XBA: 性價比更高的速成MBA課程?

Students, six to a table, pore over financials and craft investor presentations. The click-clacks of their laptops fill the ornate conference rooms of Boston's mahogany-paneled 19thcentury Omni Parker House. The space is old, but the class is brand new.

學生們每六人一組，認真學習財務知識，起草投資者報告。在波士頓的歐米帕克豪斯酒店（Omni Parker House），華麗的會議室中迴盪着學生們敲擊鍵盤的聲音。這家鋪有桃心木地板的酒店源自19世紀。雖然地方是老的，但這裏的學習班模式卻是全新的。

The students are all in the Fullbridge Program, a new kind of business school, akin to an MBA -- a baby brother, perhaps, but with a speed addiction. Fullbridge's founders, husband and wife Peter and Candice Carpenter Olson (he a former CEO at Random House; she a founder at iVillage) have even developed a new certificate for graduates of their program: the XBA.

這些學生全都是賦橋集訓營（Fullbridge Program）的學員。這是一種全新模式的商學院，與MBA類似，但更加註重速度。賦橋創始人彼得與坎蒂斯??卡朋特??奧爾森夫婦【丈夫曾擔任蘭登書屋（Random House）CEO；妻子是女性社交網站的創始人】，甚至爲集訓營的畢業生們設計了一種全新的認證：XBA。

The XBA mixes drills with a bit of theory. Participants learn to read balance sheets, income, and cash flow statements in small groups for eight hours a day. They evaluate global companies' strategies and performance based on those numbers, and then present their findings in teams at the end of a 20-day, four-week boot camp -- typically over winter or summer break. Fullbridge recruits students and early-career professionals in their late teens to late twenties. Its appeal is that not only will the program help students be more valuable at their jobs, but it will also help them find fulfillment in their careers.

XBA將理論與實踐相結合。學員們分成若干小組，每天用八個小時學習如何閱讀資產負債表、損益表和現金流量表。他們會根據這些報表中的數據評估全球各大公司的策略與績效，並在集訓營結束時分組陳述評估結果。集訓時間約爲四周，通常安排在寒、暑假。賦橋招收的大多是二十歲左右的學生和職場新人。集訓營的吸引力不僅在於它可以幫助學生們提升在職場中的個人價值，而且能幫助學生們在事業上獲得成就感。

The Olsons founded Fullbridge in 2010 to address a problem they saw their seven children's friends struggle with: Academia gave them critical thinking skills, but left these young people unprepared for real-life work. When Peter, 62, first graduated from college, he recalls that employers either had "extensive training programs or almost unlimited amounts of patience." That's no longer the case and graduates are entering high-expectation jobs with little experience, proving problematic for both parties.

奧爾森夫婦於2010年創立了賦橋，當時的目的是爲了幫助解決七個孩子的朋友們遇到的難題：學術教育讓他們掌握了批判性思維的技能，但卻並沒有讓他們做好面對現實生活的準備。62歲的彼得回憶起自己剛從大學畢業時的情景時表示，那時候，僱主“有大量培訓計劃，而且耐心十足。”如今，情況發生了變化，許多畢業生沒有任何經驗就開始承擔期望值很高的工作，結果給學生和僱主都造成了困擾。

The Olsons say they have little desire to replace the traditional undergraduate or MBA experience. They see the XBA as a new category of education -- the finishing touch on the 21st century liberal arts degree. They enlisted their network of successful business friends -- from Kleiner Perkins Caufield &Byers partner Randy Komisar to Communispace founder and CEO Diane Hessan -- and put together bite-size presentations that address topics like being smart versus being effective at work and how to make good use of Excel. The lessons also dive into companies like Apple (AAPL) and Starbucks (SBUX), talking about how these brands have thrived in competitive environments. And Peter gives an abbreviated step-by-step of how he examined cash flow statements and the like while he was CEO of Random House. After running a successful pilot with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &Flom first-year associates, the duo fine-tuned Fullbridge's curriculum for undergraduates.

