The Book: Steven Silbiger, The Ten Day MBA: A Step-By-Step Guide to Mastering the Skills Taught in America’s Top Business Schools (William Morrow, 1993)

Why: A relatively short and easy-to-read introduction to the analytical tools taught in MBA programs.

Let’s start this review with a frank admission (something regular readers of my posts already know): I do not read books typically found in the “Business” section at my local Barnes & Noble. Maybe it comes from my liberal arts background, or maybe I just find that inhabiting the business world for most waking hours during the work week generally satisfies my appetite for learning about that sphere of life.

That doesn’t mean I don’t think about business in my off-hours; I do, in fact, and I even draw business lessons from reading material one would not normally associate with the business world.  You need only take a look at my previous reviews to see how my mind tends to snatch relevant tidbits from reading about fishermen, or entertainment moguls, or the the workings of the brain, or even medieval England.

I have to admit, though, that there is one business book that I have found very useful in understanding my clients, their world view, and the language they use (not to mention my own business). Steven Silbiger, in The Ten Day MBA, sets out to summarize the “essentials of a Top Ten MBA education,” and jauntily assures his readers that “MBA jargon is easy to learn!” He follows with short chapters summarizing what he believes are the critical take-away points in the areas of marketing, ethics, accounting, organizational behavior, quantitative analysis, finance, operations, economics and strategy. Whew! And all in just 348 pages!

Now I’m about as likely to believe that reading this book is an acceptable substitute for an MBA as I am that taking a tour of Disneyworld will position me to run an amusement park. Nonetheless, and maybe this is the scary part, I have to admit that this is a very useful read for someone who, like me, deals on an almost constant basis with people who spent two years of their lives studying this stuff.

Highly recommended.  Now in its fourth edition.