Educating Our MBAs: On Teaching What We Haven't Taught

Abstract

This article asserts that we have generally failed to include front end, pathfinding aspects of management in our programs of management education. Instead, we have concentrated on analytic problem solving and, to a much lesser extent, on teaching collaboration and teamwork. Our emphasis on those aspects has led us, implicitly, to reject individualistic, pro-active pathfinders because their cognitive styles are an anathema both to convergent analysis and also to group-oriented teambuilders. Pathfinding imagination and purposiveness can and should be taught, but it will require that we redefine the teaching process.