奧爾森夫婦認爲，他們並不想取代傳統的本科教育或MBA教育。他們認爲，XBA是一種全新的教育類型——21世紀人文科學教育的點睛之筆。他們利用自己在商界的人脈，邀請成功的朋友前來授課，比如凱鵬華盈（Kleiner Perkins Caufield &Byers ）合夥人蘭迪??科米薩和市場調研公司Communispace的創始人兼CEO戴安??赫森等。課程通過簡明易懂的講解來解決學生的問題，諸如工作中如何平衡聰明和高效的關係，抑或是如何充分利用Excel等。此外，課堂中還會研究蘋果（Apple）和星巴克（Starbucks ）等公司，討論這些品牌如何在競爭環境中生存下來。而且，彼得還提供了自己擔任蘭登書屋CEO時閱讀現金流量表等財務報表的簡便方法。第一年的試點合作成功之後，賦橋與世達律所（Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher &Flom）針對本科生對課程進行了微調。

Though Peter still teaches business administration at Harvard Business School, the pair say that the new program has forced them to reevaluate traditional teaching methods. Candice, 60, has focused on how Fullbridge's learning materials are designed. To create a visually appealing environment for Fullbridge participants, she hired firms like Tank Design and Mechanica to create eye-catching content for the students. "We could be called an education-slash-tech company, but the two biggest checks we've written have been to design firms, " she laughs. Short video lessons and team activities serve as the program's foundation.

雖然彼得仍然在哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）教授工商管理課程，但夫妻兩人均表示，賦橋集訓營迫使他們不得不重新思考傳統的教學方法。60歲的坎蒂斯非常重視賦橋學習材料的設計。爲了設計出視覺上更具吸引力的環境，她聘用了Tank Design與Mechanica等設計公司，設計能夠吸引學生眼球的內容。坎蒂斯笑言：“我們可能被叫做教育/科技公司，但我們最大的兩筆開支卻是支付給了設計公司。”集訓營以簡短易懂的視頻教學和團隊活動爲主。

Students pay between $5, 000-6, 000 to attend Fullbridge, depending on date and location. Students can also access housing at an additional cost of $1250-$1450. Since the program's 2010 launch, 584 students have participated.

根據學生上課的日期和地點，賦橋的學費在5,000至6,000美元之間。學生額外支付1,250至1450美元還可以獲得集訓營提供的住宿。集訓營自2010年成立以來已有584名學生報名參加。

The power of a good coach

優秀導師的力量

At the Omni Parker House, Luke Owings' 6'6" frame towers over five Fullbridge coaches. Owings, 28, played basketball at Princeton. It's a day after the program's most intense lesson, "Cintas y Lazos," where students review the financials of a new company (it makes ribbons, of all things), and are then tasked with presenting investors with a plan to reach profitability, taking into account brand, salaries, manufacturing costs, and other factors. There's one message in the coaches' room: "Whatever you do for this opener, bring the energy." Owings bounces as he advises the coaches: "We're really trying to get them into that culture of feedback, feedback, feedback."

在歐米帕克豪斯酒店，盧克??奧文斯6.6英尺的體格遠遠超過了五位賦橋導師。28歲的奧文斯曾經是普林斯頓大學（Princeton）的籃球隊員。集訓營最緊張的一節課是“Cintas y Lazos”。課上，學生們將評估一家新公司（生產綬帶等）的財務狀況，並根據品牌、工資、生產成本和其他因素，向投資者提交一份報告，制定實現盈利的計劃。導師房間裏貼着一則啓示：“不論你的開場白是什麼，一定要有活力。”在給導師們提意見時，奧文斯總是滿懷激情：“我們真的在努力讓導師們養成反饋的習慣，反饋，還是反饋。”

In the same way that a terrible boss can create a hellish workplace, an ineffective Fullbridge coach can ruin the XBA program. Fullbridge assigns one coach to every 16 students. Owings plays coach to the coaches.

一個糟糕的老闆會讓一個公司變得如同地獄一般，同樣，一位不得力的導師會毀掉XBA集訓營。賦橋爲每16名學生委派一名導師。而奧文斯則爲導師提供指導。

Peter recruited the former McKinsey analyst in 2011, just after he graduated from Harvard Business School. Owings looks for approachable professionals with credibility when he searches for coaches. Many Fullbridge coaches are current MBA students with several years of work experience. He argues that coaches get just as much out of the program as the students: they gain leadership skills and awaken otherwise latent teaching talent.

