The Personal MBA program founders think that you can understand the fundamentals and mechanics of business by reading a list of books that they have hand picked as the best in the business field. They conjecture you might get close to the same education level as a traditional MBA with much less time and money.

While skeptical that it will line up fully with most MBA programs, I think that this program has the right idea. The best learning comes when one is interested in something and really wants to learn more about it. I am interested in learning more about business and entrepreneurship since I feel that my strengths lead in this direction. It seems that these books will give a high return on time invested, as most of the time I see new connections or learn new skills. While the information might not be applicable right away, just knowing more gives me confidence that I will succeed when the time comes. There seems to be a lot to learn, but it’s not rocket surgery either. Many concepts are similar to each other, and having a background in economics probably helps.

My current PMBA progress is here. Both Getting Real (which you can read for free online) and How to Win Friends and Influence People are highly recommended for their fresh perspectives.

If you are in the Indianapolis area, I could be convinced to do a book swap. Many of these books can also probably be found at the library (although I haven’t looked much myself.) It would be helpful to chat about them to refresh my memory and solidify the concepts, so if you’re reading one, let me know. There are reviews or notes for a few of the books in the notes section of this blog.