Stop Stealing Dreams altMBA 200506

STOP
STEALING
Everyone wants to change education,
but no one wants to do anything about it.
It’s one of the most powerful and popular things I’ve ever written.
It’s a call to action for parents and students, a wake up call to help
each of us move forward.
thought it would be helpful to put this manifesto in your hands,

in a way that’s easy to highlight, underline and share.
At the same time, I want to share what we’re doing with altMBA.
It’s a small contribution, a step in the direction of education that
actually works.
DREAMS
Seth Godin
Hasting-on-Hudson, NY
August, 2018
What is school for?
SETH GODIN
© Copyright 2012, Do You Zoom, Inc.
Stop Stealing Dreams (What is school for?)
Seth Godin
This custom edition of Stop Stealing Dreams was produced

in collaboration with HP PageWide for the PRINT’18
conference in Chicago. Thanks to Chris Echevarria and
Kimberly Hajec at HP for instigating the project, and
Ester Rabinovici and Catalina Johnson from Rabinovici
+ Associates for executing it beautifully.
STOP
STEALING
DREAMS
(What is school for?)
Seth Godin
if you don’t
underestimate me,
I won’t
underestimate you
BOB DYLAN
Dedicated to every teacher who cares enough to change
the system, and to every student brave enough to stand
up and speak up.
Specifically, for Ross Abrams, Jon Guillaume, Beth

Rudd, Steve Greenberg, Benji Kanters, Florian Kønig,
and that one teacher who changed everything for you.
This is a manifesto I published four years ago. Since

then, it’s been downloaded more than 4 million
times. I’m hoping you will share it with the parents
you know and care about. It’s a prequel to this post.
I know it’s long, but I refuse to insult you by breaking

it into small bits or dumbing it down. Education is
worth the 36,000 words, I hope. Please ask someone,
“what is school for?” and don’t stop asking until we
can agree on the answer and start taking action.
Thank you.
1Education transformed
and the way they should be treated. It’s about abandoning than the typical public school in New York. HVA works
Preface: a top-down industrial approach to processing students

and embracing a very human, very personal and very
because they have figured out how to create a workplace
culture that attracts the most talented teachers, fosters a
powerful series of tools to produce a new generation of culture of ownership, freedom and accountability, and
leaders. then relentlessly transfers this passion to their students.
There are literally thousands of ways to accomplish Maestro Ben Zander talks about the transformation that
the result that Deborah Kenny and her team at HVA happens when a kid actually learns to love music. For
have accomplished. The method doesn’t matter to me, one year, two years, even three years, the kid trudges
the outcome does. What I saw that day were students along. He hits every pulse, pounds every note and sweats
As I was finishing this manifesto, a friend leaning forward in their seats, choosing to pay attention. the whole thing out.
invited me to visit the Harlem Village In this manifesto, I’m going to argue that top-down I saw teachers engaged because they chose to as well,
Academies, a network of charter schools in industrialized schooling is just as threatened, because they were thrilled at the privilege of teaching Then he quits.
Manhattan. and for very good reasons. Scarcity of access is kids who wanted to be taught.
Except a few. The few with passion. The few who care.
destroyed by the connection economy, at the very
Harlem is a big place, bigger than most The two advantages most successful schools have are
towns in the United States. It’s difficult to
same time the skills and attitudes we need from plenty of money and a pre-selected, motivated student Those kids lean forward and begin to play. They play as
generalize about a population this big, but our graduates are changing. body. It’s worth highlighting that the HVA doesn’t get if they care, because they do. And as they lean forward,
household incomes are less than half of what to choose its students, they are randomly assigned by as they connect, they lift themselves off the piano seat,
they are just a mile away, unemployment is mass communication, top-down media and the TV- lottery. And the HVA receives less funding per student suddenly becoming, as Ben calls them, one-buttock players.
significantly higher and many (in and out of industrial complex weren’t the pillars of our future that
Playing as IF
the community) have given up hope. many were trained to expect. It’s often difficult to see that
when you’re in the middle of it.
A million movies have trained us about what to expect
from a school in East Harlem. The school is supposed to be While the internet has allowed many of these changes
an underfunded processing facility, barely functioning, to happen, you won’t see much of the web at the Harlem
with bad behavior, questionable security and most of all, Village Academy school I visited, and not so much of it
it matterS
very little learning. in this manifesto, either. The HVA is simply about people
Hardly the place you’d go to discover a future of our

education system.
For generations, our society has said to communities like

this one, “here are some teachers (but not enough) and
here is some money (but not enough) and here are our
expectations (very low)… go do your best.” Few people
are surprised when this plan doesn’t work.
Over the last ten years, I’ve written more than a dozen
books about how our society is being fundamentally
changed by the impact of the internet and the connection Colleges are fighting to recruit the kids who graduate
economy. Mostly I’ve tried to point out to people that from Deborah’s school and I have no doubt that we’ll
the very things we assumed to be baseline truths were soon be hearing of the leadership and contribution of
in fact fairly recent inventions and unlikely to last much the HVA alumni — one-buttock players who care about
longer. I’ve argued that mass marketing, mass brands, learning and giving. Because it matters.
28 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 29

2about this manifesto
A few notes
3(the wrong) school
Back to
I’ve numbered the sections because it’s entirely possible A hundred and fifty years ago, adults were incensed about Alas, Spence reports that from 1990
you’ll be reading it with a different layout than others child labor. Low-wage kids were taking jobs away from to 2008, the U.S. economy added only
will. The numbers make it easy to argue about particular hard-working adults. 600,000 tradable jobs.
sections.
Sure, there was some moral outrage about seven-year-olds If you do a job where someone tells you
It’s written as a series of essays or blog posts, partly losing fingers and being abused at work, but the economic exactly what to do, he will find someone
because that’s how I write now, and partly because I’m rationale was paramount. Factory owners insisted that cheaper than you to do it.
hoping that one or more of them will spur you to share losing child workers would be catastrophic to their
industries and fought hard to keep the kids at work — they And yet our schools are churning out kids who are stuck
or rewrite or criticize a point I’m making. One side effect
said they couldn’t afford to hire adults. It wasn’t until 1918 looking for jobs where the boss tells them exactly what to do.
is that there’s some redundancy. I hope you can forgive
that nationwide compulsory education was in place.
me for that. I won’t mind if you skip around.
Do you see the disconnect here? Every year, we churn out
Part of the rationale used to sell this major transformation millions of workers who are trained to do 1925-style labor.
This isn’t a prescription. It’s not a manual. It’s a series of
to industrialists was the idea that educated kids would
provocations, ones that might resonate and that I hope The bargain (take kids out of work so we can teach them
actually become more compliant and productive workers.
will provoke conversation. Our current system of teaching kids to sit in straight to become better factory workers as adults) has set us on
rows and obey instructions isn’t a coincidence — it was an a race to the bottom. Some people argue that we ought
None of this writing is worth the effort if the ideas aren’t investment in our economic future. The plan: trade short- to become the cheaper, easier country for sourcing cheap,
shared. Feel free to email or reprint this manifesto, term child-labor wages for longer-term productivity by compliant workers who do what they’re told. Even if we
but please don’t change it or charge for giving kids a head start in doing what they’re told. could win that race, we’d lose. The bottom is not a good
it. If you’d like to tweet, the hashtag is place to be, even if you’re capable of getting there.
#stopstealingdreams. You can do what Large-scale education was not developed to motivate kids or
Medium’s good at by posting a comment to create scholars. It was invented to churn out adults who As we get ready for the ninety-third year of universal public
here, which is why I’m putting it in this new Most of all, go do something. Write your own worked well within the system. Scale was more important education, here’s the question every parent and taxpayer needs
format. manifesto. Send this one to the teachers at your than quality, just as it was for most industrialists. to wrestle with: Are we going to applaud, push, or even permit
kid’s school. Ask hard questions at a board our schools (including most of the private ones) to continue
the safe but ultimately doomed strategy of churning out
Thanks for reading and sharing. meeting. Start your own school. Post a video Of course, it worked. Several generations of productive,
fully employed workers followed. But now? predictable, testable, and mediocre factory workers?
lecture or two. But don’t settle.
Nobel prize–winning economist Michael Spence makes As long as we embrace (or even accept) standardized testing,
this really clear: there are tradable jobs (doing things that fear of science, little attempt at teaching leadership, and
could be done somewhere else, like building cars, designing most of all, the bureaucratic imperative to turn education
chairs, and answering the phone) and non-tradable jobs into a factory itself, we’re in big trouble.
(like mowing the lawn or cooking burgers). Is there any
question that the first kind of job is worth keeping in our The post-industrial revolution is here. Do you care enough
economy? to teach your kids to take advantage of it?

4school for?
What is
It seems a question so obvious that it’s hardly worth A culturally coordinated society: The tools to make smart decisions:
asking. And yet there are many possible answers. Here School isn’t nearly as good at this as television is. There’s Even though just about everyone in the West has been
are a few (I’m talking about public or widespread private a huge gulf between the cultural experience in an through years of compulsory schooling, we see ever more
education here, grade K through college): under-funded, overcrowded city school and the cultural belief in unfounded theories, bad financial decisions,
experience in a well-funded school in the suburbs. There’s and poor community and family planning. People’s
• To create a society that’s culturally coordinated. a significant cultural distinction between a high school connection with science and the arts is tenuous at best,
drop-out and a Yale graduate. There are significant and the financial acumen of the typical consumer is
• To further science and knowledge and pursue chasms in something as simple as whether you think the pitiful. If the goal was to raise the standards for rational
information for its own sake. scientific method is useful — where you went to school thought, skeptical investigation, and useful decision
says a lot about what you were taught. If school’s goal making, we’ve failed for most of our citizens.
• To enhance civilization while giving people the tools is to create a foundation for a common culture, it hasn’t
to make informed decisions. delivered at nearly the level it is capable of. No, I think it’s clear that school was designed with a
particular function in mind, and it’s one that school has
• To train people to become productive workers. The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake: delivered on for a hundred years.
We spend a fortune teaching trigonometry to kids who
Over the last three generations, the amount of school don’t understand it, won’t use it, and will spend no more Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers built school to
we’ve delivered to the public has gone way up — more of their lives studying math. We invest thousands of hours train people to have a lifetime of productive labor as part
people are spending more hours being schooled than ever exposing millions of students to fiction and literature, of the industrialized economy. And it worked.
before. And the cost of that schooling is going up even but end up training most of them to never again read for
faster, with trillions of dollars being spent on delivering All the rest is a by product, a side effect (sometimes a
fun (one study found that 58 percent of all Americans happy one) of the schooling system that we built to train
school on a massive scale. never read for pleasure after they graduate from school). the workforce we needed for the industrialized economy.
As soon as we associate reading a book with taking a test,
Until recently, school did a fabulous job on just one of we’ve missed the point.
these four societal goals. First, the other three:
We continually raise the bar on what it means to be a
college professor, but churn out Ph.D.s who don’t actually
teach and aren’t particularly productive at research,
either. We teach facts, but the amount of knowledge
truly absorbed is miniscule.

5COLUMN BCOLUMN A AND
Aware
6 BECAUSE
Changing what we get,
we’ve changed
what we need
Caring
Committed
Creative
Goal-setting
Honest
Improvising
Incisive or Obedient
Independent If school’s function is to create the workers we need to
fuel our economy, we need to change school, because the
Informed
workers we need have changed as well.
Initiating
Innovating The mission used to be to create homogenized, obedient,
Insightful satisfied workers and pliant, eager consumers.
Leading
Strategic No longer.
Supportive
Changing school doesn’t involve sharpening the pencil
Which column
we’ve already got. School reform cannot succeed if it
focuses on getting schools to do a better job of what we
previously asked them to do.
We don’t need more of what schools

produce when they’re working as designed.
do you pick?
The challenge, then, is to change the very output of the
Whom do you want to work for or work next to? Whom school before we start spending even more time and
do you want to hire? Which doctor do you want to treat money improving the performance of the school.
you? Whom do you want to live with?
This is more of a rant than a book. It’s written for The goal of this manifesto is to create a new set of questions
Last question: If you were organizing a trillion-dollar, teenagers, their parents, and their teachers. It’s written for and demands that parents, taxpayers, and kids can bring
sixteen-year indoctrination program to turn out the bosses and for those who work for those bosses. And it’s to the people they’ve chosen, the institution we’ve built
next generation of our society, which column would you written for anyone who has paid taxes, gone to a school and invested our time and money into. The goal is to
build it around? board meeting, applied to college, or voted. change what we get when we send citizens to school.

7to produce mass
Mass production desires
8 a civic enterprise?
Is school
That statement seems obvious, yet it surprises us that The world has changed, of course. It has changed into At the heart of Horace Mann’s push for public schooling
schools are oriented around the notion of uniformity. a culture fueled by a market that knows how to mass- for all was a simple notion: we build a better society
Even though the workplace and civil society demand customize, to find the edges and the weird, and to cater when our peers are educated. Democracy was pretty
variety, the industrialized school system works to stamp to what the individual demands instead of insisting on new, and the notion of putting that much power into
it out. conformity. the hands of the uneducated masses was frightening
enough to lead to the push for universal schooling.
The industrialized mass nature of school goes back to Mass customization of school isn’t easy. Do we have any
the very beginning, to the common school and the choice, though? If mass production and mass markets Being surrounded by educated people makes democracy
normal school and the idea of universal schooling. All of are falling apart, we really don’t have the right to insist stronger, and it benefits our entire society. In the
which were invented at precisely the same time we were that the schools we designed for a different era will words of John Dewey, “Democracy cannot
perfecting mass production and interchangeable parts function well now. flourish where the chief influences in selecting
and then mass marketing. subject matter of instruction are utilitarian
Those who worry about the nature of schools face a few ends narrowly conceived for the masses, The question I’d ask every
choices, but it’s clear that one of them is not business and, for the higher education of the few, the administrator and school board is,
Some quick background:
“Does the curriculum you teach now
as usual. One option is smaller units within schools, traditions of a specialized cultivated class.
less industrial in outlook, with each unit creating its
make our society stronger?”
The notion that the “essentials” of elementary
The common school (now called a public school) was a own varieties of leaders and citizens. The other is an education are the three R’s mechanically
brand new concept, created shortly after the Civil War. organization that understands that size can be an asset, treated, is based upon ignorance of the
“Common” because it was for everyone, for the kids of but only if the organization values customization instead essentials needed for realization of democratic
the farmer, the kids of the potter, and the kids of the of fighting it. ideals.”
local shopkeeper. Horace Mann is generally regarded
as the father of the institution, but he didn’t have to The current structure, which seeks low-cost uniformity It’s easy to see how this concept manifests itself. There
fight nearly as hard as you would imagine — because that meets minimum standards, is killing our economy, are more doctors, scientists, enlightened businesses,
industrialists were on his side. The two biggest challenges our culture, and us. and engaged teachers in a society that values education.
of a newly industrial economy were finding enough Sure, education is expensive, but living in a world of
compliant workers and finding enough eager customers. ignorance is even more expensive.
The common school solved both problems.
For a long time, there was an overlap between the education
The normal school (now called a teacher’s college) was that the professions rewarded and the education that we
developed to indoctrinate teachers into the system of might imagine an educated person would benefit from.
the common school, ensuring that there would be a Tied up in both paths is the notion that memorizing large
coherent approach to the processing of students. If this amounts of information was essential. In a world where
sounds parallel to the notion of factories producing access to data was always limited, the ability to remember
items in bulk, of interchangeable parts, of the notion of what you were taught, without fresh access to all the data,
measurement and quality, it’s not an accident. was a critical success factor.

9 of Horace Mann
Three legacies
As superintendent of schools in Massachusetts, Mann After a self-financed trip to Prussia, he instituted the In 1914, a professor in Kansas invented the multiple-
basically invented the public school. Except he called paramilitary system of education he found there, a choice test. Yes, it’s less than a hundred years old.
it a common school, because a key goal was to involve system he wrote up and proselytized to other schools,
the common man and raise the standards of the culture. first in the Northeast U.S. and eventually around the There was an emergency on. World War I was ramping
Right from the start: country. up, hundreds of thousands of new immigrants needed
to be processed and educated, and factories were hungry
His second legacy was the invention of the for workers. The government had just made two years
Building a person’s character was just as important “normal school.” of high school mandatory, and we needed a temporary,
as reading, writing and arithmetic. By instilling high-efficiency way to sort students and quickly assign
values such as obedience to authority, promptness Normal schools were institutes that taught them to appropriate slots.
in attendance, and organizing the time according high school students (usually women) the
In the words of Professor Kelly, “This is a test of lower
community norms and gave them instruction
to bell ringing helped students prepare for future and power to go work for common schools order thinking for the lower orders.”
employment. as teachers, enforcing these norms across the
system. A few years later, as President of the University of
Idaho, Kelly disowned the idea, pointing out that it
His third legacy, one with which I find no fault, was was an appropriate method to test only a tiny portion of
banning corporal punishment from schools. As further what is actually taught and should be abandoned. The
proof that his heart was ultimately in the right place, the industrialists and the mass educators revolted and he
man who industrialized the public schools he created left was fired.
us with this admonition,
10 and
The SAT, the single most important filtering device used
…be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for to measure the effect of school on each individual, is Frederick J. Kelly
your
humanity. based (almost without change) on Kelly’s lower-order
thinking test. Still.
Unfortunately, that part of his curriculum is almost
never taught in school. The reason is simple. Not because it works. No, we do it
because it’s the easy and efficient way to keep the mass
production of students moving forward.
nightmares

11RUN To efficiently
A SCHOOL,
AMPLIFY FEAR
12 to teach attitudes?
Is it possible
(and destroy passion)
School’s industrial, scaled-up, measurable structure The notion that an organization could teach anything at We can teach people to desire lifelong learning, to express
means that fear must be used to keep the masses in line. all is a relatively new one. themselves, and to innovate.
There’s no other way to get hundreds or thousands of
kids to comply, to process that many bodies, en masse, Traditionally, society assumed that artists, singers, And just as important, it’s vital we acknowledge that we
without simultaneous coordination. artisans, writers, scientists, and alchemists would find can unteach bravery and creativity and initiative. And
their calling, then find a mentor, and then learn their that we have been doing just that.
And the flip side of this fear and conformity must be that craft. It was absurd to think that you’d take people off
passion will be destroyed. There’s no room for someone the street and teach them to do science or
who wants to go faster, or someone who wants to do to sing, and persist at that teaching long
something else, or someone who cares about a particular enough for them to get excited about it. School has become an industrialized system,
issue. Move on. Write it in your notes; there will be a test working on a huge scale, that has significant
later. A multiple-choice test. Now that we’ve built an industrial solution byproducts, including the destruction of many of
to teaching in bulk, we’ve seduced ourselves the attitudes and emotions we’d like to build our
into believing that the only thing that can
culture around.
Do we need
be taught is the way to get high SAT scores.
?
We shouldn’t be buying this. In order to efficiently jam as much testable data into
We can teach people to make commitments, to overcome a generation of kids, we push to make those children
more fear?
fear, to deal transparently, to initiate, and to plan a course. compliant, competitive zombies.
Less passion
13 the car or the gas station?
Which came first,
15 Iastronaut “When I grow up,
want to be an
assistant”
The book publisher or the bookstore?
Jobs were invented before Jake Halpern did a rigorous study of high school students. cycle to take our best and our brightest and snuff out
workers
The most disturbing result was this: their dreams — sometimes when they’re so nascent
Culture changes to match the economy, not the other that they haven’t even been articulated? Is the product
way around. The economy needed an institution that
would churn out compliant workers, so we built it. “When you grow up, which of the following of our massive schooling industry an endless legion of
Factories didn’t happen because there were schools; jobs would you most like to have?” assistants?
were
schools happened because there were factories. The century of dream-snuffing has to end. We’re facing
The chief of a major company like General Motors
a significant emergency, one that’s not just economic but
The reason so many people grow up to look for a job is cultural as well. The time to act is right now, and the
that the economy has needed people who would grow A Navy SEAL
invented.
person to do it is you.
up to look for a job.
A United States Senator
In the post-job universe, workers aren’t really what we need
more of, but schools remain focused on yesterday’s needs. The president of a great university like Harvard or
Yale
The personal assistant to a very famous singer or

movie star
14 and dreaming problem

The results:
The wishing Among girls, the results were as follows: 9.5 percent chose
“the chief of a major company like General Motors”; 9.8
percent chose “a Navy SEAL”; 13.6 percent chose “a
United States Senator”; 23.7 percent chose “the president
of a great university like Harvard or Yale”; and 43.4
If you had a wish, what would it be? If a genie arrived Dreamers in school are dangerous. Dreamers can be percent chose “the personal assistant to a very famous
and granted you a wish, would it be a worthwhile one? impatient, unwilling to become well-rounded, and most singer or movie star.”
of all, hard to fit into existing systems.
I think our wishes change based on how we grow up, Notice that these kids were okay with not actually being
what we’re taught, whom we hang out with, and what One more question to ask at the school board meeting: famous — they were happy to be the assistant of someone
our parents do. “What are you doing to fuel my kid’s dreams?” who lived that fairy tale lifestyle.
Our culture has a dreaming problem. It was largely created Is this the best we can do? Have we created a trillion-
by the current regime in schooling, and it’s getting worse. dollar, multimillion-student, sixteen-year schooling

