New Order Business Management Training
Posted By Rob Millard - 2 Comments -
Seth Godin has just posted a brilliant entry titled NOBS, the end of the MBA. "NOBS" stands for New Order Business School. He hits some hard points about the relevance (or lack thereof) of conventional business school / MBA training to the real world.
This is good thinking material for those who are wondering how to make their lawyers / accountants / other professionals who are already truly gifted in their professional practice, be equally gifted on the business side.
Godin's NOBS will have a few unique characteristics, compared to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton and other well known top end business schools.
- In the first instance, tuition will be free. "Very Web 2.0 of us," he says.
- Secondly, they will only accept 1 in every 1000 applicants, thus making the NOBS the most exclusive business school in the world!
- Thirdly, they guarantee that every alumnus will receive at least three good job offers, upon acceptance on their program (as opposed to upon graduation.)
Radical ideas, to be sure! But with a smack of 21st Century realism in them.
What is the relevance to law firms? Well, several prominent law firms across North America and Europe have now partnered with several prominent business schools, at great cost, to put their partners through business management training courses.
All well and good. They'll have a great experience. As Godin says, business schools do some things really well, like creating "experts in cost accounting, in understanding manufacturing efficiencies, and in applying the Black and Scholes Option Pricing Formula." There is also something classy, even a little awe inspiring, about a great business school. I found the Leading Professional Service Firms program at Harvard Business School back in 1998, a particularly delicious experience!
Other things, though, are done really poorly at business schools (mostly, I suppose, because they perceive them to be "soft" and "un-academic.")
Godin proposes five main courses specifically in areas that conventional business schools don't do well, but that most highly successful business people would agree are absolutely essential. (They are particularly important in the law firm / professional service firm environment.) The courses are:
1. Finding, hiring, and managing supergreat people
2. Embracing change and moving quickly
3. Understanding and excelling at business development and at making deals with other firms
4. Prioritizing tasks in a job that changes every day
5. Selling -- to people, to clients and prospective clients, and to markets
Ancillary courses could include balancing life for the long term, being creative and innovative, getting really good at doing presentations and getting the most out of junior fee earners.
OK, so the NOBA graduates won't get a certificate at the end of it with a business school logo that will impress their mothers in law. But, serious question: which experience is likely to have the greater performance-driving impact, back in their firms?
Is there anybody out there that would be keen to explore this idea further with me? Either a law firm that sees the potential and would like to explore ideas further, or others that just think that it's a cool idea? (Even if you're with one of Edge International's competitors in the market. In our 21st Century world, today's competitor is tomorrow's collaborator!) If so, email me and let's talk. (Seth Godin is kidding with his "NoBS." I'm kind of serious!)
http://www.robmillard.com/admin/trackback/26845
Rob,
You might enjoy reading this: http://personalmba.com/manifesto/. I may be able to help with what you're proposing - if you're interested, send me a note!
Kind regards,
Josh
Thanks, Josh,
That's a great site you've got, and a great idea. I'd like to see skills, as opposed to just knowledge, included in your PMBA idea. Which is not to devalue knowledge, of course. Not at all. It's critical and you have a GREAT collection of the best books. It's just that skills are a bit different. Just like one can't learn to play golf by reading a book on it, so there are many business skills that need to be taught on the "observe, try oneself, get feedback, improve" loop.
Thanks for posting. I'll definitely be in touch personally, too.
Regards Rob