Wondering what makes Acton such a different business school?

In a recent article on Forbes.com, Shaun Rein, a Harvard MBA grad, talks about the three big lessons he didn’t learn at Harvard. While we respect Harvard (a few of our teachers even went there), we do things a little differently at the Acton School of Business. Below are the three lessons Shaun says he learned outside of the Harvard classroom and how we do teach them at Acton.

1. Learn how to control your worries and see opportunities where others don’t.

“I was a teaching fellow at the time….We’d discuss their hopes and, more often than not, their fears. They were afraid of not keeping up with their peers and not living up to their parents’ expectations.”

Our Life of Meaning class (taught in Premat and more extensively in the fall semester) addresses these very subjects. Here’s an excerpt from the course description:

Acton’s Life of Meaning course prepares you to:

Set practical goals that align with your deepest values and aspirations.

Explore options experientially so you don’t get “stuck in your head.”

Face adversity and find opportunity in it.

Recognize denial when you slip into it.

Unpack emotional baggage about money.

Above all, Life of Meaning helps you form the habit of asking questions that connect you to reliable sources of inspiration.

Additionally, because of the way our study groups and class discussions are set up, our students work closely with one another while exploring these topics. Their intense conversations, inside the classroom and out, allow them to learn from each other, much like Shaun learned from his students.

2. The second thing I learned was to do my own due diligence and not blindly trust so-called experts.

“Harvard professors are impressive people who are generally thought of as experts in their fields. I found it hard not to regard them with awe.”

Shaun tells the story of a professor with a great reputation who ended up lacking practical knowledge. At Acton, we try to combat the expert problem in two areas: in the classroom, where professors can be regarded as experts (we want our teachers to be awesome but not blindly followed in awe), and in the real world by teaching our students to ask the right questions. Here’s how:

None of our teachers are “academics” — the type of expert who has years of research and theories under his belt but little idea how they play out in life. Acton teachers must all be entrepreneurs who are running their own businesses so that they can pass on their real world lessons to Acton students.

We don’t have tenure. Our teachers’ performance, as determined by weekly student surveys, determines their compensation. As a result, teachers can’t rest on their laurels and write about arcane topics from the seclusion of their offices — they have to deliver the goods.

We use the Socratic method. Teachers don’t lecture, or even make declarative statements, and students learn to ask piercing questions. Acton students become great at questioning assumptions and doing their own due diligence.

We believe in “learning by doing.” Just taking the word of a teacher doesn’t help you implement the lesson in the real world. So, our students sell actual products door-to-door, build a real assembly line, and engage in simulations to learn for themselves. One third of our promise to our students is to teach them to “learn how to learn” so that they can think critically, learn, and grow long after they leave Acton.

We devote an entire section of our required Behavioral Economics class to using expert opinions. Through a series of experiments, students explore when they should turn to experts and when they should trust their guts when making high-stakes business decisions.

3. Finally, I learned that young people need to take stepping-stone positions when they start their careers

“My advice: Do something that won’t limit your opportunities as your career progresses….find great mentors and make sure you do things that give you exposure to different industries–and, importantly, a little sales experience.”

We couldn’t agree more. We believe that anyone has the ability to find her calling (a way to make money while combining your passions, your strengths, and a need in the world). To get there, you need steppingstone jobs (that’s what we actually call them). A well-chosen steppingstone job provides four major benefits: money, education, inspiration, and fun — all while giving you the chance to build your reputation and move along on the path towards your “star” (dream job or calling).

In the Life of Meaning course, as well as in our Career Compass sessions, we help each student determine her star and then help her design a clear path of steppingstone jobs to get there.

As for sales experience, we encourage our students to find steppingstone jobs that will give them industry and operational experience (including sales experience). We also equip them with powerful sales tools before they ever leave campus. They sell products door-to-door, practice cold calling, and play sales sim games in the Customers course.

We also help our students find great mentors. Acton students conduct at least five Stars and Steppingstones interviews – a series of deep discussions about struggles and successes with people they admire. They collect the lessons they learned and the questions the interviews raised and share them with their colleagues regularly.

At Acton, we’re proud to be trailblazers. Our goal is to change the way our students look at the world. We’ll push them, challenge them, and support them until their views of themselves, business, and the world has transformed.

Want more information about the Acton MBA? Check out our website.

Want to find your calling or conduct your own Stars and Steppingstones interviews? We’ll show you how in this online tutorial.

Want to read more about Acton vs the traditional MBA? Read co-founder Jeff Sandefer’s thoughts.

Photo from the Acton MBA Class of 2010 end of year classroom celebration.

Tags: Behavioral Economics, Calling, Job, Stars and Steppingstones, Teachers, Traditional MBA

Posted in Education