16 is expensiveSCHOOL
17 school ReinventinG
It’s also not very good at doing what we need it to do. If the new goal of school is to create something different It’s easier than ever to open a school, to bring new
We’re not going to be able to make it much cheaper, so from what we have now, and if new technologies and technology into school, and to change how we teach.
let’s figure out how to make it a lot better. new connections are changing the way school can deliver But if all we do with these tools is teach compliance
its lessons, it’s time for a change. and consumption, that’s all we’re going to get. School
Not better at what it already does. Better at educating can and must do more than train the factory workers of
people to do what needs to be done. Here are a dozen ways school can be tomorrow.
rethought:
Do you need a competent call-center employee? School
is good at creating them, but it’s awfully expensive. Do • Homework during the day, lectures at night
we really need more compliant phone operators, and at
such a high cost? • Open book, open note, all the time
Given the time and money being invested, what I want • Access to any course, anywhere in the world
to know, what every parent and every taxpayer and every
student should want to know, is: Is this the right plan? • Precise, focused instruction instead of mass,
Is this the best way to produce the culture and economy generalized instruction
we say we want?
• The end of multiple-choice exams
What is school for? • Experience instead of test scores as a measure

If you’re not asking that, you’re wasting of achievement
time and money. • The end of compliance as an outcome
• Cooperation instead of isolation

Here’s a hint:
Learning is not done to you. • Amplification of outlying students, teachers, and
Learning is something you choose to do. ideas
• Transformation of the role of the teacher
• Lifelong learning, earlier work
• Death of the nearly famous college

18 flexible and focused
FAST,
It’s clear that the economy has changed. What we want I don’t think it’s practical to say, “We want what we’ve
19 and easy to destroy

and expect from our best citizens has changed. Not only been getting, but cheaper and better.” That’s not going to
in what we do when we go to our jobs, but also in the
doors that have been opened for people who want to
happen, and I’m not sure we want it to, anyway.
Dreams are difficult TO BUILD
make an impact on our culture. We need school to produce something different, and
the only way for that to happen is for us to ask new
At the very same time, the acquisition of knowledge questions and make new demands on every element of
has been forever transformed by the Internet. Often the educational system we’ve built. Whenever teachers,
overlooked in the rush to waste time at Facebook and administrators, or board members respond with an
YouTube is the fact that the Internet is the most efficient answer that refers to a world before the rules changed, By their nature, dreams are evanescent. They flicker long with pipe dreams that don’t empower them to adapt (or
and powerful information delivery system ever developed. they must stop and start their answer again. before they shine brightly. And when they’re flickering, better yet, lead) when the world doesn’t work out as they
it’s not particularly difficult for a parent or a teacher or a hope.
The change in the economy and the delivery of No, we do not need you to create compliance. gang of peers to snuff them out.
information online combine to amplify the speed of No, we do not need you to cause memorization. The dreams we need are self-reliant dreams. We need
change. These rapid cycles are overwhelming the ability Creating dreams is more difficult. They’re often related dreams based not on what is but on what might be.
of the industrialized system of education to keep up. And no, we do not need you to teach students to embrace to where we grow up, who our parents are, and whether We need students who can learn how to learn, who
the status quo. or not the right person enters our life. can discover how to push themselves and are generous
As a result, the education-industrial system, the one that enough and honest enough to engage with the outside
worked very well in creating a century’s worth of factory Anything a school does to advance those three agenda Settling for the not-particularly uplifting dream of a world to make those dreams happen.
workers, lawyers, nurses, and soldiers, is now obsolete. items is not just a waste of money, but actually works boring, steady job isn’t helpful. Dreaming of being
against what we do need. The real shortage we face is picked — picked to be on TV or picked to play on a team I think we’re doing a great job of destroying dreams at
We can prop it up or we can fix it. dreams, and the wherewithal and the will to make them or picked to be lucky — isn’t helpful either. We waste our the very same time the dreams we do hold onto aren’t
come true. time and the time of our students when we set them up nearly bold enough.
No tweaks. A revolution.
20 post-institutional future
LIFE IN THE
21stickers
TWO BUMPER
In Civilization, his breakthrough book about the

The first one is sad, selfish, and infuriating. I often see it
ascent (and fall) of Western civilization, Niall Ferguson
on late-model, expensive cars near my town. It says, “Cut
makes the case that four hundred years of Western
School Taxes.”
dominance was primarily due to six institutions that
were built over time — not great men, or accidents of
These drivers/voters/taxpayers have given up on the
weather or geography, but long-lasting, highly leveraged
schools, or they have kids who have graduated, and/or
institutional advantages that permitted us to grow and
they’re being selfish. None of these points of view fill me
prosper.
Make School
with optimism about our future.
Competition, the scientific method, property rights,
The other bumper sticker is the one I never see. It says,
Different.
medicine, consumption, and jobs were all brand new
ideas, put into place and then polished over time.
The result of this infrastructure was the alignment of That’s the new job of school. Not
institutions and outputs that enabled us to live in the to hand a map to those willing
world we take for granted today.
to follow it, but to inculcate
The industrial age is the most obvious example. Once leadership and restlessness into
the template was set for productivity-enhancing, a new generation.
profit-creating factories, the work of millions could be
I think if we followed the advice of the second, non-
coordinated and wealth would be created.
existent bumper sticker, we might be onto something.
The next century offers fewer new long-lasting
School belongs to parents and their kids, the ones who
institutions (we’re seeing both organized religion and
are paying for it, the ones it was designed for. It belongs
the base of industry fading away), to be replaced instead
to the community, too, the adults who are going to
with micro-organizations, with individual leadership,
be living and working beside the graduates the school
with the leveraged work of a small innovative team
churns out.
changing things far more than it ever would have in
the past. The six foundational elements are taken for
Too often, all these constituents are told to treat school
granted as we build a new economy and a new world on
like an autonomous organism, a pre-programmed
top of them.
automaton, too big to change and too important to mess
with.
Amplified by the Web and the connection revolution,
human beings are no longer rewarded most for work as
Well, the world changed first. Now it’s time for school to
compliant cogs. Instead, our chaotic world is open to the
follow along.
work of passionate individuals, intent on carving their
own paths.

22REVOLUTION is upon us
The connection
23students
It sells the moment short to call this the Internet In the connection revolution, value is not created by
revolution. In fact, the era that marks the end of the
industrial age and the beginning of something new is
increasing the productivity of those manufacturing a
good or a service. Value is created by connecting buyers And yet we isolate
ultimately about connection. to sellers, producers to consumers, and the passionate to
each other. instead
of connecting them
The industrial revolution wasn’t about inventing
manufacturing, it was about amplifying it to the point This meta-level of value creation is hard to embrace if
where it changed everything. And the connection you’re used to measuring sales per square foot or units
revolution doesn’t invent connection, of course, but produced per hour. In fact, though, connection leads to
it amplifies it to become the dominant force in our an extraordinary boost in productivity, efficiency, and
economy. impact.
Virtually every academic activity in school
• Connecting people to one another. In the connected world, reputation is worth more than is done solo. Homework. Exams. Writing.
test scores. Access to data means that data isn’t the
• Connecting seekers to data. valuable part; the processing is what matters. Most The lectures might take place in a crowded room, but
of all, the connected world rewards those with an they too are primarily one-way.
uncontrollable itch to make and lead and matter.
• Connecting businesses to each other. How is this focus on the isolated individual going to
In the pre-connected world, information was scarce, match up with what actually happens in every field of
• Connecting tribes of similarly minded and hoarding it was smart. Information needed to be endeavor? No competent doctor says,
individuals into larger, more effective processed in isolation, by individuals. After school, you
organizations. were on your own.
“I don’t know what to do, I’ll figure it out
In the connected world, all of that scarcity is replaced by
myself.”
• Connecting machines to each other and abundance — an abundance of information, networks,
creating value as a result. and interactions.
No academic researcher or steelworker or pilot works in
complete isolation.
Group projects are the exception in school, but they

should be the norm. Figuring out how to leverage
the power of the group — whether it is students in the
same room or a quick connection to a graphic designer
across the sea in Wales — is at the heart of how we are
productive today.

24then teachers
are the answer
If education is the question,
Walking through the Harlem Village Academy, the first strict because that’s their job, or strict because it makes
thing most people notice is the noise. There isn’t any. their lives easier. The revolutionary element of HVA isn’t
the strictness. It’s the love.
Please understand: it’s not quiet like a morgue or a
library. There are the sounds of engaged students and Beginning with the foundation of a respectful (and
of motivated teachers, but there’s no chaos. The chaos respected) student body, Deborah Kenny has added
we’ve been trained to associate with an inner-city school something exciting: she lets the teachers teach.
is totally missing.
This isn’t a factory designed to churn out education at the
If the casual visitor walks away thinking that Dr. Kenny’s highest speed for the lowest cost. No, this is handmade
secret is that she has figured out how to get eleven-year education. Teachers don’t teach to the test. Teachers don’t
old kids to become obedient, he will have missed 95% of even teach to the pre-approved standardized curriculum.
what makes this school work. At HVA, teachers who care teach students who care.
On the first day, she tells the student body, “we are strict Simple.
because we love you.” And she means it. Most schools are
Is it any surprise that this is
52 | Stop Stealing Dreams

revolutionary? Seth Godin | 53
25students the truth?
What if we told
26of adhesion School as a contract
Transparency in the traditional school a student), and put to work to satisfy the needs of the
people in charge. Us and them. Friedrich Kessler, writing in 1943 in the Columbia School offers the same contract. Every student walking
might destroy it. The connection economy destroys the illusion of control. Law Review, articulated a new kind of contract, one through the doors of the public school is by default
Students have the ability to find out which colleges are for the industrial age. Rather than being individually entering into a contract of adhesion (and so are her
If we told the truth about the irrelevance of various a good value, which courses make no sense, and how negotiated with each party, a contract of adhesion is a guardians or parents). In Texas, the contract even
courses, about the relative quality of some teachers, people in the real world are actually making a living. take-it-or-leave-it mass deal. includes tickets and fines for students as young as ten
about the power of choice and free speech — could the They have the ability to easily do outside research, even years old (and if they aren’t paid by the time the student
school as we know it survive? in fifth grade, and to discover that the teacher (or her The industrialist says, use this car or this software or this is eighteen, he goes to jail).
textbook) is just plain wrong. telephone, and merely by using it, you are agreeing to
What happens when the connection revolution collides our terms and conditions. With a hat tip to Doc Searls
Beyond the draconian, barbaric frontier schooling
with the school? When students can take entire courses outside of the (tk link), here’s what Kessler wrote: techniques in Texas, though, we see a consistent thread
traditional school, how does the school prevent that? running through most of what
Unlike just about every other institution and product When passionate students can start their own political goes on in school. The subtext is
line in our economy, transparency is missing from movements, profitable companies, or worthwhile
The development of large scale enterprise with its mass clear: “Hey, there are a lot of kids
education. Students are lied to and so are parents. At community projects without the aegis of a school, how production and mass distribution made a new type of contract in this building. Too many kids,
some point, teenagers realize that most of school is a are obedience and fealty enforced? inevitable — the standardized mass contract. A standardized too many things on the agenda.
game, but the system neer acknowledges it. In search of contract, once its contents have been formulated by a business My way or the highway, son.”
firm, is used in every bargain dealing with the same product
It’s impossible
power, control and independence, administrators hide
information from teachers, and vice versa. or service. The individuality of the parties which so frequently Precisely what a foreman would
gave color to the old type of contract has disappeared. The say to a troublesome employee
Because school was invented to control students and stereotyped contract of today reflects the impersonality of
to lie and
on the assembly line. Not what
give power to the state, it’s not surprising that the
the market…. Once the usefulness of these contracts was a patron would say to a talented
relationships are fraught with mistrust.
discovered and perfected in the transportation, insurance, and artist, though.
banking business, their use spread into all other fields of large
manipulate
The very texture of the traditional school matches the
organization and culture of the industrial economy. The scale enterprise, into international as well as national trade,
bottom of the pyramid stores the students, with teachers and into labor relations.
when you have

(middle managers) following instructions from their
bosses.
no power.
As in the traditional industrial organization, the folks
at the bottom of the school are ignored, mistreated,
and lied to. They are kept in the dark about anything
outside of what they need to know to do their job (being

27The decision 28the instinct
to hide
Exploiting
We don’t ask students to decide to participate. We Human beings have, like all animals, a great Once the fear transaction is made clear, it can get ever
assume the contract of adhesion, and relentlessly put more subtle. A fearsome teacher might need no more
information in front of them, with homework to do and
ability to hide from the things they fear. than a glance to quiet down his classroom.
tests to take.
In the name of comportment and compliance and
But that’s not enough for the industrial school. It goes
the processing of millions, school uses that instinct to
Entirely skipped: commitment. its advantage. At the heart of the industrial system is
further than merely ensuring classroom comportment.
Fear is used to ensure that no one stretches too far,
power — the power of bosses over workers, the power of
Do you want to learn this? Will you decide to become questions the status quo, or makes a ruckus. Fear is
buyers over suppliers, and the power of marketers over
good at this? reinforced in career planning, in academics, and even
consumers.
in interpersonal interactions. Fear lives in the guidance
The universal truth is beyond question — the only people office, too.
Given the assignment of indoctrinating a thousand kids
who excel are those who have decided to do so. Great at a time, the embattled school administrator reaches for
doctors or speakers or skiers or writers or musicians are The message is simple: better fit in or you won’t get into
the most effective tool available. Given that the assigned
Why have we
great because somewhere along the way, they made the a good school. If you get into a good school and do what
output of school is compliant citizens, the shortcut for
choice. they say, you’ll get a good job, and you’ll be fine. But if
achieving this output was fear.
you don’t — it’ll go on your permanent record.
completely denied
The amygdala, sometimes called the lizard brain, is
Years ago, five friends and a I were put in charge of a 150
the fear center of the brain. It is on high alert during
rowdy fifth-graders for a long weekend up in Canada. It
moments of stress. It is afraid of snakes. It causes our
was almost impossible to be heard over the din — until
heart to race during a scary movie and our eyes to avoid
I stumbled onto the solution. All we had to say was,
the importance of
direct contact with someone in authority.
“points will be deducted,” and compliance appeared.
There weren’t any points and there wasn’t any prize, but
The shortcut to compliance, then, isn’t to reason with
merely the threat of lost points was sufficient.
someone, to outline the options, and to sell a solution.
this choice
No, the shortcut is to induce fear, to activate the
Instead of creating a social marketplace where people
amygdala. Do this or we’ll laugh at you, expel you, tell
engage and grow, school is a maelstrom, a whirlpool that
your parents, make you sit in the corner. Do this or you
pushes for sameness and dumbs down the individual
will get a bad grade, be suspended, never amount to
while it attempts to raise the average.
anything. Do this or you are in trouble.

29Is passion The other side of fear
30pervaded all
of our culture
The industrial AGE
There really are only two tools available to the educator.

The easy one is fear. Fear is easy to awake, easy to There has been no bigger change in ten thousand years a natural fit, a process that quickly turned into a virtuous
maintain, but ultimately toxic. of recorded human history than the overwhelming cycle: obedient students were turned into obedient teachers,
The other tool is

transformation of society and commerce and health who were then able to create even more obedient students.
and civilization that was enabled (or caused) by
industrialization.
We’re wired for

passion.
We’re so surrounded by it that it seems
normal and permanent and preordained,
but we need to lay it out in stark relief to see
this stuff
how it has created the world we live in.
In just a few generations, society went from agrarian and

distributed to corporatized and centralized. In order to
overhaul the planet, a bunch of things had to work in
concert:
The system churned out productivity and money from
Infrastructure changes, including paving the earth, laying the start. This result encouraged all the parties involved
A kid in love with dinosaurs or baseball or earth science pipe, building cities, wiring countries for communication, to amplify what they were doing — more lobbying, more
is going to learn it on her own. She’s going to push hard etc. infrastructure, more obedience. It took only a hundred
for ever more information, and better still, master the and fifty years, but the industrial age remade the entire
thinking behind it. Government changes, which meant permitting population of the planet, from Detroit to Kibera.
corporations to engage with the king, to lobby, and
Passion can overcome fear — the fear of losing, of failing, of being ridiculed. to receive the benefits of infrastructure and policy The cornerstone of the entire process was how well the
investments. “Corporations are people, friend.” notion of obedience fit into the need for education. We
The problem is that individual passion is hard to needed educated workers, and teaching them to be
scale — hard to fit into the industrial model. It’s not Education changes, including universal literacy, an obedient helped us educate them. And we needed obedient
reliably ignited. It’s certainly harder to create for large expectation of widespread commerce, and most of all, the workers, and the work of educating them reinforced the
masses of people. Sure, it’s easy to get a convention center practice of instilling the instinct to obey civil (as opposed desired behavior.
filled with delegates to chant for a candidate, and easier to government) authority.
still to engage the masses at Wembley Stadium, but the As the industrial age peters out, as the growth fades away,
passion that fuels dreams and creates change must come None of this could have happened if there had been the challenge is this: training creative, independent,
from the individual, not from a demigod. widespread objections from individuals. It turns out, and innovative artists is new to us. We can’t use the old
though, that it was relatively easy to enforce and then tools, because resorting to obedience to teach passion just
teach corporate and educational obedience. It turns out isn’t going to work. Our instinct, the easy go-to tool of
that industrializing the schooling of billions of people was activating the amygdala, isn’t going to work this time.

31 certainty Doubt and
32equal poetry?Does push-pin
The industrial structure of school demands that we Philosopher Jeremy Bentham argued that if two kids Fortunately for my side of the argument, the economy
teach things for certain. Testable things. Things beyond playing hopscotch or push-pin* are gaining as much is now reinforcing this notion. Simple skills and cheap
question. After all, if topics are open to challenge, who joy and pleasure as someone reading poetry, they have pleasures (bread and circuses) worked for a long time,
will challenge them? Our students. But students aren’t enjoyed as much utility. but they no longer scale to quiet the masses. The basic
there to challenge — they are there to be indoctrinated, skills aren’t enough to support the circuses that we’ve
to accept and obey. John Stuart Mill took a different approach. He argued, been sold.
“it is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig
Our new civic and scientific and satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool The fork in this road is ever more pronounced because
professional life, though, is all about satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, are of a different there’s now so much more to choose from. A citizen can
doubt. opinion, it is because they only know their own side of spend his spare time getting smarter, more motivated,
the question.” and more involved, or he can tune out, drop out, and
entertain himself into a stupor. The same devices deliver
About questioning the status quo, questioning marketing
I’m with Mill on this one. One of the things that school either or both from the online ether — and the choice
or political claims, and most of all, questioning what’s
is for is to teach our children to understand and relish that people make is one that’s going to develop early,
next.
the idea of intellectualism, to develop into something based on the expectations of our teachers and the
more than a purpose-driven tool for the industrial state. standards of our peers.
The obligation of the new school is to teach reasonable
doubt. Not the unreasonable doubt of the wild-eyed
We can teach kids to engage in poetry, to write poetry,

heckler, but the evidence-based doubt of the questioning
scientist and the reason-based doubt of the skilled
debater. and to demand poetry — or we can take a shortcut and
Industrial settings don’t leave a lot of room for doubt. The settle for push-pin, YouTube, and LOLcats.
worker on the assembly line isn’t supposed to question
the design of the car. The clerk at the insurance agency
*Push-pin was a truly inane game in which kids would stick
isn’t supposed to suggest improvements in the accounts
pins in a cloth or a hat brim and wrestle to knock one over. A
being pitched.
little like Angry Birds, but without batteries.
In the post-industrial age, though, the good jobs and the
real progress belong only to those with the confidence
and the background to use the scientific method to
question authority and to re-imagine a better reality.

