Don’t Major in Entrepreneurship
Lots of business schools offer concentrations and majors in “entrepreneurship.” It is the expected response to more and more entrepreneurial young people either foregoing college altogether or majoring in something like computer science rather than going to business school. If you want to be an entrepreneur, it may seem like majoring in entrepreneurship at a […]
“Some Guy” Theory
I have a theory. Well, actually, I know a guy who knows another guy who has a theory. It’s called “some guy” theory. Here’s the theory in a nutshell: No matter what “it” is, there’s always “some guy” for whom “it” doesn’t work. Whether we’re talking about losing weight, eating healthier, managing money, investing resources, building […]
10 Excuses of Unproductive People
The world is full of people of varying productivity. Some people are highly productive — others are highly unproductive. Most people float somewhere in between, with productive days and unproductive days sprinkled in between. The trick to becoming an effective worker, employee, and boss is to have more productive days than unproductive days. Some people, […]
Don’t Get Stuck in the College Trap
American higher education is in a complete free-fall. Student loan debt averages out at $29,400 per student. 53.6% of all college graduates are underemployed or unemployed. The United States has more janitors with chemistry degrees than it has chemists. There are more than 50 universities and colleges in the United States that charge more than $60,000 per year. And the […]
My Bachelor’s Degree Means Nothing
This is a guest post by Steve Patterson, a video producer living in Atlanta, GA. You can contact him here, and see some of his videos here. My shiny bachelor’s degree holds a secret: graduating from college isn’t impressive. It’s embarrassingly easy. Not because I’m smart, but because the standards are so low. For the […]
Don’t Accept the Premise
It’s easy to feel the need to take sides. So many problems, questions, and issues in the world seem to have two opposing answers, and we’re constantly asked to choose which we accept. But the real, radical change comes not from those who pick a side and advocate their solution better than everyone else, but […]
How to Survive Working With a Remote Boss
This is a guest post by Cynthia Bell. The workplace today is quite different from the workplace of 30, 20, and even 10 years ago. Open office designs, in-house baristas, and, for many organizations, bosses managing from across the country are now the norm. Between video conferencing, email, and instant messaging, physical proximity to the […]
The Value of Playfulness
Reading a very interesting book recently, I came across this passage: In this task (the candle problem), research participants are given a small candle, a book of matches, and a box of tacks and are asked to attach the candle to a bulletin board in a way that the candle can be lit and will burn […]
How to Write a Resume and Influence People
Résumé writing is not simply putting all of your achievements and jobs on a piece of paper and presenting those to a potential employer or an admissions officer. It should be the delicate and painstaking craft of showing what value you bring to their company or their program. It should be the craft of marketing yourself to a […]
What Kind of Entrepreneur Are You?
Entrepreneurs come in different types. Not everybody is the wiz-kid app inventor, or the Steve Jobs-type salesman. That being said, all entrepreneurs have one thing in common: they are creative problem solvers. Though it may vary exactly how they turn this problem-solving into a product or service, all identify a problem and find a new way […]
How to Use Email
I don’t care how old-school it may seem to younger people, email remains the dominant form of communication in the business world. It is absolutely essential that you understand and do it well. Most young people don’t realize how often they shoot themselves in the foot with poor email use. Here are ten tips to […]
Why You Should Work For Free
The following article is excerpted from our book, How to Get Any Job You Want: Advice for Future Career Seekers. Want a free PDF copy of the full book? You can download it here! With young people nearly shut out of the market, I would like to suggest the unthinkable: young people should work for […]
Silly Putty: Its Meaning and Historical Significance
We loved it as kids — that amazing substance called Silly Putty. I recently found a version in a hotel room the other day, re-branded as Thinking Putty. It turns out that the names differ based on the targeted market segment. In any case, the whole phenomenon is curious. How it is that this seemingly […]
Entertaining Angels
There’s a saying in the Bible about treating everyone, even total strangers, with hospitality and respect because you never know when you might be “entertaining angels”. The wisdom of this advice is not just for heavenly beings. Say you’re sitting in Starbucks working away on your laptop and someone walks by, bumps into your elbow […]
The Praxis Curriculum: Learning to Learn
I send weekly updates to our participants wherein I challenge them with a question, or a task, or a contest, or give a few thoughts on their business partner experience, what they want after Praxis, etc. I tend to focus more on the broader experience and the business component, since Education Director TK Coleman works […]