Response
Response: How to Get a Real Education
Scott Adams shares with us the ideal framework for an entrepreneurial curriculum. In his article How to Get a Real Education, he reinforces the fact that the whole is far greater than the sum of these parts, especially in the context of an entrepreneur. Adams tells us of a couple stories from when he was in college and how he used the skills of an entrepreneur to become successful. He saw opportunities, sometimes embedded within problems, and worked them to his favor. This is what he referred to when speaking of the learned skill of transforming “nothing into something”, which is a skill that obviously applies to business. His basic idea is that much academic-oriented education is wasted on many people. Scott says these people would instead profit from a much more skills-oriented education, “something useful, like entrepreneurship”. Adams is essentially informing these college students on how to make the most out of their schooling and what skills are needed to do so.
There was only one thing in this article that I could not ignore and found somewhat offensive. Adams scheme to replace the people working at the college dorm with his friends because it got him a better deal on housing seemed kind of harsh. As for the rest of it, I agree whole heartedly. Not everyone should be an entrepreneur, but people should know how to combine their skills into a worthwhile whole and how to find where the best opportunities are, and especially how to “fail forward” or in other words, learn from your mistakes.
It’s true that the motivated students will find something of value in every class they take, but Adams is actually arguing that college students (especially business majors) should gain practical experience in entrepreneurship through relevant coursework and other work and leadership experiences, instead of taking classes like art history. I don’t think he’s specifically saying that “B students” are not capable of handling art
Scott Adams shares with us the ideal framework for an entrepreneurial curriculum. In his article How to Get a Real Education, he reinforces the fact that the whole is far greater than the sum of these parts, especially in the context of an entrepreneur. Adams tells us of a couple stories from when he was in college and how he used the skills of an entrepreneur to become successful. He saw opportunities, sometimes embedded within problems, and worked them to his favor. This is what he referred to when speaking of the learned skill of transforming “nothing into something”, which is a skill that obviously applies to business. His basic idea is that much academic-oriented education is wasted on many people. Scott says these people would instead profit from a much more skills-oriented education, “something useful, like entrepreneurship”. Adams is essentially informing these college students on how to make the most out of their schooling and what skills are needed to do so.
There was only one thing in this article that I could not ignore and found somewhat offensive. Adams scheme to replace the people working at the college dorm with his friends because it got him a better deal on housing seemed kind of harsh. As for the rest of it, I agree whole heartedly. Not everyone should be an entrepreneur, but people should know how to combine their skills into a worthwhile whole and how to find where the best opportunities are, and especially how to “fail forward” or in other words, learn from your mistakes.
It’s true that the motivated students will find something of value in every class they take, but Adams is actually arguing that college students (especially business majors) should gain practical experience in entrepreneurship through relevant coursework and other work and leadership experiences, instead of taking classes like art history. I don’t think he’s specifically saying that “B students” are not capable of handling art