33 Teach bravery? Who will
34Responsibility
The essence of the connection revolution is The Sudbury Valley School was founded during the While this is easy to dismiss as hype or pabulum, what
hippie generation, and has survived and thrived as if it’s true? What if you actually built a school from the
that it rewards those who connect, stand an independent school for forty years. From their ground up with this as its core idea, not just window
out, and take what feels like a chance. introductory handbook: dressing? This is precisely what they did.
Can risk-taking be taught? Of course it can. It gets The way we saw it, responsibility means that each person Students ask for teachers when they wish.
taught by mentors, by parents, by great music teachers, has to carry the ball for himself. You, and you alone, must They play soccer if they choose. They take responsibility
and by life. make your decisions, and you must live with them. No for everything they do and learn, from the age of six.
one should be thinking for you, and no one should be And it works.
Why isn’t it being taught every day at that place we send protecting you from the consequences of your actions. This,
our kids to? we felt, is essential if you want to be independent, self-
directed, and the master of your own destiny.
Bravery in school is punished, not rewarded. The entire
institution is organized around avoiding individual
brave acts, and again and again we hear from those who
have made a difference, telling us that they became brave
If a school is seen as a place for encouragement
and truth-telling, a place where students go to find
despite school, not because of it.
Harvard Business School turns out management their passion and then achieve their goals, it is not
a school we would generally recognize, because
consultants in far greater numbers than it develops
successful bootstrapping entrepreneurs. Ralph Lauren,
David Geffen and Ted Turner all dropped out of college our schools do none of this.
because they felt the real challenges lay elsewhere.

35 Denying Off the hook:
opportunities
for greatness
Greatness is frightening. With it comes They’re noticeable at first primarily for the fact that they
refuse to be sheep.
responsibility.
Rebecca Chapman, literary editor of a new online
If you can deny your talents, if you can conceal them from
journal called The New Inquiry, was quoted in the New
others or, even better, persuade yourself that they weren’t
York Times. “My whole life, I had been doing everything
even given to you, you’re off the hook.
everybody told me. I went to the right school. I got really
36school destroys them

good grades. I got all the internships. Then, I couldn’t
And being off the hook is a key element of the industrialized
school’s promise. It lets parents off the hook, certainly, since
do anything.” Instead of amplifying dreams,
the institution takes over the teaching. It lets teachers off the
The only surprising thing about this statement is that
hook, since the curriculum is preordained and the results
some consider it surprising.
are tested. And it lets students off the hook, because the
road is clearly marked and the map is handed to everyone.
Rebecca trained to be competent, excelling at completing
the tasks set in front of her. She spent more than sixteen
If you stay on the path, do your college applications through
years at the top of the system, at the best schools, with
the guidance office and your job hunting at the placement Every day, beginning the first day and continuing until We demand that students have a trade to fall back on, an
the best resources, doing what she was told to do.
office, the future is not your fault. the last day, our teachers and our administrators and assembly-line job available just in case the silly dreams
Unfortunately, no one is willing to pay her to do tasks. yes, most parents, seeking to do the right thing, end up don’t come true. And then, fearing heartbreak, we push
That’s the refrain we hear often from frustrated job seekers, doing the wrong one. them to bury the dream and focus on just the job.
Without a defined agenda, it’s difficult for her to find the
frustrated workers with stuck careers, and frustrated
gig she was trained for.
students in too much debt. “I did what they told me to do
and now I’m stuck and it’s not my fault.”
We mean well. The job with a boss and an office and air conditioning
and a map of what to do next. A job with security and
Too many competent workers, We let our kids down easy. co-workers and instructions and deniability.
And when the job doesn’t come?

We tell ourselves that we are realistic.
not enough tasks.
What they’ve exchanged for that deniability is their
dreams, their chance for greatness. To go off the path is
Peter Thiel made headlines when he offered to pay students
When all the dues are paid and for nothing?
to claim responsibility for what happens next.

not to attend college — to start something instead. The
reason this program works, though, has nothing to do with
Because the industrial education system makes it so
avoiding college and everything to do with attracting those
clear when someone has stepped from the well-lit path,
bold enough to put themselves on the hook. Education
it highlights those who leave it, making it pretty easy
isn’t a problem until it serves as a buffer from the world
to find those willing to speak up and connect and lead.
and a refuge from the risk of failure.

37 the hourly wage THE CURSE OF
38Scientific schooling
Scientific management
Fredrick Taylor is responsible for much of what you see when Every one of those behaviors is a mirror of There didn’t used to be one right way, one perfected The rise of scientific management furthered the need
you look around. As the father of Scientific Management,
he put the fine points on Henry Ford’s model of mass
what happens in the factory of 1937. method, one step-by-step approach to production. for obedient and competent factory workers, individuals
with enough skill and self-control to do precisely what
production and was the articulate voice behind the staffing
Of course, business in the U.S. evolved over time to be But in the industrial age, scientific management is they were told.
of the assembly line and the growth of the industrial age.
less draconian than it was seventy years ago. Companies obvious when you think about it: record how long it
adopted a social contract (usually unstated). Union takes to make something, change the way you do it, see So it’s not a surprise that schools were enlisted to train
Armed with a stopwatch, Taylor measured movements and public outcry led to the notion that if you if you can do it faster or better. Repeat. future employees in just that — skill and self-control.
everything. He came to two conclusions: were obedient and hardworking, your hourly gig would Of course, it’s not self-control, really; it’s external
continue, probably until you retired, and then your pension Frederick Taylor was right — we could dramatically control. The willingness (or tolerance) to accept external
Interchangeable workers were essential to efficient would keep you comfortable. increase industrial productivity by measuring and instruction and become compliant.
manufacturing. You can’t shut down the line just because systemizing the assembly line. His method become the
one person doesn’t show up for work. The bigger the pool In the last twenty years, though, under pressure from standard for any assembly line that wanted to become From there, from this position of wanting to manufacture
of qualified labor, the easier it is to find cheap, compliant competition and shareholders, the hourly social contract more productive (and thus competitive). compliant workers, it’s only a tiny step to scientific
workers who will follow your instructions. has evaporated, and manufacturers and others that engage schooling.
in factory work have gone back to a more pure form of Use your left hand, not your right, to pick this up. Turn
People working alone (in parallel) are far more efficient Taylorism. No, Walmart and Target and Best Buy don’t up the lights. Lower the height of the counter. Process Scientific schooling uses precisely the same techniques as
than teams. Break every industrial process down into the bring “good jobs” to Brooklyn when they build a megamall. exactly six units per minute. scientific management. Measure (test) everyone. Often.
smallest number of parts and give an individual the same They bring hourly jobs with no advancement. How could Figure out which inputs are likely to create testable
thing to do again and again, alone, and measure his output. there be? The pyramid is incredibly wide and not very tall, Scientific management changed the world as we knew it. outputs. If an output isn’t easily testable, ignore it.
with thousands of hourly workers for every manager with And there’s no doubt it boosted productivity.
One outgrowth of this analysis is that hourly workers are significant decision-making ability. It would be a mistake to say that scientific education
fundamentally different from salaried ones. If you are paid doesn’t work. It does work. It creates what we test.
by the hour, the organization is saying to you, “I can buy Walmart has more than 2 million employees around the
your time an hour at a time, and replace you at any time.” world, and perhaps a thousand people who set policy and
Hourly workers were segregated, covered by different labor do significant creative work. Most of the others are hourly
laws, and rarely if ever moved over to management. employees, easily replaced with little notice.
Unfortunately, the things we
desperately need (and the
School, no surprise, is focused on creating hourly workers, The bottom of our economy has gone back into the past,
because that’s what the creators of school needed, in large back into alignment with what school has perfected: taking
numbers. advantage of people doing piecemeal labor.
Think about the fact that school relentlessly downplays group This is not the future of our economy; it is merely the last things that make us happy)
aren’t the same things that are
work. It breaks tasks into the smallest possible measurable units. well-lit path available to students who survive the traditional
It does nothing to coordinate teaching across subjects. It often indoctrination process. If we churn out more workers like
isolates teachers into departments. And most of all, it measures, this, we will merely be fighting for more of the bottom of
relentlessly, at the individual level, and re-processes those who
don’t meet the minimum performance standards.
the pyramid, more of the world market’s share of bad jobs,
cheaply executed. easy to test.
39the good jobs go?
Where did
Hint: The old ones, the ones we imagine when we think The jobs of the future are in two categories: the
about the placement office and the pension — the ones that downtrodden assemblers of cheap mass goods and the
school prepared us for — they’re gone. respected creators of the unexpected.
In 1960, the top ten employers in the U.S. were: GM, The increasing gap between those racing to the bottom
AT&T, Ford, GE, U.S. Steel, Sears, A&P, Esso, Bethlehem and those working toward the top is going to make the
Steel, and IT&T. Eight of these (not so much Sears and 99 percent divide seem like nostalgia.
A&P) offered substantial pay and a long-term career to
hard-working people who actually made something. It was Virtually every company that isn’t forced to be local
easy to see how the promises of advancement and a social is shifting gears so it doesn’t have to be local. Which
contract could be kept, particularly for the “good student” means that the call center and the packing center and
who had demonstrated an ability and willingness to be the data center and the assembly line are quickly moving
part of the system. to places where there are cheaper workers. And more
compliant workers.
Today, the top ten employers are: Walmart, Kelly Services, The other route — the road to the top — is for the few And a linchpin is the worker we can’t live without, the one
IBM, UPS, McDonald’s, Yum (Taco Bell, KFC, et al), Is that going to be you or your kids or the students in who figure out how to be linchpins and artists. People we’d miss if she was gone. The linchpin brings enough
Target, Kroger, HP, and The Home Depot. Of these, your town? who are hired because they’re totally worth it, because gravity, energy, and forward motion to work that she
only two (two!) offer a path similar to the one that the vast they offer insight and creativity and innovation that just makes things happen.
majority of major companies offered fifty years ago. can’t be found easily. Scarce skills combined with even
scarcer attitudes almost always lead to low unemployment Sadly, most artists and most linchpins learn their skills
Burger flippers of the world, and high wages. and attitudes despite school, not because of it.
unite.
An artist is someone who brings new thinking and The future of our economy lies with the impatient. The
generosity to his work, who does human work that linchpins and the artists and the scientists who will refuse
changes another for the better. An artist invents a to wait to be hired and will take things into their own
new kind of insurance policy, diagnoses a disease that hands, building their own value, producing outputs others
someone else might have missed, or envisions a future will gladly pay for. Either they’ll do that on their own or
that’s not here yet. someone will hire them and give them a platform to do it.
Here’s the alternative: what happens when there are fifty
The only way out is going to be

companies like Apple? What happens when there is an
explosion in the number of new power technologies, new
connection mechanisms, new medical approaches? The
good jobs of the future aren’t going to involve working
mapped by those able to dream.

for giant companies on an assembly line. They all require
individuals willing to chart their own path, whether or
not they work for someone else.

40teach at FIRST What they
The largest robotics competition in the world organizes More than twice as likely to volunteer in
hundreds of thousands of kids into a nationwide
competition to build fighting robots and other technical
their communities.
fun.
When you dream about building the best robot in the
competition, you’ll find a way to get a lot done, and
Last year, more than 300,000 students participated,
you’ll do it in a team. When you dream of making an
surrounded by their peers and the 50,000 mentors
impact, obstacles are a lot easier to overcome.
and coaches who make the program possible. A recent
university study of past participants found that FIRST
The magic of FIRST has nothing to do with teaching
participants in college were:
what a capacitor does, and everything to do with
41 Skill, and attitude

teamwork, dreams, and most of all, expectations. FIRST
• More than three times as likely to major specifically
in engineering.
is a movement for communicating and encouraging
passion. Judgment,
• Roughly ten times as likely to have had an
apprenticeship, internship, or co-op job in their
freshman year.
• Significantly more likely to achieve a post-graduate

degree. Those are the new replacements
for obedience.
• More than twice as likely to pursue a career in science
and technology. We sometimes (rarely) teach skill, but when it comes to
judgment and attitude, we say to kids and their parents:
• Nearly four times as likely to pursue a career you’re on your own.
specifically in engineering.
Here’s what I want to explore: Can we teach people to care?
I know that we can teach them not to care; that’s pretty

easy. But given the massive technological and economic
changes we’re living through, do we have the opportunity
to teach productive and effective caring? Can we teach
kids to care enough about their dreams that they’ll care
enough to develop the judgment, skill, and attitude to
make them come true?

42teach Indian food?
CAN YOU
It’s not easy to find young Anglo kids in Cleveland

or Topeka who crave Tandoori chicken or Shrimp
Vindaloo. And yet kids with almost the same DNA in
Mumbai eat the stuff every day. It’s clearly not about
genetics.
Perhaps households there approach the issue of food the

way school teaches a new topic. First, kids are taught
the history of Indian food, then they are instructed to
memorize a number of recipes, and then there are tests.
43someone
At some point, the pedagogy leads to a love of the food.
Of course not. How not to teach

People around the world eat what they eat because of to be a
community standards and the way culture is inculcated
into what they do. Expectations matter a great deal.
When you have no real choice but to grow up doing
something or eating something or singing something,
baseball fan
then you do it.
If culture is sufficient to establish what we eat Teach the history of baseball, beginning with Abner Sometime in the future, do a field trip and go to a
Doubleday and the impact of cricket and imperialism. baseball game. Make sure no one has a good time.
and how we speak and ten thousand other Have a test.
societal norms, why isn’t it able to teach us If there’s time, let kids throw a baseball around during
goal setting and passion and curiosity and the Starting with the Negro leagues and the early recess.
ability to persuade? barnstorming teams, assign students to memorize facts
and figures about each player. Have a test. Obviously, there are plenty of kids (and adults) who
know far more about baseball than anyone could
Rank the class on who did well on the first two tests, and imagine knowing. And none of them learned it this way.
allow these students to memorize even more statistics
about baseball players. Make sure to give equal time
to players in Japan and the Dominican Republic. Send The industrialized, scalable, testable
the students who didn’t do as well to spend time with a solution is almost never the best way to
lesser teacher, but assign them similar work, just over a generate exceptional learning.
longer time frame. Have a test.

44 the role of a teacher
DEFINING
It used to be simple: the teacher was the cop, the lecturer, If there’s information that can be written down,
the source of answers, and the gatekeeper to resources. widespread digital access now means that just about
All rolled into one. anyone can look it up. We don’t need a human being
standing next to us to lecture us on how to find the
A teacher might be the person who is capable of delivering square root of a number or sharpen an axe.
information. A teacher can be your best source of finding
out how to do something or why something works. What we do need is someone to persuade us that we
want to learn those things, and someone to push us or
A teacher can also serve to create a social contract or encourage us or create a space where we want to learn to
environment where people will change their posture, do do them better.
45 do the motivating?
their best work, and stretch in new directions. We’ve all
been in environments where competition, social status,
or the direct connection with another human being has
If all the teacher is going to do is read her pre-written
notes from a PowerPoint slide to a lecture hall of thirty
Shouldn’t parents
changed us. or three hundred, perhaps she should stay home. Not
only is this a horrible disrespect to the student, it’s a
The Internet is making the role of content gatekeeper complete waste of the heart and soul of the talented
unimportant. Redundant. Even wasteful. teacher. Teaching is no longer about delivering facts that
are unavailable in any other format.
Of course they should. They should have the resources and the skill (and thus the obligation) to reset
freedom to not have to work two jobs, they should be cultural norms and to amplify them through schooling.
Worth stopping for a second and aware enough of the changes in society to be focused on I don’t think we maximize our benefit when we turn
every child’s education into a first-time home-based
reconsidering the revolutionary nature
a new form of education, and they should have the skills
and the confidence and the time to teach each child project.
of that last sentence. what he needs to know to succeed in a new age.
We can amplify each kid’s natural inclination to dream,
But they’re not and they don’t. And as a citizen, I’m we can inculcate passion in a new generation, and we
not sure I want to trust a hundred million amateur can give kids the tools to learn more, and faster, in a way
teachers to do a world-class job of designing our future. that’s never been seen before.
Some parents (like mine) were just stunningly great at
this task, serious and focused and generous while they And if parents want to lead (or even to help, or merely
relentlessly taught my sisters and me about what we get out of the way), that’s even better.
could accomplish and how to go about it.
I can’t think of anything more cynical and selfish,

though, than telling kids who didn’t win the parent
lottery that they’ve lost the entire game. Society has the

47 not an end ACADEMICS ARE A MEANS TO END,
Go back to the original purpose of school: we needed
46 of pedagogy
to teach citizens to be obedient (to be good workers), to
At the heart consume what marketers sold them (to keep industry
going), and to be able to sit still (to be good workers).
Academics are one way to reinforce those ideas. Sure,

there were a few things (like basic arithmetic and the
ability to read) that all civilized people needed, but we
kept adding to the list, creating a never-ending list of
When we think about the role of school, we have to take went, let’s teach something. And so schools added all topics that students could be confronted with as a test of
a minute to understand that we backed into this corner; manner of material from the academy. We taught their obedience. By conflating learning (a good thing)
we didn’t head here with intent. higher math or physics or chemistry or Shakespeare or with obedience (an important thing for the industrial
Latin — not because it would help you with your job, but age) and consumption (essential for mass marketers),
A hundred and fifty years ago, 1 percent of the population because learning stuff was important. we confused ourselves. We came to the conclusion that
went to the academy. They studied for studying’s sake. increasing all three of these in tandem was what society
They did philosophy and mathematics and basic science, Public school shifted gears — it took the academy to the wanted, and we often used one to get more of the other.
all as a way to understand the universe. masses.
Of course, those who were creating the
The rest of the world didn’t go to school. You learned I want to be very clear here: I wouldn’t want to live in an curricula got focused on the academic part.
something from your parents, perhaps, or if you were uneducated world. I truly believe that education makes
rich, from a tutor. But blacksmiths and stable boys and humans great, elevates our culture and our economy, At first, we used primers and memorization as a direct
barbers didn’t sit in elegant one-room schoolhouses paid and creates the foundation for the engine that drives method of teaching obedience. Then, though, as we got
for by taxpayers, because there weren’t any. science which leads to our well being. I’m not criticizing smarter about the structure of thought, we created syllabi
education. that actually covered the knowledge that mattered.
After the invention of public school, of course, this all
But mattered to whom?

changed. The 1 percent still went to school to learn No. But I am wondering when we decided that the
about the universe. purpose of school was to cram as much data/trivia/fact
into every student as we possibly could.
And 99 percent of the population went to school because School is still about obedience and compliance and
they were ordered to go to school. And school was about Because that’s what we’re doing. We’re not only avoiding consumption, but now, layered on top of it, are hours
basic writing (so you could do your job), reading (so you issues of practicality and projects and hands-on use of every day of brute-force learning about how the world
could do your job), and arithmetic (so you could do your information; we’re also aggressively testing for trivia. actually works. The problem is that we don’t sell it well,
job). it’s not absorbed, it’s expensive, and it doesn’t stick.
Which of society’s goals are we satisfying when we spend
For a generation, that’s what school did. It was a direct 80 percent of the school day drilling and bullying to get Now that obedience is less important and learning
and focused finishing school for pre-industrial kids. kids to momentarily swallow and then regurgitate this matters more than ever, we have to be brave enough to
Then, as often happens to institutions, mission creep sunk month’s agenda? separate them. We can rebuild the entire system around
in. As long as we’re teaching something, the thinking passion instead of fear.

