I haven&#x27;t found this to be universal. If anything, I think it can warp your thinking in a way that can be beneficial in certain circumstances, but is really scary in others. By way of example:<p>I have a parent who teaches at a top-5 business school. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan on a trip where my parent acted as a faculty chaperone and was able to attend some of the meetings with Japanese business leaders. One of the trips was to a 400+ year-old sake brewer. After the tour of the brewery, there was a Q &amp; A period with the president of the company. The business school students asked him question after question about expansion, new product lines, finding new markets, advertising campaigns...everything they could think about to achieve growth. His answer was always basically the same and to the effect of, &quot;I&#x27;m happy with the current situation. I make a profit making the best sake in the world, just as my ancestors have made it for the past 400 years. I provide a comfortable life for my family and the families of the people who work for me. Why would I want to change?&quot;<p>It was a profound experience for me to watch him try to explain what should be a completely reasonable position to a group of people that have had the ideal of growth beyond all else drilled into their head so thoroughly that they simply couldn&#x27;t understand contentment with the status quo. On the ride home, the whole group was complaining about why they&#x27;d even wasted their time talking to someone so ignorant. Comments ranged from, &quot;He&#x27;ll be out of business in 10 years&quot; to &quot;At least we got to drink sake.&quot;<p>I worry that putting MBAs in charge of businesses puts a skewed view on risk and desired outcomes. Each and every one of their suggestions could have backfired immensely and most would have required taking on considerable debt. It&#x27;s this way of thinking that gives people the unicorn-or-bust mentality and look down on those who try to build &quot;lifestyle businesses&quot; (I hate that term). The world would be a much better place with fewer unicorns and more lifestyle businesses. The hockey stick isn&#x27;t necessary to be successful, at yet it seems to be all that MBAs understand.