In the early 90s and 00s an MBA equates to success. Not anymore. In the dot.com boom, teenage college dropouts are self-made millionaires. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg both dropped out of Harvard and Steve Jobs only had a semester at Reed.
While the rest of the world still sign up for further education, the most forward thinkers are leaping ahead with or without a degree.
Jobs are scarce. There are MBA graduates working at Starbucks. The economy is not looking up and it’s becoming harder and harder to get in multinational companies offering six-figure salaries.
Entrepreneurship is becoming a popular form of livelihood. Most risk-takers and people shunning employment set up shop in the comforts of their homes. If this is trending, there is no reason for an MBA degree anymore.
There is no gold in the corporate world. There is no corporate ladder to climb. Companies are downsizing instead of hiring. Young people should be informed that instead of hoping to get hired, they should start thinking of business ideas for themselves. Instead of polishing their resumes, they should think of start-ups that can blow up to international success and provide jobs for future generations.
The MBA program basically teaches you how to be a good manager but not a good CEO. Those are two very different approaches. The CEO has to think outside the box while the manager has to stay within the box. Any program reduces a person to a certain set of rules which is limiting for a boss-mindset. If you want to be a boss, you must be prepared to try out different approaches to everything—whether it’s about finding capital, human resources, ideas, innovation or new products and services to tap.
Instead of advancing themselves in the game of life, MBA students are actually restricting themselves to be employees. They are taught risk management but they aren’t taught to pursue these risks. Rich people like Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group of Companies didn’t get to where he is now by following rules. He achieved his success by breaking most of it.
This is also true for the richest people on earth. These people didn’t succeed because they did well in school. They succeeded because they went against the norm and carved their own paths. It is definitely more difficult to tread in unchartered territories but that is the road to success in current times.
MBAs are indeed obsolete. Institutions can help at most by introducing the basics but when it comes to actually learning how to get to the top, you’ll have to find your own way.
