In the assembly line factory system for goods and services a company's profits are the difference between what it pays employees and the value of the output.
On an assembly line to maximize profits, workers need to be complacent and interchangeable to achieve the lowest possible cost ( mainly wages paid to employees). To ensure a ready supply of cheap labor the education system has been designed with an assembly line approach (you know what I mean, all those countless hours memorizing useless facts).
You and me have been indoctrinated with "mediocre obedience" as Seth Godin so succinctly pointed out in his newest book Linchpin:
"Mediocre Obedience
We've been taught to be a replaceable cog in a giant machine.
We've been taught to consume as a shortcut to happiness.
We've been taught not to care about our job or our customers.
And we've been taught to fit in."
In line with this doctrine, our education has taught us to show up on time, rush through subjects and follow teachers' instructions, don't ask questions or question authority, cram for tests, pass tests, get a diploma, and with the hope of getting that dream job. That seems to be the reason so many people want an MBA. The want the letters, not an education because to them its just another box to check.
The difference between the traditional MBA student and the Free MBA student is that rather than only memorize and regurgitate definitions from a variety of subjects (e.g., economics, accounting, finance, marketing, etc) here we are attempting use modern means to access the same knowledge (why memorize it, when we can just Google it) then use that knowledge to learn to solve interesting problems (more to come) and lead (more to come). Isn't this what companies need, people who can solve problems and lead, rather than complacent works?
We have a choice, to move away from being dispensable to indispensable, which is achieved through becoming a linchpin.
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