That's not intended to be an insult, either. I had a very good friend and astute businessman talk me out of going to business school. His exact words: "You probably have about 90% of an MBA right now, and you learned it on the job without spending a dime on it."
Absolutely. I used to run a survey of top US MBA programs. In speaking to one of the Deans at the Harvard Business School, he told me that they select students by asking one key question: “Would this student be really successful if he or she did not attend somewhere like Harvard Business School? If the answer was yes, we accepted him or her!”
“You probably have about 90% of an MBA right now, and you learned it on the job without spending a dime on it.”
That’s the route I took after the Army. I had most of my BA degree credits, but never finished.
Having Common Sense and a strong Work Ethic helped greatly. I’ve managed three multi-million dollar operations for others since leaving the Army in ‘93 and am now retired...with job offers STILL coming in the door nearly a year later.
I REALLY hated the hiring process, but I can say that I’ve only had one or two bad hires in 20 years. Not too shabby. ;)