职场思考:读MBA究竟有没有用?

You might ask where the academic leadership is. In every case where business schools have changed their M.B.A. programs to reflect the real world, you will find a strong dean whose vision and conviction have triumphed over academic entitlements. These deans could be successful entrepreneur themselves. But we are talking about the exceptions — most act more like union stewards than entrepreneurs. This why you have to get the entrepreneur out of the classroom.
你也许会问，学术界的领袖们都到哪儿去了。每一次有商学院把他们的M.B.A.项目修改得更符合现实，你都会发现一个强势的院长，他或她的视野与信念能够超越学校的既得利益。这些院长们可能本身就是成功的企业家。但是我们现在所谈的是期望——现实是他们往往更像工会代表，而非企业家。这就是你必须让企业家走出教室的原因。

Eventually, I began to offer my ideas to other institutions. What I got was a lot of interest and a lot of partners (22 universities), but little action. My vision of an entrepreneurial M.B.A. kept getting clobbered. Then, this past September, I partnered with Brenau University in Gainesville, Ga., to offer an accredited entrepreneurial M.B.A. Here's what it took: a nontenured faculty, forward-thinking deans and an entrepreneurial president of the college.
最后，我开始向其他机构传达我的想法。我所得到的是很多感兴趣的回应以及很多合伙人（22所大学），但真正的行动却很少。我对于创业型M.B.A.的设想仍然举步维艰。然后，就在刚过去的9月，我与位于佐治亚州盖恩斯维尔的布里诺大学(Brenau University)达成了合作，提供一个受承认的创业型M.B.A.项目。这个目标能达成，主要得益于这些因素：非终身制的教职工集体、高瞻远瞩的院系领导以及一个有创业精神的校长。

We put all of the academics online and worked tirelessly to integrate students into the local business community. Students attend board meetings, commerce dinners and C.E.O. round tables to get to know business leaders and their businesses. M.B.A. apprentices spend three months working side by side with a chief executive, reporting only to them. So it is possible.
我们把所有的课程都放到网上，不厌其烦地组织学生融入当地的商业圈子。学生们参加董事会议、商业晚餐以及C.E.O. 圆桌会议，以便认识了解商业领袖们以及他们的事业。M.B.A.学生们用3个月的时间跟随在一位执行副总身边工作，直接向他报告工作。所以这一切都是可能达到的。

And now, when entrepreneurs ask me whether they should go get an M.B.A., here's what I tell them: If you get in to Stanford, go. Stanford offers exceptional access to Silicon Valley, the best fast-growth ecosystem in the universe. The school's work-study program hits the all-important three Rs: rigorous, relevant, and real-world. In many cases, Stanford students end up helping a Silicon Valley company grow while getting their M.B.A. at the same time.
现在，当企业家问我是否应该去读一个M.B.A.的时候，我会这样告诉他们：如果你能去斯坦福大学，那就去吧。斯坦福能提供独一无二的接触硅谷的机会，而硅谷是全球发展最快的经济生态圈。它的商学院的半工半读项目符合三个最重要的R：严格(rigorous)，紧跟时代(relevant)以及现实(real-world)。在很多例子里，斯坦福的学生都能一边帮助一家硅谷公司发展，一边为他们的M.B.A.学位学习。

And if you get into Harvard's business school, go. It has been proved over and over that it can help you build a business, although I'm not convinced it has anything to do with the school's well-known "case study" business curriculum. For my taste, the case study remains a classroom-centric model that has little to do with entrepreneurs trying to build a business today. But go to Harvard anyway — if only for the Harvard alumni network. The contacts you make during and after the program are worth the price of admission.
如果你能去哈佛大学的商学院，那也去吧。它一直都在证明，它可以帮助你创建一份事业，尽管我并不认为这与该学院著名的“案例教学”商业课程有关。在我看来，案例教学仍然是一个以教室为中心的教学模型，与如今创业家们试图建立的事业并没有什么关系。但是不管如何，还是去哈佛吧——哪怕只是为了哈佛的校友人脉网。仅凭在项目之中以及之后你所认识的人，你入学时交的学费就已经值了。

Beyond Stanford and Harvard, I would say this: Go only if you find a program that offers real-world experience, working alongside someone who is building a business. Otherwise, while I wouldn't say the current traditional M.B.A. is useless, it is pretty much like having athletes studying game film but never practicing on the field.
在斯坦福与哈佛之外，我会这么建议：只有在你找到一个能够提供现实经验、与正在创业的人士接触的机会的项目的M.B.A.项目的时候，再去读。否则，虽然我不会说现在的传统M.B.A.完全没有用，不过它着实就像是让运动员去观看比赛录像，却从来不让他们上赛场实战一样。

Cliff Oxford is the founder of the Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs. You can follow him on Twitter.
克里夫·奥克斯福德(Cliff Oxford)是牛津创业中心(Oxford Center for Entrepreneurs)的创立者。你可以在Twitter上关注他。