What business schools should teach, but don’t

The ‘internet of things’ is a concept that is rarely tapped in MBA classes. Technology, and therefore our lifestyle, is changing at a rapid pace and students should discuss the impact of the internet and anticipate trends in the sharing economy.
Audit leader, MasterCard

Business Schools should teach students how to code. IT touches every part of every business and everyone needs to understand how to leverage its value. The logical thinking required to write code helps deconstruct and solve problems in new ways. IT isn’t just good for geeks, it helps us all.
Head of IT operations, John Lewis (UK department store chain)

Building relationships. Most MBAs believe that being a jerk and appearing tough is key to success. The opposite is actually true. You do need to be firm and tough when needed, but you need to reach out and talk to people at all levels in the organisation.
Anonymous

Business schools should teach students how to have quick and productive meetings. I am in six hours of meetings a day, at least. They vary in productivity, yet are a necessary evil the more advanced I am in my career.
Marketing director

Teaching students how to fail fast is vital when starting a company. Too many entrepreneurs stress over every detail of their business, only to learn they solved the wrong problem upon launch. If you’re not embarrassed by your first public-facing beta, you’ve waited too long to launch.
Executive at an investment group

By conforming to the same techniques and tools, business schools fail to teach their candidates about how to be different or creative in real life. Schools adopt the one-major-fits-all approach when success in life is about developing singularity. How many Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs do we have?
Practice leader of management consultancy