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On his
Freakonomics Blog , Steven Levitt was pondering why his undergraduate students fared
poorly on one of his final exams recently. That is, until he saw a YouTube video of some performing
chip shot stunts in their dorm rooms.
So ... eighty percent of college graduates will embark upon a career path that is,
essentially, unrelated to their fields of (academic) study.
There are many reasons why less than .25 percent of all professional people become executive
leaders, and why the above referenced 80 percent admit they are "walking dead", career-wise, at 35.
Consider this article from the
Atlanta Journal Constitution.
I have built seven companies and sold five for good multiples. My Grandad, and then,
amazingly, a favorite professor of mine in school, put Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" into my
hands. Grandad described this book as "A dissertation on the uncommon characteristics of
successful people".
NOTE: I believe this should be required reading for all students. Most of the successful
leaders I business coach, recruit and/ or recruit for, knew what they wanted both from college and
after college. Chip shots and drinking prowess are not high on the list.
Recently Steven Levitt pondered why many of his undergraduate students fared poorly on his
exam, and then speculated that they were studying the wrong things when he watched students
practicing chip shots in their dorm rooms.
You can see more about all of this at my own business blog
here.
In any event, when it comes to testing, be it in the class room, or playing quarters, the
Laws of Natural Selection always play-out, eh?
About
Brian
