Of course there are many, many good reasons people don’t get an MBA, such as being a Heart Surgeon or a full time Nurse Practitioner or some other lucrative career choice where an MBA really wouldn’t further your career much if any.  But for those of you working in business or those of you who have majored in business it can often be frustrating and difficult to come up with a good excuse as to why you shouldn’t get an MBA.  So being the kind hearted and thoughtful guy I am I will provide you with 10 good excuses as to why you shouldn’t get an MBA.

1.) You fear math.  All of those numbers can be frightening.  Like little black and white Sanskrit characters written on paper and you’re not quite sure what they mean but you are pretty sure they are poking fun at you.  

2.) You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.  Heck you may not even be that old.  In fact you may be young but you have been working in the same field in the same position for so long you are “experienced” enough not to need an MBA. Why you may just in fact feel old and that’s reason enough.

3.) You keep forgetting how to spell MBA.  

4.) Business Administration is just the major people take when they really can’t do anything else.  In fact that’s where they stick all of the useless people at work, in administration.  Kind of like Dilbert’s pointy haired boss and you don’t want to be the pointy haired boss right?

5.) You hate the idea of moving up or making more money.  Hey, I feel you.  After all money is the root of all evil right?  And besides, who wants all of that extra responsibility at work where people constantly expect you to know stuff or ask you questions.  No sir, you’re like a stealth bomber, silently slipping under the radar to collect a check for as long as possible.  But not too big of a check, after all you don’t want to become evil right?  

6.) All of those MBA types are so pretentious what with putting “MBA” after their names on business cards and going to their fancy office in fancy cars parked in reserved parking spots.  You’re just keeping it real.  After all, there’s nothing an MBA can teach you that you can’t just learn in a book (that you’ll never read but that’s not the point).  

7.) There’s book smart and then there’s street smart.  In the office you got the street smarts.  Maybe you can’t figure out the appropriate staffing and budgetary requirements for a project but hey, your boss can’t figure out how to make an effective paper clip launcher out of a ball point Bic pen now can he?  

8.) You don’t want to lose street cred with your “peeps” and appear like “one of them”.  That’s right you and your lunch buddies have a good thing going.  Why spoil it by becoming a manager or taking a better job offer somewhere else.  How else will you be able to keep up on the American Idol gossip or find out what’s going on with Brittany Spears now?

9.) You don’t have time.  What with going to work from 9 to 5, then going home and watching all of your must see T.V. for an average of 4 to 5 hours a night there’s just simply no room for more.  And don’t get me started on your weekends.  There’s grass to mow, shopping to do, dinner to go to, beers to drink with friends, sports to watch and yet more quality time with the television that you must watch.  Where the heck are you going to squeeze a minute into that jam packed schedule for something as useless as Organizational Behavior classes?  

10.) You’ve got kids.  That’s right, these little suckers just eat up your time like gangbusters.  No, you definitely can’t put the young ones to bed at a decent hour and spend an hour or two working on school work a night, that’s not effective parenting.  You certainly wouldn’t want to set a good example for your older kids by showing them a good work ethic in action and you certainly don’t want to put your family in the compromising situation of possibly raising your earning potential by 20% to 30% over 5 years or less.  Actually come to think of it, that’s a pretty crappy excuse so don’t use this one.

Since #10 was a lousy excuse, here’s a freebie.

11.) Everyone is jumping on the MBA bandwagon.  Before you know it everyone will have an MBA, except for you.  Heck that’ll just demonstrate what a visionary individual you really are.  A go against the grain maverick who can smell the trap of being marginalized when everyone else is drinking the cool aid.  It’s just a trend that’ll eventually go out of style.  Maybe not in the 1980’s, 1990’s or the early 2000’s but eventually the hype will wear off.  Like the Internet, blue jeans, rock &roll and air conditioning, it’s just a fading fad.  


Well there you have it.  10 fresh looks at 10 good excuses as to why those of you working in business should avoid an MBA at all costs.