M.B.A.s Don't Prepare Managers for Real-Life Challenges

Yeah, that headline is a real shocker, isn't it? Not if you have your MBA. If you do have the degree, you know that the education itself is much less valuable in the "real-world" than the experience you get when working.

I'll give more of my thoughts on this issue in a bit, but for now let's check out what CareerJournal says about the MBA and how it prepares people for real-life challenges:

An M.B.A. provides the strong general education that an executive needs but it doesn't teach the skills needed in the day-to-day operation of a business, according to a survey of international executives.

Only 20% of the executives surveyed said that an M.B.A. prepares people to deal with the real-life challenges that a manager must face, according to the survey of 133 top executives at firms in the U.S., U.K., France and Germany by Egon Zehnder International, an executive search firm. Among the executives surveyed, 40% hold an M.B.A. themselves.

If I had taken this survey, I would have been with the 80% who said an MBA doesn't prepare people very well for real-world challenges. In fact, here are my overall feelings about an MBA:

1. I have an MBA and am glad I do. It has made a tremendous difference in my net worth through the years. I always say that your career is your most valuable financial asset, offering you many financial benefits. You can make the most of it by getting a college degree and managing your career to its full potential. Doing this well can earn you millions of dollars in extra income throughout your lifetime. An MBA has been a key part of success for me in this area.

2. I learned a lot while getting my education, but not much of it has been used in my almost 20 years of work experience since then. Yes, I learned statistics, corporate finance, operations and the like, but those where just "book learning" principles.

3. When I got into the working world, I learned MUCH more about business and the various disciplines than I did in school. Most importantly, I learned the difference between the way business was supposed to work (which is what they teach when you get your MBA) and the way it really works. And it's a huge difference.

4. The most valuable part of my MBA education was learning extra skills outside the classroom -- working with other highly-motivated people to accomplish a common task (without killing each other), managing my time to complete what seemed like an overwhelming list of tasks, and so on. These skills have served me well throughout my career.

5. The most valuable part (employment-wise) of an MBA to me has been that it opened doors for me that would have never been opened otherwise. It gave my career a big kick-start from the beginning and I think that's what it does for most people. Then, after time, the MBA becomes less and less valuable as a person's experience becomes more and more valuable. The MBA was necessary to get the person where she wanted to be initially, and after that, it's her ability that allows her to succeed or fail.

Comments

[Fellowes]

For the most part, I agree with your assessment of the degree. I too have my MBA and have found that it does indeed open many doors that would have otherwise been unavailable to me. It also gave me a significant and accelerated boost in income. So, in a sense the notion that getting your MBA is "getting your ticket punched" is true to a degree. I, like you, learned a ton of finance, economic and operations management and like you, have used only a fraction of this at my job. That said, I still see a tremendous value in my MBA. First and foremost is the network of fellow alums that I can call on should something happen with my current employment. I have already secured one of my post MBA jobs this way. The biggest benefit I derived from the two years of schooling, and you hinted at this, is a systematic way of thinking and the ability to prioritize at work. I think ultimately, this is what B-School is all about.

[EMF]

As an engineer, 80% of what I do wasn't learned in school. And 80% of what I learned in school I don't use.

But the 20% that's left over made going to school worth while. Not to mention that I needed the diploma to get a job anyway.

[Patrick]

I plan on getting my MBA soon and I have read similar articles. I believe a lot of that is true. But, I also believe that if you do your MBA the right way, you will learn a lot of networking skills and teamwork. Those skills are some of the most valuable to have in today's workforce. Everything else you can learn on the job.

I also plan on doing an MBA program because my undergrad was not business, and I know that I have a lot to learn. For me, the two years of school will be well worth it. Having an MBA on my resume should also open a lot of doors in the future. :)

[shadox]

I too have an MBA from a top 10 program and I agree with most of what you say. However, there are many tools that I learned in b-school that are directly applicable to my specific field of business and that I would not have otherwise known.

Much like EMF, I think that 20% of what you learn in b-school is useful, but those 20% are extremely important.

The main area I felt b-school did not prepare me for is managing people. The focus in b-school (at least in my program) was analysis, while people management is a combination of psychology, baby-sitting and motivational speaking. Analysis doesn't help you much there.

[Clothez]

I think this is a job-specific case. I know many other jobs are almost 100% dependent on the information learned in college.