Circle the wagons: HBS says get rich hedge fund stars were never welcome! Dep. Dean’s Letter to Times is preachy and snarly.
BULLETIN FROM THE KREMLIN BUILDING AT HBS: Â
CHECK OUT THIS  RESPONSE CUM SNARL-O-GRAM  TO NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT PE WHIZ KIDS AND IB STARS SKIPPING BUSINESS SCHOOL (SEE POSTS ABOVE). LET’S SEE, WHEN FACED WITH SOMETHING IMPORTANT AND NEW, WHAT IS THE PLAYBOOK YOU REACH FOR:  1.  CIRCLE THE WAGONS, 2. CLAIM THINGS WERE ALWAYS THIS WAY (A TYPICAL HBS TROPE, EVEN TO SOMETHING AS OBVIOUSLY ‘NEW’ AS THIS DEVELOPMENT), AND 3.  REPEAT THE LEADERSHIP ROSARY.  Â
OF COURSE, GIVEN THE SENTIMENTS BELOW, WHEN THE HEDGE FUND MARKET DEFLATES, AND THOSE “GET RICH QUICK KIDS” DECIDE TO APPLY AND COOL THEIR HEELS FOR TWO YEARS, THEY WONT BE WELCOMED BACK W. OPEN ARMS, NAH????? DOES ANYONE OVER THERE THINK THIS KIND OF OLD-FASHIONED TUB-THUMPING AND  PREACH-IFYING (“a lifetime of principled leadership,”) CUTS THE MUSTARD W. KIDS OR EVEN SENTINENT ADULTS THESE DAYS? I MEAN AS A MATTER OF COMMUNICATION STYLE AND CONTENT BOTH. THE WORLD IS WATCHING YOU TUBE AND HBS IS WATCHING SUNRISE SERMONETTE.
The M.B.A. Investment
To the Editor [of The New York Times]:
“Bye, Bye B-School” (Sept. 16) correctly showed that an M.B.A. degree is not for everyone.
The M.B.A. program was never designed as a personal get-rich-quick plan. [NOPE, IT IS A GET RICH PRETTY QUICK  PLAN AFTER YOU WAIT TWO YEARS AND START OUT 200K IN THE HOLE]  It’s about entrepreneurship, building organizations and preparing for a lifetime of principled leadership in all kinds of operations — not just on Wall Street, but around the world.
For a significant number of young women and men, business school provides valuable knowledge, skills and perspectives that will transform potential into a real capacity for leadership. A rigorous M.B.A. education is an excellent long-term investment.
W. Carl Kester
Boston, Sept. 19
The writer is a finance professor and deputy dean for academic affairs at the Harvard Business School.
