Personal MBA

Contrary to popular belief, my experience has shown me that the people who are exceptionally good in business aren’t so because of what they know but because of their insatiable need to know more.

Michael E. Gerber.




If I read a book that cost me $20 and I get one good idea, I’ve gotten one of the greatest bargains of all time.

Tom Peters.

What is The Personal MBA?

The “Personal MBA” is a simple idea by Josh Kaufman and brought to life at The Personal MBA website.

This excerpt from the PMBA Manifesto is a great summary of what it’s all about:

The Personal MBA (PMBA) is a project designed to help you educate yourself about advanced business concepts. This manifesto will show you how to substantially increase your knowledge of business on your own time and with little cost, all without setting foot inside a classroom.

The PMBA is more flexible than a traditional MBA program, doesn’t involve going into massive debt, and won’t interrupt your income stream for two years. Just pick up one of these business books, learn as much as you can, discuss what you learn with others, then go out into the real world and make great things happen.

If you’re interested in educating yourself about business, the Personal MBA is the best place to start.

The reasons why I love the idea behind the PMBA, particularly for small business people, include:

  • small business people are, in general, terrible at arranging training and education for themselves;
  • the value, in terms of time commitment and cost, is very hard to beat;
  • small business people find it harder to commit the significant time required for formal training and education because they generally don’t have the staff to cover them when they’re not working;
  • you have total control over the pace you work at, the topics you cover and when you do your reading.

While the name of the site leads to obvious comparisons with a “normal” MBA, Josh is quick to point out that he is not seeking to replace an MBA. The reasons for doing an MBA go beyond just learning new skills, and include the prestige of having the initials after your name and the networking opportunities provided by attending a quality institution. The PMBA is focused only on gaining new skills and knowledge, and doing it cheaply and with a substantially smaller time commitment.

My PMBA Group

As a service to my clients I have set up my own PMBA reading group. Approximately every six weeks we read a book that we select as a group. We then meet over dinner to discuss the book and, most importantly, how we can use the ideas in the book to improve our businesses. The benefits to each of us include:

  • the discipline of having a deadline in which to read the book which keeps us all motivated to get it finished;
  • other people helping us with suggestions on how the ideas from the book could be used in our business, and some people to test our own ideas on before we go and put them into action;
  • an opportunity to meet some other small business people in a relaxed and fun environment.

How to get involved

All of my advisory clients are invited to all sessions. In addition, I regularly invite friends to attend in order to bring in a mix of backgrounds and ideas. If you are interested in attending a session to see what it’s all about then let me know via the contact page and I’ll save you a spot in our next session.

Schedule

The following dates and book titles are guides only, but I will do my best to stick with this plan. If you are interested in coming then let me know and you’ll be put on the email list for that month.

There are two dates scheduled for each book as the group has grown too big for one session, and are on different days across two weeks for those who have commitments on the same night each week.

(Hit the “look for more” link to see more than just the next month).

If you would like to add this calendar to Outlook or Google Calendar, with any changes I make automatically updated in your own calendar, here is the iCal link for you to copy and paste into your application:

http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/fndt5m1tapr6phg0raevkik5as%40group.c…

And finally, if you are unsure how to use this iCal link, here are some instructions on subscribing to an iCal calendar in Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007 and Google Calendar

Goodreads

A few months ago I discovered the joys of cataloging my book library online, after starting with Shelfari am now on Goodreads. You can see my profile here.

You can also see a list of the books we’ve read and the books that are being considered for future reading.

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