With the news that Harvard Business School is going to admit a kid who's resume includes being W's 'pissboy' but does not include an undergraduate degree, I think I can now finally admit publicly what I have long known and what I have long discussed with a tight circle of friends. Harvard Business School is nowhere near what they claim it is.
I have met plenty of these MBAs in my life and not one of them has ever proven they know more than the colleagues of my MBA program. Many, in fact, have shown they know less. I have met a Harvard MBA for an interview and he told me that my resume was intimidating. I have met Harvard MBAs who have said they learned nothing more than what any other MBA program teaches.
What does the Harvard MBA offer? A shit load of debt and a nice Rolodex (handed out with the diploma). This is damned important, to be sure, but in no way confers any recommendation as to their competence or skills. Am I jealous of Harvard grads? Hell, yes, especially their MBAs. I like their lawyers...they truly are among the best of the best. But their MBAs? I am jealous because I have seen so many nincompoops waving that degree around who know little about how to run a business or little beyond their very specific functionality. And, yet, because they are Harvard grads, doors open for them and doors close for others because they don't have the degree from the "right" school. That both pisses me off and makes me jealous.
In any event, I'm going to have a good chuckle now...