I want to call your attention to three Special Presentations/PPs. The first is called … “New Economy. New Biz Degrees.” My bile seems to be running particularly thick these days concerning MBAs—the degree seems increasingly out of touch with modern business needs as I see them. So I have decided, tongue slightly in cheek, to propose some substitutes for the MBA—the PP presentation is meant to be entertaining, while also deadly serious. For example my “new-substitute degrees” include: the (real) MFA … Master of Fine Arts. (My estimable friend Dan Pink writes of the post-industrial, “right-brain economy”: “The MFA is the new MBA.”) Then comes the MMM1: Master of Metaphysical Management, an idea stolen from Danish marketing guru Jesper Kunde, who says that in an economy dominated by ephemeral products we are in need of metaphysicians more than “administrators”—e.g., Starbucks’ Howard Schultz and Virgin’s Richard Branson. I offer another “MMM” “degree” … the MMM2, or Master of Metabolic Management; I see the top boss job as speeding up the metabolism of sluggish enterprises in the face of madcap competition … think Dell or Wal*Mart or eBay or Progressive or China or India. And there’s also an MGLF, or Master of Great Leaps Forward, inspired by my passion for Innovation-that-Stuns and a favorite quote by my old pal and former PepsiCo CEO, Roger Enrico: “Beware the tyranny of making small changes to small things. Instead make big changes to big things.” There’s more (for instance, a capstone DE, or Doctor of Enthusiasm), but I assume you get the drift. Mostly I conclude that I’m appalled about the “A” in MBA; surely the primary enterprise LEADERSHIP role, circa 2004, is more than “administration”?
Also: As I patrolled Europe last week, I worked like hell on my Summary Re-imagine Presentation. The “Master” is now about 1,600 slides LONG; but REI200 (“Re-imagine 200”) is, um, 200-slides long—and I’m quite pleased with it. Last, but definitely not least, is “ShortTakes27.” It is a PP compendium of 27 brief, and not-so-brief, Think Pieces that range from Design to newfound Exemplars of Excellence—I believe the set works pretty well together.
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