succeeding.

AIM class of 2015, I am proud of each one of you. I hope you will take the opportunity to keep in touch with us as you move into your next phase as AIM graduates. Congratulations to you, AIM Class of 2015!