A Degree Better?! — Quotidian — 499

(Transcript of video originally posted on 14 Sep 2023)

Read it twice! Can you believe it? Half of parents don’t want their kids to go to a four-year college! In America! Results of a poll conducted by Gallup organisation! Okay, probably you noticed the date-line, and are saying, “It was in the times of Covid. Nobody had that foresight about how important higher education is.. Just get a job in a hurry, and start earning, in these difficult times.. — might have been the mindset! But, what about New York Times — September 2023 issue?! This is the cover story! Not U. Why do more and more Americans think college isn’t even worth it? That is the point of our discussion today. A short virtual tour!

Namaste! Four hundred and ninety-nine is about Learning. Higher Education.. But, is it about the “ Higher Education” that one gets at a typical college, or is it about the higher education one gets in the School of Hard Knocks…? That is the subject of our discussion today.

We start with this book. This is by John Somnez. He calls this book The Complete Software Developer’s Career Guide. At Zoho Schools, we use this as a partial “recommended curriculum” book. At the School of Technology. In the Preface of this book, in the Introductory Chapter, he tells us about the pros and cons of signing up for a college course, in the pursuit of a software developer career. Quite beautifully. And, let me take you through those pages.

First up, he says, “I want to give you all the soft knowledge you need to know about a career in software development because I feel that most colleges and universities don’t provide it.” And, please note. He has written this book in 2021! American author. For a worldwide audience. This is by no means localised to India, or Tamil Nadu..!

Okay, and he continues.. “You can, of course, overcome this limitation by learning the other aspects of software development on your own, but at that point you really have to question why you are paying for a degree in the first place.” Puzzled?!

He says, “Yes, a lot of companies, even today, seem to offer you.. (SEEM TO!), seem to offer you a direct path, a clear path, if you have a degree. If you have more degrees, you have more options, it would seem.” In his youth, this author got employed at HP. He hadn’t gone to college. Had been self-learnt in computer programming. Only after he joined, and signed up for a job, did he realise that HP hadn’t given credit to all the hard work, the side-projects, the self-learning that he had brought to the job. “You are non-degree category. The growth path for that is different!”

That is not how companies operate today! Take this company, for example! I am sure you know this person! Elon Musk had tweeted:- “A PhD is definitely not required. All that matters is a deep understanding of AI and ability to implement NNs in a way that is actually useful (latter point is what’s truly hard). Don’t care if you even graduated high school.” If you have that fundamental mathematical understanding, “C”ome on in”, he had said.. “Apply!”Elon Musk!

And when somebody had asked him, “Do you still stand firmly on not requiring college degrees?”, he had categorically responded with “Yes!” Companies are warming up. Google, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Elon’s companies, Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX. All these companies are warming up to the idea that college is just ONE WAY to acquire high technology exposure. Not the ONLY WAY.

He gives a very important warning. Take a look at this person on the left. The classic Bricklayer. And the person on the right? One could call them an Architect. The person who is the Bricklayer, is an expert on the field. This person is the theoretician, the thinker, the visualiser. Theoretical. Practical. If you learn everything by yourself, you will have an amazing amount of practical knowledge. But, at some jobs, some roles, in some companies, which require probably a deeper, more fundamental, even “theoretical” understanding of subjects like Operating Systems, Data Structures, Algorithms, Computer Architecture, etc, .. where does it really go? Remember how they say, “It is turtles all the way down”? No! It becomes binary somewhere? What are those layers? That understanding. That fundamental understanding. How do computers really work? How do networks really work? Even without an understanding of those, that person is doing an amazing job! But.., this person on the right UNDERSTANDS questions like, “What is a structure? What is tensile strength? What is static versus dynamic tension?” before delivering on her job. So, some jobs require.. and that is an unignorable truth!

He also gives another warning. He says, there are some people who want a well-laid path. “Come on! Look at this meadow. Look at this beautiful orchard. Filled with lots of wild flowers! Go have fun! Pick what you want!” — If that is what we tell the Learner, there are those who are stupefied by such a predicament. They freeze on their tracks, not knowing what to do next. And, for such people, the self-learning path, the hands-on path, learning-on-the-job path, is not going to work! Because, they prefer something like this. Yes, flowers, but, my path! What type of person are you?! Think hard about it!

