Capitalism is the engine of civilization. Entrepreneurship sparks the engine and general management scales sparks into businesses. This is all new -- it's been this way for only about the last 250 years on Earth. The "creative destruction" of the Industrial Revolution depends on general management to bolster the best of us and to shock-absorb the worst of us.

Our Industrial Revolution demands a lot of you. Many -- those of you who demonstrate exceptional cognitive ability and work productivity -- are being shoved into powerful positions in your companies. But most of you won’t go to business school to study general management. And you aren’t going to get long apprenticeships learning how to manage from a terrific mentor. Thankfully, many people came before us and struggled with the challenges you face each day. Some of them left us interesting stories and ideas. That's what this class is about: we borrow lessons from the past to be better at our jobs today.

Using case studies and group discussion we will tackle: Defining management; Setting objectives and measuring performance; Managing engineers and artists; Organization design; Executive communication. If you do all the assigned readings before class, actively participate in class discussion, and listen to your colleagues, you will have a wonderful experience. Our code of conduct is simple: treat others with the respect and dignity they deserve as human beings.

This class requires about eight hours of prep work before we meet and we spend about ten to twelve hours in session together. If you join the class, tuition is $2,000 for the three day class. Because demand for seats in the class is high, if you choose not to attend after being admitted, there are no refunds and it is not possible to reschedule to another date. Seats are not transferrable.

Apply by clicking on the link next to any open date and completing the application with thoughtful answers. Accepted applications are non-transferrable to others. You can expect to hear back about your application 30-90 days out from the class date.