Seth Godin is still getting heat for on ongoing post festival in the past week surrounding the body of knowledge in MBA program. He’s drives the point forward a bit more using more MBA-esque language. That’s an interesting way of looking at it, and I made a similarly-veined comment over at Luca9200’s blog on how the MBA vs. EMBA might be looked at (as trading off experience for classroom). I don’t know if Seth is tired of the email he’s getting, but I wouldn’t have the energy to keep up. Just pass me the books one at a time so I can keep my MBA fresh. I just completed one book here.
Management Consulting and MBAs (Part 0)
Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting an increased amount of traffic from three groups of readers (as far as I can tell):
- those pursuing MBAs or contemplating MBAs
- those seeking information on McKinsey
- those seeking information on PRTM (see below).
Let me give a short preface by saying this:
- I am not a McKinsey alum, but there is a post I wrote about a lack of management consultant blogs – this appears to have attracted some attention (here)
- I have a number of McKinsey alumni friends whom I compare notes with (to the extent allowed by ongoing confidentiality obligations to either PRTM, McKinsey, or clients of these firms)
- I am a present freelance management consultant, and I am an alum of the firm Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM), a relatively well-known firm at the top 20 business schools or so
- I have an MBA from the University of Chicago
Given the above, I thought I would write some posts that compare both PRTM and my freelance management consulting practices to the McKinsey practices outlined in the well-known book by Ethan Rasiel, "The McKinsey Way". Although I am slightly late in terms of typical business school recruiting seasons, perhaps these posts will be of interest to those looking to gain more insight to the profession. Anyway, Ethan’s book is an excellent introductory book on general management consulting, and many of the practices can be used as a general manger within a company as opposed to just a consulting firm. Whether Ethan’s account is an accurate representation of all vintages of McKinsey consulting, I cannot say because there has been some shifting around in the past five years. That said, his book is likely not too far off in terms of breath. It is definitely a great foundation to base a discussion on because it is publicly accessible by all.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should also mention that, in general, I am a fan of both PRTM and McKinsey. I do not plan to make any disparaging remarks about either firm, and I will tend to highlight my perspectives on greatest strengths as opposed to weaknesses. If I highlight weaknesses, they will likely be directed at the general industry.
Posts will be forthcoming. Stay tuned.
Steve Shu
Trash Talking the MBA Degree Again
Seth Godin (Stanford MBA, bestselling author, entrepreneur and also evangelist in my book [see my side links]) is trash talking the MBA degree, and it’s quite entertaining. What I find hilarious is his comment (emphasis added by me):
An MBA has become a two-part time machine. First, the students are
taught everything they need to know to manage a company from 1990, and
second, they are taken out of the real world for two years while the
rest of us race as fast as we possibly can.
Now as a Chicago MBA, I’ve hinted (with some tongue in cheek too), that there are ways my clients can bypass the MBA.
That said, I feel that I really should come to the defense of the MBA degree because it has become the butt of many jokes of bloggers and professionals I respect like Om Malik and Jeff Nolan (not to mention Seth).
For those that are considering the degree seriously, off the top of my head there are some areas of the MBA that are harder to bypass via book reading:
- finance and accounting (introductory through entrepreneurial finance, analysis, etc.)
- operations
- negotiations.
Taking courses in these areas is generally much more complementary to both real-world experience and book reading than other subjects in the MBA program (IMHO). My mention of negotiations may be a bit of a surprising one, but negotiations may be one of the most underrated subjects in business schools. I can think of no other setting where you will have the opportunity to participate in controlled negotiations settings where you can find out your score and ability to negotiate in different situations. Many of the negotiation cases are built on game theory foundations, and there are measurably right answers, less right answers, and wrong answers. Anyway, if you want to bypass the MBA degree, consider taking courses in these areas (for example, I know a number of experienced execs that would feel more comfortable if they had more formal training in finance).
I think that it also noteworthy to mention that most people don’t realize that many of the people who want to get an MBA want to switch careers. While it is debatable whether you need this type of degree for management consulting or investment banking from an actual skillset point of view (beyond just having the stamp of approval), many will have an easier time switching jobs with an MBA stamp as opposed to marketing oneself as having read 30-40 books.
Other things I’m only going to mention briefly are the importance of alumni networks and having additional confidence, endurance, and resolve on the job. Places like Harvard are known to be boot camps and the West Point of business schools. There’s a lot said for practicing in the gym so to speak and defending business positions unto death in the classroom.
Now the MBA isn’t for everyone. I’ve also hinted that there are some areas where you can bypass the degree. I’ve also been known to say that the MBA is no substitute for real work experience. But I’m a tad softer on this issue than Seth.
Update (3/15/05): Based on comment from Jeff, I want to clarify the commentary I made about Om, Jeff, and Seth above with respect to ragging on the MBA. In my haste to post, I should not have pointed at them specifically. To go further, I may have characterized their stance on the MBA inaccurately, and I am glad that Jeff clarifies below. The MBA is under a bit of heat as of late as I indicated in a prior post (here another Economist article I missed as well). Seems like little defense for the MBA degree has been put up to date (which is the real reason for my post).
Steve Shu
How My Clients Can Bypass The MBA
Operations (whether manufacturing, service-oriented, etc.) is one of the most underrated subjects (I have at least two others) in MBA programs. Part of it has to do with that some aspects of operations use mathematics concepts like Little’s Law, statistical significance, queuing theory, etc.
But sometimes lack of enthusiasm for taking operations coursework has to do with how it is presold to students as opposed to how students feel after taking the course. Students generally love the lessons learned from MIT’s Beer Game. It is lesson that you can apparently now try online here.
For those more inclined to read about operations, bypass the mathematics, learn some of the main lessons, yet digest information in a popular, novel-style reading form, I highly recommend the book The Goal by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. The book does not need any endorsements as it has sold millions of copies. I characterize it as a "bridge book on business". It makes complex information accessible to the more general public and business readers. The potential for books on corporate blogging excite me in the same way (although grounding in solid business theory may not be as difficult for the blogging subject as it is for operations).
Steve Shu
Managing Director, S4 Management Group