The PhD Expedition

After years of vagueness of what topic would interest me enough to dedicate the next few years to gain a PhD degree, I finally found it! When I had my lightbulb moment and arrived at Open Access (OA) as my topic, I had clarity on exactly what (and what all) my research would cover. After all, I had spent over 17 years being a part of the publishing industry and had the arrival of OA and seen the transformation and challenges, all that and more.

When I wrote my admission proposal, my struggle was to keep it simple and focussed. I knew exactly what I would do and what my next step would be. There were also a few brief seconds those days where I felt I could probably complete my final thesis in a year (max!), if I tried. And then the classes started.

The first few months itself one gets a glimpse of what constitutes a good and rigorous research. Then comes part 2 that no one prepares you for…looking at everything you already know and looking at it through research lens. Suddenly I found myself going deeper into my topic.

Almost all our assignments were around our own research areas and hence each assignment forced us to work and rework our topics in from strategic Management angle, consumer behaviour angle and even Statistics, besides other subjects. This when you realise how much more there is still to know.

This feeling of not knowing every little thing about my topics became surprisingly liberating. The excitement was the same as painting your house all by yourself. The task seems daunting but currently I feel like I am the “select the paint” stage. I have select different colours for each room and I need to be sure that all my rooms have different but compatible colours in each room so that at the end of all the painting and sprucing, it becomes memorable for anyone who visits.

Coming with nearly 2 decades in industry experience means there is a confidence knowing a lot (if not everything!) and it is all important learning that will come in handy in research. However, there is also the part that is unknow. Be okay with learning to unlearn so you can question everything again and correctly. Lets call this, decluttering and rearranging the furniture!

The best part is, now that I have stepped into my house painting (aka PhD journey), I am falling in love with my topic again. The fresh new look on your so familiar topic can be invigorating! I see possibilities of addressing issues that perhaps I wouldn’t have in my role in the organisation but now I can advice from a higher level of understanding.

Few months into this program and I agree with Miles DeCoster when he said, “The more you know, the less you know.”