Ahead of the Curve?

I had something of a brainstorm the other day. Looking ahead, I thought about what I might want to do later, in 20 years, at a point when I might want to stop working full time. I’ve seen ads for college and business school teachers, and I think that might be fun.

I’ll have the experience, no doubt about that. But I’ll need the degree. I have part of an MBA under my belt, but never finished. Every time I got involved in a program I either got sent to an out-of-town long term assignment or had to change priorities due to something my ex needed or wanted. This was before the age of the Internet and online classes at reputable schools. In recent years most of my continuing education has focused on keeping up with the skills required to maintain my professional certification: new technologies and project management.

This new idea has me thinking again about a degree program. I’ve just started looking; my MBA work is so old there’s probably not much advantage from that standpoint in continuing it over pursuing some other degree if I find something else I’m really interested in studying. But last week in the library while looking for something new to listen to on a trip, I ran across Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School by Phillip Delves Broughton, unabridged. Whatever degree I get will be from a Chicago-area school, but this sounded interesting, and maybe it would help me figure out whether an MBA is what I want to pursue.

I don’t think it is. Not a Harvard MBA, at least. I have no interest in being an investment banker or hedge fund manager, nor the kind of consultant described in the book. I have many years of successful consulting experience already and have never once treated (or cheated) a client in the fashion described. I would be interested in understanding some areas better than I do, and the case approach sounds interesting, but I absolutely don’t want to be part of the elite, arrogant, snobbish world of the Harvard Business School graduates.

The thing is, business is what I might like to teach, from a different perspective. I’d like to teach what I know: troubleshooting, problem solving, building and motivating teams, project management, using technology as a tool to support business. I’m not done with the recording yet, so maybe the program will redeem itself in my eyes, but so far even the descriptions of leadership coursework doesn’t sound like leadership to me.

The book is fascinating, and I’ll finish it. Maybe I’ll feel better when it’s done. Stay tuned.