FAQs

Senior leaders with 15+ years of experience who are ready to become more strategic. Students come from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

Not An MBA costs NZ$5,999 per person, plus GST if you are in NZ.

Payment is by invoice before the course starts. Three-month payment plans are available by arrangement.

Yes, most students are funded by their employer. We invoice your organisation directly and work with purchase orders.

No. There are no formal entry requirements, just experience and commitment.

A laptop with a camera, a reliable internet connection and somewhere quiet for three hours a week. Sprints run on Zoom, and the curriculum and community are on Circle.

Not An MBA is an eight week programme, with a three-hour learning sprint every week.

Between five and eight hours per week. You will need three hours a week for attending the sprint, and an additional two to five hours for watching video content, reading the book chapter and completing your assignment.

Around half of this time (the learning sprints) will likely be in your work hours. The rest is up to you. Because the course is fully online, and requires no travel or days out of the office, naMBA is more flexible than on-site or residential programmes.

Yes. While most students are in NZ and Australia, we have had graduates from the USA, UK, and Canada. All sprints run on NZ time, Tuesdays 10am – 1pm.

Other cool people like you, who know they don’t need a fancy piece of paper to be kick-ass leaders.

Generally, mid-career and senior professionals who are full of fire and ready to take the next step.

Our students have an average of 20 years experience in their field.

Joining us from business, government, iwi and not-for-profit, they're all leaders with a passion for development.

Yes. The sprints are where the learning happens, and your cohort is counting on you. If you have to miss one, catch up on the recording, and still complete the assignment. Miss two and you’re out.

If you can no longer participate in your chosen cohort, let us know before the course starts and we’ll transfer you to another intake.

That’s up to you. All attendees need to read You Don’t Need An MBA and you’re likely to dig into other articles and books that relate to topics of your interest.

Alicia frequently drops book recommendations into her chats – it’s up to you whether you pursue that or not.

We’re all online for three hours, and most of that time is spent in interactive discussion – sharing progress and ideas, learning from peers, discussing points of view and (hopefully) having some challenging debates.

In each sprint, Alicia recaps the content and focus for this part of the programme, and provides guidance and conversation prompts.

You will also discuss the results of your last assignment, and get prepared for your next one.

We can’t give all our secrets away!

naMBA includes a variety of short, interesting assignments. Some of these will be things you publish, some will be things you’ll say (conversations to have with others) and some will be things you make.

There’s considerable scope to interpret each assignment with your own creativity and to inspire (and be inspired by!) others.

No more than 35, so there’s room for everyone to contribute and get to know each other.

You’ll graduate with a certificate of completion once all eight assignments are submitted. You’ll also present at the final Showcase.

You have access to the videos, tools, and community for three months after the course.

Every assignment is applied to a real, live challenge from your life and work.

Your organisation doesn’t just get a better leader at the end - it gets eight weeks of focused work on live organisational issues. You might think of your naMBA enrolment fee as a project budget, not just training spend.

An MBA costs NZ$40,000-$60,000 and takes years. Residential programmes take you out of the office for days at a time.

Not An MBA costs NZ$5,999 (+ GST for NZ), takes eight weeks, and needs no travel or time away from work. You start applying what you learn in week one.

Click here for the PD request resources page. You can access the course syllabus and download a customisable email template to send to your manager.

Yes. You can enrol up to six people from the same organisation into one cohort of Not An MBA. Email us for a bulk invoice.

Yes. We’ve run in-house Not An MBA cohorts for organisations like Woolworths and Optimal Workshop.

Availability is limited. Get in touch to discuss.