YOU’RE A PERSONNOT A PRODUCT

DON’T SELL YOURSELF SHORT

THE #PRESTIGE MBA ADMISSIONS CONSULTING INDUSTRY IS CURIOUS INDEED

• THEY KNOW YOU’RE WRAPPED UP IN GMAT

• (OR, IF YOU’RE LUCKY, JUST FINISHED, HAPPY TO PUT IT BEHIND YOU)

• WHAT IS CENTRAL TO GMAT?

• CRITICAL REASONING SKILLS

• YET ‘THE INDUSTRY’ ASKS YOU TO SURRENDER YOURS AS YOU CONTEMPLATE

THEIR SERVICES

SOME OF THEIR SEMI-DECEPTIONS

• THE FALLACY OF AUTHENTICITY:

• ONLY SOMEONE WHO ATTENDED PRESTIGE SCHOOL X CAN HELP YOU GET IN THERE

• THEY’LL OVERWHELM YOU WITH HOW WELL THEY KNOW THE SPACE

• PUBLISHING GUIDES AND BREATHLESS BLOG POSTS/TWEETS ABOUT ANY AND ALL ACTIVITY

PUBLISHED/RELEASED BY THE SCHOOLS

• MOST OF IT (BUT BY NO MEANS ALL) IS SIMPLY AN OCCASION TO RESPOND RATHER THAN AN

OPPORTUNITY TO ENLIGHTEN

SOME OF THEIR SEMI-DECEPTIONSCONT’D

• THEY’LL OVERWHELM YOU WITH HOW WELL THEY KNOW THE SPACE

• ON OCCASION, DEVELOPMENTS ARE NOTEWORTHY – E.G. HBS 2013/14 SINGLE PROMPT

• BUT IN GENERAL THE SCHOOLS, THOUGH RESPONSIVE, ARE LARGE INSTITUTIONS WITH A LOT OF INERTIA, AND

THE RULES OF THE GAME ARE NOT REALLY RE-WRITTEN IN ANY GIVEN YEAR

• THOUGH OVER HALF A DECADE CHANGE IS PERCEPTIBLE

• RELATED TO OVERWHELM YOU WITH DETAIL:

A DETAILED PROJECT PLAN THAT PACKAGES YOU AS A PRODUCT, DEFINING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND

YOU’RE A PERSON, NOT A PRODUCT

• A DETAILED PLAN TO PACKAGE YOU AS A PRODUCT PRESENTING THE “ESSENCE OF YOUR

PERSONAL BRAND”

• ADMITTEDLY, ‘BUSINESS SCHOOL’ HAS THE WORD ‘BUSINESS’ IN IT

• BUT DOES THAT REALLY MEAN THAT YOU WANT TO INSULT YOUR READER’S INTELLIGENCE

AND DEMEAN YOURSELF AS WELL BY SUBSCRIBING TO SUCH FATUOUS NOTIONS?

• I’VE ALWAYS LOVED THE FOLLOWING VIDEO FOR PRECISELY HOW ABSURD IT CAN GET

FATUOUSNESS(CLICK FOR ORIGINAL VIDEO)

YOU’RE A PERSON, NOT A PRODUCT,A COMPLEX INDIVIDUAL WITH A VARIED HISTORY

• MBA MORALIST IS A CREATURE OF LANGUAGE AND THEREFORE “GETS” THAT THE ART OF SELF-

PRESENTATION WARRANTS EFFORT.

• BUT, UNLESS DIRECTLY ASKED DURING AN INTERVIEW, DON’T SIMPLY CHARACTERIZE YOUR PERSONAL

BRAND – IT’S INSULTING TO WHOMEVER READS YOUR DOCUMENTS AND (WORSE) IT’S DEMEANING

TO YOU.

• WE DISCOMFIT OURSELVES ENOUGH IN APPLYING; IT’S HARD WORK. DON’T ADD INSULT TO INJURY.

• HAVE THE COURAGE TO THINK THINGS THROUGH FOR YOURSELF – OR UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHERE DOMAINS HAVE BOUNDARIES OF UTILITY

YOU ARE A BROADBAND PHENOMENONAND THE APPLICATION IS LIKE

DRINKING YOU FROM A SODA STRAW

• TO STRIKE THE RIGHT BALANCE

• TO ADD MORE TESSERAE (TILES) TO THE MOSAIC OF EXPERIENCES AND INTERESTS THAT WE

WEAVE TOGETHER

• TO BALANCE/COMPRESS IT TO FIT WITHIN A REASONABLE OVERAGE OF THE WORD LIMITS

• -- YES, ALL THIS IS SOMETHING OF AN ART. IT’S CERTAINLY NOT A SCIENCE.

• BUT THAT’S WHERE MBA MORALIST’S WISDOM & LINGUISTIC FACULTIES ARE DEPLOYED

TOWARDS NUDGING YOU TO BE YOUR BEST (WHILE REMAINING TRUE TO YOURSELF)

YOU ARE A BROADBAND PHENOMENON…THE ART IS IN:

• NUDGING YOU TOWARDS BEING YOUR BEST (WHILE REMAINING TRUE TO YOURSELF)

• ALL THE PERFORMATIVE POSTURING OF THE MBA MORALIST PERSONA, THE DIDACTICISM, THE

FLORID TURNS OF PHRASE, ALL THIS IS MBA MORALIST….

