The Personal MBA^TM

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Alan Weiss, a very successful business consultant, speaker, and author of Million Dollar Consulting and Getting Started in Consulting. Here’s what he has to say about business credentials:

I’ve become convinced that the consulting profession is better off with no licensing or national recognition at all.

I understand this is heresy, but it turns out to be pretty smart business. One of the great advantages of consulting is the ease of entry. You don’t need a bushel of credentials, a pile of money, or even an office. You just need your smarts. And those smarts are all that sustained a great many currently top consultants when they began in the business.

…

I salute any consultant who develops himself or herself by engaging in continual learning, and if that’s done with the help of an organization, conference, collaboration, or any other structure, fine. I think we all also know that any string of initials after our names in this business means zero to potential buyers. What they want to know is how smart you are, who is referring you, what intellectual capital you bring, and what your track record is.

Let’s stop trying to shoot ourselves in the foot by seeking licensing, certifications, approvals, DNA testing, or blood samples. Let’s exploit the wonderful opportunity of this profession by being the best we can, every one of us, by our own terms and by those of our clients.

On a related note, read “Graduate Students Stunned”.

You can find Alan’s blog at http://contrarianconsulting.com.

If you're new to the Personal MBA, you'll want to check out the manifesto and recommended reading list to see what we're all about.

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Seth Godin (author of Purple Cow and the excellent upcoming book The Dip) weighs in on the value of traditional MBA programs and proposes an alternative: the NoBS. Now that’s a credential worth talking about.

Seth was the original inspiration for the Personal MBA, so it’s great to see his continued passion for changing the way people (and companies) approach education. He was also kind enough to feature the Personal MBA as an example of how “people in the real world buy how-to books to figure out how to succeed.” Thanks, Seth!

Side note: thank you all so much taking the time to answer my questions - the response was overwhelming, and it’ll take me a bit to synthesize your thoughts. I really appreciate your help!

Brad Feld, managing director of the Foundry Group and Mobius Venture Capital, weighs in on traditional MBA programs:

Business school certainly has value and serves a useful purpose in this world. However, the essence of the question points at one of the fundamental problems (and possibly misconceptions) about business school. I’m 40. I don’t believe that the degree I have has ever had any material impact on my “career” during the last 20 years. I can’t think of a single situation where it came up in a conversation about anything that I was considering doing. For a while, I obsessively corrected the “MBA” and “MS” listings that would show up on web sites and in public filings – I finally gave up because I decided it simply wasn’t relevant. While many people wear their degrees as badges of honor on their chests, I prefer to let actions speak for themselves (and – rather than look at the badges people have, I look for the actions.)

If you want a two year break from life, go to business school. If you want to meet a bunch of new, generally smart, and always interesting people, go to business school. If you are a techie but like the business side of things, want to get an intellectual (and functional grounding) in business stuff, want a two year break from life, and want to meet interesting people, go to business school. But please - don’t worry about whether you are getting an SM or an MS or an MBA - that’s not what you are going for.

Recognize this will cost you $100k plus two years of opportunity cost, so make sure it’s worth it to you. There are many careers where you generally (but not always) need the MBA badge to advance to the next level. If you are an investment banker or a management consultant, it’ll help. If you are looking to be a VC, it might help, but it probably won’t, as the population of people being recruited into the VC business continues to be very small. Don’t be misguided by the idea that doors will now fly open to you since you are a newly minted MBA (or MS, or SM.)

Brad also thinks the Personal MBA is “interesting and provocative”. Good stuff.