If you could change your life

...would you?

Getting into Stanford Business School changed my life. In college, I trained to be a mediocre engineer (I didn’t set out to be mediocre at it, but I sure was). I was on track to become Dilbert.

Getting into Stanford meant jumping the track. Going from one path to another in one fell swoop.

I didn’t learn much of substance at business school, but that’s fine, because the school allowed me to make a graceful transition. I had permission to reinvent and a platform to do it.

Which leads to this post, this track and this opportunity. (Please read all the details at this link before jumping up and down).

I’m offering an apprenticeship/not-internship/graduate school/charm school track-changing opportunity to a few people this winter. It’s free, it’s fairly audacious and I hope you’ll check it out. It might not be for you (in fact, it probably isn’t) but I have no doubt that you know people who might be interested.

I’m convinced that there are people out there who--given the right teaching, encouragement and opportunity--can change the world. I’m hoping you can prove me right. You don’t have much time and there are only a few slots, so if you’re even flirting with this idea, check out the lens here.

Two years at business school is a lot of time (and money) to spend to change paths these days. Most people over 20 can’t afford either. I think six months might be a lot more do-able.

The beautiful conceit of Stanford during its heyday was that they recruited people who were really quite good at something, even though it might not be business. Or people who were at one level in an organization but strived to jump ahead several notches. I had a pro golfer and a teacher in my section, for example. As far as I can tell, most MBA programs have become finishing schools for commercial bankers hoping to become consultants and investment bankers (at least until recent events occurred). The creative achievers need a new, faster way to jump the track. For a few, this might be it.

This is a huge commitment for the people who sign up, of course, and a big shift for me as well. So, I’m leaving myself this escape hatch: if I can’t find enough truly amazing people to take advantage of the opportunity, I’ll quietly move on and won’t do it (this time). I’m not prepared to settle, and you shouldn’t either. But, if I’m right about the caliber of restless people reading this, I’m figuring that there will be plenty of amazing people out there passionate enough to take a leap.

So, if you think you’d like to find a new track, here’s your chance. If you think you might be able to turbocharge your impact on the world, let me know. Sort of my way of repaying the admissions officer at Stanford who was crazy enough to let me in all those years ago.