Great article in Mondays’ Globe and Mail by Harvey Schachter on futurist Jim Caroll’s call to replace the MBA with the MBI - Master in Business Imagination. First off, have a read of the article HERE. Go ahead, I’ll wait….
There are so many ideas and avenues to go down here, but let’s look at just two for now.

Seeing things differently:
I’m so glad Jim placed this first on his list, as to me it’s the most important first step; how we see things. I talk a lot about perception in my keynote presentations and for me it really is where the rubber hits the road. If you can’t see a solution or an outcome, you have zero chance of creating it. MBI’s would be encouraged to view the world through the eyes of an explorer, accepting that, as intelligent as we are, we still have a lot to learn. Maybe upon graduation, graduates would receive, instead of a funny hat, a pair of explorers goggles…

Focus on Opportunity:
It’s so easy to focus on the problem, as it’s usually staring us in the face. We often fall into the trap of thinking that the problem is all there is, it becomes all encompassing. Some schools of thought encourage us to don the rose coloured glasses and deny the existence of the problem, but that doesn’t work for me. Denial is dangerous and must be avoided at all costs. Ditch the glasses for the explorer goggles and start asking questions- Is there something I’m missing here? As bad as this seems, is it possible that we can benefit from having the rug pulled out from under us. Is there another direction we should be taking? Are we hanging on to something we need to let go?

You get the drift.
I’m with you Jim. At the risk of upsetting the MBA’s reading, proving we’re good at studying is not enough in this brave new world. Proving we’ve got what it takes to create a vision for the future, and the tools to make it happen are need to move forward from here…

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