
Lies of B-School - krat0sprakhar
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2011/08/10/the-ten-biggest-lies-of-b-school/
======
jsherry
Most of the author's points have some merit. However, just to balance the
argument out a bit, here are a few truths of the MBA:

1\. If you want to become a Goldman (or similar caliber) I-banker or work at a
top flight consulting firm, a top MBA is the way to go.

Yes there are other ways to get these jobs, but the recruiting processes for
these firms are highly targeted and organized when it comes to hiring people
from prestigious MBA programs. It truly is the path of least resistance. And
if you truly set your mind to becoming employed by one of these firms, you can
likely attain it once admitted to a top business school. We can argue the
merits of joining one of these companies, but that's another argument
entirely.

2\. If you go work at said type of firm, your employment options thereafter
are wide open.

I don't have statistics to back this up, but having worked in corporate for a
healthy portion of my career, Goldman and McKinsey candidates were often ear-
marked for positions that they applied for.

3\. The MBA is good for "career changers".

Assuming you want to go the corporate route, an MBA is a very versatile
degree. If from a top school, it practically forgives whatever you were doing
before the MBA and enables you to transition into something largely unrelated
if that's your wish. You need to do a whole lot of networking and build your
story to make this happen, but with two years to do so, there's plenty of
time. And the fact of the matter is that, regardless of how you regard MBAS,
plenty of highly regarded corporates (including Google!) formally plug into
the recruiting process at top schools.

EDIT: I understand many of the arguments above may not apply to the HN
community as it skews entrepreneurial and perhaps academic, but I believe they
have merit nonetheless.

~~~
ThomPete
I think you are right but I don't think the OP is refuting that.

The problem with MBAs IMO is that they teach you "play the game" more than
they teach you to be better at doing business.

~~~
asdkl234890
Ah but doing better at business is only important if you care more about
creating new things than gating paid a lot. If, on the other hand, you are in
it for power and money, being better at "playing the game" is where money and
power will come from faster and easier.

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waterside81
Let me be a data point. I have a BSc in Comp Sci, run my own company(ies), and
did my MBA at a "good" school (Schulich School of Business). Here's, in my
opinion, THE best takeaway a technically minded person gets from an MBA: there
are people in this world who don't think like you, don't solve problems like
you, and don't have the same interests, but you're often working shoulder to
shoulder with them so best you learn how to deal with them.

MBA projects are more often than not group work and in your group you'll have
a marketing person, a financial expert, an electrical engineer, and maybe a
teacher who wants to change careers. It's like herding cats sometimes to get
people on the same page, not because they're dumber or slower than you, the
Python wiz, but because they're used to solving problems differently.

For me, this was the best part of my MBA. I really improved my sensitivity to
others' understanding of issues and became more "personable".

~~~
jacques_chester
Good point.

However, I feel that I obtained a similar education in teamwork by working odd
jobs throughout my law and computer science studies.

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Gaussian
I think we need a case study on the core competencies of the author's point
structure. Maybe we can re-org. Big value-add there.

~~~
waterside81
Ha, I don't know if I should laugh or cry because students in my school
actually DID talk like that!

The buzzword soup that MBAs pick up is definitely one of the weaker elements
of the program on the whole. I've had professors admit that they want their
students to learn these terms ("paradigm shift" is my favourite) so that they
can "sound smart at cocktail parties"

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endtime
>However, you have to realize that if you’re getting an Ivy League MBA, you’re
probably 10x more susceptible to the previous 9 lies than other MBAs. Don’t
let yourself be the next Jeff Skilling, the smart Harvard MBA, who worked at
McKinsey and then went to Enron and drove the company off a cliff. He had a
golden resume – and where did it get him?

Is this really the kind of reasoning they teach in business school?

~~~
localhost3000
you were being ironic, right?

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alexro
I dunno if MBAs can be so high about themselves, but I will start giving even
less credit them now.

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FrancescoRizzi
Missing from the list "9 pregnant women in a room for 1 month will produce a
baby"

~~~
ThomPete
I don't know why you got down voted. This is actually a very relevant comment
despite it's character.

Anyone working on big projects with a client can testify to this.

~~~
FrancescoRizzi
Thanks. I guess someone felt I was being caustic (which, well, I was). Indeed
this is one of the recurring problems we've faced in large projects and "we"
always wonder if it's something "they" learn in Business School, so I was
expecting it to be on the list. Anyways, I'm sure I'm over-simplifying and the
issue runs deeper than the academic background.

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redwood
I'm genuinely considering business school because I feel like the "jack of all
trades" type and generally the type who encourages others to do their best
work, builds bridges, helps facilitate collaboration etc.

I do wonder if the B-school route is just the cop-out for me because it plays
to my existing strengths, and let's me boost the resume without being on the
corporate treadmill for a few years.

Would love to hear from others who've got MBAs on here. The coding community
is generally negative about MBAs, but does anyone on here have any advise?

Are technology-management-focused MBA programs ever any different?

~~~
SkyMarshal
>"jack of all trades" type and generally the type who encourages others to do
their best work, builds bridges, helps facilitate collaboration etc.

Sounds like you may be a glue guy. Good writeups on glue guys in sports:

[http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-
cup/story/_/id/5308513/ce...](http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-
cup/story/_/id/5308513/ce/us/david-vanole-esophagus-saved-us-
soccer&cc=5901?ver=us)

<http://www.google.com/search?q=glue+guy+grant+hill> (can't find the actual
article, but there was a good one on Grant Hill and how he changes game stats)

Biggest problem may be that that role seems more needed in a sports team or
the military than a tech business.

~~~
redwood
Interesting, well I've been really kicking a __at the role in a big tech
company in silicon valley, but it's killing me to work in such a large
company. What this may mean is that there is room for the role only in super
large orgs that are splintering.. a pity b/c I personally can't stand working
in them. Hmm anyway thanks!

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JVerstry
Those are not 'lies of' business schools. Those are false beliefs about
business schools, which is different.

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cateye
The strange thing about MBA's is not the fallacies but the currently attached
value to the MBA. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_value>

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mcfunley
> You’ve probably worked at companies were people who’ve been there for 2
> decades ...

11\. You know how to proofread.

~~~
jacques_chester
12\. Dictated but not read.

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known
You need MBA to prevail in globalization.

