&gt;&gt; &quot;Sandberg suggested a career in tech might not even be necessary to catch Facebook’s attention. “We don&#x27;t look for a specific background or skill-set when we make hiring decisions,” she wrote. “As my friend and Instagram COO Marne Levine says, we hire athletes and cross-train them.”<p>So how does one interpret this? It sounds like she doesn&#x27;t really have a good idea as to what makes a great employee, and falls back to magic catch phrases, altough this is probably an industry (actually multiple industries) wide problem currently (How to identify a great employee a-priori).<p>So if she doesn&#x27;t really know what makes for great employees, is her advice about MBA&#x27;s really relevant then?<p>IMHO yes MBA&#x27;s have a bad rap, but just like everything the knowledge you gain from a MBA program can open your mind to thinking about problems in a whole different way. A lot of techies have no concept of how the business side of the industry works, and it would not be a bad thing to understand it. But you can also gain that awareness from a couple of good books on the subject, not just from attending a MBA.<p>Just for completeness the other advantage of a MBA is the network, which is another discussion. (Of value for the person, not necessarily for the business, which is the point of the article)