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Ask HN: What do you guys think of MBAs running companies
I recently stumbled upon this link where Elon Musk talks about MBAs ruining companies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6P8qdanszw
- jimmyvalmer 6y ago"Companies exist to allocate resources" is 100% correct, but not in the way Musk and engineering culture think. Most office workers are of the interviewer's IQ or less, meaning they can't "just make the product better." But we can't let their families starve. So we hire them to do things within their means, which is largely chasing their tail via powerpoint, jira, and long email chains. Again, companies exist to allocate resources, that is, they feed and clothe the IQ bulge bracket of the population.
- mindcrime 6y agoI don't think you can tell much about somebody by looking at the single datapoint "has MBA" or "not has MBA". My feeling is there are people with MBA's who are completely useless, and people with MBA's who are amazing. The only thing that I'd really say about this whole deal is just that there are plenty of "existence proofs" out there that you can run a company without needing an MBA.
- WheelsAtLarge 6y agoMBA are trained to optimize a company's available resources which usually comes at the cost of creativity. Creativity is expensive and does not guarantee a profit. So it gets stamped out. The problem is that creativity is how companyies create new products,grow and can continue filling needs. MBAs are really good at operations but a CEO that needs to move the company forward needs to be more creative and take chances.
- mraza007 6y agoI totally agree with you on this and this is why most companies loose on innovation. And they loose competition with other players in the market. For example companies like Nokia, Blackberry and etc