48pause The status quo
49local,
and cheap
Compliant,
That feeling you’re feeling (if you haven’t given up because Those were the three requirements for most jobs for most
of the frightening implications of this manifesto) is the of the twentieth century. Only after you fit all three
feeling just about every parent has. It’s easier to play it criteria was your competence tested. And competence
safe. Why risk blowing up the educational system, why was far more important than leadership, creativity, or
not just add a bit to it? Why risk the education of our brilliance.
kids merely because the economy has changed?
If you were applying to be a forklift operator, a
That whisper in your ear, that hesitation about taking receptionist, an insurance salesperson, or a nurse,
dramatic action — that’s precisely why we still have the you showed up with a résumé (proof of a history of
system we do. That’s how we get stuck with the status compliance), you showed up (proof that you lived
quo. When it’s safer and easier and quieter to stick with somewhere nearby), and you knew about the salary on
what we’ve got, we end up sticking with what we’ve got. offer (of course).
If just one parent asks these questions, nothing is going School didn’t have to do anything about the local part,
to happen. Every parent has an excuse and a special but it sure worked hard to instill the notion that reliably
situation and no one wants to go out on a limb… but if handing in your work on time while making sure it
a dozen or a hundred parents step up and start asking, precisely matched the standards of the teacher was the
the agenda will begin to change. single best way to move forward.
The urgency of our problem is obvious, and it seems And it certainly taught you to accept what those in
foolish to me to polish the obsolete when we ought to be authority gave you, so the wage was the wage, and you
investing our time and money into building something took it until someone offered you a better one.
that actually meets our needs. We can’t switch the
mission unless we also switch the method. Each student had already had a job — from the age
of five, a steady job, with a string of managers giving
Local
instructions. Built right into the fabric of our lives were
the ingredients for compliant and cheap.

was a bonus. Seth Godin | 79
50with competenceTHE PROBLEM
51 saved LEGO How they
Institutions and committees like to talk about core Oh, there’s one other thing: As we’ve turned human Dr. Derek Cabrera noticed something really disturbing.
competencies, the basic things that a professional or a beings into competent components of the giant network The secret to LEGO’s success was the switch from all-
job seeker needs to know. known as American business, we’ve also erected huge purpose LEGO sets, with blocks of different sizes and
barriers to change. colors, to predefined kits, models that must be assembled
Core competence? precisely one way, or they’re wrong.
I’d prefer core incompetence. Competence Why would these sell so many more copies? Because
Competent people have a predictable, reliable process
for solving a particular set of problems. They solve a
is the enemy of change! they match what parents expect and what kids have
been trained to do.
problem the same way, every time. That’s what makes
There’s a right answer!

Competent people resist change. Why? Because change
them reliable. That’s what makes them competent.
threatens to make them less competent. And competent
people like being competent. That’s who they are, and
Competent people are quite proud of the status and
sometimes that’s all they’ve got. No wonder they’re not
success that they get out of being competent. They like
in a hurry to rock the boat.
being competent. They guard their competence, and
they work hard to maintain it.
If I’m going to make the investment and hire someone The mom and the kid can both take pride in the kit,
for more than the market rate, I want to find an assembled. It’s done. Instructions were followed and
Over the past twenty to thirty years, we’ve witnessed an
incompetent worker. One who will break the rules and results were attained. This is the old approach to LEGO toys. It
amazing shift in U.S.-based businesses. Not so long ago,
find me something no one else can. failed because it required too much risk on
companies were filled with incompetent workers. If you
LEGO isn’t the problem, but it is a symptom of the part of parents and kids — the risk of
bought a Pacer from American Motors, it wasn’t all that
surprising to find a tool hidden in a door panel of your
something seriously amiss. We’re entering a revolution making something that wasn’t perfect or
new car. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon for shipped
of ideas while producing a generation that wants expected.
instructions instead.
products to be dead on arrival. Nothing in the world is more dangerous
than sincere ignorance and conscientious
Computers changed that. Now the receptionist stupidity.
can’t lose your messages, because they go straight into
voice mail. The assembly-line worker can’t drop a – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
tool, because it’s attached to a numerically controlled
machine. The telemarketer who interrupts your dinner
is unlikely to over-promise, because the pitch is carefully
outlined in script form on paper.

52(and the alternative)
THE RACE TO THE TOP
53recession The forever
The real debate if you’re a worker is: do you want a job There are two recessions going on. Thus, middle-class jobs that existed because companies
where they’ll miss you if you’re gone, a job where only had no choice are now gone.
you can do it, a job where you get paid to bring yourself One is gradually ending. This is the cyclical recession.
(your true self) to work? Because those jobs are available. We have them all the time; they come and they go. Not Protectionism isn’t going to fix this problem. Neither is
In fact, there’s no unemployment in that area. fun, but not permanent. the stimulus of old factories or yelling in frustration and
anger. No, the only useful response is to view this as an
OR do you want a job where you’re racing to the The other one, I fear, is here forever. This is the recession opportunity. To poorly paraphrase Clay Shirky, every
bottom — where your job is to do your job, do as you’re of the industrial age, the receding wave of bounty revolution destroys the last thing before it turns a profit
told, and wait for the boss to pick you? that workers and businesses got as a result of rising on a new thing.
productivity but imperfect market communication.
School is clearly organized around the second race. And The networked revolution is creating huge profits,
the problem with the race to the bottom is that you In short: if you’re local, we need to buy from you. If you significant opportunities, and a lot of change. What it’s
might win. Being the best of the compliant masses is a work in town, we need to hire you. If you can do a craft, not doing is providing millions of brain-dead, corner-
safe place (for now). But the rest? we can’t replace you with a machine. office, follow-the-manual middle-class jobs. And it’s not
going to.
No longer. Fast, smart, and flexible are embraced by the network.
Not
Linchpin behavior. People and companies we can’t live
without (because if I can live without you, I’m sure
going to try if the alternative is to save money).
The lowest price for any good worth pricing is now
available to anyone, anywhere. Which makes the market The sad irony is that everything we do to prop up the last
for boring stuff a lot more perfect than it used to be. economy (more obedience, more compliance, cheaper
yet average) gets in the way of profiting from this one.
Since the “factory” work we did is now being mechanized,
so much.
outsourced, or eliminated, it’s hard to pay extra for it.
And since buyers have so many choices (and much more
perfect information about pricing and availability), it’s
hard to charge extra.

54different MAKE SOMETHING
55 differently MAKE SOMETHING
I don’t know how to change school, can’t give you a map The simple way to make something different is to go
or a checklist. What I do know is that we’re asking the about it in a whole new way. In other words, doing what
wrong questions and making the wrong assumptions. we’re doing now and hoping we’ll get something else as
an outcome is nuts.
The best tactic available to every taxpayer and parent
and concerned teacher is to relentlessly ask questions,
not settling for the status quo. Once we start to do schooling differently,
we’ll start to get something different.
“Is this class/lecture/program/task/test/policy designed
to help our students do the old thing a little more
efficiently, or are we opening a new door to enable our
students to do something that’s new and different?”
School is doing the best job it knows how to create the

output it is being asked to create.
We ought to be asking school to make

something different. And the only way to
do that is to go about it differently.

56 1000 hours 57 and
The economic, cultural,
moral reasons for
an overhaul
Over the last three years, Jeremy Gleick, a sophomore at There’s an economic argument to make about schools
UCLA, has devoted precisely an hour a day to learning and the world of dreams. Small dreams are hurting us
something new and unassigned. like never before. Small dreams represent an attitude of
fear; they sabotage our judgment and they keep us from
The rules are simple: it can’t be related to schoolwork, acquiring new skills, skills that are there if we’re willing
and reading a novel doesn’t count. to learn them.
Since he’s started on this journey, he has read Steven There’s a societal argument to
Pinker and Stephen Hawking books, watched make as well.
documentaries about ants and astrophysics, and taken All of us are losing out because we’ve done such a good
courses in blacksmithing (in person) and card tricks job of persuading our future generations not to dream.
(online). He has done this with rigor and merely had to Think of the art we haven’t seen, the jobs that haven’t
sacrifice a little TV time to become smarter than most been created, and the productivity that hasn’t been
of his peers. imagined because generations have been persuaded not
to dream big.
There are two things I take away from this:
And there’s a moral argument, too.
a. This is a rare choice, which is quite How dare we do this, on a large scale? How dare we tell
disturbing. people that they aren’t talented enough, musical enough,
Someone actually choosing to become a polymath, gifted enough, charismatic enough, or well-born enough
signing himself up to get a little smarter on a new topic to lead?
every single day.
b. The resources available for this

endeavor have increased by several orders
of magnitude.
Available resources and instruction have gone from
scarce to abundant in less than a decade, and the
only barrier to learning for most young adults in the
developed world is now merely the decision to learn.
My argument is that the entire schooling establishment

can be organized around this new widely available
resource.

58cycle of good jobs
The virtuous
59of dreams The evolution
Industrial jobs no longer create new Fairy tales tell us a lot about what people want. Girls Suddenly, folks like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford
want to be princesses, boys want to be heroes. And both became the pickers. Now there were far more people who
industrial jobs in our country. girls and boys want to be chosen. They want to have the could pick you (and offer you a job), and thus the stakes
glass slipper fit, or the mighty gods from another planet were even higher because the odds were better. Not only
A surplus of obedient hourly workers leads to
give them a lantern that energizes their power ring. were there more ways to be picked, but suddenly and
unemployment, not more factories.
amazingly, there was a chance that just about anyone
In a monarchy or similarly authoritarian system, there could become powerful enough to move up the ladder.
On the other hand, creative jobs lead to more creative jobs.
was no way in the world you were going to accomplish
Self-starting, self-reliant, initiative-taking individuals
often start new projects that need new workers. In my
much of anything unless you were picked. Picked by the Our fairy tales started to change.
chief or the local ruler or the priest or the nobleman in
opinion, the now politicized role of “job creator” has
search of a wife.
It was the best

nothing at all to do with tax cuts and everything to do
with people who trained to have the guts to raise their
hands and say, “I’m starting.”
you could hope for.

An economy that’s stuck needs more inventors, scientists,
explorers, and artists. Because those are the people who
open doors for others.
We’ve heard of Mozart because he was picked, first by When the economy hit its stride after World War II, it
Prince-elector Maximilian III of Bavaria, and then by led to an explosion in dreams. Kids dreamed of walking
a string of other powerful royalty. Michelangelo was on the moon or inventing a new kind of medical device.
picked by the Pope. Catherine of Aragon was picked They dreamed of industry and science and politics
by one man after another (with plenty of dowry politics and invention, and often, those dreams came true. It
involved) until she ended up with Henry VIII. wasn’t surprising to get a chemistry set for your ninth
birthday — and it was filled not with straightforward
When life is short and brutish, and when class trumps recipes, but with tons of cool powders and potions that
everything, fairy tale dreams are about all we can believe burst into flame or stank up the entire house.
we are entitled to.
A generation dreamed of writing a bestseller or inventing
The industrial revolution created a a new kind of car design or perfecting a dance move.
different sort of outcome, a loosening of
class-based restrictions and the creation We look back on that generation with a bit of awe. Those
of new careers and pathways. kids could dream.

60are a problem DREAMERS
61 to teach willpower?
Is it possible
And then schools refocused on mass and scale, and School is a factory, and the output of that factory is After all, willpower is the foundation of
the dreams faded. While these new heroes created compliant workers who buy a lot of stuff. These every realized dream.
generations of kids who wanted to disrupt the world as students are trained to dream small dreams.
they did, they also sowed the seeds for the end of those
Dreams fade away because we can’t tolerate the short-
dreams.
What about the famous ones we hear about? Surely the term pain necessary to get to our long-term goal. We
successful people we read about have something special find something easier, juicier, sexier, and more now, so
It turns out that industry scales. Little businesses turn
going on…. we take it, leaving our dreams abandoned on the side of
into big ones. One McDonald’s turns into ten thousand.
the road.
One scientist at Pfizer creates a pathway for one hundred
Majora Carter grew up in the 1960s in the South Bronx.
or one thousand obedient assistants and sales reps.
She wasn’t supposed to have dreams; neither were her But is willpower an innate, genetic trait, something we
classmates. The economic impediments were too big; have no say over?
Fifty years ago, businesses realized that they were facing
there wasn’t enough money to spend on schools, on
two related problems:
support, on teachers who cared. It turns out that (good news) willpower can be taught.
It can be taught by parents and by schools. Stanford
They needed more workers, more well-trained,
And yet Majora grew up to be, according to Fast researcher Kelly McGonigal has written about this, as
compliant, and yes, cheap workers willing to follow
Company, one of the hundred most creative people in has noted researcher Roy Baumeister.
specific instructions…
business, a TED speaker, a community activist, and
a successful consultant. Her fellow students are still If willpower can be taught, why don’t we teach it?
and
Simple:
waiting to get the call.
They needed more customers. More well-trained, pliable, Dreamers don’t have special genes. They find
eager-to-consume customers watching TV regularly and circumstances that amplify their dreams. If the mass-
waiting to buy what they had to sell. processing of students we call school were good at
creating the dreamers we revere, there’d be far more of
Dreamers don’t help with either of these problems. them. In fact, many of the famous ones, the successful
Dreamers aren’t busy applying for jobs at minimum ones, and the essential ones are part of our economy
wage, they don’t eagerly buy the latest fashions, and despite the processing they received, not because of it. because industrialists don’t need employees with
they’re a pain in the ass to keep happy. willpower, and marketers loathe consumers who have it.
The economy demands that we pick ourselves. School
The solution sounds like it was invented at some secret teaches us otherwise. Instead of teaching willpower, we expect kids to develop
meeting at the Skull and Bones, but I don’t think it was. it on their own. Colleges and others have to sniff around
Instead, it was the outcome of a hundred little decisions, I’m arguing for a new set of fairy tales, a new expectation guessing about who has developed this skill — generally, it’s
the uncoordinated work of thousands of corporations of powerful dreaming. the students who have managed to accomplish something
and political lobbyists: in high school, not just go along to get along. In other
words, the ones who haven’t merely followed instructions.

62The Pull those nails:
early creation of
worker compliance
63to do the right thing?
Is it too risky
Years ago, I sat in on a fifth-grade class ostensibly led to more learning, but it was certainly noisy. (One Do parents mean well?
working on a math project. thousand nails, thirty strikes per nail — you get the idea.) It’s about at this point in the discussion that parents get
a bit squeamish. We all want the best for children — and
Mary Everest Boole was a mathematician in the 1800s, Then the teacher interrupted the class and called a many parents are willing to go to extraordinary lengths
the wife of the inventor of Boolean logic. One of her student (ten years old) to the front of the room. “I said,” to get the best. We will hire tutors, track down better
legacies was string art, a craft designed to teach math to she intoned, raising her voice, “that all the nails had to schools, fret over report cards, go to parent-teacher
students. The project took the nub of Mary’s idea and be put in firmly.” She made him wiggle a few nails. They conferences, and drive ourselves crazy worrying about
industrialized it into a make-work craft project. were loose. homework or the kind of felt used to complete a school
project.
My job was to bring the hammers, twenty-four of them, I will never forget what happened next. She didn’t ask
which I had bought for cheap at the local hardware him to hammer the nails in a little tighter. But the sanctity of performance/testing/compliance-
store. The students were using little brass nails to based schooling is rarely discussed and virtually never
create patterns on inexpensive pine boards — and then No. challenged.
they were going to use string to interlace modulo-nine
patterns on the nails, creating (ostensibly) both learning She stood there, and with the entire class watching and It’s crazy to imagine a suburban school district having
and art. with the little kid near tears, took each and every loose serious talks about abandoning state standards, rejecting
nail out of the board. A half an hour of solid (and loud) the SAT, or challenging the admissions criteria at famous
At the start of the class, the teacher gave the students hammering, for nothing. She intentionally humiliated colleges (more about famous in a minute).
instructions, including the stern advice that they needed him, for one clear reason. The message was obvious:
to be sure that the nails went in quite firmly. I am in charge, and my instructions matter. You will There’s a myth at work here, one that cannot and will
conform and you will meet the quality standards or you not be seriously questioned. The myth says:
For the next half hour, I sat and listened to twenty-four will be punished.
students loudly driving nails. I’m not sure if more nails
Great performance in school leads to
happiness and success.
If there’s a better way to And the corollary:
steal the desire to dream,

Great parents have kids who produce
great performance in school.
I’m not sure what it is.

It doesn’t matter that neither of these is true. What
matters is that finding a path that might be better is just
too risky for someone who has only one chance to raise
his kids properly.

65in the room The smartest person
David Weinberger writes,
64vs. collecting the dots

As knowledge becomes networked, the smartest person in the room
Connecting the dots isn’t the person standing at the front lecturing us, and isn’t the
collective wisdom of those in the room. The smartest person in the
room is the room itself: the network that joins the people and ideas in
the room, and connects to those outside of it. It’s not that the network
is becoming a conscious super-brain. Rather, knowledge is becoming
inextricable from — literally unthinkable without — the network that
enables it. Our task is to learn how to build smart rooms — that is, how
to build networks that make us smarter, especially since, when done
The industrial model of school is organized around
exposing students to ever increasing amounts of stuff
badly, networks can make us distressingly stupider.
and then testing them on it.
Collecting dots.
Almost none of it is spent in teaching them the skills This is revolutionary, of course. The notion
necessary to connect dots. that each of us can assemble a network (of people, of
data sources, of experiences) that will make us either
The magic of connecting dots is that smart or stupid — that’s brand new and important.
once you learn the techniques, the
dots can change but you’ll still be What is the typical school doing to teach our students to
good at connecting them. become good at this?

66commitment Avoiding
67 the cult of ignorance
The specter of
A byproduct of industrialization is depersonalization. to believe in or commit to. The only way for a student Here’s a note I got after a recent blog post used the word Not to mention all those missing
Because no one is responsible for anything that we can to get respect inside the system of school is to earn bespoke, a much better fit than the word custom would
see, because deniability is built into the process, it’s easy temporary approval from a teacher he won’t likely see have been:
apostrophes.
and tempting to emotionally check out, to go along to again any time soon. If that teacher is mercurial, petty,
I’m worried too. But one thing is clear: the uneducated
get along. or inconsistent, the student is told to deal with it. Bespoke? A word used only for sending already don’t know who Torquemada was. The
people to the dictionary to discover how uneducated have already dumbed everything down to
When the factory owner treats you like you’re easily The notion that humans want to commit to something
literate you are — a word they’ll use only sound bites and YouTube clips. The industrial school
replaceable, a natural response is to act the part. is ancient and profound. And yet we work overtime to
keep students from doing just that.
for the same purpose. Right? had several generations and billions of dollars to drill
and practice us into game show champions, and it has
Really?
It’s no surprise to read quotes like this (from Wired):
Andrew failed, miserably.
“This is something to commit to,” he says. Cultural literacy is essential. A common store of
He takes a break and gives me the tour, pointing out knowledge is the only way to create community, to
different people in the community, tells me who they are build and integrate a tribe of people interested in living
and what they do for Occupy Boston. The community together in harmony. But that store of knowledge will
gives them something to care about, he explains. never be infinite, and what’s more important, we cannot
drill and practice it into a population that has so many
“That’s what a lot of this is. We’re fascinating or easy diversions available as alternatives.
rediscovering our self respect.”
I’m concerned about fact ignorance and history
At school, we have created a vacuum of self-respect, a ignorance and vocabulary ignorance.
desert with nothing other than grades or a sports team
My blog is hardly filled with words most educated I’m petrified, though, about attitude
citizens would have trouble understanding. And yet ignorance.
a cable TV–inoculated audience wants everything
dumbed down to the Kardashian level. This relentless If we teach our students to be passionate, ethical, and
push for less (less intelligence, less culture, less effort) is inquisitive, I’m confident that the facts will follow.
one of the boogiemen facing anyone who would mess Instead of complaining that I’m using a seven-letter word
with the rote rigor of mass schooling. when a six-letter one might be sufficient, the inquisitive
reader thanks me for adding a new, better word to his
“If we spend more time training inquisitive humans, lexicon. No need to memorize that word — it’s now, and
we’ll have to give up on the basics, and that will mean forever, a mouse click away.
nothing but uneducated dolts who don’t even know who
Torquemada was.”

