A friend of mine recently decided to enroll in an MBA program. I was curious as to why. From my experience, I’ve noticed that while MBA holders often have solid foundational knowledge, they frequently lose out to those who have acquired these skills independently, especially through hands-on experience.
So, I checked out the course content and its requirements. It states that a certificate of English proficiency is absolutely essential. The thing is, in all my life, I’ve never bothered to get any such certificate. Yes, my English is far from perfect, I know. I work on it continuously, but I never got around to obtaining a certificate. Nonetheless, I work at a large international company and communicate with colleagues and partners in English daily, both verbally and in writing.
And I thought: if I’m doing fine with English without a certificate, then why would I need an MBA myself? I read a lot of business literature that helps me grow as a professional. Why can’t that be the same with an MBA? Just a minute of searching led me to the book The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, which starts with the very same story. Formal education isn’t as important as self-education and experience.
From the very first pages, the book captivated me, with the author’s writing style being light and engaging. Plus, the entire book consists of a vast number of very short chapters, each only a few pages. Although the book is quite lengthy, it contains very little filler, which is rather atypical for Western literature. Often, authors introduce the main idea at the beginning and then spend another three hundred pages examining it from every angle.
Josh Kaufman became known for committing to self-education in business, then curating the most valuable resources on the topic, including books and blogs, and sharing them on his blog, which quickly gained popularity. This eventually led to the creation of The Personal MBA.
I wouldn’t say it’s a quick and easy read, even with Kaufman’s style. The material is diverse, as Kaufman tries to cover everything useful for new businesspeople and managers in simple language.
The chapters vary in interest and usefulness:
- He starts with fifty pages explaining why self-education is better than business school.
- Next, he discusses how a business can create value.
- Then there are three chapters with a brief introduction to marketing, sales, and value delivery.
- There’s a bit on finance.
- Then he dives into psychology, the brain, self-management, and managing others.
- He finishes with an attempt to explain working with complex systems.
Not everything is groundbreaking; some chapters are overly basic, like trying to explain a few mathematical functions just by mentioning them.
It seems that the author himself lost interest towards the end, as all the captivating and exciting parts are in the first half. Thus, the first part is the most useful and can serve as a guide for self-checks. But the further he strays from business topics, the more bland and drawn-out the writing becomes, even slipping into the obvious and trivial.
But that’s if I nitpick. Overall, the book is very good and valuable for its concise presentation of important information, especially in the first half.
I’d recommend it, at least the first half. Even if you’ve been in the industry for a while, it helps structure knowledge and check yourself in some areas. I didn’t become an entrepreneur (though, who knows), but an understanding of business laws helps in many situations.
My rating: 3.5/5
