Wednesday, June 09, 2004

The MBA Menace -- I heard this piece on Marketplace (Realmedia) the other day -- great to find it in text. Let's jump right to the quote...

"...Imagine dropping a young MBA student into a classroom of experienced managers. So long as the class sticks to theory and technique, the student would be fine. But as soon as the discussion turns to application, the student would be lost. In this respect, a classroom of such students is always lost. Organizations are complex phenomena. Managing them is a difficult, nuanced business, requiring tacit understanding that can only be gained in context. Trying to teach it to people who have never practiced it is worse than a waste of time--it demeans management..."

From Henry Mintzberg (author of the new book, Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft Practice of Managing and Management Development, in Fast Company. Go read the whole column.

By the way, the same goes for most "professional" certifications as well. Beyond the ability to put a few 3- or 4-letter acronyms on a resume or business card, they amount to little without demonstrated experience. Obvious, but too often overlooked.

posted by Frank - Permanent Link - |

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