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Tag: what if

Nathan

Excuse Me

Daily Post

There are many reasons that could explain unfortunate situations from your PhD. None of them are excuses:

  • Lack of resources is not an excuse.
  • A sudden change in circumstances is not an excuse.
  • Your supervisor going on sabbatical is not an excuse.
  • COVID is not an excuse.

You don’t need excuses. You don’t need to apologise. These are reasons why something didn’t work or something didn’t happen.

You might need to explain why something happened (or not). You might need to explain the impact of something and what happened as a result. You might need to explore what you think would have happened had things gone to plan.

Don’t offer excuses: share explanations.

Nathan

Responding To A Problem

Daily Post

As you prepare for your viva you might come across a problem in your thesis.

I don’t mean a typo or a simple bit of editing that you’ve missed: typos and clunky sentences can still be understood, even if they’re undesirable. You could underline them and correct them later after your viva.

A problem is different.

Maybe it’s not immediately obvious what’s wrong, but you can just tell that something isn’t right. Maybe you understand what’s wrong but it will be tricky to correct. And on top of that, maybe you’re concerned because this is a problem in something that you’ve submitted and you’re going to have a conversation about this very soon!

Deep breath.

And another.

OK. Now move forward.

If you find a problem, first of all pause, reflect and review.

What’s the situation? What do you understand or not? Can you do something about this?

If you can understand it all, then make a plan. Do you need to do something practically or just make notes? Is this going to be a big piece of work or something small? And how could you approach this in the viva? Can you wait to see if your examiners bring it up, or do you need to raise the topic?

Do the work, whatever it is, depending on the situation.

A problem found during your viva prep is not the end. It’s the start of a series of actions to resolve the situation. And though a problem might stand out there’s a lot more of your thesis that is absolutely what it should be and a lot you can do to resolve anything that needs your attention now.

Nathan

Thought Experiments

Daily Post

I like thought experiments, both philosophically and in fiction. It can be fun to ask what if? and then follow that thinking to see what might happen next. It’s useful in the kind of work I do too, thinking through how a session might run or how a new webinar might help someone. It can identify issues that need addressing in advance – or eliminate headaches before they happen!

 

Thought experiments allow us to get ahead of problems sometimes, but they can also be a distraction. A lot of what if questions about the viva are completely understandable but can also be very distracting:

  • What if my internal asks about something I didn’t do?
  • What if my external asks about something I can’t remember?
  • What if someone disagrees?
  • What if I lose my train of thought?
  • What if I feel nervous?

I have specific advice for each of these, but the general response to all of them is: “Then you would pause, think and ultimately respond to the situation in the moment in whatever way seems best.”

Because that’s all you can do.

You can prepare, you can practise and you can ask yourself what if – in the end you have to stop worrying and wondering about thought experiments.

Remember who you are, what you did, what you can do and what you bring to the viva.

Nathan

Hypothetically

Daily Post

What if I forget something? What if I go blank? What if my examiners don’t like something?

All hypothetical questions. All reasonable too: any PhD candidate could feel worried about these things for their viva.

But why are hypothetical questions about the viva always framed negatively? I think we could ask a different kind of hypothetical question to help prepare for the viva.

What if you didn’t forget anything? What if your mind stayed clear during the viva? What if your examiners told you what they liked?

What if you had already done the hardest work? What if you had committed three or more years to getting to the viva? What if you had prepared for it?

What if you were good enough?

Hypothetically speaking, what would you do, think and feel?

(using hypothetically rhetorically!)

Nathan

The Big What If

Daily Post

Your thesis isn’t perfect. You’re not perfect. Your examiners aren’t perfect. Your viva won’t be perfect.

And all of that is fine. Remove the possibility. You can’t have something related to all of this be perfect, so try not to worry about it.

There are real worries related to the viva though. There are situations that could come up, hypothetically, and it’s not wrong to worry…

…but if you find yourself worrying about some big “what if” situation then you have to do the responsible thing and think about how to make the situation better.

  • What if I forget something? What could you do to help you remember?
  • What if your examiners don’t like something? How could you engage with their questions?
  • What if the viva is long? What could you do to manage your energy levels?
  • What if something in your thesis isn’t as clear as you want? How could you make it clear to your examiners in the viva?

What do you worry about? What is the big “what if” for you?

What are you going to do about it?

Nathan

Red Herrings

Daily Post

I love reading mystery stories. One of my favourite things is trying to figure out which clues are red herrings. What are the distractions? Which things don’t matter? What gets in the way of important things? It’s not always so easy to see.

It’s not always easy to see which things around the viva are red herrings either. Which things are distractions, and which things should you give attention to?

Hypotheticals are usually not worth your focus; reading your thesis is definitely something to prioritise. You can’t anticipate every question, it’s a distraction to try to – but a mock viva is worth your time so you have some practise at being in a viva-like situation. You can’t know how long your viva will be, so it’s not worth worrying about it; but you can find out about expectations generally to give you an idea.

Remember: you get to choose what you give your attention to. Figure out what the red herrings are, and focus instead on what’s worth your time.

Nathan

If & Then

Daily Post

Hypothetical questions are a pain for PhD candidates thinking about their vivas.

If. If this happens, I’ll be stuck. If that happens, I won’t know what to do.

Except it’s not just if. There’s always a then. In worry, a candidate might not see it, but it’s always there. There is always a course of action. It might not be something you prefer. It might be tricky. It might be uncomfortable.

There is always something you can do.

  • If you find a typo, then you can correct it.
  • If you are forgetful, then you can write notes.
  • If you are worried about how to answer questions, then you can have a mock viva.
  • If you are concerned about your examiners, then you can research them.
  • If you aren’t sure about whether or not something is a normal part of the process, then you can check.

There are always hypothetical questions, and they always have actionable answers.

Nathan

Wrong

Daily Post

There’s always a chance you’ve missed something. Not a typo, not a passage that needs editing, but something wrong. Maybe something that is a problem.

It’s a very small chance though. Long odds.

There’s a greater chance that your examiners THINK there is something wrong, or that you’ve not acknowledged something they feel is really important. They might be right, but it’s not a good idea to just accept what they say, or for you to put your head down and insist that you are right.

Instead: ask them why. Why do they think you’ve made a mistake? What are their reasons? What’s their thinking? Because you know your thinking. Once you have both pictures, you can start to see what the reality might be. What sounds like a mountain-high hurdle could be a tiny speed bump. After thinking and talking it through, it may not even be a problem.

There’s a chance that you’re wrong, but given how far you’ve come, it’s much more likely that you’re right or know the way to right. Show your examiners.