68detour The Bing
69the dumb parade?
But what about
Here’s a simple example of the difference between Motivated user: Hit bookmark I know the feeling. You see the young mom feeding her their community could afford, but it didn’t work because
pushing kids to memorize a technique and selling them infant a can of Sprite from a baby bottle. The blog reader our effort was based on the wrong strategy.
on a process and an attitude: Should you memorize this tip? Of course not. What’s who thinks “bespoke” is too difficult a word (and not
missing is that millions of Americans, people possessing worth looking up). The financially afraid who get tricked The bad decisions we see every day aren’t the result of
The Bing search engine is owned by Microsoft — it’s their computers that would have cost a million dollars just into losing their houses because they don’t understand lack of data, or lack of access to data.
alternative to Google. In order to increase usage, they’ve simple arithmetic.…
What about them?

ten years ago, are operating out of habit and fear and
built it into the home page that shows up in Microsoft treating the computer like a magic box. They’re afraid
Explorer, the Web browser built into Windows, the to wonder if they can replace Bing with Google. Afraid
operating system installed on most PCs. to ask how to get rid of Internet Explorer and install
Firefox. Too lazy to ask their colleagues if there’s a better
It turns out that one of the most popular items searched way. They don’t look for tips or ways to break or open
for in Bing throughout 2011 was the word “Google.” or fix or improve. They self-describe as Dummies and How can we possibly argue about forcing students No, they’re the result of a schooling culture that is
give up, not for lack of genetic smarts, but for lack of to memorize fewer facts when the world doesn’t even creating exactly what it set out to create.
Users type “Google” into Bing to get to Google so they initiative and because of an abundance of fear. know who’s buried in Grant’s tomb, doesn’t know the
can do a search (the very search they could have done in
difference between write and right, and can’t balance a Along the way, we teach students to be open to and
Bing, of course). They weren’t sold on a forward-leaning posture when it checkbook. What about them? trusting of marketing messages. Not only is the school
comes to technology, so they make no effort, acting out day primarily about students accepting the messages
And then, when they get to Google, one of the most of fear instead of passion. For the rest of their lives. For a really long time, I thought more drilling, more marketed to them by the authority figures in the school,
popular terms? Facebook.
schooling, and more homework was the only way. That but the fashions, gadgets and trends of teen culture (all
That forward-leaning posture is teachable. schools lacked rigor and were failing students by not delivered by marketers) are the glue that holds the place
They’re typing “Facebook” into Google to get to the
pumping them with enough data. together. We mix obedience with marketing culture,
social networking site, because they don’t know how to
why are we surprised at what we get?
use the address bar at the top of the browser to type
Then I realized that all of the people in this parade have
www.facebook.com, and they don’t know how to
bookmark their favorite sites.
already been through school. They’ve received the best School is successful… at the wrong thing.
Clueless user:
Bing “Google” Google “Facebook” Facebook

70 of our civilization
Grammr and the decline
I need to come back to this again, because deep down, The question is: Will spending more time drilling kids
the educated people reading this aren’t sure yet. The on the map of the world solve this problem? Is our apathy
argument for rote, for primers, for drill and practice, about world affairs a function of a lack of exposure to
and for grammar is made vivid within ten seconds of the map in school?
checking out YouTube. Here’s a sample comment:
NOW UV STARTED READIN DIS DUNT STOP THIS

IS SO SCARY. SEND THIS OVER TO 5 VIDEOS
Of course not.
IN 143 MINUTES WHEN UR DONE PRESS F6 No, the problem isn’t that we haven’t spent enough hours
AND UR CRUSHES NAME WILL APPEAR ON THE memorizing the map. The problem is that we don’t want
70.5(aheadline)
to.
SCREEN IN BIG LETTERS. THIS IS SO SCARY
BECAUSE IT ACTUALLY WORKs Teachers aren’t given the time or the resources or, most Open book, open note
We’re all going down the drain. Too much profanity,
no verb conjugation, incomplete thoughts, and poor
analysis, everywhere you look, even among people
important, the expectation that they should sell students
on why. formerly missing
A kid who is into dinosaurs has no trouble discussing
running for President. the allosaurus/brontosaurus controversy. A student
interested in fixing up his dad’s old car will have no
I don’t think the problem is lack of access to role models, trouble understanding the mechanics of the carburetor.
or to Strunk and White, or to strict teachers. And the young Hillary Clintons among us, those who
Futurist Michio Kaku points out that soon, it will be What’s the point of testing someone’s ability to cram for
are fascinated by the world, understand quite clearly
I think the problem is that kids don’t care. Because easy for every student and worker to have contact lenses a test if we’re never going to have to cram for anything
where Greece is.
they don’t have to. And if someone doesn’t care, all the hooked up to the Internet. ever again? If I can find the answer in three seconds
drilling isn’t going to change a thing. online, the skill of memorizing a fact for twelve hours
If you’re running an institution based on compliance
One use will be that whatever you’re reading can be (and then forgetting it) is not only useless, it’s insane.
and obedience, you don’t reach for motivation as a tool.
The way we save the written word, intellectual discourse, instantly searched online, and any questions that can be
It feels soft, even liberal, to imagine that you have to
and reason is by training kids to care. answered this way, will be answered this way. Already, In an open-book/open-note environment, the ability to
sell people on making the effort to learn what’s on the
there are simple plug-ins that allow you to search any synthesize complex ideas and to invent new concepts
agenda.
Only 3 percent of Americans can locate Greece on a word or phrase in the document you’re currently reading is far more useful than drill and practice. It might be
map. (That’s not true, but if it were, you wouldn’t be online. harder (at first) to write tests, and it might be harder
I’m not sure it matters how it feels to the teacher. What
surprised, because we’re idiots about stuff like that.) to grade them, but the goal of school isn’t to make the
matters is that motivation is the only way to generate
real learning, actual creativity, and the bias for action
Forget about futurists and contact lenses. educational-industrial complex easy to run; it’s to create
This is something we can do right now, on any text on a better generation of workers and citizens.
that our future requires.
any screen on just about any computer.

71 homework
the day
Lectures at night,
during 72 the Khan Academy
Beyond
Sal Khan, founder of the Khan Academy, has a very The next day at school, teachers can do what they want Check out Udacity.com, co-founded by Sebastian Just as online shopping scaled, an inexorable rise due to
different vision of how school can work. He’s already to do anyway — coach and help students in places they Thrun, who until recently, was a tenured professor at the efficiencies of the connections created by the net, so
raised millions of dollars from Bill Gates and others, and are stuck. In a school like this, the notion that every Stanford. His goal is to teach courses that have 200,000 will the digital delivery of information permeate every
his site currently offers more than 2,600 video lectures student will have to be in sync and watch the same (live!) simultaneous students. And why not? nook and cranny of what we learn.
that (for free) teach everything from Calculus to World lecture at the same time will become absurd. And for
What we
History. To date, the lectures have been delivered almost good reason. He reports that in the last class taught at Stanford, every
a hundred million times. single person in the class who got a perfect grade wasn’t
The most visible symptom of the death of traditional in the classroom at all — all the A students were remote,
can’t do,
None of the videos are as good as they will be in two schooling is going to be the rise of online video lectures. some as remote as Afghanistan. Many of the students
years, just as Wikipedia, Google, and Amazon started as Not just online, but specific. Specific to a topic, to a would watch a lecture twenty or more times because
mere shadows of their current selves. But as each video problem, to a student’s status. With the long tail of the they were so focused on learning what he had to teach.
is replaced by a better one, as others start competing to Internet at our disposal, why settle for a generic lecture,
though,
increase the quality, here’s what will happen: the local lecture, the lecture that everyone else needs to I’ve shared one example after another of what happens
see? when we combine motivated students with specific and
There will be a free, universal library of courses in the refined educational assets delivered digitally. It’s easy
is digitize
cloud online, accessible to anyone with an Internet And most important, why settle for an amateur lecture, to see how it works for computer programmers and
connection. Every lecture, constantly improved, on not very good, given by a teacher with a lot of other math students, for those that want to learn a craft or
every conceivable topic. This means that students will priorities? It’s a bit like requiring teachers to write their understand a novel (not for a grade, but because they
be able to find precisely the lecture they need, and to own textbooks. actually care).
passion.
watch it at their own speed, reviewing it at will.
And yet, like all things associated with the ever-increasing
yield of the networked economy, the examples are
discounted. “Yes,” people said after Amazon sold a few
books, “it works for speciality books, but it will never
work for novels.” And then, after novels started selling a We can’t force the student to want to poke around
third or more of their copies online, the skeptics said it and discover new insights online. We can’t merely say,
would never work for DVDs or MP3s or chocolate bars. “here,” and presume the students will do the hard (and
But it did. scary) work of getting over the hump and conquering
their fears.
Without school to establish the foundation and push

and pull and our students, the biggest digital library in
the world is useless.

73 Slader Here comes
74 union The role of THE TEACHER’S
in the post-
industrial school
Slader is a new website that further clarifies the future Find the best homework questions ever devised and It’s not surprising that early on, many teachers found students (at least until we’ve persuaded the lesser teacher
teaching process. Slader hired dozens of nerds and create world-class tutorials in how to solve each one. support in unions. The industrial nature of schooling to retire).
together they solved every homework problem in set up an adversarial system. Management (the board,
hundreds of editions of dozens of math textbooks. Go one step further and generate useful reports about the administration, and yes, the parents) wanted more The role of the teacher in this new setting is to inspire,
which assignments were answered easily and which ones productivity, more measurability, and more compliance, to intervene, and to raise up the motivated but stuck
Want to see the answer to any math homework problem? frustrated each student. Connect the data with people not just from students, but from teachers as well. Spend student. Instead of punishing great teachers with precise
It’s free. (human tutors and teachers and parents) who can less money, get more results — that’s the mantra of all instructions on how to spend their day, we give them the
actually pay attention when attention is needed. industries in search of productivity. freedom to actually teach. No longer on the hook to give
Want to see it worked out? That’ll cost a repeat performances of three or four lectures a day, this
few pennies. When teachers nationwide coordinate their homework, In the post-industrial model, though, the lectures star teacher can do the handwork that we need all star
we don’t waste the time and energy of thousands of are handled by best-in-class videos delivered online. teachers to do — the real work of teaching.
people. When students can get patient, hands-on, step- Anything that can be digitized, will be digitized, and
It’s Cliffs Notes for math (and soon, they’ll be doing
by-step help in the work they’re doing, they learn more. isolated on the long tail and delivered with focus. What’s When the union becomes a standards-raising guild of
English assignments as well).
needed from the teacher is no longer high-throughput the very best teachers, it reaches a new level of influence.
This, it seems to me, is a ridiculous subterfuge when All of this was impossible five years ago. lectures or test scoring or classroom management. No, It can lead the discussion instead of slowing it down.
the efficient answer is obvious (though difficult to Now it’s obvious. what’s needed is individual craftsmanship, emotional
labor, and the ability to motivate.
reach). Instead of playing cat and mouse with textbook
publishers (who will quickly renumber the assignments
In that world, the defend-all-teachers mindset doesn’t
and change numbers here and there in order to break
fly. When there is no demand for the mediocre lecture-
Slader), why not interact directly with the teachers?
reader, the erstwhile deliverer of the state’s class notes,
then school looks completely different, doesn’t it?
Consider the suburban high school with two biology

teachers. One teacher has an extraordinary reputation
and there is always a waiting list for his class. The other
teacher always has merely the leftovers, the ones who
weren’t lucky enough to find their way into the great
class.
When we free access to information from the classroom

setting, the leverage of the great teacher goes way up.
Now we can put the mediocre teacher to work as a
classroom monitor, shuffler of paper, and traffic cop and
give the great teacher the tools he needs to teach more

75 REVOLUTION Hoping for a quality
at the
teacher’s union
76 INTEACHERS Emotional labor
THE WORK OF
The Harlem Village

The thing is, the teachers here are more engaged and have Lewis Hyde’s essential book The Gift makes a distinction Labor, particularly emotional labor, is the difficult task
more job satisfaction across the board than just about between work and labor. of digging deep to engage at a personal level. Emotional
Academy, like most any school I’ve ever visited. And the reason is obvious: labor looks like patience and kindness and respect. It’s
charter schools, has

they are respected professionals working with respected Work is an intended activity that is accomplished through very different from mechanical work, from filling out a
professionals. There’s no one holding them back, and the will. A labor can be intended but only to the extent of form or moving a bale of hay.
no teacher’s union. No they work in a place where their bosses measure things doing the groundwork, or of not doing things that would
tenure, no contract- that matter. clearly prevent the labor. Beyond that, labor has its own
schedule. Things get done, but we often have the odd sense
Every great teacher you have ever had the good luck of
learning from is doing the irreplaceable labor of real
based job security. I’ve spent hours talking with school administrators, and that we didn’t do them. teaching. They are communicating emotion, engaging,
when the union comes up, they invariably sadden and and learning from the student in return. Emotional labor
shake their heads. So many great teachers, they say, held Paul Goodman wrote in a journal once, “I have recently is difficult and exhausting, and it cannot be tweaked or
back by a system that rewards the lousy ones. The union written a few good poems. But I have no feeling that I wrote commanded by management.
is held hostage by teachers in search of a sinecure instead them.” That is the declaration of a laborer…
of driven forward by the those that want to make more As our society industrialized, it has relentlessly worked
of an impact. …One of the first problems the modern world faced with to drive labor away and replace it with work. Mere work.
the rise of industrialism was the exclusion of labor by the Busywork and repetitive work and the work of Taylor’s
And the message of the Harlem Village Academy expansion of work.” scientific management. Stand just here. Say just that.
becomes crystal clear when held up against the Check this box.
traditional expectation that the union will protect the
bureaucracy wherever it can. What happens when the I’m arguing that the connection revolution sets the table
great teachers start showing up at union meetings? What for a return of emotional labor. For the first time in a
happens when the top 80% of the workforce (the ones century, we have the opportunity to let digital systems
who truly care and are able and willing and eager to get do work while our teachers do labor.
better at what they do) insist that the union cut loose the
20% that are slowing them down, bringing them down But that can only happen if we let teachers
and averaging them down? be teachers again.
Just us.
In a post-industrial school, there is no us
and them.

77(early picks turn into
Making the cut, the early creation
of the bias for selection
market leaders)
The fun things that matter in school have no shortage of So if you want to have a speaking part in the play, try If the goal of the team was to win, that would make sense. Once picked, they get more ice time. They get
applicants. School government, the class play, and most out (even if you’re eleven years old). If you want to get But perhaps the goal is to teach kids about effort and more coaching. Most of all, they get a dream. After all,
of all, school sports are all about try-outs and elections. any time on the field, better play well (even though it’s opportunity and teamwork. Isn’t it interesting that the they’re the ones getting applauded and practiced.
time on the field that may lead to your actually playing movies we love about sports always feature the dark horse
Those who run these organizations are pretty sure they’re well). If you want to find out if you can contribute to who dreams, the underdog who comes off the bench and The rest of the kids, not so much. Dreams extinguished,
sending the right message — life is a meritocracy, and budget discussions in the school government, better be saves the day? they realize they have no right to play, so they settle for a
when a lot of people try out for a few slots, we should preternaturally charismatic so that you can get elected job, not their passion.
pick the best ones. After all, that’s how the world works. (even though this creates a cycle of shallowness that we What would happen to school sports if the compensation
all suffer under). of coaches was 100 percent based on the development of The hockey parable extends to so many of the other
all the players and none of it was related to winning the things we expose kids to as they’re seeking for something
The freshman soccer team at the local public school has game at all costs? to dream about.
a fairly typical coach. He believes that his job is to win
soccer games. Malcolm Gladwell has famously written about the
Be good now,
distribution of birthdays in professional sports,
Of course, this isn’t his job, because there isn’t a shortage particularly hockey. It turns out that a huge percentage of
of trophies, there isn’t a shortage of winners. There’s hockey players are born in just three months of the year.
and you’ll
a shortage of good sportsmanship, teamwork, skill (About twice as many NHL players are born in March as
development, and persistence, right? in December.)
get even
There are sixteen kids on the squad. Eleven get to play; The reason is simple: these are the oldest kids in youth
the others watch. One popular strategy is to play your hockey in Canada, the ones who barely made the
top eleven at all times, and perhaps, just maybe, if birthday cutoff. Every year, the Peewee leagues accept
you’re ahead by five or more goals, sub in a few of the new applications, but those applicants have to have been
second-string players. (Actually, this isn’t just a popular
strategy
— it’s essentially the way nearly every high
school coach in the nation thinks.)
born by a certain date.
As a result, the kids born just after the deadline play in

a younger league. They’re the biggest and the strongest
better later.
The lesson to the kids is obvious: early advantages now when they’re seven or eight or nine years old. What a
lead to bigger advantages later. Skill now is rewarded, terrific advantage — to be nine months older and five
dreams, not so much. If you’re not already great, don’t pounds heavier and two or three inches taller than the
bother showing up. youngest kids. The older kids (remember, they are still
eight years old) get picked for the all-star squad because
they’re currently the best.

78 (too much) First impressions matteR
Maybe your 79 hack? WHY NOT
son should do
something else.
Much of this manifesto echoes the attitude of the hacker.
Not the criminals who crack open computer systems,
but hackers — passionate experimenters eager to discover
He’s not really something new and willing to roll up their sleeves to
figure things out.
getting this. Check out this sixteen-year old student from Georgia:
http://boingboing.net/2012/02/04/16-y-o-girl-accepted-to-
mit.html
After getting admitted to MIT at the age of sixteen,

That’s what Brendan Hansen’s coach said to his mom. she did what any hacker would do — she turned her
When he was four. In the pool for his third day of swim admissions letter into a space probe, wired a video
lessons. camera into it and sent it more than 91,000 feet in the
air. And made a movie out of it.
You can already guess the punchline. Brendan has won
four Olympic medals in swimming. Someone taught Erin King how to think
this way.
Who’s next?
The industrialized system of schooling doesn’t have a
lot of time to jump-start those who start a bit behind,
doesn’t go out of its way to nurture the slow starter. It’s
easier to bring everyone up to a lowered average instead.
In Hansen’s estimation, it’s easy for natural gifts to escape

the notice of people who aren’t focused on finding them Isn’t that our most important job: to raise a generation
and amplifying them. of math hackers, literature hackers, music hackers and
life hackers?

