Ahead of the Curve: Two Years at Harvard Business School

For someone without any financial background, I found the book very entertaining and informative. It's nice to hear a personal and insightful view of a HBS graduate who had a very different career prior to attending the school.

I had to give the book 5 stars because I couldn't put it down and because it was so thought-provoking. I can't help comparing is book to Robert Reid's earlier book, Year One. Reid describes professors and fellow students more vividly than Broughton does. But Broughton seems to be describing an HBS that has changed since Reid's day. Reid didn't refer to expensive (and apparently useless) group trips, tasteless pranks and parties and psychological tests. HBS seems to have more students with military background as well as a higher number of twenty-somethings. Of course, a big difference is that Reid actually understood and enjoyed business careers. As a career consultant, I was intrigued by Broughton's lack of direction and even more appalled by HBS's apparent lack of career and interview coaching. For instance, Reid's book, Year One, described a female student who wanted to work for a small firm -- the kind that didn't recruit at HBS. She did her research, initiated an interview process, and found a job. Why didn't Broughton do that? And why didn't he study marketing, which would be closer to his journalism background, instead of finance? In fact, HBS was all wrong for him. He could have chosen Wharton, which has a big entrepreneurial center, or Northwestern, the marketing giant. I hate expressions like "alignment of goals and values," but the book inadvertently presents a clear case of incongruence. In one disturbing paragraph (p 117), Broughton writes that, "business can never escape the fact that it is the practice of potentially thieving, treacherous, lying human beings." But what element of society is exempt from being practiced by people have might steal and lie? Michael Nifong prosecuted innocent Duke students -- causing enormous financial and personal loss -- to further his own career. He is not unique Doctors are seduced by pharmaceutical companies. A specialist at my college reunion said, "I have to perform a certain exam on pre-surgical patients. Often I find they don't need the surgery and I say so. So surgeons don't send me referrals." As for government...are our fearless leaders really free of greed? At least we have consumer protection laws. We have far fewer protections in any other sector. More important, if Broughton despises business, he will have trouble finding success there. Harvard does seem to waste a lot of the students' tuition money. I was especially horrified to discover that HBS endorses the Myers-Briggs test. Broughton devotes a lot of speculation to a value system that explains why so many Fortune 500 companies use Myers-Briggs. The real problem is that the test has no scientific value. Might as well use astrology. I recommend The Cult of Personality, by Annie Murphy Paul, published just before Broughton entered Harvard. I won't comment on the "be your best self" exercise. In Year One they just built towers out of paper and cardboard. Apart from describing what one learns at HBS, Broughton ultimately

As the father of a recent HBS graduate, I was drawn into the book to understand more about the inside workings of Harvard. As a graduate of a community college in New York, and the father of eight children, and owner of a 30 year successful technology business, I quickly realized that this book was about true success. The balance of family, love of work, and of course, making a living. The chapters replayed much of what my daughter talked about, but I could now truly understand the life and pressure of those embarking on this trip. It was amazing to hear from somebody almost half my age that he truly understood what most people didn't.He heard of the loss by those that did not follow their hearts, but allowed the brand they wore to set their direction in life. The guilt I sometimes feel for being a parent that pushed their child to fufill their own dreams is now diminished, since I know, just like Philip chose to stay true to his heart, my child may elect to do the same. This book is not about Harvard, it is about life. I want to thank him. Although many books have talked about life-work balance, "ahead of the curve" shows us what we need to consider when raising our children, and helping them in their life choices.

Philip Delves Broughton was on top of the journalism world as the Paris bureau chief for The Daily Telegraph of London when he got itchy feet and decided he wanted to go to business school. Setting his sights on Harvard, he was pleased to get in. The book's title refers to the grading system at Harvard and alludes to the competition to get a leg up on other MBA students in gaining a lucrative job. I attended Harvard Business School while in law school many years ago. I was surprised to find out how many things are similar to when I attended. The student complaints were similar, too. I thought that Mr. Broughton did an excellent job of explaining what the case system is all about and what occurs in preparing for and during a class. If you've always wanted to go to HBS, here's a chance to take a peek. The book's strength is in exposing the values behind HBS, people seeking the highest-paying jobs despite the personal cost to family life and one's own soul. Mr. Broughton made some half-hearted attempts to seek out such opportunities, but ended his two years at Harvard with a large loan to show for the experience . . . and no job. The book's weakness comes in Mr. Broughton's desire to teach you some of the basic concepts about business management. I doubt if you are interested. He doesn't always get it right, either. I found myself comparing Ahead of the Curve to One L, Scott Turow's brilliant description of the bad old days of being a first-year law student at Harvard. One L is a better book. But both are powerful in explaining what it feels like to be a student in the middle of the gigantic forces moving to shape you like a vise into a new form that will be attractive to employers.

First, some disclosure: Philip and I were classmates at HBS, did a project together (which he doesn't directly mention in the book), I've had dinner at his house, and I consider him a friend. If you choose to ignore my perspective because of the above bias, I wouldn't blame you, but I want to make sure that myths (generated by some press coverage) of what this book is about are dispelled: by no means is Ahead of the Curve a tell-all insider-guide bashing of the HBS experience. In fact, I suspect that some of the negative reviews are written by folks who either didn't read the book or didn't read it all the way through. What the book is instead is a rather touching introspective memoir on Philip's personal experience at HBS as an outsider - someone who, because of his age, career background, nationality, but most of all personality did not fit into the traditional HBS mold. Despite that, the reader comes away clear on the fact that Philip learned a great deal from HBS, respects its educational method tremendously, made some very good friends, and overall came away a bigger person after it. I want to elaborate on that last point - Philip was already a fully formed individual before coming to HBS: a father, a husband, a successful journalist, a well-traveled man. To feel growth after HBS, where the average age is ~5 years younger and the average experience is much more junior is a BIG DEAL. The book really has two elements to it. One is a witty description of the HBS stereotypes, fun stories about interactions, and, ultimately, a fascinating tale of what it's like to be immersed into the HBS experience. The second (one that I didn't find as exciting having gone there) is a reasonably in-depth description of the cases and educational method. The first element is a joy to read and sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. Moreover, it's quite an experience to observe Philip's thought process and see how life touches him. Highlights include getting stuck in a white wedding limo in the parking lot at the Google headquarters and frantically taking notes on a loose-leaf sheet of paper during a McKinsey interview. The second element is geared to the book's main target audience: potential b-school applicants. To be honest, I was shocked by how well Philip recollects the cases and formulae from HBS. I certainly got quite a refresher! In the end, Philip chooses to opt out of the post-HBS grind, having fully opted into the experience while there. Funnily enough, too many people do the opposite. They float through HBS, barely read cases, sign up for courses on Tue-Thu so they can travel all second year, and then opt into a grueling i-banking or hedge fund job. Personally, I think Philip has come out a better person having learned much from what HBS has to offer and still chosen to pursue life in his own manner. He's the type of graduate HBS should be proud of - I certainly am proud to have gotten to know him while there! Despite everything I wrote ab