"I wouldn't recommend an MBA. I'd say no MBA needed. An MBA is a bad idea. [...] It teaches people all sorts of wrong things. [...] They don't teach people to think in MBA schools. And the top MBA schools are the worst. Because they actually teach people that you must be special, and it causes people to close down their feedback loop and not rigorously examine when they are wrong. [...] I hire people in spite of an MBA, not because of one. If you look at the senior managers of my companies, you'll see very few MBAs there."
IMO, hardly any school will teach someone how to think. At best, they can give a good environment to pick up those skills and fail out those who can't hack it. This is especially true because of how much guessing the teacher's password looks like learning.
The way to learn to think is to be a curious, introspective and observant person. Then, retreat to a cabin in the woods for a couple of years reading plenty of classic literature, philosophy, modern non-fiction, etc etc.
Now, if I put this on my resume and applied to Tesla, would Musk toss my resume in the trash or want to speak to me?
He would likely toss it rightfully because you spent time talking about something of almost no relevance on your resume, which is a place wherein bang for the buck is of utmost importance and you have just demonstrated you do not understand even that.
You make an excellent point. I might even argue the more extreme position that the goals of contemporary schooling are antithetical to rigorous thinking.
"I wouldn't recommend an MBA. I'd say no MBA needed. An MBA is a bad idea. [...] It teaches people all sorts of wrong things. [...] They don't teach people to think in MBA schools. And the top MBA schools are the worst. Because they actually teach people that you must be special, and it causes people to close down their feedback loop and not rigorously examine when they are wrong. [...] I hire people in spite of an MBA, not because of one. If you look at the senior managers of my companies, you'll see very few MBAs there."
http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201311/profiles.cfm