And, he also gives these warnings! If you are headed for a degree in software engineering at some college, remember these, he says! “FOUR YEARS! Four long years! You will spend four years, in a cocooned, sanitised environment, where all the changes that are happening in the world, every six months things are changing, those changes, to percolate, to distill through, to get printed, to get approved, and finally get included in the curriculum, you would have finished college already, and that technology would have come, would have gone, and something else might have supplanted it! Are you ready for that?”, he asks. And he asks, “Tests? Really? Tests?! In the world of computers particularly, software particularly, nobody ever challenges an employee to do something without referring from anywhere else! Everything is about sharing, remixing, crosspollinating, and building on each other! That is the whole philosophy! And, the aim would be, particularly with tools like ChatGPT coming in, the aim would be how well can you use the shoulders of all the giants around you, climb higher, look farther! That will be the aim! NOT TESTS!” So, don’t go to the colleges that administer tests! Nor to the four-year-long colleges! He warns also that typically colleges where there is one teacher and forty to fifty students, the teacher ends up teaching to the Lowest Common Denominator. To the student who is progressing the slowest! They can only teach meaningfully if they align their pace and level to the dullest student in class. “And.., I don’t think you are an average person, are you? You are above average! You will feel bored!” he says. And, finally, this is something that I often refer to when I speak about Zoho Schools.. The faculty aren’t practitioners of the art. Have you got a software engineer in your faculty group? Really? It is actually a computer science specialist. Somebody who scored high marks in theory papers. All the way to a Ph.D perhaps. And, that person has been employed! And, the world of software, where you create magic and work with customers on the other side, is very different from the world of computer programming. “Those who don’t really know this world of software, those who haven’t dirtied their hands in real-life software product design and development, they are the ones teaching at colleges, mostly. So, now tell me. Do you really want to continue with your software engineering degree?” he asks, in that book.

Okay.. We have reviewed Engineering. What about higher education? Management? Surprisingly, here was another book we used. The Personal MBA! By Josh Kaufman. Guess what they talk about in this book? The Personal MBA?

“Many people assume that they need to attend business school to learn how to build a successful business or advance in their career. That’s not true! To learn the basics, people think Business School is the only way out. To start a new business, to get promoted from their current job, or to bring about some massive change in the world, they all think they need to first get themselves an MBA. And, that couldn’t be more wrong!”

He adds, “The vast majority of modern business practice requires little more than common sense, simple arithmetic, and knowledge of a few very important ideas and simples.” Everything else is anyway, black magic. Dark art. It is not like science. You can’t derive it.. Once you know the fundamentals well, anyway you are blindfolded, and made to walk through a dark corridor, so, what is the point giving you a torchlight without batteries?!”

And then, he contrasts this book from the others we might have seen. College courses we may have heard of. “Think of this book as a filter. Instead of trying to absorb all of the business information that’s out there, use this book to help you learn what matters most, so you can focus on what’s important: making things happen.”

“Most business books attempt to teach you to have more answers: a technique for this, a method for that. This book is different. It won’t give you answers — it will help you ask better questions.” There are a lot of things out there. Which ones do you NOT NEED right now.. which are the only few that you really need..? You can go forward, into the open, try, fail, fail again, so that you can succeed! That is the advice this author gives.

And, this is something I really like.. Self-effacing stance.. Addressing the gorilla in the room, we have seen this earlier too. In the preface of this book, in the introductory part where he says why people should read this book, he says:- The US customs agent at JFK airport, after asking about my occupation, had this to say — “Just what the world needs.. another business book!” This is not a testimonial. Against the book, really. But, he courageously, sportively, he shared it, and that sense of humour, I really love that about this author.

Before starting an initiative, that finger-biting, nail-biting tension? Typically, there are three things that make you tense. First, how do we even go about this..? We need all those other things to get started, even.. That overload of angst. Secondly, certification intimidation. With a certificate.. without an MBA.. without being an alumnus of Harvard.. how do I..? And, finally, thirdly, we have already encountered this pernicious imposter syndrome.. The story of that fox who got dyed blue, and became King!? That imposter syndrome will be the third thing that stops you. And, for these three, the author delivers a single, strong, slap across the face!

Do you remember this movie? Superman, Justice League? Batman taunts Superman — “Tell me, do you bleed? You will!” Only when you see Superman bleed will you realise “Hey, he is a man too. He has two legs. He stands on them”. That exposure? This personal MBA book gives us that. “All those achievers? All those great entrepreneurs and CEOs out there and those Management Gurus? Where did they learn it? They learned it in the trenches. Struggling. Suffering. You can’t escape all that, sit in a sanitised environment, inside a classroom, taking zero risks, and learn all this for yourself!! What were you thinking?! Get real, my friend!” he says!

