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daleyfla99

As a graduate of H.K. University (School of Hard Knocks) I think it helps but most of the truly successful people I ever managed money for and some  of the ones I work with now, never graduated from any higher ed.  And these people have success beyond the definition of most.  Interesting dynamic.

daleyfla99

Good bunch of people, all.  Those that had the advantage of a higher education and those that bootstrapped.  All I am saying is that a higher education is not NECESSARY for success.  In a manner of speaking it is like it is not Necessary for a car to be a Mercedes, just that it get you from point A to point B. 
 And most of the men I deal with, never went bankrupt, just made the American Dream come true through sheer hard work.  Their way might have been easier if they had more education but interestingly the one true trait that all successful people have is sheer grit.  A willingness to create a dream and see it through, no matter what.  I respect that in a business person. 

hugh009

Well I can see both sides of the picture. Yes, there is something to say with going to college if you continue through to say the Masters level. There is VERY little benefit to the BA or BS degree level since most of the studies are centered around rote memory. It was not until I got to grad school that I learned to THINK on my feet and it was scary as hell. I remember to this day when Professor "Shotgun" Nugent Wedding of my Advertising Stats class at the University of Illinois stopped me in the middle of reciting some thing back from his book ( I was REAL good with rote memory!) and said: You know Mr. Simpson, I seem to remember what you are telling me real well. You see I think I wrote it back about 20 years ago. Frankly I don`t give a hoot about that. I want to know what YOU think! That scared the crap out of me. This was one of the first times that a professor wanted to know what I thought. He was not caught up in the BS of his ego because he had written the text. He wanted us to think. We all gulped and began to THINK for ourselves! That was the BEST thing that happen to me in grad school. And he was not the only professor that made me THINK!  As for the idea that because you did not go to college you attract the lower paying clients - that`s pure BS! I will tell you that I have had several clients that NEVER went to or finished college and they were and are millionaires! I`m in the Public REALations field where my clients are mostly entrepreneurs.

hugh009

I`m a 34 year serial entrepreneur that has many successful businesses and clients. Check out Nightline tomorrow night for the teen entrepreneurs who will probably never have to visit the doors of a college. Most college eduction for entrepreneurs is useless until you get to the grad level unless you are a BS or BA student of one of the Entrepreneur Studies programs in the colleges across the USA. I interview the top Internet Marketing millionaires every two weeks for DEMC Ezine with close to 300,000 readers. Over 85% of them are probably NOT college grads and they earn in excess of $10,000 per month. They also have shared with me it was not until they took the entrepreneurial jump and left their Just Over Broke JOBS that they became wealthy. We are one of the top emergency preparedness consulting firms in the USA and I wrote the best selling A Family Survival Manual for Y2K & Beyond in 1999 featured on CNN and Fox News. This had NOTHING to do with being a college grad! I learned all this on my own.

vikasintl

Well I dont think formal business education is not necessary.As I know most of boss of all major companies are not even graduates...so it seems success in business depends other than degrees.
vikasintl2007-5-15 13:37:47

steve

One thing to remember is that everyone is unique. Two people of the
same gender and the same age, graduating from the same school with the
same degree, even with the same gpa are not identically suited for a
given position or business. Their success in life will not be equal.
There is so much more to the equation.

Every advantage that is available should be taken. Every effort should be made to turn a disadvantage into an advantage.

As Nikole pointed out, a BA/BS is pretty much a basic requirement for
many jobs, much like a HS diploma was a generation ago. Over time there
is inflation in education just like there is with money. That`s the
beauty of entrepreneurship. No one can deny you starting up. Once
started your success will speak for itself.

hugh009

Craig, this is CORRECT! The sciences, finances and math definitely require a college education. And we certainly need to continue to educate young people in this area. English so they can write and also Copywriting if they are entrepreneurs sure would be a necessity. My Copywriting skills I learned at both the TV station as a reporter and at grad school have been my handy skills for being a serial entrepreneur. 

hugh009

Yes, it would be GREAT if universities or even high schools began to teach different forms of problem solving. They should be teaching DeBono`s Lateral Thinking courses that are taught in every school in Japan. 

InactiveMember

Education is a must. Formal or not. Educated people get much further most of the time. Yes there are formally educated people who hit the big time; there are people who hit the big time without much formal education. It`s a crapshoot. Education never hurt anyone.

daleyfla99

Well, well, look what we have here!  A spirited discussion!  I like it.  One of my favorite quotes is "A mind once stretched never returns to it`s original dimensions".  I think Craig, as usual makes some excellent points.  I also think it is very interesting that the entire exercise of "thinking" is the point of higher ed.  Isn`t it sad that our education system does not encourage thinking for yourself until the upper class levels?  Ah, well, we are gradually improving.
I like the idea of adapting our education system to what is working elsewhere.  A best practices model also serves us as enterprising business people.  We can always look to see what is working and utilize parts of it for our businesses.  Just more thinking....

steve

It seems to me that so much of education is geared to minimum standards. Life is not a standardized test.

Despite the established educational system`s resistance to change, how
can one best educate a child within, but not bound by, such a system?

InactiveMember

You can lead a horse to water...Educating a child requires a lack of Nintendo and television. A child who learns to read ... who is taught to seek information on their own ... will learn how to learn.

hugh009

That`s why we lag behind the other countries in sciences, math, tech related classes. We really don`t practice what we preach. 

steve

Sometimes the topics we drift onto are more interesting than those we start with.

As anyone familiar with my situation can appreciate, until recently
this was an academic question (pun intended but now it has become a
personal concern. A friend who helped us get started in the baking
business, has 4 sons. In pre-startup days we would get together to
grill steaks and play Cashflow. The older boys (about age 4 or 5 then)
were fascinated by the game. There is a kids version that I loaned him
to play with them. One of my goals is to make business look fun. We
will definitely minimize time spent with TV and video games.

Nikole you raise some interesting points. The system is designed to
make round pegs. Our goal is to keep that from happening. It will take
constant attention to what is being taught, how and why. If we open our
eyes, everything around us is an opportunity to discuss and learn.

We`re planning to move to NW Ohio to be closer to the bakery. There are
lots of small towns near by with old buildings, many being put to new
uses. Just yesterday I sat in the van while Carol dropped off some
samples at a new restaurant we found in Montpelier, OH. I noticed the
facades up and down the main street. The building the restaurant is in
is 100 years old. A couple years ago we travelled out west (CO, NM, AZ,
UT and WY). Some of the the most beautiful places God ever created
(don`t get me started about Alaska . We can`t wait to see all that
again with kids. Who needs expensive theme parks?

My goal is to raise four individuals to be the very best they can be. I
can`t stop society from making round pegs out of all kids, but I will
do my best to keep it from happening to mine. Now what if every parent
were determined to keep it from happening to their kids?

hugh009

Steve, you keep following that philosophy!  Do I like I did today. Found a gutted out old 1946 Strand Theater that the owner thought might be a great deal to restore. I found my perfect location for my Appalachian Music Hall of Fame because what he considered a liability - gutted due to a fire - was what I needed. Since we use Augmented Virtual Reality and DVD kiosks we wanted wide open space! Let`s not place our business in sterile malls if we can avoid it.

InactiveMember

I grew up in Europe but was rarely permitted television. My parents had hundreds of books or even a few thousand and that was entertainment. You came here in 1963? Wow that was a good year for all things CookieMonster.