I love knowledge, I love learning.  I am a professional accountant, and as part of my mandatory professional development, I always prefer to take formal courses that lead to a formal diploma.

 

But I love even more applied knowledge, and no theory should be more real than reality.  The real test in life is always what you can do and deliver in the real world.  Let’s not underestimate the value of learning on the job, and also of success and excellence in real work.

 

The idea that you go take a MBA, and they will mold you in a perfect leader with some perfect theory is…

 

Actually, I will let you read this nice article from Forbes.

 

Why MBA Programs Don’t Produce Leaders

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), over 150,000 students graduate with their MBA in the United States every year. That’s a whopping 25% of all Master’s recipients (compared to Computer & Information Science at only 3%).

Read full article on Forbes

 

It gives three key reasons why MBA programs don’t produce leaders.  And my favorite is this one:

3. Leaders execute. MBAs focus on strategy, divorcing it from implementation

The article does reference this great book from Mintzberg… (Ah Mintzberg, it brings some memories from my student years at the University…)