And, why do some companies beg that MBAs NOT apply for a job there?? And, why does the author discourage people from applying for these high-falutin MBA programs? Three fundamental reasons, for both of them! The first one is, “They are goddamn expensive”. If you were to sign up for a higher education degree, yes, there are clear benefits. And, it is obvious that you end up earning a lot more if you have an MBA degree! But, if you look at it as “Salary Factor”, yes, MBA graduates, probably MBA graduates from the Ivy League, earn a lot more. BUT, if you were to retire the “Salary Factor” and look at the “Net Wealth Factor” instead..? That is, if we were to take stock of all that you had BEFORE you went on the pursuit of an MBA.. your house, your car.. your lands.. your assets.. your bank balance.. and now, you have gotten yourself an MBA degree, and you have started earning a salary.. if you were to take stock again, .. these MBA programs, people have pledged their house, people have sold their assets, to get their son or daughter enrolled in an MBA program! Who will answer for this deeper, more fundamental comparison?! Ten years into their career, people are still filling up their loans. Repaying them! Who answers that question? So, they are goddamn costly! Secondly, the syllabus is outdated. In some cases, outright wrong even! “Some of the principles you are teaching? Aren’t even USED in companies today! What sort of outdated syllabus are you teaching to the students today?”, he asks! Hang on again! This isn’t about Tamil Nadu. This isn’t about India! This was written in 2020. An American, writing for the world! Do not forget! And, finally, something that I was able to relate deeply with.. If the challenge, the task at hand, were to just keep the trains running on time.. on the railtracks already laid and well-maintained, .. well, an MBA graduate may well do a good job! But, when you have to strike out into the unknown, take risks, do those entrepreneurial leaps of faith, .. that difference between keep the trains running on time versus laying a railtrack in the depths of the jungle, and launching a train through it..? That is the difference I see between self-taught management gurus and the so-called Management graduates, says this author!

How did this story begin? This Personal MBA book? One particular morning, Seth was commenting on a recent news story: Harvard was rescinding the admission of 119 previously soon-to-be Harvard MBA students. These prospective students had discovered a way to hack into the Harvard admissions website to view their application status before the official acceptance letters went out. Instead of being outraged at the bad behavior of the applicants, Seth had a different perspective: Harvard was giving these students a gift. By rescinding their admission, the university was returning $150,000 and two years of their lives that would otherwise have been spent chasing a piece of paper. Go out into the world. Make things. Achieve big. All my best wishes! There is so much out there that you can learn from! Books! Websites! Blogs! There is so much out there that you can attempt! Startup ideas, entrepreneurial ventures.. Why do you want to waste two years of your life in this Harvard? They are anyway rejecting you! Be happy!” And, in response to the blog post by Seth Godin, our Josh Kaufman, the author of The Personal MBA, posted a comment, “These are the books that I have been reading. These are the concepts that I have put together. I have been posting them in my blog”.. Seth Godin made it go viral, asked Josh to make it a course, make it a book! And, thus was born the Personal MBA!

Two books. One about a hard-core engineering graduation course. The other, about a higher education course that so many seem to go like moths to a lamp. About both.. they pile criticism, and tear them apart, in these two books. But, they give you one takeaway. Again, something I personally liked. Whether you do an engineering degree at college, or a management degree, there is one real benefit. And, you can’t gain it automatically in a self-learning environment. You need to find a way to fill that gap. Because, that, is very important! So, what is that? Connections. Meet people. Make friends. Share experiences. Create a following. Create a study group. Learn from each other. Teach others. Make that connection that will surely some day come back to help you. Those relationships.. Do not miss out on that, they warn. Both the authors!

That brings us to the Closing Thought. We talked for so long. But, I need to confess that I might be affected by what they call Confirmation Bias. What is that? See, these are facts. The facts that exist in the world. This? Stuff that I believe in. “Colleges are wasteful”, for example. “Self learning is the best way” perhaps. And, I told you stories till now, showed you pictures, shared data. But, that’s stuff that WE BELIEVE from that UNIVERSE of facts. But, the many who think “Colleges are good”, can dig into that same Universe of facts, and show us counter proofs. They can slap it on me and challenge me, “Come on! What about this then?” I respect your opinion. I request you to respect mine. Read these two books. Like I did. And, let us have a conversation after that. What do you say?! Thank you!