Great read! I had 2 questions from reading the article:
1. Something I've personally experienced with soft skills is "use it or lose it" where I feel like I'd improve in something but then feel that quickly drop off unless I continue practicing it. Negotiations is 1 such example - I took a class in school and learned what I had considered to be some pretty valuable things, but now I can't really recall most of it. Curious to here if you've experienced a similar drop-off with the soft skills you talked about above, and/or how do you manage to stay sharp or combat this atrophy (taking good notes, practicing constantly (?) etc.)
2. (This might be a whole article by itself, but) are there any instances where it might be better not to pursue an MBA then? The reasons that you described all seemed like compelling reasons for why an MBA would be a good idea.
1. I agree that most skills fade if you do not use them. In this case, I continuously have to communicate and work with others, so the lessons I learned are deeply ingrained. Notes are good to refer back to, but I find repeated thinking and practice help things stick.
2. I think that an MBA is definitely not the right path for everyone! For any of the factors that I listed (network, soft skills, career paths, gold stars, fun), I encourage people to think about whether these are important to them, what levels they are at today, and what their alternatives might be. I mentioned a few examples where people might be in a good place without an MBA (e.g. if you are close to your desired career path, if you have many gold stars already). It sounds like I could have been clearer in my post about this; thanks for the feedback!
Great read! I had 2 questions from reading the article:
1. Something I've personally experienced with soft skills is "use it or lose it" where I feel like I'd improve in something but then feel that quickly drop off unless I continue practicing it. Negotiations is 1 such example - I took a class in school and learned what I had considered to be some pretty valuable things, but now I can't really recall most of it. Curious to here if you've experienced a similar drop-off with the soft skills you talked about above, and/or how do you manage to stay sharp or combat this atrophy (taking good notes, practicing constantly (?) etc.)
2. (This might be a whole article by itself, but) are there any instances where it might be better not to pursue an MBA then? The reasons that you described all seemed like compelling reasons for why an MBA would be a good idea.
Good questions!
1. I agree that most skills fade if you do not use them. In this case, I continuously have to communicate and work with others, so the lessons I learned are deeply ingrained. Notes are good to refer back to, but I find repeated thinking and practice help things stick.
2. I think that an MBA is definitely not the right path for everyone! For any of the factors that I listed (network, soft skills, career paths, gold stars, fun), I encourage people to think about whether these are important to them, what levels they are at today, and what their alternatives might be. I mentioned a few examples where people might be in a good place without an MBA (e.g. if you are close to your desired career path, if you have many gold stars already). It sounds like I could have been clearer in my post about this; thanks for the feedback!