Learning, not in school. Working, not a job. Discovering life-work integration?

by lorenzo on December 3, 2008

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Someone said: If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

If you are reading this article, you must in the business world.
And if you an entrepreneur (or an entrepreneur-in-the-making), trying to navigate the uncharted waters ahead of you, you’ve left the safety of land behind you long time ago, and you are now the captain of your own boat, on this wonderful journey of entrepreneurship: I hear you.

Are you or someone else you know at a major fork on the road? Maybe evaluating your next move, your next start-up, or contemplating getting a job (or a iob) coasting for a while, or even evaluating the pros and cons of going to business school?
How about something different? Something truly different? If your vision is to BE an entrepreneur, if entrepreneurship as a lifestyle fits your worldviews, and yet you feel as if there’s one missing piece that you can sense but can’t eloquently describe . . . how about being exposed to a highly entrepreneurial environment, with access to one of the brightest marketers, surrounded by like-minded peers? Does that sound appealing?
Seth Godin (yup, the Purple Cow guy) has pulled another one of his move. He has put together what he calls the “Alternative MBA”, an internship at his offices, part working on his projects, part working on your own projects, part engaging in intriguing conversations.

Is it for everyone? Hardly.
And the only things in life worth doing are the ones that are not made for everyone, but only for those selected few. And yet I know that Seth is going to get inundated with applications from the world over.
Now, you owe it to yourself to:

  1. read what Seth has concocted;
  2. seriously think if that’s for you;
  3. whether it is for you or not, spread the word to anyone you think might be interested or might know of someone who might be interested;
  4. get inspired by Seth approach, he gives and gets, and chances are that at the end of the game, both parties, the interns and Seth will walk away feeling that they got a GREAT deal, win-win-win-win at its best;
  5. ask yourself: how can I do something like this in my business? Maybe not an internship, how about hiring your customers as consultants? How about sending your CXO or VP of something to work at your best customer location for a week, free of charge of course? What insight would he or she draw? How about doing it with your worst customer, the one that left you last month after 5 years and vouched to NEVER do business with you, if you collaborate with the with no string attached, what insights would you gain? Could you ever get that from the best consulting outfit?

So here’s for you the link to the Squidoo Lens about the Alternate MBA, and to Seth’s post If you could change your life .

Whether you apply or not, the choice is yours, and remember a couple of things:

Guarantees: none.
Possibilities: limitless.

___________

{Photography by Baston}

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