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MBA's
Before graduating, I had every intention of getting a MBA or law degree. But, then Senior Year hit. Not only was I burned out, but I started to realize that a BS was just that – a BS piece of paper. Looking back, there’s not a lot of things I still use from my classes. But, I sure as hell use what I learned from extra-curriculars and jobs I held during college. With that in mind, I gave the finger to higher education and got a j-o-b.
Lately, I’ve been considering going back to get a MBA. I think another BS piece of paper will help me get to the next step in my career. Needless to say, I was interested to see how this debate unfolded. But, the reasons to get a MBA felt lacking. Maybe it’s the industry I’m in, but below are a few of the arguments I disagreed with.
- “It teaches you to evaluate and understand problems in the context of the entire business.” You don’t need a MBA to think like this, you just need to think operationally. If you want your campaign to be a success, you have to take into consideration how it effects each department. I do this everyday, for every project. You have to. What happens when you drop an eblast to 6 million and don’t tell your Call Center about the promotion? Yep, I think you’ll have an unprepared and un-staffed Call Center, leading to a lot of call abandonment, which ultimately equals less revenue for ME. Sure, not everyone thinks operationally, but it’s something easily learned; not something you need to take a class for.
- “You learn to quickly and methodically assess business problems.” Until reading this, I didn’t realize people didn’t do cost-benefit analysis and SWOT for every project. Again, it’s something I do constantly. I’m baffled that people would dive into a project without doing a proforma first. And, once again, you certainly don’t need a MBA to create either of these documents, you just need to think operationally.
- “It prepares you for dealing with greater ambiguity.” Maybe I don’t fully understand this one, but once again, I don’t feel like you need a MBA to take on more responsibility. You do have to WANT to take on more. You have to want to grow, expand your knowledge and take on tasks outside your job description. Personally, I’ve never been a fan of “checklists”. However, I am a big fan of delivering results. On time
Besides the, “Hey, you can’t be President without a MBA,” I’m still waiting for a GREAT reason to go back to school vs. self learning.
Posted in Work
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