An MBA is not going to serve the personal or professional needs of everyone. Forbes recently posted a blog piece that rather dismissed the virtues of an MBA. The article made some genuinely valid points. It is a pretty expensive enterprise and, yes, it's true, in business the real key to success lies in the mastery of complex processes of discovery. If you think you've mastered such processes, then, okay, maybe you ought to hold on to that $150k!
Of course, though, there's more to it than that. For one thing, we shouldn't soft pedal the number of people who have experienced the highly structured learning environment of an elite MBA program as exactly the milieu for mastering just such skills. That though isn't the only matter that has to be weighed in taking the measure of such criticism.
Here are a few things you might ask in assessing if an MBA is right for you.
Let's pretend the unlikely scenario that the academics are of little value to you. This may be misguided, but not impossible. What though about the benefits of a great professional network? Do you value that? Where else are you going to get the kind you will while doing an MBA at a top school? It's common for business superstars to come in as guest lecturers. And don't underestimate the opportunity to social with them that such schools provide. And don't forget your own classmates. Many of your peers will become the hot up and comers in your industry.
Here's a chance to make the kind of connections that will serve you a lifetime. And to make them while you're all still mounting the latter of success together, with all the camaraderie that comes with such shared experience. (Though, this does require, as we've emphasized elsewhere, choosing the right program for your chosen industry). Also, don't forget the networking benefits arising from an already successful alumni coterie.
Have you considered the blank slate effect? Obviously, graduating from an MBA program doesn't mean that in any way your past experience is erased. However, neither are you limited to or constrained by it. When the potential employer looks at you freshly out of your MBA program, they don't look at your past work history as a summary of your future potential.
On the contrary, your work record now merely provides a supplement to a record of achievement that makes you a promising new potential colleague. Someone who was able to break the mold of their earlier life and take the initiative, exerting the discipline, to embrace an entirely new set of opportunities, with new skills, knowledge and professional connections. You're now a freshly minted promise of better things to come.
Another benefit that is easy to overlook is that which comes with challenging your comfort zone. Talk about self improvement and mastering the discovery of new ideas is great, but, let's face it: like all talk, it comes cheap. So no one can accuse you of cheap talk once you've taken the plunge into an MBA. You've removed yourself from comfortable routines and put yourself out there, where it's either put up or shut up. There's a lot to respect in doing that.
When you carve from your busy life the dedicated time, and commit the resources of your efforts, to pursue personal excellence, you place yourself in an environment that demands the best of you. Lots of people say they will challenge themselves, but how many do? When is that magic day really coming? Taking the great leap into an MBA program silences all such doubts -- from yourself or anyone else. You've taken the challenge and have to rise to your best to succeed.
Certainly there are cases in which money and time is squandered on MBA pursuits. Hopefully, though, these thoughts demonstrate that, even beyond the value of the curriculum, there are many significant benefits of an MBA. These may be harder to put a price tag on, but it would be a mistake to underrate the contributions they could make to your professional future.
Of course, though, there's more to it than that. For one thing, we shouldn't soft pedal the number of people who have experienced the highly structured learning environment of an elite MBA program as exactly the milieu for mastering just such skills. That though isn't the only matter that has to be weighed in taking the measure of such criticism.
Here are a few things you might ask in assessing if an MBA is right for you.
Let's pretend the unlikely scenario that the academics are of little value to you. This may be misguided, but not impossible. What though about the benefits of a great professional network? Do you value that? Where else are you going to get the kind you will while doing an MBA at a top school? It's common for business superstars to come in as guest lecturers. And don't underestimate the opportunity to social with them that such schools provide. And don't forget your own classmates. Many of your peers will become the hot up and comers in your industry.
Here's a chance to make the kind of connections that will serve you a lifetime. And to make them while you're all still mounting the latter of success together, with all the camaraderie that comes with such shared experience. (Though, this does require, as we've emphasized elsewhere, choosing the right program for your chosen industry). Also, don't forget the networking benefits arising from an already successful alumni coterie.
Have you considered the blank slate effect? Obviously, graduating from an MBA program doesn't mean that in any way your past experience is erased. However, neither are you limited to or constrained by it. When the potential employer looks at you freshly out of your MBA program, they don't look at your past work history as a summary of your future potential.
On the contrary, your work record now merely provides a supplement to a record of achievement that makes you a promising new potential colleague. Someone who was able to break the mold of their earlier life and take the initiative, exerting the discipline, to embrace an entirely new set of opportunities, with new skills, knowledge and professional connections. You're now a freshly minted promise of better things to come.
Another benefit that is easy to overlook is that which comes with challenging your comfort zone. Talk about self improvement and mastering the discovery of new ideas is great, but, let's face it: like all talk, it comes cheap. So no one can accuse you of cheap talk once you've taken the plunge into an MBA. You've removed yourself from comfortable routines and put yourself out there, where it's either put up or shut up. There's a lot to respect in doing that.
When you carve from your busy life the dedicated time, and commit the resources of your efforts, to pursue personal excellence, you place yourself in an environment that demands the best of you. Lots of people say they will challenge themselves, but how many do? When is that magic day really coming? Taking the great leap into an MBA program silences all such doubts -- from yourself or anyone else. You've taken the challenge and have to rise to your best to succeed.
Certainly there are cases in which money and time is squandered on MBA pursuits. Hopefully, though, these thoughts demonstrate that, even beyond the value of the curriculum, there are many significant benefits of an MBA. These may be harder to put a price tag on, but it would be a mistake to underrate the contributions they could make to your professional future.
About the Author:
See the superb analysis in Thomas Ryerson's most recent piece on looking behind the rankings of business schools.
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