The MBA is Blind

In a meeting with an alumni group, a young man stands up and tells me his “MBA is broken.” He goes on to say that it hasn’t done anything for his career. My response to him was that the MBA is blind. Of course, the expression on his face was pure bewilderment. As I began to elaborate on that comment, his expression changed drastically. Here’s what I offered to help him understand the issue with the MBA’s vision.

When I say the MBA is blind, I mean it can’t see where you are going. Sure you can specialize in a specific field but most students don’t. They approach the MBA with the hope that it will provide them new skills which are in high demand by a company that will notice they have these skills and will hire them before graduation. There are two problems with this idea. First, companies change their needs too rapidly. IBM’s CEO surveys, created almost biannually, show drastic changes in what organizational leaders think they need. Second, universities don’t respond that fast. Many programs evaluate their classes on a five year schedule. Obviously, industry is moving faster than that. However, universities will give you skills but you need to have an idea where you want to go so you can determine what you need to get there.
“A student who doesn’t know what they want to do is an undecided major. A graduate who doesn’t know what he wants to do is unemployed.”

You have to lend the MBA your vision of your future. Career changers make up a large portion of MBA programs. These are professionals who want to leave their current occupation, market or industry for something new. The challenge for these professionals is to define what the new position will be. This isn’t always an easy task. The MBA is a great tool. With it, you can do almost anything. The problem is that you must define what that something is.
I looked back at the graduate and asked him what he had planned for his MBA. He said “nothing, I guess.” I told him “that’s what you got.” If you plan nothing, you’ll get nothing.

If you’re not sure what you want, consider these steps from my “Me in 3” branding process. It’s important to note that you need to do this before you get into an MBA program or at least at the beginning. Why so early? We’ll answer that shortly.

The first steps in the “Me in 3” process deals with introspection. Introspection, by definition, is the observation or examination of one’s own mental and emotional state. It’s taking a deep look inside of yourself to understand who you are. Why do you need this? Quite often, our dreams give us a vision that our skills can’t support, in reality or as perceived by others. In either case, we won’t get where we want to go. So we need to start our planning by looking at what we really have to offer. There are several tests for revealing this.
You can do a little search on the Internet to find the tools to complete these tests. The first test is an aptitude test. This test will identify your strengths and what you’re naturally good at. Most also provide a list of occupations where these skills are required. It’s important to take multiple assessments to ensure that you’re answering the questions honestly. Don’t just take one test and use the results of it to guide you. Introspection requires deep thought to get it right.
After you’ve taken a few aptitude tests, engage in interest inventories. These inventories help you understand what you’re most interested in doing. It helps uncover what you’re natural interests are and helps avoid clear the air of any faddish desires.

At this point, you know what you’re naturally good at and what you’re naturally interested in. But, there’s another piece of the puzzle that we need to know. It’s related to your drive and determination, or what I like to call the “fuel” for achieving your dreams. The question we need answer now “what do you work for?” Understanding what drives you to achieve your goals in the workplace is the key to reaching your goals. Why? Many of these factors are environmentally related and if these factors aren’t in your environment, you’re motivation will suffer for it. Your “work reward values” tell you what rewards you need to maintain a high level of job satisfaction. Maybe you need power, influence and intellectual challenge. Or possibly, you need to have autonomy or financial gain. We’ve developed a short survey to help you understand what values are embedded in you. Send us an email if you want to find out what you value. We’re glad to help.

So, there you have it. You have one of the first steps in our “Me in 3” branding process. It helps answer the question, who are you and what do you want to do. Our process keeps you thinking in the power of 3. In this case, start introspection with: 1) aptitude, 2) interest inventory and 3) work reward values. Of course, our process will provide a few more tests to help ensure you have the best assessment possible, but this is a good start.
Back to why you need to do this early on. If your dreams differ from who you are and what you have to offer, you’ve obviously got some work to do. Many students and graduates fail to assess this gap, much less address it. If you can understand what your gaps are, you can use your MBA program to help you fill those gaps. Career changers are seen as professionals who are making a transition in their career. Employers don’t want to hire someone in a transition. You have to prove to them that you’ve already made the transition. That means you have to develop the skills needed for your new position and have proof of it. Proof? If you want someone to buy into your product, in this case YOU, you need to have evidence that you are capable of being what they need. If you want to be a leader in an organization and you were an individual contributor prior to earning the MBA, you better have held leadership roles at the university, in professional associations or at an internship.

Transferable skills were once the big thing and are still important. However, organizations are not buying them, especially if that’s all you have. Companies want people who have the skills and can be productive from the first day on the job. That’s your challenge. You have to show that you have the skills and have the successes to prove it.
If you’re chasing the MBA and plan on spending one or two years building new skills, take a little to figure out what you plan to do with it. You’re about to expend a lot of energy and money to give yourself a better future. Why not give yourself the advantage of direction by using free online tools to identify what you really need to be working on. Give yourself a brighter future. Give your MBA some VISION!