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My complaint (and I suspect many others') is with the idea that someone who has studied the discipline of "business" is qualified to run any business, regardles

My complaint (and I suspect many others') is with the idea that someone who has studied the discipline of "business" is qualified to run any business, regardless of what it does. That they know better than, and should have authority over, the people who are actually domain experts in what the business does. When we complain about empty-suit MBAs running a software company, that's assuming the suits are just MBAs, not engineers who also got MBAs. They have no skill in or respect for the craft of programming, they probably don't even understand what it consists of, and yet they are in charge and the programmers are not. Working for a technical or formerly technical manager, rather than an MBA who studied Information Systems 10 years ago and reads InfoWorld, as if that qualifies him to be CIO/CTO, is in large part what draws people to Silicon Valley and away from corporate IT departments.

anjc 11y ago
I think you sum it up in your first sentence: an MBA involves the study of the discipline of business. It's distinct from the practice of actually running a business, and the courses/classes are almost always highly theoretical and research based. I have a masters in business and I can assure you that no company will let me manage shit, because the course didn't confer 'experience' unto me. I'm sure that all competent managers of programmers respect the craft. I've met several managers who didn't respect programmers though, but my perception of them was that they weren't competent ;)
ScottBurson 11y ago
> My complaint (and I suspect many others') is with the idea that someone who has studied the discipline of "business" is qualified to run any business, regardless of what it does. Yes, this is my impression too, having once worked for a CEO whose primary qualification seemed to have been his MBA. What they taught him seemed to be applicable to running a division of a large company; it seemed anywhere between irrelevant and outright wrong when applied to a software startup. Maybe the efforts of people like Peter Thiel and Steve Blank will help get out the word that managing a startup requires a very different skill set. In general, it's my observation that different kinds of businesses need to be managed very differently. While there probably are some general principles, I have the impression that business schools underemphasize the variety that's out there, and the importance of understanding the business before trying to manage it.

anjc 11y ago

I think you sum it up in your first sentence: an MBA involves the study of the discipline of business. It's distinct from the practice of actually running a business, and the courses/classes are almost always highly theoretical and research based. I have a masters in business and I can assure you that no company will let me manage shit, because the course didn't confer 'experience' unto me. I'm sure that all competent managers of programmers respect the craft. I've met several managers who didn't respect programmers though, but my perception of them was that they weren't competent ;)

ScottBurson 11y ago

> My complaint (and I suspect many others') is with the idea that someone who has studied the discipline of "business" is qualified to run any business, regardless of what it does. Yes, this is my impression too, having once worked for a CEO whose primary qualification seemed to have been his MBA. What they taught him seemed to be applicable to running a division of a large company; it seemed anywhere between irrelevant and outright wrong when applied to a software startup. Maybe the efforts of people like Peter Thiel and Steve Blank will help get out the word that managing a startup requires a very different skill set. In general, it's my observation that different kinds of businesses need to be managed very differently. While there probably are some general principles, I have the impression that business schools underemphasize the variety that's out there, and the importance of understanding the business before trying to manage it.