Stop Complaining

Oh, I am certainly guilty of it too: Epicurean club events seem to never fit with my schedule and I’m crossing my fingers for classes in Round 5 because Pricing Strategies plundered my bid point account. All of this is fair and just, but the typical Booth student will still resort to two specific formats of complaint: (i) the “misery loves company” public Facebook complaint, and (ii) the hostile / accusatory / or passive aggressive email.

But why do we complain? I can’t help but wonder if we millennials really are as entitled as the rest of the world proclaims we are, or whether the root cause is instead our dedication to discourse as mandated by the Booth culture. Regardless, it’s unclear that airing out our negativity over Facebook or confronting a classmate with some unsolicited and deconstructive feedback really provides any party with much benefit.

Entitlement is the enemy of good negotiation

Intellectual skepticism and a refusal to accept the status quo are cornerstones of the Booth classroom experience, but how helpful are these characteristics in the non-classroom portion of our Booth community? While we often believe these traits will help us to advance as leaders in the world, I’ve personally seen how

If we want to actually be leaders who refuse to accept the status quo, then we need to take action. Simply announcing our disdain and disbelief in the name of discourse does not advance an idea, solve a problem, or inspire others to make changes on our behalf. So, before I consider announcing to Facebook “bid point inflation is a real problem”— I’ll instead recall that the bid point system is perhaps the most fair and logical solution to class selection. And rather than email my Epicurean club co-chairs to say it’s not fair that so many events are held on Monday evenings, perhaps I’ll instead plan my own dinner club for Thursday night.

I recently sent an email to the entire full-time class regarding a weeklong series of events called CWiB Open House. Before officially deciding to plan the series with Danielle Raniolo, we were forewarned by administrators, alumni, faculty, and