Cubicle 101: Should I get an MBA?

March 18, 4:30 PMLife in the Cubicle ExaminerDudley B. Dawson

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This is much more rewarding than an MBA.

I often think about whether or not I should get my Masters of Business Administration (MBA).  On most occasions, these thoughts come to an abrupt end because I quickly move on to:

1. Watching more TV
2. Writing another thought provoking, unprofessional story on Examiner.com
3. Opening up another box of Somoas Girl Scout Cookies .
4. Surfing the internet .

There are other things like hanging out with my wife, playing with my child, and perhaps the occassional high intensity Zumba workout -- but they are all productive and will not be cut from my daily routine.

 In order to even consider getting my MBA or training for the GMAT, I need to first determine how to cut unproductive habits from my lifestyle.  It's easy to say you can cut out TV or internet.  But who am I kidding?  I'm enfatuated with TV.  I watch the Gilmore Girls for christ's sake.  And I don't just watch the Gilmore Girls.  I go on to IMDB.com and search to find out what Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham are up to now.  Perhaps it's a bit gay, but I'm comfortable with it.

Even if I could reduce the amount of unproductive moments in my life, would I even want to get my MBA?

Probably not.

I think my problem is an unwillingness to care about advancing my career.  Sometimes I try really hard...only to give up within minutes.  It's the same reason I only made it to page 3 of " Now, Discover Your Strengths ".  A previous employer of mine gave us the book for free and told us to read it.  In a rare, once a year type of feeling, I suddenly felt the urge to actually open up the book and learn.  By the time I had reached page 3, I hated my job even more, and shut the book.  Oddly enough, the book did serve a purpose.  It spent the better part of 2 years serving as a booster seat for my computer monitor.

Why don't I care about improving my business and management skills and advancing in my career?

I'm not exactly sure.  I think it's because every business I've worked for is horrible.  I have now worked for a few Fortune 500 companies and one small company.  They are all completely dysfunctional, and I'm pretty sure I am part of the problem.  Perhaps if we all got MBAs, these companies would no longer be dysfunctional.  How hard can it be to get an MBA anyway?  I've heard it's pretty easy.

Now I've come full circle.

I revert back to thinking about getting my MBA again.  So I go out a website that has GMAT test examples just to see how hard it would be to pass the GMAT.

First try - simply embarrassing.
Second try - discouraging.

I start to wonder how I graduated from college with a good GPA and scored well on my ACT in high school.  So I give it a third try.

Third try - less than stellar.

So I quit, go to Google, and type " MBA programs that don't require a GMAT ".  The results were scattered but it appears as though I cannot avoid the GMAT unless I want an MBA that is even more worthless than it may already be.  The next logical step would be to purchase a GMAT study guide, perhaps sign up for a GMAT class, and start looking at MBA schools . 

But I don't.  Because it's Wednesday and I've successfully wasted 20 minutes while my DVR buffers the newest episode of Lost .  Kate, uninterrupted.

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