2011年，曾在麥肯錫（McKinsey ）擔任分析師的奧文斯剛剛從哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）畢業，就被彼得招至麾下。奧文斯在聘用導師時會尋找那些平易近人、具有良好信譽的專業人員。賦橋的許多導師都是擁有多年工作經驗的MBA在讀學生。他認爲，導師從訓練營學到的東西並不比學生少：他們會獲得領導技能，甚至能夠喚醒一直被埋沒的教學天賦。

Coaches complete 50-60 hours of training before meeting students, provide each student with around 100 performance reviews over the course of 20 days, and spend two days with each student to brainstorm about their dream careers and offer a path to achieve those goals.
導師們在正式爲學生授課之前，必須完成50至60個小時的培訓。他們在20天內必須爲每一位學生提供約100次績效評估，並且，必須拿出兩天時間與所有學生集體討論他們夢想的職業，併爲他們提供實現職業目標的途徑。
Ben Monnin, a 2010 Columbia graduate, participated in the Fullbridge program last winter while working at startup DormAid. Owings, who was his coach, often spoke to him about the Minto Pyramid Principle (situation, complication, question, and answer), which he picked up at McKinsey. Monin says that kind of thinking taught him how to simplify arguments and use tools like PowerPoint and Excel for effect, rather than show. He now works in the U.S. and overseas as a portfolio manager at Saudi Arabia-based Makshaff Services.
2010年從哥倫比亞大學（Columbia）畢業的本??莫寧在去年冬天參加了賦橋集訓營，當時他供職於初創公司DormAid。他的導師便是奧文斯。奧文斯會經常向他介紹自己在麥肯錫學到的金字塔原理（即情境、複雜、問題、答案）。莫寧表示，這種思考讓他學會了如何簡化論證，以及如何將PowerPoint與Excel等工具用於獲得實效，而不是爲了炫耀。目前，他是沙特阿拉伯公司Makshaff Services的一名投資組合經理，主要在美國和海外工作。
Moving into new territory
開拓新領域
Fullbridge has wasted no time waiting to expand. The company hosts programs in various cities, and it launched its veteran program in partnership with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America this January. James Wang, who works in the military's IT department, says there's little innovation in his department at the Pentagon; he credits the program with sparking his interest in entrepreneurship.
賦橋沒有浪費時間去等待擴張的機會。公司在多個城市開設了集訓營，並在今年一月與美國駐伊拉克和阿富汗老兵組織（Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America）合作推出了老兵集訓營。曾在美軍信息部門工作過的詹姆斯??王表示，在五角大樓，他所工作的部門缺乏創新；而集訓營則激發了他對於創業的興趣。
Fullbridge also works with universities like Bowdoin and Washington University in St. Louis to offer complementary courses for students. (Some offer it free to scholarship students, others send students to the open enrollment programs.) "Universities move slowly; they're a conservator of values," Candice explains. Working with a program like Fullbridge helps these schools fill this knowledge gap faster, Candace argues. "There isn't much overlap between what we do and what they do."
賦橋還與多所大學合作，爲學生提供補充課程，例如鮑登學院（Bowdoin）和聖路易斯的華盛頓大學（Washington University）等。（有些學校免費向獎學金獲得者提供，有些學校則以公開課形式向學生提供。）坎蒂斯解釋稱：“大學的行動很慢，他們是既有價值的守護者。”坎蒂斯認爲，與賦橋集訓營合作，大學可以更快填補知識缺口。“我們所做的事情與大學沒有太多重疊的部分。”
Fullbridge is also going global: In 2011, it launched a program in South Korea and last month, it ended its Phase 1 program in partnership with Prince Sultan University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fourteen men and 22 women enrolled, and were separated by gender. Since the coaches weren't sure what to expect, they overcompensated by assign one coach for every six students. "For many participants, it was their first experience in a professional setting," says Owings. "There was a sense of urgency among the women, whereas the men knew there would be jobs waiting for them upon graduation." Just after the Fullbridge program ended, the students began 7-month co-op assignments at PriceWaterhouseCooper, Microsoft (MSFT), the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, and at area preschools. This summer, Fullbridge will run a program in Shanghai.
