Tag / change

by Nathan Coumbe

College isn’t the only option

A common theme today is the thought of going back to college in order to change careers or move up the ladder.

“Man, I really hate my job. I think if I went and got a degree in [insert field], I would be able to get a better job.”

“I want to change careers, but I will have to go get a master’s degree to make that happen.”

“The only way that I’ll move up in this company is if I go get my MBA.”

I’m sure you’ve heard dozens of similar comments. While this may be the prevailing idea on how to get ahead, it is wrong.

If you hate your job and want to change fields, or if you want to move up the corporate ladder, you may actually need to increase your knowledge, skills, and abilities to do so. However, a college degree does not necessarily equal increased knowledge, more skills, or higher-level abilities.

One reason is that our culture is changing so quickly; businesses are rising and falling at unparalleled rates; technology is moving so fast that the information you learn over 18 months in getting an MBA is often obsolete by the time you finish the degree. Another reason is that sitting through lectures on subjects day after day doesn’t prepare you to do the work required in the job you hope to take.

A Modern Education

So what to do instead? Well, lucky for you, there are a number of new tools at your disposal:

  1. You have books.
  2. You have the internet.
  3. You have a mouse, keyboard, and screen.

We live in a time of unlimited information – if you want to learn how to do something, a quick Google search will return more information than you could possibly consume in a lifetime.

So, if you want to level up your skills and abilities, or learn about a new field of knowledge, read five quality books on the subject. Take notes; talk with others about what you are learning, face-to-face, over Skype or FaceTime, or even through email. Doing this, you will quickly become an expert on the subject. At the same time, you can go on Udemy, CreativeLive, LinkedIn Learning, or any other online learning site and take free or low-cost courses at any time, on any subject, at your own pace! Many of these courses rival those on a university campus. Now that I think of it, you can also take a lot of free courses from reputable universities online if you really want to go that route.

What is education for?

I am by no means discounting the value of a college education. I just want it to be known that it is not the end-all, be-all for finding a better job or leveling up your career. There are so many ways to get the education that you need; it would be shameful not to look at all your options.

The purpose of furthering your education is not to get another degree; it is to develop the skills, abilities, and knowledge to do the work. If getting another degree gets you there, then go that route (and don’t borrow money to do it). But I must emphasize this: you do not need to spend 18 months without working, sitting through a lecture on soon-to-be outdated information, all to get a piece of paper that tells people you are qualified in something. Employers don’t care – they want to see projects, portfolios, and results that you have created.

So, if you want to step into graphic design, start reading books on the subject, learning web design at Codecademy, taking art lessons, and buy some online courses on the subject. If you want to get into marketing, start marketing for someone or something you believe in on a volunteer basis while you read books by Seth Godin and Donald Miller. Then, sign up for an Akimbo workshop and learn as much as you can with other people. You will spend less time, substantially less money, and learn as much, or more, than you would sitting through years of lectures.

Learning how to do the work is what’s important; how you do it is not. Let’s stop thinking that another college degree is the only way to get where you want to be. If you can show someone that you can do the job, you are qualified.

Go learn something.

by Nathan Coumbe

Solve interesting problems

One of my passions, and pain points, is the state of modern education in the US. Everyone knows that it’s not working well: children are leaving schools, both public and college-level, less prepared for careers than ever before.

The reason is simple: schools are operating on outdated modes of education in which students are taught to sit still, obey, memorize lots of information, regurgitate it on a test, and then promptly forget everything they just memorized.

The creative ones, the wiggle worms, speakers, artists, drawers, engineers – they are all stifled in the name of obedience. Yes, I realize that to have 35 kids in a classroom, you can’t have them all doing their own weird and wacky things, but answer this question for me:

When was the last time you got paid to regurgitate information on a standardized test?

What is school for? Seth Godin asks this question often. I believe the answer should be to educate and prepare children and young adults to create, innovate, contribute, and solve interesting problems for society. It is not about asking, “Will this be on the test?”

None of the “tests” you face in real life are multiple choice, with answers you found in a textbook and memorized only to forget them a hour later. When an irate customer is standing in front of you, there is no clear, right answer. There is an answer that might make things better or not; it’s up to you to figure that out.

