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I recently got an invitation to the 25th anniversary of my graduating masters of business administration class of 1983. Time flies.

It seems like it was only 25 years ago that I was working for Wien Air Alaska by day and taking graduate business classes at night.

Those were good days. They were busy, productive and stimulating. Fast forward 24 years, and I recommitted to work by day and take graduate level leadership courses by night. These are good days. They are busy, productive and stimulating.

While my MBA degree of 1983 technically qualifies me for the “real world” jobs I’ve had and for the teaching job that blesses me, the knowledge I gained back then is hopelessly outdated in a world made so very different by the passage of more than two decades. My graduate business courses then prepared me to thrive in the ’80s and ’90s, while the MBA courses taught now at the UAF School of Management are preparing leaders and managers to thrive in the world of today and tomorrow.

In a shameless endorsement for what is (sort of) my competitor for you as a potential business student, I am encouraging readers of this column to think seriously about continuing education with the goal of earning an MBA.

The UAF School of Management has a new dean who, with the help of his world-class faculty, has completely revised the curriculum and created four graduate pre-MBA courses for those whose undergraduate degrees, like mine, were not in business. I’m actually rather jealous of this, because 25 years ago, I had to take a dozen undergraduate business courses since my BA was in 1970s “fun.”

Here’s the $24,000 question: “If I’m a successful executive in Fairbanks who is leading a successful organization, why do I want to go back to school?”

Answer: What do we know for sure about Olympic Athletes who don’t continually train? They stop winning medals. How about baseball teams that ignores spring training? They don’t make the playoffs. What happens to military units that don’t drill? They had best not go into combat. What about managers who don’t commit to continuing education? They are typical.

Typical managers tend to be reactionary, not visionary. They are perhaps more busy than productive. Typical managers are often better commanders than coaches. Typical managers generally know less than they think they know and may get buried by the competition.

Moving from typical to extraordinary really only takes a small amount of effort that most people won’t take. Olympian Peter Vidmar spent an extra 15 minutes each day improving his skill. He credits that small amount of time — 1 percent of a day — in providing him the edge to win two gold medals and one silver medal in gymnastics at the 1984 Olympic Games and permanent membership in the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

For leaders and managers, a small commitment of time to improve one’s education could save time otherwise spent learning from an experience gained moments after it was needed. It is said that “experience is the best instructor.” Unfortunately, those who say that forget to add “as long as it was somebody else’s experience.” Classes start Sept. 4, so it’s not too late to get started. Call 474-4MBA on Monday.

As Aristotle said, “Well begun is half done.”