此外，賦橋也在向全球擴張：2011年，賦橋在韓國開設了集訓營；上個月，賦橋與沙特阿拉伯利雅得的蘇丹王子大學（Prince Sultan University）合作推出的第一期集訓營圓滿結束。共有14名男性和22名女性報名，並按性別進行了分批集訓。由於導師們並不確定集訓營能取得什麼樣的成果，因此，他們爲每六位學生安排了一名導師。“許多學員都是第一次接受職業培訓，”奧文斯說。“從女性學員身上能明顯感覺到一種緊迫感，而男性學員都知道在畢業之後，自己肯定能找到一份工作。”賦橋集訓營結束後，學員們開始在普華永道（PriceWaterhouseCooper）、微軟（Microsoft）、利雅得商會（the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce）和當地幼兒園進行帶薪實習。今年夏天，賦橋集訓營將來到中國上海。
The company's obsession with feedback doesn't end with the students; on-the-ground successes and failures are reported to Owings, who helps program manager Matt Rubins mold the different course tracks -- business immersion, entrepreneurship, and legal -- to cater to Fullbridge's professionally and geographically diverse audiences.
公司對於反饋的堅持不會止步於學生；在當地的成功與失敗將被報告給奧文斯，他將幫助項目經理馬特??魯賓斯設計不同的課程方式——商業體驗、企業家精神與法律等，以滿足來自不同專業和不同地區的學員們對賦橋的需求。
Over the next two years, Fullbridge plans to launch JobX, a database of 1,000 interviews with employees from varying industries, asking what they love and what they hate about their jobs and coded based on students' career assessment indexes. (Fullbridge uses HBS senior fellow Tim Butler's CareerLeader program.) It also acquired CollegePor, hoping to use its platform to create peer-mentoring groups over the next year, and will be rolling out follow up 5-10 day programs that dive deeper into subjects like marketing, technology, design, and finance for Fullbridge graduates.
未來兩年，賦橋計劃推出數據庫JobX，其中包括對來自不同行業的1,000名員工進行的採訪，問題將涉及員工們對於本職工作喜歡和討厭的地方，並按照學生的職業測評指標進行編碼。（賦橋使用了哈佛商學院高級研究員蒂姆??巴特勒的CareerLeader程序。）此外，公司還收購了CollegePor，希望利用這個網站的平臺在未來幾年建立平級指導小組，並將爲賦橋畢業生們提供5至10天的跟進課程，深入學習市場營銷、技術、設計、金融等課題。
In 2014, Fullbridge is launching a World Tour: for American students, it's a seven-week program with stops in cities like Mumbai, Prague, and Shanghai; international students will visit London, New York City, and Silicon Valley. These new initiatives focus on opening students' eyes to all career possibilities.
2014年，賦橋將推出全球之旅：美國學生將到孟買、布拉格和上海等城市進行爲期七週的集訓，而國際學生將訪問倫敦、紐約和硅谷。新活動專注於拓寬學生的眼界，讓他們瞭解所有的職業可能性。
As Fullbridge grows, it faces the challenge of hiring more coaches without sacrificing talent quality. The coaches make the program worthwhile, giving participants a taste of what professional relationships are like, while instilling confidence in the dough-eyed twenty-somethings Its unlikely Fullbridge graduates needed the program to find success, but it does give students a chance to find careers that match their personalities -- and avoid the astronomical cost of business school.
隨着賦橋的發展，如何在不犧牲人才素質的情況下招聘更多導師，如今成爲公司不得不面臨的挑戰。畢竟，是導師讓集訓營更有價值，讓學員們能夠了解什麼是職業關係，併爲這些20歲左右的物質青年們重塑自信。從賦橋畢業的學生不見得要靠集訓營來獲得成功，但集訓營可以爲學生們提供一個機會，找到與自己的個性相匹配的工作，而不是在商學院白白浪費高額學費。