We have always believed that a good education from a prestigious university will guarantee us success in our careers or business ventures. We invest so much on it, and some of us graduate having huge loans to pay afterwards. We are broke even before we start job searching, and worse, we learn that most companies prefer those who have sufficient and relevant experience than those who just got out of college.
A college degree is not an end in itself. It is but one milestone in a lifelong learning process. It does not guarantee success, but it provides a solid foundation where we can build our future. Take Bill Gates, for example. In spite of his phenomenal success behind Microsoft, still admits the partial education he got from Harvard is invaluable. And even kid that he’s the most successful among Harvard’s drop-outs.
However, what we have failed to see is that Gates has an unquenchable thirst for learning new things, trailblazing on new technologies, and outwitting his business competitors by getting ahead in acquiring or even inventing new knowledge when there is none. This is continuing education.
In 2005, a research linked higher education with entrepreneurial success. Their poll shows 75% of small business owners have college degrees and 27% have even MBA's. Further, they concluded, "Growing companies are twice as likely as failing companies to be headed by an executive with an MBA." What does this means? It simply reaffirms that continuing education is requisite to business success.
We tend to believe that education stop once we have our college degree, and that we have everything we need to succeed. We are so busy pursuing our careers and panning our business to life that we neglect continuing education as an essential part of honing our business skills.
While an MBA is preferable or ideal, you do not need to get a graduate degree to pursue higher education. Continuing education can be acquired from a variety of means. And one of which is something that you have complete control of –reading.
In his classic book, "Ragged Dick", a fictional tale of a young man who made it good in New York city in the mid-nineteenth century, Horatio Alger wrote this interesting conversation worth mentioning here:
Continuing education, however you choose to acquire it, is necessary for entrepreneurial success. New technology and new way of doing things are being developed every day, and NOT acquiring new knowledge would simply mean allowing our competitors to overrun us. We cannot afford that. Those who usually get ahead are those who are best informed.
A college degree is not an end in itself. It is but one milestone in a lifelong learning process. It does not guarantee success, but it provides a solid foundation where we can build our future. Take Bill Gates, for example. In spite of his phenomenal success behind Microsoft, still admits the partial education he got from Harvard is invaluable. And even kid that he’s the most successful among Harvard’s drop-outs.
However, what we have failed to see is that Gates has an unquenchable thirst for learning new things, trailblazing on new technologies, and outwitting his business competitors by getting ahead in acquiring or even inventing new knowledge when there is none. This is continuing education.
In 2005, a research linked higher education with entrepreneurial success. Their poll shows 75% of small business owners have college degrees and 27% have even MBA's. Further, they concluded, "Growing companies are twice as likely as failing companies to be headed by an executive with an MBA." What does this means? It simply reaffirms that continuing education is requisite to business success.
The aim of education is to enable individuals to continue their education ... (and) the object and reward of learning is continued capacity for growth.(John Dewey - American Philosopher, Psychologist and Educator, 1859-1952)Rightly so.
We tend to believe that education stop once we have our college degree, and that we have everything we need to succeed. We are so busy pursuing our careers and panning our business to life that we neglect continuing education as an essential part of honing our business skills.
While an MBA is preferable or ideal, you do not need to get a graduate degree to pursue higher education. Continuing education can be acquired from a variety of means. And one of which is something that you have complete control of –reading.
In his classic book, "Ragged Dick", a fictional tale of a young man who made it good in New York city in the mid-nineteenth century, Horatio Alger wrote this interesting conversation worth mentioning here:
Dick meets the son of a wealthy man and shows him around the city for a day. Later, the boy’s father tells Dick that “in this country poverty is no bar to achievement” and relates his own rise from apprentice printer to successful businessman. He notes that there was one thing he took away from the printing office “which I value more than money.” When Dick asks what this was, the man replies: “A taste for reading and study. During my leisure hours I improved myself by study, and acquired a large part of the knowledge which I now possess. Indeed, it was one of my books that first put me on the track of the invention, which I afterwards made. So you see, my lad, that my studious habits paid me in money, as well as in another way.”Though fictional, Alger simply echoed the simple fact that reading books is one of the common habits among successful entrepreneurs. They continue to educate themselves by enriching their knowledge from reading. Fortunately for us, these days we can access great resources from the internet or buy books from an online bookshop. But how many of us take advantage of this?
Continuing education, however you choose to acquire it, is necessary for entrepreneurial success. New technology and new way of doing things are being developed every day, and NOT acquiring new knowledge would simply mean allowing our competitors to overrun us. We cannot afford that. Those who usually get ahead are those who are best informed.
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About the Author
Nor Franco is the Managing Director and Virtual CEO of nextManager.net. He's a former corporate executive whose passion is bringing out the full potential of HR in Businesses. This time that passion is pursued through Virtual Management. He writes and blogs about his management views and insights here. Follow him on Twitter.
