A Lego leader talks about the power of ‘solution diversity’

In business (and business school), it’s critical to approach a problem from multiple perspectives.

[Source Image: Adobe Stock]

The MBA is often considered the cornerstone degree for business leaders who aspire to reach the corner office. In fact, roughly 75% of the Fortune 500’s top 20 CEOs received an MBA or some other graduate degree. The chief executives of Apple, Microsoft, Blackrock, and JPMorgan all hold MBA degrees, among countless other leaders who have risen to the top after graduating from business school or pursuing further education later in their career. As a business school professor, I see the ambition in the eyes of MBA students who aspire to be counted among tomorrow’s change makers. Although some enter the program looking for a job with higher pay or perhaps even a two-year vacation from the real world, a common trope depicted on TikTok and Instagram about the perceived unseriousness of B-school, the elite among the crop are looking for something far greater: an opportunity to lead.     

To these students, I offer the sincerest advice I can muster at the start of every semester I teach: “The most important thing I can give you in this course is perspective—a way to see the world beyond your own vantage point.” Primarily because the world is filled with a plethora of meanings and possibilities, leading requires first understanding that there are many permutations of reality. Of which,........

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