Get A Harvard Education

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTIONER

Title: Harvard Business

Competencies: this site is so vast that it covers every business competency that I can think of, especially suited for those in a self-development mode

Who benefits: individuals interested in current business education

Consultant Usage: staying up-to-date, executive coaches making development  recommendations

What’s it about? September is back-to-school month.  Today is the second in a short series of (mostly) free educational opportunities:

Don’t have several years to take off to further your education at Harvard?  Don’t have the grades?  Don’t have the $$$$$$?  Isn’t it great the Time we live in?  Harvard will come to you.  And you don’t have to enroll.  You will likely want to register (3 minutes), may even want to subscribe, but no tuition, no room, no board and no requirements.  Harvard offers a very egalitarian experience.  Open and (basically) free to all.  It is delivered to you daily on your computer.

One minor caveat: The amount of education you receive is directly proportionate to the amount of effort you put into your development.  Ah, but you already knew that.

Let’s start with the basics.  The Harvard Business Review website (which is different than the magazine) is updated daily.  The site is free, but you may be required to register.  The website offers a variety of short articles and recommended readings.  On the day I wrote this there were articles on risk (personal and organizational) and a section on getting your next job.  There is also the Management Tip of the day, usually very short with 3 suggestions on being a better manager/supervisor.

And, of course, there is the Harvard Business Review Magazine.  Every executive and respected senior consultant I ever met was (is) a subscriber.  The website allows for free reading of possibly 50% of its content.  The remainder you can read the first few paragraphs and then buy the article if you want more.  Or just subscribe and get the whole thing on your computer.

My personal favorite is the HBR Blog Network.  Here you find the Blogs of the best and brightest in academia and the business world.  The quality is 5 Star.  Just click and start scrolling.  You won’t get far until you find something you will want to read.  Most business topics are covered.  If you are only going to click on one site today, make it this one.  One visit and you will want to come back.  It’s free.

Are you a visual learner?  Check out HBR Blog Network Videos.  Again, just click on this link and scroll down.  Lots of videos and lots of topics.  Ditto for audios at HBR Blog Network Audios if you are more inclined to listen rather than watch.  Both are free.

Want more?  There is a gold mine awaiting with minimum digging required at Harvard Business School Working Knowledge. They have open forums, weekly newsletters, and working papers too numerous to count. It is sorted several different ways including by topic, by industry, by date and by faculty. Check it out. Tons of good stuff there. Really well laid out site and easy to use.  Most of it is free.

Interested in a slightly more academic approach.  Then try HBS Faculty & Research Recent Publications which leads you to new books, articles, and published and unpublished papers.  Or for a shorter list (be sure to scroll all the way down the page for a complete list) of books published by Harvard Business Press, click this link.

And finally, after looking at all these sites you may say to yourself “Self, I want to go to Harvard.  I want a Harvard education!  But, alas, I don’t have the time or the $$$$$$.  What can a poor wretch like me do?”  Fear not fearless friend.  There is always the just opened Harvard For Free at their open learning site (joint project with MIT and UC Berkeley).  If you can’t wait for more Harvard courses to be made available, you can go now to MIT For Free or to Coursera (reviewed last week)!!!

Catch you later.

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.