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Tag: structure

Nathan

Dobble and the Viva

Daily Post

Dobble is a simple-but-tricky card game. In our house it’s firm favourite for quick fun. A deck of circular cards covered with colourful symbols, the trick is that every card matches every other card in terms of one symbol: it’s kind of like snap, but where every card matches only one detail on every other. You have to be the first to spot the symbol to “snap”.

I love Dobble, despite the moments when my six-year-old daughter beats me.

(every game)

I mention it because it strikes me that Dobble cards are a lot like vivas: they’re structured, you know the general shape of them, there’s a pattern and a method to how they’re organised, and the details can be very similar.

But they’re always different, with no exceptions.

By studying a handful of Dobble cards you can’t divine some special thing to tell you about the card you’re about to draw, but it can give you something to think about. You can learn to expect things. This goes for vivas too: asking about your friends’ experiences or looking at the regulations won’t give you exact details for yours, but they can helpfully influence your expectations.

The repeated symbols you hear about in viva stories can give you a sense of what to expect when it’s time to play your own game.

Nathan

Three Simple Hows For Viva Prep

Daily Post

On this blog and in my workshops I share a lot of viva prep ideas. No-one needs to follow all of my suggestions: my hope is that the ideas I share spark a path forward. The danger, sometimes, on being presented with lots of options, is that someone might think “I want to do it all!” or “I need to do it all!” or “Oh my gosh, how will I do it all?!”

I spend a lot of time talking and writing about all of the ideas for viva prep; today let me shift gears to give three questions I think can help anyone break down what they will do to prepare for their viva.

Three simple “how” questions:

  1. How much do you need to do?
  2. How much time do you have?
  3. How will you arrange it all?

Focus on you. It doesn’t have to be more complicated than that. There are lots of options but only a few core areas to pay attention to.

Don’t make your viva prep complicated. Just ask three questions to get started.

Nathan

Beating Busy

Daily Post

It can feel like a great pressure has been taken away when you submit your thesis…

…only to be replaced by the pressure of the viva and preparation. Some candidates will feel it more than others, particularly if they’re juggling work, applying for jobs, taking care of their families and 101 other things.

So plan. Break up the pressure by being clear about what you need to do. Some questions that could help:

  • How much time do you have available?
  • What constraints are there on your time?
  • What can you do to make your preparation time more effective?
  • When can you work at your best to prepare?
  • Who do you need help from? (and how can you ask them?)
  • What can you do less of or rearrange to make space for your viva prep?
  • What would a good plan for your prep look like?

“Busy” means you have to make a change. Start by stepping back. Get organised and get to work. The end is in sight.

Nathan

Prep Scores

Daily Post

There’s several strands running through how prepared a candidate could feel for the viva. You might know your thesis back-to-front, but be worried about answering questions. You could feel shaky on what vivas are actually like, but feel certain that you know about your examiners’ research interests.

Building on this post from last year, here’s a quick exercise to help you get a grip on how you’re doing and what you could do to boost your confidence. Give yourself a mark out of ten for each of the following:

  • Awareness of your field;
  • Knowledge of your research;
  • Confidence in your abilities as a researcher;
  • Confidence in what you’ve written in your thesis;
  • Ability to answer questions and discuss your research;
  • Awareness of your examiners’ research;
  • Certainty about viva expectations.

Which is highest? Why? Can you be even better or have greater confidence?

Which is lowest? Why? What’s your plan for that particular aspect?

For all of these, how could you increase your mark by one point? What steps could you take? Who could you ask for help?

Now, what will you actually do?

(if you’re looking for help, there’s a lot of it on this blog, on the Resources and Elsewhere pages, and of course in the Podcast Archive!)

Nathan

Easy Viva Prep?

Daily Post

I’m a big fan of Tim Ferriss: he’s written interesting, thought-provoking books and interviewed hundreds of people at the top of their fields in his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show. My wife got me his latest book, Tribe Of Mentors, for a present. It’s a collection of over a hundred short Q&As with people who are the best of the best; a means to find out what inspires them, how they do their best work and so on.

The genesis of the book was Tim feeling stuck, not sure what direction to take his life in. He has a list of questions that he’s found useful to get himself unstuck including “what would this look like if it were easy?” After a little free writing from this provocation his brain latched on to the idea of a “tribe of mentors” to help guide him, and thus the idea for Tribe Of Mentors was born.

The book is great, but the question is greater. I’m using it now to help me unpick future projects – some of which are related to this site and resources – but I think it could also be useful more generally when helping people get ready for the viva.

What would it look like if viva prep were easy? I don’t have firm answers yet, but I do have some ideas that are leading to useful questions for me:

  • Maybe it would be organised. What might that look like?
  • Maybe it would be structured. What form would it take?
  • Maybe it would be principled, based on key ideas. (I have some thoughts on this already!)
  • Maybe it would involve other people. Who, and how?

These are just ideas. I’m looking at it from a big, utilitarian view, trying to think how I can help as many people as possible. You can think much more focussed. Think: “What would it look like if viva prep were easy for me?”