81 FollowershipLeadership AND
80Anti-intellectualism
American John Cook coined the phrase “leadership and
followership” when he described a high school student
practicing his music conducting skills by conducting the
orchestra he heard on a CD. When you are practicing
your leadership in this way, you’re not leading at all.
You’re following the musicians on the CD — they don’t
even know you exist.
Getting called an egghead is no prize. My bully can beat
up your nerd. Real men don’t read literature. This faux leadership is what we see again and again
in traditional schools. Instead of exposing students to
We live in a culture where a politician who says “it’s the pain and learning that come from actually leading
simple” will almost always defeat one who says “it’s a few people (and living with the consequences), we
complicated,” even if it is. It’s a place where middle create content-free simulations of leadership, ultimately
school football coaches have their players do push-ups reminding kids that their role should be to follow along,
until they faint, but math teachers are scolded for giving while merely pretending to lead.
too much homework.
Leadership isn’t something that people hand to you. You
Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were legendary don’t do followership for years and then someone anoints
intellectuals. Bill Gates and Michael Dell are nerds. you and says, “here.” In fact, it’s a gradual process, one
But still, the prevailing winds of pop culture reward the where you take responsibility years before you are given
follower, the jock, and the get-along guy almost every authority.
time.
Which is fine when your nation’s economy

depends on obeisance to the foreman, on
heavy lifting, and on sucking it up for the
long haul.
And that’s something
we can teach.
Now, though, our future lies with the artist
and the dreamer and yes, the person who
took the time and energy to be passionate
about math.
82wrecked them” “Someone before ME
83for Some tips
the frustrated
student:
It doesn’t take very much time in the teacher’s lounge The opportunity for widespread education and skills 1. Grades are an illusion
before you hear the whining of the teacher with the improvement is far bigger than it has ever been before. 2. Your passion and insight are reality
imperfect students. They came to him damaged, When we can deliver lectures and lessons digitally, at scale, 3. Your work is worth more than mere congruence
apparently, lacking in interest, excitement, or smarts. for virtually free, the only thing holding us back is the to an answer key
status quo (and our belief in the permanence of status). 4. Persistence in the face of a skeptical authority figure
Perhaps it was the uncaring is a powerful ability
5. Fitting in is a short-term strategy, standing out pays
parent who doesn’t speak in
School serves a real function when it activates a passion for off in the long run
full sentences or serve a good
lifelong learning, not when it establishes permanent boundaries
breakfast. The one with an 6. If you care enough about the work to be criticized,
for an elite class.
accent. Or the teacher from you’ve learned enough for today
the year before or the year
84ofeducation:
before that who didn’t adequately prepare the student
with the basics that she needs now.
The two pillars
And the boss feels the same way about those employees
who came in with inadequate training. We sell teaching
and coaching short when we insist that the person in
a future-proof
front of us doesn’t have the talent or the background or
the genes to excel.
In a crowded market, it’s no surprise that people will

choose someone who appears to offer more in return
Teach kids how to lead.
for our time and money. So admissions officers look
for the talented, as do the people who do the hiring for Help them learn how to solve interesting belongs to) goes to the individual who can draw a new
map, who can solve a problem that didn’t even exist
corporations. Spotting the elite, the charismatic, and the problems.
yesterday.
obviously gifted might be a smart short-term strategy,
but it punishes the rest of us, and society as a whole. Leadership is the most important trait for players in the
Hence the question I ask to every teacher who reads
connected revolution. Leadership involves initiative, and
from her notes, to every teacher who demands rote
in the connected world, nothing happens until you step
memorization, and to every teacher who comes at
up and begin, until you start driving without a clear
schooling from a posture of power: Are you delivering
map.
these two precious gifts to our children? Will the next
generation know more facts than we do, or will it be
And as the world changes ever faster, we don’t reward
equipped to connect with data, and turn that data into
people who can slavishly follow yesterday’s instructions.
information and leadership and progress?
All of the value to the individual (and to the society she

85passion or
competence?
Which comes first,
One theory is that if you force someone to learn math

or writing or soccer, there’s a chance she will become
passionate about it and then run with what she knows.
The other theory is that once someone becomes

passionate about a goal, she will stop at nothing to learn
what she needs to learn to accomplish it.
The question then is: should we be teaching and

encouraging and demanding passion (and then letting
competence follow)?
In other words, if we dream big enough,

won’t the rest take care of itself?
Big enough 86and interest”

“Lacks determination
doesn’t mean I think that part of effective schooling is helping students

Here’s an interesting question: when a good student gets
too big
a comment like that on a report card from a teacher in
calibrate their dreams.
just one of his classes, who is at fault?
The student who dreams of playing in the NBA, starring
in a television show, or winning the lottery is doing
— so big that your dream is a place to hide. Does it matter if the student is six or sixteen?
precisely the wrong sort of dreaming. These are dreams
that have no stepwise progress associated with them, no
If the teacher of the future has a job to do, isn’t addressing
reasonable path to impact, no unfair advantage to the
this problem part of it? Perhaps it’s all of it…
extraordinarily well prepared.
School is at its best when it gives students the expectation

that they will not only dream big, but dream dreams
that they can work on every day until they accomplish
them — not because they were chosen by a black-box
process, but because they worked hard enough to reach
them.

87HIDING? 88≠ Passion
Obedience + Competence
It’s human nature to avoid responsibility, to avoid putting

The formula doesn’t
work.
ourselves in the path of blame so we can be singled out
by the head of the village for punishment. And why not?
That’s risky behavior, and it’s been bred out of us over
millions of generations. It never has. And yet we act as if it does.
The challenge is that the connected economy demands We act as if there are only two steps to school:
people who won’t hide, and it punishes everyone else.
Standing out and standing for something are the Get kids to behave
attributes of a leader, and initiative is now the only
posture that generates results. Fill them with facts and technique
We’re clever, though, and our amygdala and primitive Apparently, if you take enough of each, enough behavior
lizard brain see a way to use big dreams to avoid and enough technique, then suddenly, as if springing
responsibility. If the dream is huge, we get applause from verdant soil, passion arrives.
from our peers and our teachers, but are able to hide out
because, of course, the dream is never going to come true, I’m not seeing it.
The lights go out and it’s just
the auditions won’t pan out, the cameras won’t roll, the
ball won’t be passed, and we’ll never be put on the spot.
the three of us.
I think that passion often arrives from success. Do
something well, get feedback on it, and perhaps you’d
School needs to put us on the spot. Again and again and like to do it again. Solve an interesting problem and you
again it needs to reward students for being willing to
You me and all that stuff we’re might get hooked.
so scared of.
be singled out. Learning to survive those moments, and
then feel compelled to experience them again — this is But if it takes ten years for you to do math well, that’s
the only way to challenge the lizard. too long to wait for passion.
– Bruce Springsteen
89of engineers A shortage
90and writing Reading
We can agree that our culture and our economy would In the connected age, reading and writing remain the you want to teach kids to love being smart, you must
benefit from more builders, more people passionate two skills that are most likely to pay off with exponential teach them to love to read.
about science and technology. So, how do we make results.
more of them? If the non-advantaged kids in Harlem can read fifty
Reading leads to more reading. Writing leads to better books a year, why can’t your kids? Why can’t you?
We need more
writing. Better writing leads to a bigger audience and
more value creation. And the process repeats. If every school board meeting and every conversation
with a principal started with that simple question,
brave artists, too,

Typical industrial schooling kills reading. Among imagine the progress we’d make as a culture. What
Americans, the typical high school graduate reads no would our world be like if we read a book a week, every
more than one book a year for fun, and a huge portion week?
of the population reads zero. No books! For the rest of
and some poets.

their lives, for 80 years, bookless. Writing is the second half of the equation.
Writing is organized, permanent talking, it is the brave
When we associate reading with homework and tests, is way to express an idea. Talk comes with evasion and
it any wonder we avoid it? deniability and vagueness. Writing, though, leaves no
room to wriggle. The effective writer in the connected
But reading is the way we open doors. If our economy revolution can see her ideas spread to a hundred or
We need leaders and people passionate enough about and our culture grows based on the exchange of ideas a million people. Writing (whether in public, now
their cause to speak up and go through discomfort to and on the interactions of the informed, it fails when we that everyone has a platform, or in private, within
accomplish something. Can these skills be taught or stop reading. organizations) is the tool we use to spread ideas. Writing
amplified? activates the most sophisticated part of our brains and
At the Harlem Village Academy, every student (we’re forces us to organize our thoughts.
talking fifth graders and up) reads fifty books a year. If
Teach a kid to write without fear and you have given her a
powerful tool for the rest of her life. Teach a kid to write boring
book reports and standard drivel and you’ve taken something
precious away from a student who deserves better.

91 TO figure things out
The desire
Consider the case of Katherine Bomkamp, a twenty- A few years later, the Pain Free Socket is about to be
year-old who will never struggle to find a job, never patented and may very well become a life-changing
struggle to make an impact. device for thousands of amputees. Katherine’s life is
already changed, though. She called the bluff of the
She’s not a genius, nor is she gifted with celebrity looks system and didn’t wait. What she learned in high school
or a prodigy’s piano skills. What she has is the desire is something that precious few of her peers learn: how to
92 or despite?
to make things, to figure things out and to make a figure things out and make them happen.
BECAUSE
difference.
In high school, she spent a fair amount of time with

her dad at Walter Reed Army Hospital. Her father is
disabled and he had to visit often for his treatment.
While sitting in waiting rooms with wounded soldiers,
Katherine learned a lot about phantom limb syndrome.
Like many idealistic kids, she thought she’d try to help.
What makes this story noteworthy is that Katherine That’s the key question in the story of Katherine
actually did something. She didn’t give up and she didn’t Bomkamp and so many other kids who end up making
wait to get picked. Instead, she got to work. Entering a difference.
her idea in a school science fair, Katherine spent months
finding experts who could help make her idea a reality. Did they reach their level of accomplishment and
This is a revolutionary notion — that there are experts contribution because of what they are taught in school,
just waiting to help. But, as she discovered, there are or despite it?
people waiting to help, waiting for someone interested in
causing change to reach out to them. Some are there in That question ought to be asked daily, in every classroom
person, while others are online. The facts are there, the and at every school board meeting. The answer is almost
vendors are there, the case studies are there, just waiting always “both,” but I wonder what happens to us if we
to be found. amplify that positive side of that equation.
It was the science fair and the support of those around

her that gave her an opening to do something outside
of the path that’s so clearly marked. Katherine did what
so many kids are capable of doing, but aren’t expected
to do.

93ofmaintainers Schools as engines
competence or
of class?
94apeople College as a ranking mechanism,
tool for slotting
into limited
Or possibly both.
Public schools were the great leveler, the tool that would
enable class to be left behind as a meritocracy took hold.
the cycle, dooming the lower classes to an endless game
of competence catch-up, one that even if it’s won won’t
pigeonholes
The scarcity model of the industrial age teaches us
that there are only a finite number of “good” jobs. Big
In the post-industrial age of connection, though, the
slotting and the scarcity are far less important. We care
lead to much because the economy spends little time companies have limited payrolls, of course, so there’s a great deal about what you’ve done, less about the one-
At schools for “higher”-class kids, though, at fancy seeking out the competent. only one plant manager. Big universities have just one word alumnus label you bought. Because we can see
boarding schools or rich suburban schools or at Yale, head of the English department. Big law firms have just whom you know and what they think of you, because
there’s less time spent on competence and more time Give a kid a chance to dream, though, and one managing partner, and even the Supreme Court has we can see how you’ve used the leverage the Internet
spent dreaming. Kids come to school with both more the open access to resources will help her only nine seats. has given you, because we can see if you actually are
competence (better reading and speech skills) and bigger
find exactly what she needs to know to go able to lead and actually are able to solve interesting
dreams (because those dreams are inculcated at home). As we’ve seen, the ranking starts early, and if you (the problems — because of all these things, college means
As a result, the segregation of school by class reinforces
far beyond competence. thinking goes) don’t get into a good (oh, I mean famous) something new now.
college, you’re doomed.
This is one of the reasons that college has

become an expensive extension of high
school.
The goal is to get in (and possibly get out), but what

happens while you’re there doesn’t matter much if the
goal is merely to claim your slot.
When higher education was reserved for elite academics,

there was a lot of learning for learning’s sake, deep dives into
esoteric thought that occasionally led to breakthroughs.
Once industrialized, though, college became yet another
holding tank, though without the behavior boundaries
we work so hard to enforce in high school.

95 inseenhigher The coming meltdown
education (as
by a marketer)
For four hundred years, higher education in the U.S. This leads to a crop of potential college students who can
has been on a roll. From Harvard asking Galileo to (and will) no longer just blindly go to the “best” school 5. Accreditation isn’t the solution, it’s the team. Things like gap years, research internships, and
entrepreneurial or social ventures after high school are
be a guest professor in the 1600s to millions tuning in they get into. problem. opening doors for students who are eager to discover the
to watch a team of unpaid athletes play another team new.
of unpaid athletes in some college sporting event, the 3. The definition of “best” is under siege. A lot of these ills are the result of uniform accreditation
amount of time and money and prestige in the college programs that have pushed high-cost, low-reward
The only people who haven’t gotten the memo are
world has been climbing. Why do colleges send millions (!) of undifferentiated policies on institutions and rewarded schools that churn
anxious helicopter parents, mass-marketing colleges,
pieces of junk mail to high school students now? We will out young wanna-be professors, instead of experiences
and traditional employers. And all three are waking up
I’m afraid that’s about to crash and burn. Here’s how I’m waive the admission fee! We have a one-page application! that help shape leaders and problem-solvers.
and facing new circumstances.
looking at it. Apply! This is some of the most amateur and bland direct
mail I’ve ever seen. Why do it? Just as we’re watching the disintegration of old-school
1. Most colleges are organized to give an marketers with mass-market products, I think we’re
average education to average students. Biggest reason: So the schools can reject more applicants. about to see significant cracks in old-school schools with
The more applicants they reject, the higher they rank in mass-market degrees.
Pick up any college brochure or catalog. Delete the U.S. News and other rankings. And thus the rush to
game the rankings continues, which is a sign that the Back before the digital revolution, access to information
brand names and the map. Can you tell which school
marketers in question (the colleges) are getting desperate was an issue. The size of the library mattered. One reason
it is? While there are outliers (like St. Johns, Deep
for more than their fair share. Why bother making your to go to college was to get access. Today, that access is
Springs), most schools aren’t really outliers. They are
education more useful if you can more easily make it worth a lot less. The valuable things people take away
mass marketers.
appear to be more useful? from college are interactions with great minds (usually
professors who actually teach and actually care) and non-
Stop for a second and consider the impact of that choice.
By emphasizing mass and sameness and rankings, 4. The correlation between a typical class activities that shape them as people. The question
I’d ask: Is the money that mass-marketing colleges
colleges have changed their mission. college degree and success is suspect. are spending on marketing themselves and scaling
themselves well spent? Are they organizing for changing
This works great in an industrial economy where we College wasn’t originally designed to be merely a
lives or for ranking high? Does NYU have to get so much
can’t churn out standardized students fast enough and continuation of high school (but with more binge
bigger? Why?
where the demand is huge because the premium earned drinking). In many places, though, that’s what it has
by a college grad dwarfs the cost. But… become. The data I’m seeing shows that a degree (from
The solutions are obvious. There are tons of ways to get
one of those famous schools, with or without a football
a cheap, liberal education, one that exposes you to the
2. College has gotten expensive far faster team) doesn’t translate into significantly better career
world, permits you to have significant interactions with
than wages have gone up. opportunities, a better job, or more happiness than does
people who matter and to learn to make a difference
a degree from a cheaper institution.
(start here). Most of these ways, though, aren’t heavily
As a result, there are millions of people in very serious marketed, nor do they involve going to a tradition-steeped
debt, debt so big it might take decades to repay. Word two-hundred-year-old institution with a wrestling
gets around. Won’t get fooled again….

96no longer create jobs
Big companies
97 the Understanding
gas station
question
Apple just built a massive data center in Malden, North “How many gas stations are there in the If the training we give people in public school or college
Carolina. That sort of plant development would have
brought a thousand or five thousand jobs to a town
United States?” is designed to help them memorize something that
someone else could look up, it’s time wasted. Time that
just thirty years ago. The total employment at the data should have been spent teaching students how to be
Yet another one of those trick questions that William
center? Fifty. wrong.
Poundstone writes about. Companies like Google and
Microsoft are renowned for using obtuse questions
Big companies are no longer the engines
of job creation. Not the good jobs, anyway.
(what’s the next number in this sequence: 10, 9, 60, 90,
70, 66…) often to make job seekers feel inadequate and How to be
usefully wrong.
pressured.
What the data center does, though, is create the
opportunity for a thousand or ten thousand individuals to That wasn’t my goal. Years ago, when doing some hiring,
invent new jobs, new movements, and new technologies I often asked the gas station question because in a world
as a result of the tools and technology that can be built where you can look up just about anything, I found it That’s a skill we need along with the dreaming.
on top of it. fascinating to see what people could do with a question
they couldn’t possibly look up the answer to (because, P.S. After asking this question to more than five hundred
There is a race to build a plug-and-play infrastructure. in this case anyway, they didn’t have a computer to help people in job interviews, I can report that two people
Companies like Amazon and Apple and others them). mailed me copies of the appropriate page from the
are laying the groundwork for a generation of job Statistical Abstract (what a waste), and two other people
creation — but not exclusively by big companies. They Those are the only sorts of questions that matter now. said, “I don’t have a car” and walked out of the interview.
create an environment where people like you can create
jobs instead.
Pick yourself.
98has changed The cost of failure
In an industrial setting, failure can be fatal — to the The only source of innovation is the artist willing to be
worker or to the bottom line. usefully wrong. A great use of the connection economy
is to put together circles of people who challenge each
If we’re building a giant factory, the building can’t fall other to be wronger and wronger still — until we find
down. If we’re hauling 10,000 pounds of ore, we need to right.
move it the right way the first time. If we’re changing the
legal conditions on a thousand life insurance policies, That’s at the heart of the gas station question: discovering
we can’t afford the class action lawsuit if we do it wrong. if the person you’re interviewing is comfortable being
wrong, comfortably verbalizing a theory and then
Noted.
99“smart” mean?
testing it, right there and then. Instead of certainty and
proof and a guarantee, our future is about doubt and
fuzzy logic and testing. What does
We can (and must) teach these skills, starting with kids
But if we’re trading hypotheses on a new scientific
who are happy to build towers out of blocks (and watch
breakthrough, of course we have to be wrong before we
them fall down) and continuing with the students who
can be right. If we’re inventing a new business model
would never even consider buying a term paper to avoid
or writing a new piece of music or experimenting with
an essay in college.
new ways to increase the yield of an email campaign, of
Our economy and our culture have redefined “smart,” Are they an indicator of future success or happiness? Are
course we have to be willing to be wrong.
but parents and schools haven’t gotten around to it. the people who excel at these measures likely to become
contributors to society in ways we value?
If failure is not an option, then neither is Some measures are:
success. There’s no doubt that Wall Street and the big law firms
SAT scores have a place for Type A drones, well educated, processing
reams of data and churning out trades and deals and
GPA average litigation.
Test results The rest of the straight-A students in our society are
finding a less receptive shortcut to prosperity and impact,
Ability at Trivial Pursuit because smart, this kind of smart, isn’t something that
we value so much anymore. I can outsource the ability to
These are easy, competitive ways to measure some level repetitively do a task with competence.
of intellectual capacity.
And what about the non-dreamers with C averages?
Those guys are in real trouble.

100 make music? Can anyone
101 learning Two kinds of
Ge Wang, a professor at Stanford and the creator of It’s essential that the school of the future teach music. The Quick, what’s 8 squared? There’s just no way you learned this in a
Smule, thinks so. The problem is that people have to passion of seeing progress, the hard work of practice, the
get drunk in order to get over their fear enough to do joy and fear of public performance — these are critical
classroom.
My guess is that you know, and the reason you know is
karaoke. skills for our future. It’s a mistake to be penny-wise and that someone drilled you until you did. Of course, this sort of learning covers far more than
cut music programs, which are capable of delivering so
football. You need to give a speech. What should it be
Ge is dealing with this by making a series of apps for much value. But it’s also a mistake to industrialize them. The same is true for many of the small bits of knowledge about? You have to work your way through an ethical
iPhones and other devices that make composing music and skill we possess. We didn’t learn these things dilemma involving your boss. What should you do?
not merely easy, but fearless. As we’ve learned from Ben Zander (author and because we believed we needed them right then, and we
conductor), real music education involves teaching didn’t learn them because they would change our lives; The instinct of the industrial system is to force the bottom
He’s seen what happens when you take the pressure off students how to hear and how to perform from the we learned them because it was required. rung to comply. It’s the most direct and apparently
and give people a fun way to create music (not play sheet heart… not to conform to to a rigorous process that
efficient method to get the work done — exercise power.
music, which is a technical skill, but make music). “It’s ultimately leads to numbness, not love. Here’s a second question: In fact, it’s not efficient at all. Real learning happens
like I tasted this great, wonderful food,” he says now,
when the student wants (insists!) on acquiring a skill in
“and for some reason I’ve got this burning desire to say It’s third down and four. There are five defensive linemen
Whatnow?
order to accomplish a goal.
to other people: ‘If you tried this dish, I think you might running straight at you and you have about one second
really like it.’” to throw the ball. We’ve inadvertently raised generations that know
volumes of TV trivia and can play video games and do
His take on music is dangerously close to the kind of
social networking at a world-class level. The challenge for
dreaming I’m talking about. “It feels like we’re at a
educators is to capture that passion and direct it to other
juncture where the future is maybe kind of in the past,”
endeavors, many of which will certainly be more useful
he says. “We can go back to a time where making music
and productive.
is really no big deal; it’s something everyone can do, and
it’s fun.”
Who taught us that music was a big deal?

