.:i think i thought a thought:.

Planning to launch a site/blog (still undecided) called “lean MBA” soon - it’s currently work-in-progress. But watch out this space for updates by end of this month. The following is the idea of  the site.  Any feedback and ideas are very welcome!

[ You can get a sneak preview at http://leanmba.wordpress.com/the-idea/]

“You wasted $150,000 on an education you coulda got for a buck fifty in late charges at the public library.”
- Will Hunting, Good Will Hunting

The idea of a lean MBA stems from a desire to merge two things I am very passionate about at this point in time:

1. Imbibing the basics of business knowledge in a Will Hunting sort of way

2. Applying Agile principles (used commonly in software development) into the learning process for gaining this knowledge

What is a lean/agile/extreme MBA?

A lean/agile/extreme MBA is a breadth first approach to imbibing business knowledge with no grand tution fees or class rooms or thick textbooks. It’s an MBA that evolves through reading books. Through discussing your learning with others. Through mapping your learnings and getting immediate and continuous feedback.

Who is this site for?

This site is for anyone who has been through an experience that has taught him something about how to make things better in the business world. It is for people who are curious about learning business fundamentals, and believe that the learning doesn’t end when you leave your B-school (many will say it only begins then!). This is a platform for anyone with a business inclination, be it former MBAs, current ones, or non-MBAs with practical experience. It is for such people to share and discuss their learnings and experiences. This is about the LEARNINGS and NOT ABOUT THE PROCESS of an MBA.
What this site is not?

This is NOT an Online-MBA. This is NOT a place for MBA hopefuls to discuss their application process and essays and deadlines. This is NOT an MBA alumni get-together or recruiting platform.

What is agile?

The key principles of agile software development are as follows:

1. Iterative Development - always focus on the next most important piece of business value you can provide. Keep the big picture at the back of your mind - but do not spend too much time upfront painting a rosy canvas of the future. Get something done today!

2. Refactoring - At regular intervals take a step back and look at the code holistically. Move code around. Make it quicker, smarter, slicker - just better.

3. Test-driven development - Write your tests first. State your assertions. How will you know if your code works?

4. Pair programming - Two programmers sitting on one machine and coding.
5. The Planning Game - Get the whole team involved in prioritizing, estimating and planning the next iteration.

6. Team code ownership - Don’t encourage code-stickiness to individuals. (e.g. “Only Neil know about the caching stuff!”) Move developers around to work on different parts on the code.

What do you mean by applying agile principles to an MBA?

Here’s the agile principles re-defined in the MBA context.

1. Iterative Learning - Always focus on the next most important thing for you to learn. Master it. Learn something new today. Don’t spend the next 6 months filling up application forms to join a business school and stating elaborate “mission statements”. Decide what you want to learn next - pick a book and read about it. Google it. Write your learnings. Share if with the world. Get feedback.
2. Refactoring - At regular intervals take a step back and look at your learnings holistically. Something you read 3 months back might make more sense now after you have experienced or practiced it in real life. After discussing it with others. “Refactor” your old learnings based on newer ones.

3. Test-driven development - It’s easy to say “I read the book ‘Seven Habits of Highly effective people’”. Write your test first before you read the book. How will you know you have internatilzed the book? What are you hoping to achieve from reading the book? State your objectives first. Know how you’ll test if you met your objectives.

4. Pair programming - This is always the most challenging (and controversial) tennet of Agile and will be so with your agile MBA. Always find someone to discuss your readings with. Pairs write code together. It’s been statistically proven that two developers working together are more productive than working in isolation (I agree there are exceptions). Find someone to pair with.

5. The Planning Game - Play the planning game! Know where you are. Know where you want to be next. Take your next step. Decide what you’ll do for the next two weeks. If you don’t have a huge team - play the planning game with yourself (or with your pairing partner).

6. Team code ownership - Don’t stick to one book’s version of the truth. Don’t rely on one person’s reviews or opinions on a topic. Listen to every opinion and then form your own. Don’t let your opinion be final. Let is evolve with time.