The Exec-Ed Zone

Louis Pasteur, the nineteench century French chemist and biologist, noted "in the field of observation, chance favours only the prepared mind" ("dans les champs de l’obsérvation le hasard ne favorise que les ésprits préparés") . In the field of management education where we are searching for real proof of its ROI, the "prepared mind" is central to the solution too.

There is an enduring perception that management education ought to have the ability to turn management dullards into management geniuses, or even bad businesses into great ones. The reality, of course, is more prosaic. In the same way that many successful businessmen nonchalantly put their success down to hard work but overlook the role of lucky breaks in their careers (if riches were purely the result of hard work then there would be many more rich people out there today) you cannot expect everyone who attends a management education program to become a world beating leader.

But what a good program can do is permit new knowledge of a theory, system or understanding that allows the participant to be prepared for events, problems and issues when they arise. There is alot of focus on "take-aways" in executive development marketing material, the benefits that participants can walk out of the program with and immediately put to use. While these are clearly rewarding and clarify any ROI issues they need not be the main benefit of participating in a program. The ability to recognise situations, whether they be with customers or colleagues and then to apply appropriate strategies to maximising opportunities will be of use long after programs end and should be recognised as providing benefits for the long-term.

The Persian tale of the Three Princes of Serendip, which was first made famous by Horace Walpole in the eighteenth century (and from where he coined the word "serendipity"), illustrates the importance of being able to make use of unexpected situations with the application of a little knowledge and insight. The three princes had set out to make one set of discoveries but chanced across a whole, better, set of unsought rewards through their use of knowledge. The moral being that without their knowledge they would not have been able to benefit from their chances.

Executive education, to my mind, works very much on this basis. You cannot know what opportunities will fall your way, but by exposing yourself to new ideas and concepts and being open to them you will surely benefit more fully from any opportunities that appear.