That it was for a few? That it wasn’t fun?
It makes perfect sense that organized school would add
rigor and structure and fear to the joy of making music.
This is one more symptom of the very same problem: the
thought that regimented music performers, in lockstep,
ought to be the output of a school’s musical education
program.

102 Unnerving the
traditionalists
History’s greatest hits:
103 to let go of This is difficult
In his book Civilization, Niall Ferguson complains, When forced to comply, the smart kid plays along, the Those of us who have successfully navigated the industrial
stupid one is punished, and neither of them produces education system like it when people are well informed,
A survey of first-year history undergraduates at one leading much of value as a result. when sentences are grammatically correct, and when
British university revealed that only 34 per cent knew who our peers understand things like what electrons do and
was the English monarch at the time of the Armada, 31 To be as clear as possible here: In which situation does how the scientific method works.
per cent knew the location of the Boer War and 16 per cent knowledge of the Boer War help society? And does it
knew who commanded the British forces at Waterloo. In a help because it means the student was obedient and Does the new economy demand that we
similar poll of English children aged between 11 and 18, attentive enough to play along to get ahead (in other give this up?
17 per cent thought Oliver Cromwell fought at the Battle words, it’s a marker, a symptom of something else)? Or
of Hastings. do we actually need the trivia? No. But applying ever more effort and rigor to ensure
that every kid knows every fact is insane.
He bemoans the fact that kids only know the greatest hits Trivia? Yes, I think knowing the year that the Battle
of history, recognizing the names of Henry VIII, Hitler, of Hastings was fought is trivia. On the other hand, We’ve failed at that. We’ve failed miserably. We set
and Martin Luther King, Jr., uncomfortably juxtaposed understanding the sweep of history, being able to out to teach everyone everything, en masse, with
without the connecting facts well remembered. visualize the repeating cycles of conquest and failure embarrassingly bad results. All because we built the
and having an innate understanding of the underlying system on a foundation of compliance.
My first answer is, “so what?” It’s even easier for me to be economics of the world are essential insights for educated
dismissive since he’s talking about British history and I people to understand. What if we gave up on our failed effort to teach facts?
know not a thing about the Battle of Hastings. What if we put 80 percent of that effort into making
When access to information was limited, we needed huge progress in teaching every kid to care, to set goals,
The real question, though, in an always-on world, a to load students up with facts. Now, when we have no to engage, to speak intelligently, to plan, to make good
world where I can look up what I need to know about scarcity of facts or the access to them, we need to load decisions, and to lead?
the Battle of Hastings faster than I can type this, is, them up with understanding.
“how many of these kids leave school caring to know?” If there’s one classroom of beaten-down kids who scored
If we’re looking for markers, we need better well on their PSATs due to drill and practice, and
The top-down, command-and-control authoritarian ones. another class of motivated dreamers, engaged in projects
pedagogical approach to cramming facts into our kids they care about and addicted to learning on a regular
is an unqualified failure. basis, which class are you going to bet on?
If we can give kids the foundation to dream, they’ll

figure out the grammar and the history the minute it
helps them reach their goals and make a difference.

104The situation
Real learning happens in bursts, and often those bursts
occur in places or situations that are out of the ordinary.
Textbooks rarely teach us lessons we long remember. We
learn about self-reliance when we get lost in the mall, we
learn about public speaking when we have to stand up
and give a speech.
105 add
In Thinking, Fast and Slow by Nobel prize–winner
Daniel Kahneman, we discover that we have two If you could
just one
brains — the primordial, hot-wired, instinctive brain and
the more nuanced, mature, and rational brain. When we
celebrate someone who is cerebral or thoughtful or just
plain smart, what we’re really doing is marveling over
how much he’s managed to use his rational brain. This
is the person who doesn’t take the bait and get into a
course
bar fight, the one who chooses the long-term productive
path instead of the shortcut. Neil deGrasse Tyson, astronomer and head of the
Museum of Natural History in New York, adds this one:
It turns out, though, that none of this happens if we “How to tell when someone else is
haven’t also trained our instinctive brain to stand down. full of it.”
When we practice putting ourselves into situations, we
give the rational brain a better chance to triumph. That’s
why you’d like the doctor who sees you in the emergency
room to have years of experience. Why performance in
debates improves over time. And why a mom with three
kids is surprisingly more calm than one with merely one.
I’d augment that with:
Practice works because practice gives us a chance to
relax enough to make smart choices. And how to tell
when you are.
A primary output of school should be to produce citizens
who often choose the rational path. And that’s going to
happen only if we’ve created enough situations for them
to practice in.

106they The third reason
don’t teach computer
science in public school
107 about law school An aside
The apparent exception to the list above is law school. Part of the make-believe academic sideshow is the role
There are tons of law schools, probably too many, and of the law reviews, publications that are produced by
The first reason is classic: it’s a new topic, Other topics that are just like computer programming
they apparently churn out hundreds of thousands of law schools and that feature academic treatises by law
and changing the curriculum is political, Fine art lawyers on a regular basis. school professors. Rather than acknowledging that law
expensive, and time-consuming. The bias school is a vocational institution, top schools race to hire
is to leave it alone. Selling What any lawyer will tell you, though, is that law school professors doing esoteric research. The $3.6 billion spent
doesn’t teach you how to be a lawyer. each year on law school tuition goes, in large part, to
The second reason is related. Many teachers are more Presenting ideas these professors.
comfortable teaching areas in which they have significant Law school is a three-year hazing process, a holding
experience and expertise, and computer programming Creative writing tank based on competitiveness and the absorption of According to a study done in 2005, 40 percent (!) of the
doesn’t really line up for them in those areas. irrelevant trivia, combined with high-pressure exams law review articles in LexisNexis had never been cited
Product development and social pressure. (never, not even once) in a legal case or in other law
But the third reason is the most important one, and review articles.
gets to the heart of the argument: Just about all the Law The pedagogy of law school has nothing to do with being
important things we need to teach in computer science a lawyer, but everything to do with being surrounded The problem is that this process is an
can’t be taught by rote memorization, lectures, and tests. Product management by competitive individuals who use words as weapons expensive waste.
And school is organized around all three. and data as ammunition. This indoctrination is precisely
Leadership what many lawyers benefit from.
Top law firms have discovered that they have to take law
Computer programming is directed problem solving. If school grads and train them for a year or more before
you solve the problem for the student by saying, “here, I don’t think it’s an accident that there are few traditional (The ironic aside here is that law school provides
they can do productive work — many clients refuse to
we use this line of code, and here we use this one,” schools that teach these topics (in a moment, an aside precisely the sort of situation I wrote about earlier — it
pay for the efforts of first-year lawyers, and for good
you will have done nothing at all to develop the deep about law schools). puts students into a place where they can develop their
reason.
thinking and arrangement skills that programmers use rational minds at the same time they learn to calm down
every day. These fields used to be left to the desire and persistence and do the work, whatever the work happens to be.)
One more example of failing to ask, “what is school for?”
of the individual. If you wanted to excel in any of these and instead playing a competitive game with rules that
Instead, the process involves selling the student on the areas, you were left to your own devices. You might, The method is clever: use the trope of school, the
make no sense.
mission, providing access to resources, and then holding like Shepard Fairey, end up at Rhode Island School of lectures and the tests, to create an environment where
her responsible for an outcome that works. And repeat. Design, but more commonly, you either found a mentor a likely byproduct is that personalities are shaped and
And repeat.
or figured it out as you went. the culture of lawyering is fostered. In fact, they could
replace half the classes with classes on totally different
topics (Shakespeare, the history of magic) and produce
precisely the same output.

109istransfer
the ability to
emotion
What great teachers HAVE IN COMMON
Every great teacher I have ever encountered is great I teach them “college” words as they are far more capable
because of her desire to communicate emotion, not than just learning, “sat, mat, hat, cat, and rat”. Why can’t
108of emotion and culture

(just) facts. A teacher wrote to me recently, they learn words such as cogent, cognizant, oblivious, or
School as the transference I teach first grade and while I have my mandated
retrograde just because they are 5 or 6? They do indeed use
them correctly which tells me they are immensely capable.
curriculum, I also teach my students how to think and not
what to think. I tell them to question everything they will What’s clear to me is that teaching first graders words
read and be told throughout the coming years. like “cogent” and “retrograde” isn’t the point. It’s not
important that a six-year-old know that. What is
One thing a student can’t possibly learn from a video Learning is frightening for many because at any step I insist they are to find out their own answers. I insist they important, vitally important, is that her teacher believes
lecture is that the teacher cares. Not just about the along the way, you might fail. You might fail to get the allow no one to homogenize who they are as individuals she could know it, ought to know it, and is capable of
topic — that part is easy. No, the student can’t learn that next concept, or you might fail the next test. Easier, (the goal of compulsory education). I tell them their gifts knowing it.
the teacher cares about him. And being cared about, then, to emotionally opt out, to phone it in, to show and talents are given as a means to make a meaningful
connected with, and pushed is the platform we need to up because you have to, because then failure isn’t up to difference and create paradigm changing shifts in our We’ve been spending a fortune in time and money trying
do the emotional heavy lifting of committing to learn. you; it’s the system’s fault. world, which are so desperately needed. I dare them to be to stop teachers from doing the one and only thing they
Coaching
different and to lead, not follow. I teach them to speak out ought to be doing: coaching. When a teacher sells the
even when it’s not popular. journey and offers support, the student will figure it out.
That’s how we’re wired.

110education TALENT VS.
112over blocks THE SCHISM
Tricky
Where does one end and the other begin?
Are you a lousy public speaker/runner/
brainstormer because you’ve never
been trained, or because there’s some
words indeed.
This is a dark and lonely job, one that’s appropriate for a
pessimist masquerading as a realist.
Fortunately, most of us are of a different belief, willing

Jean Schreiber wants kids in elementary school to spend
more time playing with blocks and less time sitting at a
desk and taking notes.
Is that okay with you?

Blocks for building.
Blocks for negotiating

We are losing, but what we’re losing is a race to produce
the low-paid factory workers of tomorrow.
In New York, the Education Department just proposed

a reading test for all third-graders — a test that would
last more than four hours over two days. Clearly, playing
with blocks is not part of this requirement.
But go back to the original premise of this manifesto — that

what we need is not to create obedient servants with a
to imagine that there are so many opportunities in our large bank of memorized data, but instead to build
Blocks for pretending.
mysterious thing missing from your DNA? fast-moving culture that drive, when combined with a generation of creative and motivated leaders — and
background and belief, can overcome a lack of talent suddenly, blocks make a lot of sense.
Blocks for modeling the real world.
If you’re in the talent camp, then most achievement is nine times out of ten.
preordained, and the only job of school or parents is Give me a motivated block builder with a jumbled box
Time spent on blocks takes time away from painstakingly
to shore up the untalented while opening doors for the If that’s true, our responsibility is to amplify drive, not of Legos over a memorizing drone any day. If we can’t
learning to draw a six, from memorizing the times tables,
lucky few. use lack of talent as a cheap excuse for our failure to (or won’t, or don’t want to) win the race to the bottom,
and from being able to remember the names of all fifty
nurture dreams. perhaps we could seriously invest in the race to the top.
states.
111a choice Dumb as Is that what school ought to be doing?

As a parent, you see what seven-year-olds in China are
doing (trigonometry!) and you see the straight rows of
silent students and rigor, and it’s easy to decide that
there’s a race, and we’re losing.
Let’s define dumb as being different from stupid. School, then, needs not to deliver information so much
Dumb means you don’t know what you’re as to sell kids on wanting to find it.
supposed to know. Stupid means you
know it but make bad choices. Dumb used to be a byproduct of lack of access, bad
teachers, or poor parenting. Today, dumb is a choice,
one that’s made by individuals who choose not to learn.
Access to information has radically changed in just ten
years. Kahn Academy, Wikipedia, a hundred million
If you don’t know what you need to know, that’s fixable.
blogs, and a billion websites mean that if you’re interested
But first you have to want to fix it.
enough, you can find the answer, wherever you are.

113 and a million
teenagers
Completing the square
Every year, more than a million kids are at exactly the Also ignored is the benefit of learning how to actually Here’s the nub of my argument: the only
right age to radically advance their understanding of figure things out. Because we’re in such a hurry to drill
leadership and human nature. They’re ready to dive deep and practice the techniques on the SAT or Regents exam,
good reason to teach trig and calculus
into service projects, into understanding how others we believe we don’t have time to have students spend a in high school is to encourage kids to
tick, and most of all, into taking responsibility. week to independently invent the method of completing become engineers and scientists. That’s it.
Obedience again.
the square. They don’t invent it, they memorize it.
And so, of course, the system teaches our best and
brightest how to complete the square to solve a quadratic
equation.
In case you missed it, it involves adding (b/a)[squared] to

both sides of the equation and then solving from there.
It’s almost entirely abstract, it is certainly of zero Precisely at the moment when we ought to be organizing The way we teach it actually decreases the number of
practical use, and it’s insanely frustrating. The question school around serious invention (or re-invention and kids who choose to become engineers and scientists. It’s
worth asking is: why bother? discovery), we wholeheartedly embrace memorization a screen, the hard course schools set up to weed out the
and obedience instead. Because it’s easier to measure, less intent. In other words, we’re using the very tool that
One reason is that quadratic equations are the gateway easier to control, and easier to sell to parents. creates engineers to dissuade them from learning the
to calculus, which is the gateway to higher math. material that would help them become engineers.
The puzzles of math and physics are among the most
Another reason is that many of the elements of perfect in the world. They are golden opportunities to Advanced high school math is not a sufficient end in and
Newtonian mechanics involve similar sorts of analysis. start young adults down the path of lifelong learning. of itself. If that’s the last class you take in math, you’ve
The act of actually figuring something out, of taking learned mostly nothing useful.
If not, then let’s fix it.

Both reasons are based on the notion that a civilized responsibility for finding an answer and then proving On the other hand, if your
society learns as much as it can, and advancing math that you are right — this is at the heart of what it means appetite is whetted and you
and science (and thus engineering) requires a wide base to be educated in a technical society. have a door to advanced work
opened, if you go on to design
of students who are educated in this subject so that a few (Have you ever met a math whiz or an engineer who explained
bridges and to create computer
can go on to get advanced degrees. But we don’t do that any longer. There’s no time and
chips, then every minute you that the reason she went on to do this vital work was that the
Less discussed is the cost of this dark alley of abstract math.
there’s no support. Parents don’t ask their kids, “what
spent was totally worthwhile. math textbook in eleventh grade ignited a spark?)
did you figure out today?” They don’t wonder about
In order to find the time for it, we neglect probability, which frustrating problem is no longer frustrating. No, And so the question:
spreadsheets, cash flow analysis, and just about anything parents have been sold on the notion that a two-digit
that will increase a student’s comfort and familiarity with number on a progress report is the goal — if it begins Is the memorization and drill and practice of advanced
the math that’s actually done outside of academia. with a “9.” math the best way to sell kids on becoming scientists
and engineers?

115 about leadership:
Replacing Coach K
Getting serious
Let’s assume for a moment that college sports serve an Just about all of these jobs can be done by students.
educational function, not just one of amusing alumni. What would that lead to?
Who learns the most? I’m arguing that the quarterback Well, first we’d have to get truly serious about giving
114 interesting
and the coach take away the most lessons, because these students the background and support to do these
Let’s do something they’re making significant decisions and have the biggest
opportunities for intellectual (as opposed to physical)
jobs well. Interesting to note that kids in college plays
have taken ten years or more of drama classes, but the
failure in each game. student director probably has no mentor, no rigor, and
no background in doing his job. We’ve rarely taught
A running-back might learn from a fumble (hold on students how to do anything that involves plotting a
tighter), but the person calling the plays and managing new course.
the team and organizing the defense probably gains a
Every once in a while, between third grade and the end greater life lesson. Would you be interested in hiring the kid who coached
of high school, a teacher offers the class a chance to do the team that won the Rose Bowl? How about working
something interesting, new, off topic, exciting, risky, So let’s de-professionalize. Have a student for someone who had handled logistics for five hundred
and even thrilling. (or a rotating cast of students) be the employees at a 50,000-seat stadium? Or having your
accounting done by someone who learned the craft
coach. And let students be the high school tracking a million dollars’ worth of ticket sales?
I’d venture it’s about 2 percent of the hours the student
recruiters. And let students be the managers
Is there a better
is actually in school. The rest of the time is reserved for
absorbing the curriculum, for learning what’s on the test. of as many elements of the stadium, the
press box, and the concessions as possible.
Just wondering: what would happen to our
culture if students spent 40 percent of their time And let’s have the director of the college musical be a way to learn
than by doing?
pursuing interesting discoveries and exciting growth student as well.
opportunities, and only 60 percent of the day absorbing
facts that used to be important to know? And the person in charge of logistics for homecoming.

116 asas much Higher ed is goinG TO CHANGE
in the next decade
newspapers
117 The This Is Your Brain on the Internet:
power of a great
professor
did in the last one Cathy Davidson teaches at Duke and her courses almost
always have a waiting list. Interesting to note that in
the first week, about 25 percent of the students in the
Ten years ago, I was speaking to newspaper executives class drop out. Why? Because the course doesn’t match
about the digital future. They were blithely ignorant of the industrial paradigm, can’t guarantee them an easy
how Craigslist would wipe out the vast majority of their path to law school, and represents a threat to established
Bravo.
profits. They were disdainful of digital delivery. They modes of thinking.
were in love with the magic of paper.
In her words, “Sometimes the line outside my office
In just ten years, it all changed. No interested observer is was as long as those at a crowded bakery on a Saturday
sanguine about the future of the newspaper, and the way morning, winding down the hall. Students wanted to
news is delivered has fundamentally changed — after a squeeze every ounce of interaction from me because they
hundred years of stability, the core business model of the believed — really believed — that what they were learning
newspaper is gone. in my classes could make a difference in their life.”
College is in that very same spot today. The astonishing thing about this quote is that only one
professor in a hundred could truly claim this sort of
Schools are facing the giant crash of education loans and impact.
the inability of the typical student to justify a full-fare
education. It will be just a few years after most courses Davidson doesn’t use term papers in her class — instead,
are available digitally — maybe not from the school itself, she has created a series of blog assignments as well as a
but calculus is calculus. At that point, either schools rotating cast of student leaders who interact with each
will be labels, brand names that connote something and every post. Her students write more, write more
to a hiring manager, or they will be tribal organizers, often, and write better than the ones down the hall in
institutions that create teams, connections, and guilds. the traditional “churn it out” writing class.
Just as being part of the Harvard Crimson or Lampoon
is a connection you will carry around for life, some She is teaching her students how to learn,
schools will deliver this on a larger scale. not how to be perfect.
I guess it’s fair to say that the business of higher
education is going to change as much in the next decade
as newspapers did in the prior one.

