It won’t be long before I head off to the US to attend a course, living on campus at Harvard Business School. It’s been a long time coming and fortuitous in every sense. This is why.

I first encountered the Executive Education series of programs available at HBS a number of years ago when my dad attended. He was a director at Clicks at the time and was qualified for a number of senior executive programs – one of which he attended, sponsored by Clicks.

Sponsors are quite important when it comes to Harvard Business School. Just to give you an idea, their MBA comes in at a cool R2 million.

Seth’s accommodation on campus at Harvard Business School

Needless to say, my dad couldn’t speak highly enough of his time at HBS. Learnings aside, he says it’s hard to put a value to the networking, association and perspective that come from an experience like this.

The dream was set in motion and a few years ago I noted one of their programs geared towards entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

Launching New Ventures:

With a curriculum designed specifically for leaders of new companies, Launching New Ventures goes to the heart of the entrepreneurial process—exploiting disruptive opportunities to launch and grow successful new businesses. In a rich learning experience that includes faculty lectures, case studies, and group discussions, you will learn the strategies of successful entrepreneurs. By exploring a carefully crafted set of topics, you also will refine your thinking and broaden your skill set.

• Assess the challenges and risks associated with launching a startup or taking a small business to the next level
• Analyze, prioritize, and determine the feasibility of new product and business ideas
• Make sound investment and resource allocation decisions
• Identify and develop the talent needed to support an entrepreneurial mind-set
• Balance vision and pragmatism as you build and lead a successful business

I parked the idea, as the course fee is comparable to a downpayment on a nice Cape Town CBD apartment, and I couldn’t justify the expense at that particular point of my life. It kind of morphed into a bucket list item and I left it at that.

Wind forward a couple of years and we (2oceansvibe) find ourselves working with GetSmarter – the revolutionary online short-course education company based in Cape Town and London. After learning of their great success and visiting their incredible offices in Cape Town, I was inspired to follow through with my dream of attending Harvard Business School.

Now whilst I will be at Harvard Business School and living on campus in the flesh, the similarities between this and the short online courses offered by GetSmarter cannot be ignored. I’m talking more about the ‘why,’ rather than the ‘what.’

You see, there’s a reason why GetSmarter are finding such great success. The world is ready for it now. Not just ready, but positively desperate for it. It’s hard to ignore how interconnected we all are and how quickly the world is moving and progressing. New industries and ideas are born overnight, whilst existing industries modernise and develop at breakneck speed.

So what better career move could there be than to “skill-up” with a premium online short course? How else are you going to stay on top of your game? In short, GetSmarter’s timing is spot on.

As a progressive online publishing and marketing company, we suffer people in the industry not ‘keeping up with the times.’ I’m talking about professionals who are still applying 2014 online marketing trends and measurements to an industry and indeed an overly-informed consumer, whose habits are evolving on a daily basis.

No matter what industry you’re in, today’s businessperson simply cannot afford to ignore the online short courses available. Lest we forget that 88% of GetSmarter’s Alumni report experiencing some form of career advancement after completing a course of theirs. Money talks, right?

And with their course collaborations with big name institutions like MIT, the University of Cambridge, UCT, Wits and USB, your pay rise will come with bragging rights too!

Stay ahead of the pack. Check out the online short courses on offer here.

I’ll be sure to report from Harvard over coming weeks. It’ll be my first time in the US since Trump became president and is sure to be an incredible and memorable experience in every respect.

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Massive thanks goes to GetSmarter for making this possible – you guys are doing incredible things. You’re home grown and we’re proud of you.

Thanks, as always, to Fast Company magazine for their ongoing support.