Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at
the Soft Practice of Managing and
Management Development by Henry
Mintzberg
The State Of The Current Mba
Thirty years ago, Mintzberg’s bestseller The Nature of Managerial Work
sought to dispel the myths of the disconnected, overly analytical manager
by observing a week in the lives of five chief executives. In a sense,
Managers Not MBAs is the sequel, delving as it does into current practice
and the need for developing much better managers. The book examines
what is wrong with both management education and management itself,
and how both could be changed. Mintzberg explores the concept of
management as a practice blending craft (experience) with art (insight) and
some science (analysis). Conventional education in this realm, he says,
encourages a calculating approach by overemphasizing the science, and a
heroic approach by overstressing the art. Mintzberg argues instead for

training balanced, dedicated managers who practice an engaging style,
believing that their purpose is to leave behind stronger organizations, not
just higher share prices.
Personal Review: Managers Not MBAs: A Hard Look at the Soft
Practice of Managing and Management Development by Henry
Mintzberg
As a 25 year management practitioner, graduate of an EMBA program,
and currently, a doctoral candidate, I can fully sympathize with Mintzberg's
critique of existing MBA programs. His basic contention is that an MBA
education is merely an extension of an undergraduate business education
with some wrongful attempts at building decision making confidence
through the use of case studies and field trips. He provides a formula,,
"Confidence - competence = arrogance" (p. 74) that states this succinctly
(and this was written before the most recent economic decline and
exposure of CEO excesses).
Most importantly, Mintzberg provides not only a critique, but also his view
of a solution to multiple problems: MBAs with no experience (don't allow
them in an MBA program); EMBAs with experience being taught functional
content not management competencies (develop a new program that
focuses on the managerial mindset); and academic inertia that focuses on
subject matter expertise and non-relevant arcane research versus
practical, in context decision processes (eliminate tenure and functional
departments).
All in all, this 2004/5 book has become more relevant than ever due to
facts that have been exposed as a result of the recent economic downturn.
The fact that the American MBA is still highly desirable both here in the US
and overseas does not mean that action to make the education more
relevant can be ignored by business school. In the long run, the world will
discover the flaws in the US programs and someone will produce a more
competitive and relevant product. Hooray for Mintzberg!
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