Scott Adams (Dilbert) understands why the top students in America study physics, chemistry, calculus and classic literature:
The kids in this brainy group are the future professors, scientists, thinkers and engineers who will propel civilization forward. But why do we make B students sit through these same classes? That’s like trying to train your cat to do your taxes — a waste of time and money. Wouldn’t it make more sense to teach B students something useful, like entrepreneurship?
He goes on to share his entrepreneurial anecdotes on how to get a real education at college:
One day the managers of The Coffee House had a meeting to discuss two topics. First, our Minister of Employment was recommending that we fire a bartender, who happened to be one of my best friends. Second, we needed to choose a leader for our group. On the first question, there was a general consensus that my friend lacked both the will and the potential to master the bartending arts. I reluctantly voted with the majority to fire him.
But when it came to discussing who should be our new leader, I pointed out that my friend — the soon-to-be-fired bartender — was tall, good-looking and so gifted at B.S. that he’d be the perfect leader. By the end of the meeting I had persuaded the group to fire the worst bartender that any of us had ever seen… and ask him if he would consider being our leader. My friend nailed the interview and became our Commissioner. He went on to do a terrific job. That was the year I learned everything I know about management.
I love his scheme to become a paid student manager of his dorm:
The dean required that our first order of business in the fall would be creating a dorm constitution and getting it ratified. That sounded like a nightmare to organize. To save time, I wrote the constitution over the summer and didn’t mention it when classes resumed.
We held a constitutional convention to collect everyone’s input, and I listened to two hours of diverse opinions. At the end of the meeting I volunteered to take on the daunting task of crafting a document that reflected all of the varied and sometimes conflicting opinions that had been aired.
I waited a week, made copies of the document that I had written over the summer, presented it to the dorm as their own ideas and watched it get approved in a landslide vote. That was the year I learned everything I know about getting buy-in.
His bullet-list of entrepreneurial lessons:
- Combine skills.
- Fail forward.
- Find the action.
- Attract luck.
- Conquer fear.
- Write simply.
- Learn persuasion.
When in the RAF many years ago, I was stuck with the secondary duty of Officers’ Mess Secretary. Taking the minutes of the mess meetings was part of the job. The meetings were always a shambles with the station commander trying to kibosh any attempt to organise a good time. I soon cottoned on to the standard practice. This involves just writing the minutes with the decisions made as they should have been. No one, including the station commander, ever objected when I read them out for approval at the subsequent meeting.
Next week: the undersandovers bag, uses of
Undersandovers bag?