I wanted to set this process into a blog format. I’ve considered several approaches to the MBA program. I worry that if I put too much time into monitoring and tracking how I approach the MBA, that I won’t spend enough time actually completing the MBA. While I currently have no idea whether recording how I approach the MBA has any value for the future, my hope is that a benefit occurs through the process. Additionally, I’m hoping that by investing some time in planning, tracking, and reviewing my approach to the MBA that I will learn tips, tricks, and tools that I can systematically apply to finish the MBA more quickly. Not long ago I heard someone ask a rhetorical question that really stuck with me. They referred to your goal or that long term thing you’ve been thinking about doing sometime in the future. Ask yourself, “How can you do that in six months?” I’ve been thinking seriously about getting an MBA for the last three years. But I haven’t wanted to stop working or incur debt to get the degree. When I started looking at online degrees more seriously I happened to stumble on an old paper I saved to my computer. It was titled Hire Education and one of the authors is Clayton M. Christensen. It mentioned WGU and competency based learning. As soon as I started reading I was caught up in it. Before I knew it I had shifted from asking myself to which two-year online program should I commit to how fast could I complete the MBA. I’ve wanted a Master’s degree for years and it’s always been one of those amorphous goals hanging out in the future on an unknown timeline. How can I get a Master’s degree in six months? I’m hoping the answer is to complete an MBA from WGU. WGU includes the graph below on their website regarding time to graduation for MBA graduates.
I’ve not looked at this graph in a while and for some reason thought they included a percentage that finished in 6 months. It’s an expectation check, but still under a year is great. We’re talking 15% of grads finish in less than a year. Maybe I can finish in 6 months? It doesn’t hurt to try. It will never be possible if I believe that it isn’t. I do have some key advantages. I have some natural ability in writing and presenting and some of the more time consuming assessments fall in those categories. Also two courses that use a multiple choice test include Accounting and Finance. Those should be my specialty. While other people would struggle with those subjects, I’ve already paid the price to learn both. The first two assessments are a 10-16 page and a 6-10 page essay. Today I spent thirty minutes reading the assignments and making notes of the important points. I can cover a portion of the material that gives me the talking points for the essays. Everything else is bonus.
I’ve listened to and thought greatly about the Pareto principle lately. This is also known as the more familiar 80/20 Rule. Twenty percent of the inputs result in eighty percent of the outputs. Lately I’ve been wondering how I can apply this principle to my MBA. Competency based education is based on a pass or not-pass policy. You retake the assessments until you pass (other considerations apply). WGU says that a Pass on a course is equivalent to a B or higher grade. Therefore, I need only an 80% on each assessment to pass the course. I’ve got half of the Pareto principle covered there. So what part of the material represents 20% of the effort required to get me a passing grade. I intend to track what materials I use as I progress through the MBA and hopefully I’ll come up with a mathematical representation of inputs and outputs. I’m interested to see whether I can apply the Pareto principle and by how much.
Another application of the Pareto principle is based on the recommended weekly time commitment suggested by WGU. They recommend twenty hours on average or more per week of study. In an interview between Tim Ferriss and Jane McGonigal, Jane said one indicator of addiction or harm could come from an activity where a person spent more than 21 hours per week. Her comment came from a discussion of time spent playing video games but was applied more generally in context. I had the thought that this would be another way to make this MBA more game-like and fun. If I cap my study hours to 20 per week, can I get the requisite 80% to pass and complete the courses in the timeline I desire? Let’s see! The term of 6 months rounds to 27 weeks. 27 weeks x 20 hours = 540 hours. Can I earn an MBA in 540 hours? I wouldn’t complain if I did.