MBA professors like to ask extreme or “outlandish” questions. A couple of examples: “Let’s say you are the protagonist in this case, and just after being assigned to your post, your subordinates come to you with a report of suspected contamination in a product that occurred 10 years ago. Would you investigate it, or would you accept the current status quo?” “An IT venture company your company purchased as part of its new business expansion suddenly becomes unprofitable. Would you sell the company, or hold on to it?” Naturally, there are no “correct” answers to questions like these. From time to time, you will also be asked to respond to questions that involve double-edged logical or political decisions, among others.

In business, it is easy to imagine questions that have “correct” answers. You can always find these cases among managers, who generally make decisions based on confidence in the “correctness” of their decisions (or they may have no other choices available). Even if, after the fact, their decision proves to be “incorrect” (done by mistake), the conclusion might have been better under different circumstances and environments. Some people may lament their lack of information. An MBA education, which intends to provide a place where one can learn about real decision-making, is therefore not based on a search for correct answers, but instead on fostering the development of an attitude of confidence, where one is not afraid of being wrong.

Think of it in reverse. What if a business school professor tried to teach students the so-called “right answers”: what would be the point of case-related discussions? Would you find such classes interesting or useful?