Friday, February 20, 2009

Are You an Asshat or Just an MBA?


A friend sent me an interesting article from Bloomberg's that posits that Wall Street's decline was due to the sense of infallibility brought on by having so many MBA's and Ivy League graduates -- basically being run by "the best and the brightest" isn't such a great thing because they tend to be cocksure asshats (my phrasing, not his). Having met quite a few grads of top MBA programs, I have to say this is very true (though not always). Getting an MBA is the cocaine of higher education -- it's expensive, amplifies your strongest personality quirks, and gives an overinflated sense of self.

Of course, the unmentioned question is, "are these really the best and the brightest?" Since I've also met more than a few people that are in medicine, math, engineering, etc. I have to say, unequivocally, "no".

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's the same thing that happens to gifted 10 year olds and junior-high basketball phenoms. You spend 15 years telling someone they're great, and they end up living at home, smoking a lot of pot, and occasionally sh!tting all over the place. Though in this case, the pot is our money, and "all over the place" means directly in our retirement accounts.

swcook said...

I'm always uncomfortable when "cock" and "ass" appear in the same sentence.

No I'm really uncomfortable.

swcook said...

That should be NOW not No.

jtingermany said...

Discomfort always causes me to miss the "w" key.