Comment & Debate
Christopher Cummings. “Is An MBA Necessary For Product Managers?” Product Management Meets Pop Culture. January 18, 2010: “Hindsight. Looking back, the brass tacks of my MBA experience were about the basics of management, economics, and business strategy. Could that have been picked up on the job? Maybe. […] However, the more important throughline of the experience relates to critical thinking, perspective, and learning when to lead and when to follow. […] On the job–especially as a young PM–it can be easy to lose perspective, to miss the forest for the trees. At the time, I was definitely into the plate-spinning, the go-go-go, the tactics and day-to-day. No time to think; just keep moving. […] The MBA experience forced me out of the tactical and into the strategic–made me understand, you’ve got to strike the balance between short and long term to make things work. An expensive lesson to learn, for sure, but well worth it. And that’s why I’ll pay that school loan every month with a smile on my face.”