The academic portion of the Bentley MBA kicks off with a twist. The first two weeks of class turned to a preview to the leadership theme, in a class named “Thinking about Thinking” — led by professors from the Management and English/Media Studies departments. The goal of this class was to open our minds to the environment of education and to peer-led learning, and to break the cycle of the business grind for many of us. We learned how the human brain processes new information — using Senge’s Ladder of Inference — as a model for how the brain “jumps to conclusions” based upon prior experiences. This was an incredibly important step to preparing the cohort for our experience — in a diverse group of professions, many with 10-plus years of experience, it’s easy to rely on our habits — and this course was all about breaking that down when it came to thinking. A distinctive aspect of this class was the integration of famous English works of literature into our examination of the Ladder of Inference, the state of mindfulness, meditations, managing emotions and reasoning. Specifically picked reading excerpts were chosen to connect what was taught in class to life experiences, through characters described in books. It was a unique way to get the message across!