What Are You Being Sold Today?

For many months over the past year, I have frequently passed billboards that touted “MBA=CEO”. This only makes sense when I explain that the “M” of “MBA” on the billboard was actually the University of Michigan “M” logo, meaning that in other words a University of Michigan MBA (more specifically University of Michigan at Flint campus) equals a CEO position.

Let me first state that I have nothing against University of Michigan…or their Flint, Michigan campus…nothing against MBA’s…and nothing against CEO’s. The illustration was just too perfect to pass up for the current illustration. Let’s explore that specific ad a bit further. At face value, the ad is suggesting that a MBA degree earned from University of Michigan, Flint extension campus is one’s ticket to a highly desirable Chief Executive Officer position. Let’s explore that a bit more closely.

U.S. News in 2012 did an analysis of the educational backgrounds of the Fortune 500 CEO’s. Only thirteen schools had awarded at least ten degrees to Fortune 500 CEO’s. Not surprisingly, Harvard University far surpassed any other school and had awarded 65 degrees to persons who would later rise to CEO positions among the Fortune 500 (40 MBA’s; 14 other graduate degrees; and 11 undergraduate degrees). The distant second was Stanford University (27 degrees total; 10 MBA’s 11 undergraduate degrees; and 6 other graduate degrees). University of Pennsylvania was the only other university with over ten MBA’s awarded (with 13). The remainder of the 13 schools included some of those which you would expect like MIT, Columbia, and Notre Dame. My undergraduate alma mater, Indiana University at Bloomington was also among the thirteen and had a respectable 11 total degrees. Go IU! University of Michigan, Ann Arbor campus did have a very respectable 14 degrees total (5 MBA’s; 6 undergraduate degrees; and 3 other graduate degrees). However, I must point out that this was the Ann Arbor main campus, not any of their extension campuses. Now I am sure that UM Flint MBA is a very respectable program. However, the billboard does not really match the data. I am very much a data guy! So if you really want a shot at a CEO position, go after that Harvard MBA.

We are all constantly the target of marketing efforts. I am old enough to be particularly struck by the marketing efforts of colleges and universities, because when I was in my late teens and early twenties, higher education marketing did not include tv ads, billboards, or radio spots. Today, though, higher education is marketed to us just like the newest tastiest burger or chips.

However, the long term implications of an individual’s choice regarding the pursuit of higher education is a whole lot more important than the long term implications of one single meal. I guess that it bothers me that something like higher education is being sold so hard! Sadly, I have also known too many people who once they get into that higher education setting; the energy and resources expended by the schools to support them in successfully completing a program is nowhere near the level of energy and resources that were utilized to lure them into the program to begin with. (Note that I am not referring specifically to the U of M program.).

This goes far beyond  higher education. We are constantly the target of varying levels of sophisticated marketing efforts related to our diet, health, career, finances, and nearly every aspect of our life.  First, always remember that we are constantly a target of marketing. Second, from the perspective of the seller, we must always be aware that there is the possibility that the group who is marketing to us cares a bit more about the money that we will bring to the table…possibly more than the impact or consequences upon us the buyer. Third, remember that as the reader or target of any marketing effort many more man hours have went into planning that marketing to you as compared to the hours that you have to analyze the marketing. In other words, the marketing of the product that we are going to buy was likely the result of a highly trained and sophisticated team of professionals whose aim is to sell that product. When you put all of their minds together, they are smarter than me and probably smarter than you too! There is a concept within psychology called “collective intelligence.” This is simply saying that the efforts of a group will tend to reflect a higher level than the effort of even the most gifted person within that group.

Finally, and probably most importantly, if you are in time of transition, crisis, or change; then chances are you are more vulnerable. You need hope! You need a plan! You want that right now! That makes you vulnerable. Beware. This point is not lost upon sophisticated marketing efforts. For example, recall when the mortgage crisis began, and the marketing for the high risk mortgages went away. As these disappeared, so did the jobs of many who sold the high risk mortgages also disappeared. A fact that is less widely known is that as many new organizations rose up to “help” the troubled homeowners who were desperate to save their homes; that the “counselors” who were helping were often the individuals who were previously involved in selling the bad mortgages in the first place.

The point here is not to believe that everything is just one big scam or conspiracy. I don’t want to foster pessimism or overly misanthropic beliefs about our fellow man. Rather, I want to encourage planning, seeking out objective information and resources as much as we can, and seeking out support. There are few things that we can do better alone than we could do if we sought support and wise counsel. Whether the change you are seeking is a new career path, renewed health, weight loss, or any other number of paths to some ideal of fulfillment; there are always very sophisticated marketing efforts out there to influence our decisions. On our quest to thrive, we must do our best to seek out data, reliable information, and support. May you thrive in these difficult times in which we live!