Creating the Perfect Curriculum

A week or so ago, I told you about the specific MBA program my husband and I are in -- a "locked-in," two-year program that features shorter classes but a greater variety of topics. To recap, the program involves taking two classes at time, which each meet three hours weekly for six weeks. Then, rinse and repeat 13 more times.

From what I understand, the school's faculty felt that an MBA education should be more than 12 or so classes. By cutting classes basically in half length-wise, they felt they were able to deliver a broader, more well-rounded curriculum.

So far, I tend to agree. As you know, it's often more what we learn on the job than in the classroom that helps us accomplish daily tasks. So spending an entire semester on economics or finance after spending years in the workforce seems a bit like overkill.

Conversely, spending six intense weeks learning the basics and general ideas behind these topics seems to be more practical, at least to me. For example, I took economics as an undergrad, but I'd be hard-pressed to tell you anything about it other than "supply and demand."

Of course, 28 classes completely opens up the playing field. Think of all of the options. (And then there are those Saturday classes I told you about, which meet five times a year. But that's a topic for another day.) With 28 different classes, the possibilities seem endless.

So, what do you think? As business professionals, what concepts do you think are essential? Which skills do you need for your job? What skills do you look for most when hiring someone?

Those of you in school and those of you already finished, which classes were a waste of time? Which things do you wish you would have learned?

Let's create a wish list of the perfect MBA curriculum. I want to know what you guys think I should be learning.

To get you started, here are the first two classes of my MBA career: Strategic Analysis and Decision Analysis (or... statistics). I'll save speculation for why they started with these two classes for another time -- for now, let's start creating the dream MBA program.