To the leaders of the MBA Oath.
Your journey has just begun. This is the real world. As you well know, change is hard, and this initiative is no different. What you’ve envisioned seems plausible. The early responders have given your efforts credibilty and the encouragement to move forward. The naysayers hava also lined up. To have a vision simply is not enough. What lies in front of you is 100X more difficult than any class you’ve taken. This is the real world. I’m certain that you learned about the book Crossing the Chasm by Geoffry Moore. I’m concerned that you’re quickly approaching the chasm and wondering if you can make to the other side. If you don’t, your efforts will be remembered, but mostly forgotten. If you succeed, the roles each of you will play in the business community will be huge. Good luck.
Rodney Johnson
I continue to follow the MBA Oath initiative launched by a group of graduating Harvard MBA students. The original goal was small, possibly a 100 or so might be willing to sign the document. From the beginning it was considered progressive, and potentially controversial. The vision of the Oath states:
The oath is a voluntary pledge for graduating MBAs to “create value responsibly and ethically.” Our goal is to begin a widespread movement of MBAs who aim to lead in the interests of the greater good and who have committed to living out the principles articulated in the oath.
We hope this will a) make a difference in the lives of the students who take the oath b) challenge other classmates to work with a higher professional standard, whether they sign the oath or not and c) create a public conversation in the press about professionalizing and improving management.
Our long-term goal is to transform the field of management into a true profession, one in which MBAs are respected for their integrity, professionalism, and leadership. We hope to see hundreds of thousands of MBAs take the MBA oath, or something like it, as a step towards realizing this vision.
It is a simple concept. And if successful, it could transform the MBA to that of being a profession. Today, I checked to see how the MBA Oath is progressing. This is what I found.
As the number of MBA Oath signers races towards 1200 (now at 1216), the diversity of signers continues to increase. MBAs from over 280 different programs have signed the oath, and of the 200 most recent signers of the oath, 93% are from schools other than Harvard. In fact, schools with the largest contingents of signers include Kellogg, NYU Stern, Oxford Said, Singapore Management University, Columbia Business School, Fuqua, MIT Sloan, Dominican University, and Wharton.
All of this is very impressive to say the least. It has succeeded up to this point because (taken from “Without Warning”):
- The MBA Oath and the media coverage that has followed has made the problem visible and memorable.
- The Oath was created weeks before graduation, which created awareness and a sense of urgency.
- The Oath utilized the Power of Influence.
Today, the Oath has reached a milestone few could have envisioned 2-months ago. However with success, also comes many challenges. This being, rising expectations. Simply, what next steps will the MBA Oath leaders do to sustain and embed its prinicpals for students around the globe, present and future. It’s easy to celebrate success despite the fact that the next steps will be more difficult and challenging to create and execute. The questions I encourage the MBA Oath leaders to address and develop strategies around include:
- How do you plan on sustaining growth?
- Is this movement willing to transform itself from being a working organization?
- Will this movement be able to finance itself into the future?
- Who will carry the cause into the future, now that the 2009 class has graduated and will quickly be fully employed?
- Is there a strategy to embed the value of the Oath amongst academics and the business community?
