I don’t understand the concept of this Oath.  It seems to me that if you need so sign a pledge form to achieve this type of behavior, that you have more behavioral problems than can be fixed by a simple piece of paper.    I am not saying I am against this oath,  but it brings to light a larger social problem of humanity.   Kids who are 3 or 4 years old need someone to tell them how to be nice and look out for one another;  I consider it rather insulting that someone needs to tell 28 year old’s with 6+years of secondary education how to be nice and look out for one another.

Is it safe to assume that if you reach 28 years old with out figuring out the golden rule, then you have no chance of changing?

Maybe they are looking at the wrong target group for this MBA oath,  I suggest we should focus on kids in middle schools and their parents.  Young people who are impressionable still have the opportunity to change their behaviors and opinions.   Parents need to spend time with their kids and be good role models. Watch TV with your kids and have discussions with them about what it  right and wrong, ask them how things make them feel. Better yet, turn off the TV and read with them.   TV shows no longer try to impart moral wisdom on kids.  When I was little, we had the A-team, Magnum PI, Fall Guy, and Night Rider; these shows all had a moral and a story about how the bad guys were bad because they did wrong.  Now our kids watch The OC,  Gossip Girls, Sweet 16, the Hills, and a myriad of reality TV shows that have despicable people with wealth who treat other people like crap and seem to be rewarded for it.  I’m tired of seeing kids growing up with lack of values around them.  An MBA oath is the right set of values, but it is taught about 20 years to late.

In summary: MBA Oath==Stupid. Good things happen to good people.  TV==Bad Role Model. Be a good parent.

Reference: http://mbaoath.org/

Example 1:

“How about instead of coming to work, I stay at home and watch cartoons all day.  You can call me if its an emergency, but I will only call you back during commercials, so you only have about 90 seconds. “

Example 2:

Admin guy (over the phone): “I can’t come in today and work on those server configurations”

Manager guy: “Are you sick? did something happen?”

Admin guy: “Well I was up all night working on those critical system backups”

Manager guy: “Those took all night?”

Admin guy: “Actually they took 11 hours”

Manager guy: “You spent 11 hours on them, what did you have to do”

Admin guy: “Well, I kicked off the backup script and checked it every 3-4 hours to see if it was still running.”

Manager: “So you didn’t actually work for 11 hours, you just worked for a few minutes.”

Admin guy: “I mean… if something had gone wrong i would have been there to work on it and fix it.”

Manager guy: “So, why didn’t you work on the server configurations last night?”

Admin guy: “Well, between checking the backups I was sleeping”