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Any college will do
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Well, BB, this week the Baby has been thinking about college……as you know, we just got back from your fifth college reunion as a graduate of the Harvard business school --- ok, my dove….maybe it wasn’t your fifth…..maybe I had just had a fifth to drink and it was really your 30th….but no matter…..the fact is that you got in and you got out…..and here you are happily married and successful. The question is – how important is graduate business school? Do entrepreneurs need to get an MBA and what is the correlation, if any, between entrepreneurship, graduate MBAs and the Ivy League as predictions of future success….
And so, some interesting statistics and stories have emerged in the past few weeks……
A recent lead article in the Wall Street Journal announces “any college will do” and what the study shows is that getting to the corner office has more to do with leadership talent and a drive for success – what I call relentless pursuit – than it does with having an undergraduate degree from a prestigious university….
It goes on -- most CEOs of the biggest corporations did not attend an Ivy League school…or even a highly prestigious one….they mostly went to state universities, both big and small --- or to lesser known smaller private universities…..
Going to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Penn does not really grease the skids to the chief executive slot --- herewith some examples… CEO Lee Scott of Wal mart went to Pittsburgh State University in Kansas……don’t ask me about the name confusion….maybe Dorothy doesn’t really know Kansas from Pittsburgh ---- Intel – a 118 billion dollar company, has a COO from the University of san Francisco….and Costco CEO James Sinegal went to san Diego state university…..
I teach at SDSU --- and the question I ask myself – if a future Jim Sinegal is in my class, will I know it….
Here is some more comfort for those of us who aspire but did not achieve in academia……to quote Warren Buffet, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and second richest person in the world - who himself graduated from the university of Nebraska at Lincoln……says “ I don’t care where someone went to school and that never caused me to hire anyone or buy a business.”
Which only goes to confirm the baby billionaire rule no. 112 --- grand passion will take you further than good grades….”
Buffet goes on to say that what counts most in CEOs is the person’s capacity to seize opportunities……and to form teams and mix with students from diverse backgrounds…..
Take a look at Bill Green, CEO of Accenture, who attended Dean - a two year community college – where he says teachers were available and he learned to think analytically and work with people….
Real regular stuff and now Green heads a company with 135,000 employees…….I could go on and on….the lesson is a simple one….
Now, let’s take a look at the graduate level – the infamous MBA…..
First, let’s revisit Mr. Buffet’s resume….after completing college in Nebraska, at his father’s urging, he applied to Harvard business school -- and was promptly turned down as being too young….
Next, what I would like to focus on is how recruiters view the various top business schools…..recruiters, as you know….those are the guys who come to the campus and actually offer you a job……
Michigan was number one….recruiters talk about a strong commitment to ethics and corporate social responsibility at Michigan ….
Then there is Dartmouth ---- followed by Carnegie Mellon – but no Wharton or Stanford or Harvard yet….in fact they rank 7th, 14th and 18th respectively….
And why do the top academic schools rank lower from the recruiters standpoint – quote “While recognizing the brainpower of the students and faculty at those top 3 schools, nonetheless recruiters complain that they often find graduates there to be more arrogant and less collegial than MBAs from other schools.”
The recruiters --- remember those are the guys who actually do the hiring – picked their top schools based on how they value the student’s interpersonal and communication skills…teamwork orientation, personal ethics and integrity, and work ethic….
Well there you have it……the entrepreneur’s guide to the galaxy does not necessarily run through the super nova of the prestigious schools alone…..
There are many paths to success, to the corner office and to greatness…..
So -if you happen to miss the big dipper or the north star, non problemas…..you can always hitch a ride on algenib in perseus ….or the crab nebula…
I’m Neil Senturia, and when it comes to a ride through the galaxy, I want to eat a Milky Way, avoid the black hole and take a ride on the Big Bang Theory…..
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Should you get an MBA?
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A listener who is starting a technology consulting business recently asked whether he should get an MBA. This person had already been the co-founder of a successful software company where he was one of the chief developers, and he is an avid reader of the Harvard Business Review and other business and management books. We advised him that he most likely did not need an MBA but that he should continue to enhance his management and leadership skills through classes, books and seminars. In addition, we said that he should add people to his team who complement his skill sets.
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Entrepreneurship can't be taught
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I am an adjunct professor in the MBA program at San Diego State University where I teach new venture creation-- entrepreneurship for the 21st century. The first slide of the first day says "No." I tell the students it's magic at which point they're outraged, and they start to walk out of the class.
What I tell them as file back into their seats is that what can be taught are the principles of entrepreneurship-- not the genetic disposition or the entrepreneurial DNA-- that unquantifiable something that propels some people to success. But what can be taught is how to think strategically, how to write a business plan, how to assess a market, how to create a team, how to finance a company.
What are your thoughts?
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Grand Passion Will Take You Further Than Good Grades
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I don't think any employer is really going to look at your GPA and give out a job based on a 3.87 vs. a 3.25. The real world doesn't work that way.
And if you are engaging in an entrepreneurial adventure, you probably are not auditioning for a job anyway, so no one is ever going to know that you got a C+ in applied semantics or Peruvian basket weaving.
This emphasis on and dependence on grades seems all wrong headed and frankly ass backwards.
What do you think?
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