When a new idea is dropped on your desk by a leader, you have to collaborate with your team, find and utilize resources, synthesize information, and come up with a solution for the project. How is memorizing a bunch of unrelated information that is kept separate from other information in the spirit of division called “subjects” helpful in this regard?

Why not instead teach people how to solve interesting problems? Teach how to find answers to questions on their own, how to create connections between information across varying fields and periods of time, how to think, and more importantly, how to learn when formal education stops.

Greg McKeown triggered this train of thought for me in his book Essentialism when he wrote the following:

“What if schools eliminated busywork and replaced it with important projects that made a difference to the whole community? What if all students had time to think about their highest contribution to their future so that when they left high school they were not just starting on the race to nowhere?”

Greg McKeown, Essentialism

The Industrial Age in the United States has ended; factory work is quickly becoming a thing of the past, as much as parts of our culture want to hang on to it. Our schools cannot continue teaching in the same mold as as they used to, when everyone eventually went to work on an assembly line. Employers no longer need cogs in machines; they need creative thinkers and problem-solvers equipped with the skills of communication, collaboration, analysis, leadership, and learning (yes, it is a skill).

In short, we need to teach people how to solve interesting problems.

by Nathan Coumbe

How to learn anything

Do it.

The thing you want to learn how to do? Start doing it.

Start writing. Start playing the drums. Start drawing. Start reading the classics. Start creating a podcast.

How do you learn how to speak another language? Any teacher worth her salt will tell you that you have to immerse yourself in the language and start speaking it. All the books and college courses in the world won’t help you if you don’t do it.

This is scary, isn’t it? The resistance in your head is telling you that you don’t know where to start or that you can’t possibly learn how to do this or that without a rigorous amount of study. If you don’t know where to start, then yes – go and pick up a book. Watch a YouTube video or download an app. Hire a teacher. But all the reading about it, watching videos about it, being lectured to about it – that won’t get you anywhere until you take action. Once you have a grip on the basics, you just have to start doing.

Learning is easy once you start doing it. Taking action is what’s difficult.

by Nathan Coumbe

Change happens

Human beings are notoriously bad at two things: thinking about the future…and adapting to change.

Now before I go on, this article references something that was sent to me about President Trump’s campaign, but I am not trying to write a political post. This is simply an observation of how people are are being set against one another because of change.

We have scientific proof that there is more carbon in the air today than there was 50 years ago (which causes the Earth to retain more heat). We have documented, scientific evidence that our oceans are becoming cesspits overflowing with plastic and other waste which is harmful to the creatures that inhabit them.

So the culture is experiencing a change: companies all over are adding links to their “About Us” sections to show their customers how they interact with the environment. Start-ups and entrepreneurs are creating delivery boxes to help people go greener. Local businesses are trying to source their goods from local people with minimal or no packaging. And individual Americans (and humans in general) are making efforts to lower their footprint by using less plastic or finding alternative ways to commute.

Then you have something like this:

You can find more information about the item here if you want to look more into it.

A small idea like a biodegradable paper straw, innocent of anything except trying to save a turtle here or there, is politicized and given the label of “liberal”.

What purpose does this serve except to divide us Americans even further? Why take an idea like the paper straw, something that harms no one and has long-term benefits for everyone, and use it as fuel on a fire to incense one group of citizens against another?

Change is happening; change is inevitable and has been occurring as long as there have been people. And people have fought against change as long as we have existed.

Yet change is still happening. People are attempting to think long-term about some of the behaviors we have practiced over the past century and are trying to do something about it. We can either accept it, or attempt to fix it later when it’s too late to prevent it. Either way, change will occur.

In the meantime, we must stop politicizing EVERYTHING and making every single issue in our culture an issue of belief, of us pitted against them. And we must stop letting people drive wedges between us regardless of our own thoughts and beliefs. We must be able to have a civil discourse about issues that affect the future – perhaps not your future, but that of your children and grandchildren.

Change is going to happen whether we want it or not, but we can affect the sort of change that we want if we can only stop working against each other and ask questions, then listen

In the meantime, I will continue to take my own cup to restaurants and politely refuse plastic straws when offered. If you wish to ask me about it, I would be delighted to have a civil discussion with you.