Higher Education or Better Education?

 Preface: The article that follows is more of a process than an event.  It started early this morning with a story sent to me by my Aunt Mazie.  The story will be used as a close and a case study on the theories presented in this article.  The proofing (not in terms of grammar and spelling corrections but rather in terms of proving my premise) was completed as my wife and I watched the movie Seabiscuit this afternoon. 

The Article: I believe that Robert Fulghum has IT and has been kind enough to share IT. I believe John Nash (in the movie The Beautiful Mind) didn’t have “IT” but in his journey through the Ivory Towers and Mental Institutions (a.k.a. – insane asylums) he got IT. “IT” being an understanding of life, living, people, and purpose.

IT is wisdom not education.  IT is about knowing people, not knowing things.  IT is being a better person educated, not being a better-educated person.  IT is using organizations for the good of people.  Not using people for the good of the organization.  IT is experience gained not facts taught (and maybe learned).  IT is scar tissue not brain tissue. 

Fulghum wrote the best seller - All I Really Need to Know, I learned in Kindergarten.  If you haven’t read it, I urge you to do so. 

John Nash was a genius mathematician.  He ultimately won a Nobel Prize (in real life and in the movie) for his theories (which I do not understand).  He also was a paranoid schizophrenic who was institutionalized in two different places – one an insane asylum (where none of us would want to go) and at other times in institutions of higher education (where most of us fantasize about being).  You can learn in both places.

IT for John was not the Nobel Prize nor the degrees nor the numbers nor the theories nor the reasoning / logic he taught.  IT WAS LOVE (People).

This article is the result of a conversation with a good friend and a really smart person – Larry Morrison.  I was in Seattle visiting with Larry.  We got on a tirade about MBA’s - what they know and what they don’t know, what they think and what they don’t think, and what they do and what they don’t do and finally the good they could do and the harm they do do!  Larry is a RECOVERING MBA.  Believe me in dealing with MBAs you have to put up with a lot of do do!

PLEASE NOTE – THIS IS A STEREOTYPE AND STEREOTYPES ARE BAD.  AS MY COUSIN MARTIN TELLS ME, “THE BROADER THE STEREOTYPE THE NARROWER THE MIND.”  MARTIN BELIEVES I HAVE A VERY NARROW MIND!  HE’S RIGHT. 

This article is not about the Executive MBA who has spent years in the field and then goes back to the Ivory Tower.  This is not about the recovering MBA, like Larry, who has tried what (s)he learned in the classroom and then submitted to the tougher lessons taught in the field and has now successfully balanced the scar tissue with the brain tissue.  The Recovering MBA is an asset because now they know what they don’t know.  This is about the fully educated yet “unlearned”, knowledgeable but not yet wise MBA.  This is the MBA – as a Second Lieutenant in the business wars.  They have earned the rank but not respect.  They have power / knowledge but not the maturity to use it. 

The good news about Stereotypes is that they are easy to understand.  In this case, I hope the positive potential  - encouraging some MBAs to rethink what they do - is better than the harm – some hurt feelings - which might be caused.

Larry said, “I have an MBA and when I got out of school, I was dangerous.  I had all the answers but didn’t know the right questions.  I didn’t know what I didn’t know.” 

He said, “the good news is that Daddy didn’t go bankrupt because if he had listened to my advice he would have.”
 
Probably the best news in our society, is that most mature business folks can work around these marvels we call MBAs.  We nod at their comments and then do what is right.  We let them talk and then we think and act.  We let them use their education in front of us until they can get some “learnin” standing next to us. 

They share what they learned sitting on their butt in a classroom while we do what we learned falling on our butt in the office, field, or assembly line.   We watch them in amazement - their ego, naivete, and drive (to their Vision not that of the organization).  In worst case scenarios, like the Second Lieutenants that they are, someone “frags” them (if you don’t understand this term, ask a Vietnam Combat Vet).

To young MBAs their education / degree is a hammer and like most of us who have a new hammer for the first time – EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE A NAIL!

Larry – now a very wise man, said of his new MBA hammer “I was so green back then I didn’t know what green was.  What I learned after I got “educated” was that scar tissue was more important than brain tissue.  My definition of wisdom is to not get bit in the same place twice.  Of course, it took me a while to figure the last part out.”

He and I laughed about what “smart people” (Jimmy Carter – as President) and MBAs have taught us.  We learned that Sears was going to dominate the retail business.  I wonder if Sam Walton was intimidated because he didn’t have an MBA?

As an aside – Sam Walton was asked his secret for success.  He said, “good decisions.”  When asked how he made good decisions, he replied, “experience.”  When pressed for his source of experience, he said, “bad decisions.”  SCAR TISSUE / NOT AN MBA.

Larry said, “back in MBA School (being taught by professors that couldn’t manage a lemonade stand) we heard that Exxon and Sears would own their respective worlds because they could afford to staff with MBAs.”  

