Sliding doors: How the Executive MBA helped me shift careers

Executive MBA (London) alum, Abigail Manson, reflects on how her quest to clarify her dissertation topic quickly became a journey of personal and professional growth.

I first walked through the doors of 80 Charlotte Street on a warm October morning in 2024. I was headed to an Arup Breakfast & Learn session I’d signed up for on LinkedIn hoping it would help me clarify my dissertation topic. I did not expect to find myself walking through those same doors a year later as a fully-fledged Arupian (and yes that is the official term).

When I started at Warwick Business School in September 2023, I was not necessarily the typical Executive MBA candidate. I’d spent the majority of my career working in film production so I was more likely to be found sporting a walkie-talkie than a power suit and had spent more time on location than I had in any office. Embarking on the MBA was the opportunity I needed to translate my skills into a wider business context. I’d already begun shifting career during the pandemic, focusing on purpose-driven endeavours. I’d project managed at a Covid vaccination centre and developed documentaries relating to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. But I wanted to push myself further and the MBA, and in particular the dissertation, enabled me to do so.

During the first year of the course, we covered a wide range of topics from operations to finance, strategy to organisational behaviour. I picked up new terminology, explored theoretical concepts, debated with lecturers and was able to learn from, and with, a fantastically diverse cohort. I even bought a calculator (the cost-benefit analysis on that was a no-brainer).

By the start of the second year, I had settled on a very broad dissertation topic - climate adaptation in relation to flooding. It was vast and I didn’t know anyone working in the area, so I had set myself quite a challenge. But I wanted to write about something that interested me and that would hopefully have a real-world impact. I knew that to navigate the process successfully, especially given the somewhat ambitious topic I’d picked, I needed the support of a good supervisor, so I was very pleased that Fred Dahlmann agreed to take on that role. He expertly guided me through the entire project and shared in my enthusiasm for the topic.

However, narrowing down the topic to something more specific was tough. 15,000 words may sound like a lot but if the topic is too broad, that word count won’t stretch far enough. The focus for the dissertation really began to emerge when I attended the Arup Breakfast & Learn and spoke to one of the panellists, a water expert who was incredibly generous with his time. He linked me up with a colleague who was equally supportive and she in turn connected me to the Environment Agency. It was through these conversations that I was able to refine my thinking - leading me to write about about the governance challenges of improving London’s resilience to climate-induced flooding.

The panellist from the Arup breakfast also took part in my project as did someone from the Environment Agency. This gave me the credibility to reach out to other organisations. Ultimately, I interviewed 15 people from across 14 different public and private organisations. It was a fascinating process to gather insights from such different contexts and then find ways to synthesize the information coherently.

A key takeaway from the dissertation was the need to turn discourse into action - and that starts with asking the right people the right questions. This is in fact a core part of what the Stakeholder Engagement team does at Arup. Working across multiple aspects of the built environment, from flood alleviation to transportation, the team helps to identify and engage a whole variety of stakeholders. Through this process they gather vital insights that ultimately inform each project’s design and delivery.

I now work in this team as a senior consultant - and that wouldn’t have been the case if I hadn’t done the dissertation. Not just because it connected me to Arup, but because it gave me the opportunity to hone and develop skills that underpin the job I now do.

Our team is currently nine people strong, all of whom have very different backgrounds and experience. We bring our own perspectives, skills and approaches and it’s this diversity of thought that makes it such an interesting and effective team to be a part of.

However, establishing a team like that requires creativity and a willingness to do things a little differently. Arup turns 80 this year, but it’s clear that the company, and the people within it, are not stuck in the past. They are instead looking for ways to encourage new ideas so that Arup can continue working to shape a better world.

If I hadn’t walked through the doors of 80 Charlotte Street back in 2024 my life would look very different right now. And if I hadn’t walked through the doors of The Shard for the MBA orientation a year earlier, my career would have gone in a totally different direction. However, those two moments only happened because I made a choice.

So, if you are shifting careers and considering an MBA but are worried you aren’t the typical candidate…go for it anyway. Lean into your unique experience, talk to anyone and everyone, keep reimagining where you should or could go next, and work out how the dissertation can help you get there - it may even open some unexpected doors.

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