By the Numbers: The Class Of 2016

The Truth Behind Harvard Business School Myths 

Harvard has a branding issue. There, I said it. Not among elites, mind you. To them, Harvard symbolizes the best qualities of western culture: tradition, scholarship, discipline, and leadership. Their professors are the experts who guide world leaders and redefine our possibilities. And their students are the select few, plucked from the suburbs and homesteads to join the world’s legal, business, and scientific elites.

But just say “Harvard” (or “Harvard Business School” specifically) at your local Sam’s Club. You’ll conjure up entirely different images. Some will picture a secret cabal that rigs the system, almost the capitalist equivalent to Opus Dei (if you believe in that). Others will envision callow blueblood caricatures straight out of Bonfire of the Vanities, who remember numbers but never names. Yes, HBS grads are viewed as the knuckleheads who only think quarterly increments – and only about themselves. They are the ones who tanked the economy and shipped our jobs to Mexico (and then back at lesser pay).

Yes, everyone needs a boogeyman. With the public tired of assailing Microsoft and McKinsey, Harvard MBAs are the next logical choice (facts be damned).

Then again, Main Street isn’t the only constituency down on Harvard. Over the years, there have been plenty of headlines on HBS’ purported culture of drinking and groping and snoozing and schmoozing. Animal House allusions aside, these aren’t the only stereotypes running amok. According to Philip Blackett, a HBS first-year, he has heard claims that HBS case studies are out of step with the practical, approach used at other programs (How many startups have students launched lately?). HBS students are supposedly cutthroat over grades (Isn’t that supposed to be the law school?). Not to mention, HBS skews too far in teaching “leadership” (Can anyone define what that term means anymore?).

After four months on campus, Blackett decided to make a point on Linkedin: Harvard Business School isn’t what you think (or, more correctly, what he was told).

For starters, he describes his section as far more collaborative than cutthroat. Ned Dewey (’49) once cracked that he’d “as soon take a python to bed as hire [a Harvard MBA].” However, Blackett contradicts that notion. “I was most surprised by how tight my 93-person section became and how much we genuinely cared for one another after only a few months. We grew closer together, not only through classes everyday but also through parties, international flag ceremony, midterm / final exam review sessions and MyTakes. I see my section as my extended family.”

Blackett was also struck by how supportive his peers were over events that were important to him, such as when he spoke at a campus vigil for Michael Brown and Eric Garner. “Speaking at that event, I was comforted, knowing how many students (over 500 of them) truly cared about what was going on to spend time away from studying cases to hear from fellow students (and sectionmates) on how such incidents have impacted them and their prior experiences before Harvard.”

Along with dismissing the cutthroat label, Blackett also defends the case method. In fact, he found it a useful tool for understanding how to apply quant concepts. “What I loved about learning [financial concepts and formulas] through the case method was applying such concepts, especially free cash flows, to evaluate whether the protagonist should take on a certain action (i.e. invest in a certain project or take over a certain company). These concepts that we learned in finance (and accounting) helped my classmates make better decisions when we put ourselves in the shoes of each case protagonist.”

In other words, the HBS curriculum forced students to explore the real life ramifications of how they would apply what they learned. Sounds like they learned a few lessons from the financial meltdown, huh? Maybe shareholder value isn’t the end-all, be-all (Just wish Chris Cox, George W. Bush, and Stanley O’Neal had learn finance-by-case study while at Harvard).

Finally, Blackett challenges the notion that leadership is the only thing you learn at HBS. While Blackett doesn’t dispute HBS’ moniker as the “West Point of Capitalism,” he shared that he learned an expected kind of leadership. “HBS does a solid job teaching us the value of not only time management but also priority management,” he points out. Noting that there is “ALWAYS something to do” in Cambridge (including homework), Blackett reflects that his first semester required him to consider the tradeoffs with each decision on how he spent his time. This is a lesson that will certainly come in handy when he is a busy executive looking with more options than time.

Alas, Blackett isn’t finished. After his first year, he plans to pen a sequel dispelling additional stereotypes. (He could start by striking down the impression of HBS MBAs as pampered bankers- and consultants-in-waiting who operate in class-driven cliques). In the meantime, we wish him the best in the rest of the first year. Goes by fast, doesn’t it?

DON’T MISS: A HARVARD MBA ASSAILS THE SCHOOL’S PARTY CULTURE

Source: Linkedin