The Personal MBA

July 27th, 2005

It’s a neat idea, but I’m not entirely convinced by the idea of the Personal MBA. At it’s lowest level it’s a reading list - with some interesting and useful titles, but also some of the biggest wastes of trees this side of the Da Vinci Code. Now there’s also the start of an online community, which could be the beginnings of something really useful - 43 Folders, anyone?

My reservation stems from the same problem that afflicts the distance-learning route. A significant part of the value of undertaking an MBA isn’t in the qualification itself, or the reading list, or even the academic content - it’s in the interactions that you have with the other members of the cohort that you’re studying with. A decent course at a reputable school will pull together a group of people from a wider variety of backgrounds, nationalities and experience than you will ever experience in a business environment; so the value of the qualification comes as much from learning from your colleagues as it does from learning from the faculty or reading list.

So if the proposition of the Personal MBA is that you can learn everything you need to know from reading 40 books, it’s being disingenuous. If the reading list is the start of a broader interaction through the site and the discussions, then there’s the possibility of really reading something. And if it’s the source of inspiration to go off and do some real networking with real people, then it’ll be adding some real value.

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One Response to “The Personal MBA”

  1. Josh Kaufman on July 30, 2005 12:15 am

    Good criticism, Tim - we have a lot of work to do, but I’m very optimistic with how the project is progressing. The test will be how the reading group progresses, and if it stays together and active over time.

    Right now we have over 150 members from the US, UK, Spain, and India - local discussion groups are forming now. I completely agree about the value of interactions in a program like this, so we’ll be trying to develop the sense of community as much as possible as time goes on.

    Not sure if you’ve joined personalmba.com or not, but it would be great to have you on board! :-)

    Josh

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