• SIGNALING THAT WHEN IT COMES TO VERBAL (SELF)-REPRESENTATION (A PROFESSIONAL

BILDUNGSROMAN, IF YOU WILL) MBA MORALIST HAS FEW PEERS

• AND THAT MBA MORALIST CAN LEND YOU SOME WISDOM, AND THE OCCASIONAL ELEGANT TURN

OF PHRASE – BUT DONE IN SUCH A WAY THAT DOES NOT CHANGE YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE

MBA MORALIST’S ISN’T APPLYING;YOU ARE

• SO IT’S IMPORTANT THAT MBA MORALIST BE LIKE A ‘COMPLEXITY CONSCIENCE’ WHISPERING IN YOUR

EAR, REMINDING YOU THAT IT’S ELEGANT AND ASCETIC TO APPROACH THINGS WITH A QUIET

CONFIDENCE BORNE OF LESS IS MORE

• BECAUSE THE LESS IS MORE APPROACH IS UNDERGIRD BY TIME-TESTED TOOLS OF INTROSPECTION AND

SELF-EXAMINATION WHICH, AS SANCHO PANZA SAID OF A TRIP TO THE LOO, NO MAN CAN DO FOR ME

• THE CLIENT MAY BE MY CHARGE, BUT THE PROCESS CAN’T REALLY WORK IF THE CLIENT ISN’T WILLING

TO WORK HARD

THERE IS NO MANUAL FOR THE SELF

• IN RESPONSE TO THIS, IS THE (GREEK) TRUISM

• THE UNEXAMINED LIFE IS NOT WORTH LIVING

• SIMILARLY, MBA MORALIST CONTENDS:

THE UNEXAMINED CANDIDACY IS NOT REALLY WORTHY OF GETTING THE PRESTIGE MBA

ADMISSIONS NOD

• RIGOROUS SELF-EXAMINATION IS NOT CURRENTLY VALORIZED IN ‘THE CULTURE’

• MBA MORALIST IS UNDERSTANDING ON THIS FRONT.

• BUT THAT’S WHY YOU ENGAGE A MORALIST: MORALISTS DON’T SLOUCH. THEY PUSH BACK. HARD.

THE FOLLY OF APPLICANTS

• IS TO SPEND TIME TROLLING THE GMAT BOARDS WONDERING IF 20 POINTS WILL MAKE THE

DIFFERENCE

• TO ADMISSIONS OFFICERS AND HONEST CONSULTANTS THE TRUTH IS SOMEWHERE ELSE:

• INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT EXTERNAL STANDARDIZED REPRESENTATIONS (WHICH DO HAVE VALUE:

GMAT MEASURES SOMETHING, EVEN IF YOU WISH IT WERE SLIGHTLY SOMETHING ELSE)

• INSTEAD OF LOOKING AT EXTERNALS, DEPLOY THAT ENERGY TO GETTING IN ORDER THE HOUSE

THAT IS INSIDE YOUR HEAD

IT’S DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE AN ARM’S LENGTH PARTY OF SOMETHING THAT YOU YOURSELF DON’T UNDERSTAND

• MBA MORALIST ASSERTS EASILY:

• IT’S UNLIKELY THAT YOU TRULY UNDERSTAND YOUR MOTIVES AND REASONS FOR SEEKING AN MBA,

MUCH LESS A PRESTIGE MBA

• MBA MORALIST IS NOT IN THE BUSINESS OF JUDGING MEN’S SOULS, AND SO TAKES YOUR

ASSERTIONS OF ‘WANTING ONE’ AT FACE VALUE

• BUT HOPES YOU SEE WHAT THAT IS FAR FROM SUFFICIENT TO WIN AT THE TASK AT HAND

• SO ANY EFFORT YOU EXPEND IN FIGURING OUT WHY YOU WANT WHAT YOU WANT ALREADY HAS

YOU AHEAD OF THE GAME COMPARED TO THOSE WHO ARE FOCUSING ON THE EXTERNALS

YOUR MBA ADMISSIONS CONSULTANT SHOULD

• BE A PARTNER, AND ONE THAT OFTEN TIMES IS ALMOST INTIMATE

• GIVEN THE ISSUES THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE’RE TALKING ABOUT THEM IN AN HONEST FASHION,

HOW COULD IT NOT BE SO?

• ENJOY SEEING YOU GROW IN RESPONSE TO INCORPORATING NUANCE AND COMPLEXITY

• HELP YOU REALIZE THAT THE PEOPLE WHO MADE YOU THINK THAT HBS AND ONLY HBS (WELL, MAYBE

STANFORD GSB, TOO) WILL DO – WELL, THESE PEOPLE DIDN’T NECESSARILY HAVE YOUR BEST INTERESTS

AT HEART AND WORSE STILL: ARE LIKELY NOT PROFESSIONALS ABOUT BUSINESS EDUCATION

MBA MORALIST’S POINT OF VIEW ISN’T FOR EVERYONE

• IF YOU THINK THE #BSCHOOL #ADMISSIONSRACE CAN BE GAMED, BY ALL MEANS: GO WITH

THAT CONSULTANT WHO’S GUARANTEEING YOU ENTRY TO HBS.

• YOU BOTH DESERVE EACH OTHER

• BUT IF YOU WANT TO ALLY YOURSELF WITH SOMEONE WHO:

• KNOWS THE SPACE (SEE THE MINDMAP HERE)

• KNOWS HOW TO COAX THE BEST FROM YOU BY NOT ENABLING YOUR HALF-BAKED IDEAS AND

REGURGITATED RECEIVED WISDOM

• WILL ENJOY WATCHING YOU GROW AND MATURE IN THE PROCESS – THEN ENGAGE ME

BUT IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE…WWW.MBAMORALIST.COM