We talked about the insurance companies that turned away from streetwise insurance folks and turned to “bean counter” MBAs for leadership.  Remember Reliance, Kemper, Allmerica, Aetna Life and Casualty, Executive Life, and Equitable.  There were more – many more.  They are gone or on life support.

MBAs at Chase were going to make so much money on derivatives they were going to own the world.  Today, who owes what to whom?  How deep is the hole their MBAs will need to fill?  Citicorp and Travelers were going to be the Financial Services provider for the universe.  They did manage to “steal” the umbrella. 

We talked about MBAs in politics.  For you old timers, remember Robert McNamara the MBA that was going to use all his “schoolin” to win the war in Vietnam.  Our troops were in the field, but they had to ask, “may I” when fighting for their lives.  Decisions were being made by committees of MBAs in the Pentagon but it was the soldiers that were paying the ultimate price for the bad decisions made.

George Bush has an MBA although I’d bet his “brothers” in that fraternity would deny him membership if they could.   He won the war because he let the people with the scar tissue call the shots.  He probably did this because he has scar tissue as well.

Our diatribe continued, but I won’t bore you.  Larry and I both believe in EDUCATION.  We think it is good to know a lot of stuff, be able to analyze the stuff you know, make good decisions, and implement the decisions you make.  It is however, more important to be able to gain the commitment and respect of the folks you work with so that they will become involved and commit to the shared goals, the Vision.

Your success in business (and often your survival) will not be based upon what you know, but rather on how well you can leverage what you know to help the members of your organization achieve the Vision – the shared goals.  You must work with people and through people for the common good. 

Some MBAs know all the words but often don’t know the definitions.  Other MBAs may know the definitions but then can’t make a sentence. Too often others “bark” sentences based upon those words and definitions.  Unfortunately the folks they should be talking with (but all too often are talking at) may not be able to understand them. 

Ultimately the success or failure of an organization will play out at the “worker bee” level – the bottom not at the top.  LEADERSHIP IS IMPORTANT NOT BECAUSE OF ITSELF BUT BECAUSE OF THE FOLLOWERS – THE PEOPLE.

My wife, Sheila, is a first grade teacher.  She once taught kindergarten.  Through her I know the critical nature of a sound Kindergarten education – the foundation of all future learning. 

Make no mistake about it; I encourage you to get all the “learnin” you can – whether in Ivory Towers or on the factory floor.   Get an MBA if you have the opportunity but BEFORE YOU START USING THAT NEW “MBA HAMMER” return to Kindergarten for the wisdom you need to use it properly.

I’ll close the article with an excerpt from Mr. Fulghum’s book: Share everything.  Play fair.  Don’t hit people.  Put things back where you found them.  Clean up your own mess.  Don’t take things that aren’t yours.  Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.  Wash your hands before you eat.  Flush.  Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.  Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw some and paint and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.  When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.  Be aware of wonder.   

NOW YOU’RE EDUCATED AND SMART TOO!

The Proof Process: Go see the movie Seabiscuit.  Squint your ears and your brain.  There are great lessons to be learned.  Sometimes efficiency kills imagination, look into ones eyes to see their heart, is a person a “fighter?” it’s better to break a man’s leg then to break his heart, scar tissue is important, and never give up – even if what you hope to do is impossible – miracles happen.  Success is never final and failure is rarely fatal.  IT’S A GREAT SHOW AND A BETTER LEARNING EXPERIENCE.

The Story: A retriever on safari with his master is roaming free when he sees a leopard approaching.  Knowing this could be trouble; he quickly thinks and then acts. 

He sees a carcass and walks over to take one of the bones in his mouth and with his back to the leopard he says loud enough for the Leopard to hear, “boy that one was delicious, I wonder if there is another leopard around here, I’m still hungry.”  Hearing that the leopard – unfamiliar with Retrievers but intrigued with living, quietly retreats.

A monkey watching this exchange decides to put his knowledge to good use.  He catches up with the leopard and says let me tell you all I know.  The leopard is appreciative and offers the monkey a ride back to the Retriever. 

As the Retriever views the horizon, he sees the monkey on the back of the leopard as they approach.  Again he turns his back on the duo but speaks loud enough for the leopard to hear, “where’s that damn monkey, I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!”

Remember - if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance; baffle them with bullshit!   Einstein said this a little differently – imagination is more important than knowledge. 

The Case Study: Your organization is the Retriever.  You need to survive and ideally want to prosper – eat well.  The leopard is your competitor, a regulator, an innovator or any other force that may threaten your future.  The monkey is the MBA – with his newly discovered knowledge and limited real world experience.  The lesson - don’t let the monkey be the cause of your demise!  Manage (lead) the monkey – don’t be managed by the monkey – “he don’t know what he don’t know.”

©Square One Consulting (September 2001)

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