118symbols POLISHING
119 vs. your knowledge My ignorance
Just about everything that happens in school after second The reason we make fun of advanced research papers There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there The shift now is this: school used to be a one-shot deal,
grade involves rearranging symbols. We push students with titles like “Historic Injustice and the Non-Identity has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been your own, best chance to be exposed to what happened
to quickly take the real world, boil it down into symbols, Problem: The Limitations of the Subsequent-Wrong a constant thread winding its way through our political and when and why. School was the place where the books
and then, for months and years after that, analyze and Solution and Towards a New Solution” is that the cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy lived and where the experts were accessible.
manipulate those symbols. We parse sentences, turning academics are focusing all their attention on symbol means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.”
words into parts of speech. We refine mathematical manipulation — and since we, the readers, have no clue A citizen who seeks the truth has far more opportunity
equations into symbols, and become familiar with the how the symbols relate to the real world, we’re lost. –Isaac Asimov to find it than ever before. But that takes skill and
periodic table. discernment and desire. Memorizing a catechism isn’t
School is
Symbol manipulation is a critical skill, no doubt. But the point, because there’s too much to memorize and it
The goal is to live in the symbolic world, and to get without the ability (and interest) in turning the real changes anyway. No, the goal has to be creating a desire
better and better and polishing and manipulating those world into symbols (and then back again), we fail. (even better, a need) to know what’s true, and giving
not merely
symbols. That’s what academics do. Pushing students into the manipulation of symbols people the tools to help them discern that truth from the
without teaching (and motivating) them to move into fiction that so many would market to us.
If on the interval then, and out of this world is a waste.
vocational.
I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I
If converges, then so does . It doesn’t matter if you’re able to do high-level math or know: The only ones among you who will be really happy
analyze memes over time. If you’re unable or unwilling are those who sought and found out how to serve.
If diverges, then so does . to build bridges between the real world and those
symbols, you can’t make an impact on the world. It used to be, a long time ago, but then, in addition – Albert Schweitzer
I love stuff like this. The manipulation of ever to work training creeping up, the Academy crept
increasing levels of abstraction is high-octane fuel for Back to the original list of what our society and our down. It became important to our culture for even the
the brain; it pushes us to be smarter (in one sense). organizations need: we rarely stumble because we’re street-sweeper to know what a star was, to have a basic
unable to do a good job of solving the problem once we understanding of the free market, and to recognize
But at another level, it’s a sort of intellectual onanism. figure out what it is. We are struggling because there’s a Beethoven when he heard it.
For a few math students, it’s a stepping stone on the way shortage of people willing to take on difficult problems
to big new insights. For everyone else, it’s a distraction and decode them with patience and verve. In the rush to get a return on our investment, sometimes
from truly practical conversations about whether to buy we forget that having knowledge for the sake of
or lease a car, or how to balance the Federal budget. knowledge is a cornerstone of what it means to be part
of our culture.

120Professional help Seek
121 isn’t the answer for most
Home schooling
There seems to be a cultural bias against getting better Thousands of caring and committed parents are taking — The time commitment. The cost of one parent
at things that matter. School has left such a bad taste their kids out of the industrial system of schooling per student is huge — and halving it for two kids is not
that if what we need to do to improve feels like reading and daring to educate them themselves. It takes guts nearly enough. Most families can’t afford this, and few
a book, attending a lecture, or taking a test, many of us and time and talent to take this on and to create an people have the patience to pull it off.
tend to avoid it. environment that’s consistently challenging and focused
enough to deliver on the potential our kids are bringing
— Providing a different refuge from fear.
Consider how easy (and helpful) it would be to the world.
This is the biggest one, the largest concern of all. If the
to get better at: goal of the process is create a level of fearlessness, to
There are several problems, though — reasons for us to
create a free-range environment filled with exploration
Giving a presentation be concerned about masses of parents doing this solo:
and all the failure that entails, most parents just don’t
Handling a negotiation have the guts to pull this off. It’s one thing for a caring
— The learning curve. Without experience, new and trained professional to put your kids through a
Writing marketing copy teachers are inevitably going to make the same mistakes, sometimes harrowing process; it’s quite another to do
Shaking hands mistakes that are easily avoided the tenth time around… it yourself.
which most home educators will never get to.
Dressing for a meeting
Making love
Analyzing statistics
122taught in school
Hiring people
Dealing with authority figures Some courses I’d like to see
Verbal self defense
Handling emotionally difficult situations And yet… most of us wing it. We make the same
mistakes that many who came before us do, and we
shy away from the hard (but incredibly useful) work of
getting better at the things that matter.
How old is the Earth? How to do something no one has ever done before
Not because we don’t want to get better. Because we’re
afraid that it will be like school, which doesn’t make us What’s the right price to pay for this car? Design and build a small house
better but merely punishes us until we comply.
Improv Advanced software interface design

123 of the library THE FUTURE
When kids go to the mall instead of the
library, it’s not that the mall won; it’s
that the library lost.
And then we need to consider the rise of the Kindle. An The next library is a house for the librarian with the guts
This is an issue very much aligned with the one we’re Industrialists (particularly Andrew Carnegie) funded the e-book costs about $1.60 in 1962 dollars. A thousand to invite kids in to teach them how to get better grades
dealing with here. The very forces that are upending our modern American library. The idea was that in a pre- e-books can fit on one device, easily. Easy to store, easy while doing less grunt work. And to teach them how
need for school are at work at libraries as well. Here’s my electronic media age, the working man needed to be to sort, easy to hand to your neighbor. Five years from to use a soldering iron or take apart something with
most retweeted blog post ever: both entertained and slightly educated. Work all day and now, electronic readers will be as expensive as Gillette no user-serviceable parts inside. And even to challenge
become a more civilized member of society by reading razors, and e-books will cost less than the blades. them to teach classes on their passions, merely because
at night. it’s fun. This librarian takes responsibility or blame for
What is a public library for? Librarians who are arguing and lobbying for clever
e-book lending solutions are completely missing the
any kid who manages to graduate from school without
And your kids? Your kids need a place with shared being a first-rate data shark.
First, how we got here: encyclopedias and plenty of fun books, hopefully point. They are defending the library-as-warehouse
inculcating a lifelong love of reading, because reading concept, as opposed to fighting for the future, which is The next library is filled with so many Web terminals
Before Gutenberg, a book cost about as much as a small makes all of us more thoughtful, better informed, and librarian as producer, concierge, connector, teacher, and that there’s always at least one empty. And the people
house. As a result, only kings and bishops could afford more productive members of a civil society. impresario. who run this library don’t view the combination of access
to own a book of their own. to data and connections to peers as a sidelight — it’s the
Which was all great, until now. Post-Gutenberg, books are finally abundant, hardly entire point.
This situation naturally led to the creation of shared scarce, hardly expensive, hardly worth warehousing.
books, of libraries where scholars (everyone else was too Want to watch a movie? Netflix is a better librarian, with Post-Gutenberg, the scarce resources are knowledge and Wouldn’t you want to live and work and pay taxes in
busy not starving) could come to read books that they a better library, than any library in the country. The insight, not access to data. a town that had a library like that? The vibe of the
didn’t have to own. The library as warehouse for books Netflix librarian knows about every movie, knows what best Brooklyn coffee shop combined with a passionate
worth sharing. you’ve seen and what you’re likely to want to see. If the The library is no longer a warehouse for dead books. Just in raconteur of information? There are one thousand things
goal is to connect viewers with movies, Netflix wins. time for the information economy, the library ought to that could be done in a place like this, all built around
Only after that did we invent the librarian. be the local nerve center for information. (Please don’t one mission: take the world of data, combine it with the
This goes further than a mere sideline that most librarians say I’m anti-book! I think through my actions and career people in this community, and create value.
The librarian isn’t a clerk who happens to work at a resented anyway. Wikipedia and the huge databanks of choices; I’ve demonstrated my pro-book chops. I’m not
library. A librarian is a data hound, a guide, a sherpa, information have basically eliminated the library as the saying I want paper to go away, I’m merely describing We need librarians more than we ever did. What we don’t
and a teacher. The librarian is the interface between best resource for anyone doing amateur research (grade what’s inevitably occurring.) We all love the vision of the need are mere clerks who guard dead paper. Librarians
reams of data and the untrained but motivated user. school, middle school, even undergrad). Is there any underprivileged kid bootstrapping himself out of poverty are too important to be a dwindling voice in our culture.
doubt that online resources will get better and cheaper with books, but now (most of the time), the insight and For the right librarian, this is the chance of a lifetime.
After Gutenberg, books got a lot cheaper. More as the years go by? Kids don’t schlep to the library to use leverage are going to come from being fast and smart
individuals built their own collections. At the same an out-of-date encyclopedia to do a report on FDR. You with online resources, not from hiding in the stacks.
time, though, the number of titles exploded, and the might want them to, but they won’t unless coerced.
demand for libraries did as well. We definitely needed a The next library is a place, still. A place where people
warehouse to store all this bounty, and more than ever They need a librarian more than ever (to figure out come together to do co-working and to coordinate and
we needed a librarian to help us find what we needed. creative ways to find and use data). They need a library invent projects worth working on together. Aided by a
The library is a house for the librarian. not at all. librarian who understands the Mesh, a librarian who can
bring to bear domain knowledge and people knowledge
and access to information.
124about college Thinking hard
125 -college trap THE FAMOUS
Spend time around suburban teenagers and their parents, should seek. If we view the purpose of college as a stepping
If there’s a part of the educational system and pretty soon the discussion will head inexorably to the stone, one that helps you jump the line while looking for
that should be easier to fix, it’s higher notion of going to a “good college.” a good job, then a famous college is the way to go. The
education. line for those good jobs is long, and a significant benefit of
Harvard, of course, is a good college. So is Yale. Add to a famous college is more than superstition — associating
We’ve seen really significant changes in the physical the list schools like Notre Dame and Middlebury. with that fame may get you a better first job.
plant, the marketing, and the structure of many
universities, usually in response to student demand. How do we know that these schools are good? A famous college might not deliver an education that’s
transformative to the student, but if that’s not what you’re
University presidents are responsive to application rates, If you asked me if a Mercedes is a good car compared looking for, you might as well purchase a valuable brand
donations, and football attendance — they understand to, say, a Buick, by most measures we could agree that name that the alumnus can use for the rest of his life.
that their seven-figure salaries are often a reflection of the answer is yes. Not because of fame or advertising, but
how the world of alumni, parents, and students feel about because of the experience of actually driving the car, the But is that all you’re getting? If the sorting mechanism of
them. Unlike local high schools, colleges compete. They durability, the safety — many of the things we buy a car college is all that’s on offer, the four years spent there are
compete for students, for professors, and for funding. for. radically overpriced.
Colleges have an opportunity to dramatically shift what The people who are picking the college, though, the It turns out that students who apply to Harvard and get
it means to be educated, but they won’t be able to do parents and the students about to invest four years and in but don’t go are just as successful and at least as happy
this while acting as a finishing school for those who have nearly a quarter of a million dollars — what are they throughout their lives as the ones who do attend. Try to
a high school diploma. College can’t merely be high basing this choice on? Do they have any data at all about imagine any other branded investment of that size that
school, but louder. the long-term happiness of graduates? delivers as little.
So, that said, here are some thoughts from a former adjunct These schools aren’t necessarily good. What they are is Steve Jobs and Bill Gates both dropped out of college (one
professor, an alum, and a parent of future college students famous. more famous than the other). It turned out that getting in
was sufficient to give them a credibility boost.
Loren Pope, former education editor at the New York
no football here,
Times, points out that colleges like Hiram and Hope and Famous colleges are part of the labeling and ranking
Eckerd are actually better schools, unless the goal is to find system, but have virtually nothing to do with the
a brand name that will impress the folks at the country education imparted or the long-term impact of the
club. His breakthrough book, Colleges that Change Lives, education received. If you need the label to accomplish
sorry.
combines rigorous research with a passion for unmasking your goals, go get the label. Either way, we ought to hold
the extraordinary overselling of famous colleges. colleges to a much higher standard when it comes to
transformative education.
If college is supposed to be just like high school but with
more parties, a famous college is precisely what parents For starters, though, start using the word “famous” when
your instinct is to say “good.”

126nothing important The SAT measures
127 I’m paying for a degree”
“I’m not paying for an education,
Here’s the essential truth: The only reported correlation grade inflation, amazing facilities, and most of all, an In the words of a Columbia University student, that’s
between the SAT scores of a seventeen-year-old student and insulation from what will be useful in the real world. the truth. If you choose to get an education at the same
the success or happiness of that student when he’s thirty is a Why leave? Indeed, how can you leave? time, well, that’s a fine bonus, but with free information
double counting of how the brand name of a famous college available to all, why pay $200,000 for it?
helped him get a better job early on. Double count? Sure. To be clear, it’s entirely likely that some students will
Because normalizing for the fame of the college in the short find a dramatic benefit from four years of college. Or Of course, once a college student realizes this truth,
run, lousy SAT scores lead to just as much (if not more) life six. Or perhaps three. But measuring retention as a way the entire enterprise loses its moorings. The notion of
happiness, income, leadership ability, etc. of deciding if a college is doing a good job is silly — if motivated students teamed up with motivated professors
students are leaving early, I’d like to know where they’re falls apart, and we’re back to the contract of adhesion,
The circular reasoning, of course, is that the fame of going. If they are leaving to do productive work and are to compliance-based education, to a scarce resource
college determines the number of students who apply, satisfied with what they’ve learned, I put that down as a (the degree) being dispensed to those who meet the
which determines the “selectivity” (carefully put in win, not a failure. measurable requirements.
quotes), which raises the typical SAT score of incoming
students. The most surprising irony of all is that the average Hofstra University spent more than $3.5 million
debt load of a student leaving the top fifty schools on sponsoring a presidential debate in 2008. In exchange,
Kiplinger’s, normally a reality-based magazine, ranked graduation is less than $30,000. Princeton, ranked first, they got 300 tickets for students (that works out to
the fifty “best” private universities in the USA. The has an average debt of less than $6,000. No, the famous about $10,000 a ticket) and, as they’re happy to brag, a
criteria were: admissions rate, freshman and graduating schools aren’t saddling their graduates with a lifetime of huge boost of publicity, apparently worthwhile because
senior retention rate, and students per faculty member. debt, one that’s crippling. In fact, it’s the second-, third-, it makes their degree more valuable (famous = good).
and fourth-tier schools that lack the resources to offer That famous degree then leads to more applicants,
As we’ve seen, the admissions rate is nothing but a aid that do this. which allows the University to be more particular
measure of how famous the college is, how good it is at about their SAT scores and admission rate, which leads
getting applications. That’s the key reason that so many The lesser-ranked schools are less famous, net out to be to better rankings in U.S. News, which leads to more
middle-level (there’s that ranking again) colleges spend more expensive (less aid), and, because many of them applications and ultimately, more donations and a raise
a fortune on high school outreach. They do direct-mail struggle to be on the list of the top fifty, offer none of the for the university’s president.
campaigns to boost applications which boosts their character-stretching that Loren Pope so relished.
statistics which boost their ratings which lead to more
A trap, caused by the power of marketing
But did anyone actually

applications because they are now famous.
and the depth of insecurity among well-
What about retention rate? Well, if a school tells its
meaning parents raised in an industrial
students the truth and gives them tools to proceed and
world.
learn anything?
succeed in the real world, you’d imagine that more of
those students would leave to go join the real world,
no? If retention rate is a key metric on the agenda of
a university’s leadership, I wouldn’t be surprised to see

128pay for Getting what they
Over the last twenty years, large Further research by Charles Clotfelter, a professor at Duke,
universities discovered a simple equation: found that during March Madness, schools that had teams
in the playoffs had 6 percent fewer downloads of academic
articles at their libraries. And if the team won a close game
Winning football and basketball teams would get them
or an upset, the number dropped 19 percent the next day.
on television, which would make them more famous,
We get what
And it never rose enough later to make up for the dip.
which would attract students looking for a good school.
Once again, it’s the marketing problem of equating
familiar with good.
we pay for.
Since 1985, the salary of college football coaches (at
public universities) has increased by 650 percent.
Professors? By 32 percent.
There is no question that over this time, the quality of

football being played has skyrocketed. Attendance at
games is up. Student involvement in sports spectating
has gone up as well. And the fame of the schools that
have invested in big-time sports has risen as well.
What hasn’t improved, not a bit, is the

education and quality of life of the student
body.
In fact, according to research by Glen Waddell at the Colleges aren’t stupid, and as long as the game works,
University of Oregon, for every three games won by the they’ll keep playing it. After the University of Nebraska
Fighting Ducks (winners of the Rose Bowl), the GPA of entered the Big 10, applications at their law school went
male students dropped. Not the male students on the up 20 percent — in a year when applications nationwide
team — the male students who pay a fortune to attend were down 10 percent. As long as students and their
the University of Oregon. parents pay money for famous, and as long as famous
is related to TV and to sports, expect to see more of it.

129 iseducation
not the same as
Access to information
Universities no longer spend as much time bragging to/should/will create a university of the people — giving get a degree. While access to information is becoming themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to
about the size of their libraries. The reason is obvious: the access to information and great teachers to all (and if ever easier (you’ll soon be able to take every single MIT grow. And fast.
size of the library is now of interest to just a tiny handful they don’t, someone should and will, soon) — which of course from home), the cultural connection that college
of researchers. Most anything that we want access to is the other three really matter? produces can be produced only in a dorm room, at a The editor at the Harvard Lampoon experiences this. I
available somewhere online or in paid digital libraries. football stadium, or walking across the quad, hand in felt it when I co-ran a large student-run business. The
hand. Catherine Oliver, an Oberlin graduate, remembers advanced physics major discovers this on her first day at
Accreditation: A degree from an Ivy League school is living in one of the co-ops, planning a menu, cooking, the high-energy lab, working on a problem no one has ever
Stanford University has put up many of their courses a little like real estate in a good neighborhood. It makes a
online for free, and some have more than 30,000 active baking, washing dishes, mopping floors, and sitting solved before.
lousy house better and a great house priceless. We make
students at a time. through long consensus-building meetings.
all sorts of assumptions about fifty-year-old men (even
That’s the reason to spend the time and spend the money
fictional ones — Frasier Crane went to Harvard) because
All of it
MIT just launched MITx, which will create ubiquitous and hang out on campus: so you can find yourself in a
someone selected them when they were eighteen years
access to information. The finest technical university in dark alley with nowhere to go but forward.
old.
the world is going to share every course with any student
builds tribes.
who is willing to expend the effort to learn. With so much information available about everyone,
it gets ever harder to lump people into categories.
Measured by courses, MIT is going ahead and creating Graduating from (or even getting into) a prestigious
the largest university in the world. If you could audit any institution will become ever more valuable. We need
class in the world, would you want to? labels desperately, because we don’t have enough time to
judge all the people we need to judge. It’s worth asking if For centuries, a significant portion of the ruling class
A university delivers four things: the current process of admitting and processing students has had a history with certain colleges, been a member
(and giving a “gentlemen’s C” to anyone who asks) is the of the famous-college tribe, sharing cultural touchstones
Access to information (not perspective or understanding, best way to do this labeling. and even a way of speaking. The label on a résumé is
but access) more than a description of what you did thirty years
But there’s really no reason at all to lump the expense ago — it’s proof, the leaders say, that you’re one of us.
Accreditation/A scarce degree and time and process of traditional schooling with the
labeling that the university does. In other words, if we Until that changes, this tribe is going to continue to
Membership in a tribe think of these schools as validators and guarantors, they exert power and influence. The real question is how we
could end up doing their job with far less waste than they decide who gets to be in it.
A situation for growth (which is where you’d file do now. They could be selectors of individuals based on
perspective and understanding) the work they do elsewhere, as opposed to being the one A situation for growth: And here’s the best reason,
and only place the work has to occur. the reason that’s almost impossible to mimic in an
Once courses are digitized, they ought to be shared, online situation, the one that’s truly worth paying for
particularly by non-profit institutions working in the Membership in a tribe: This is perhaps the best and the one that almost never shows up in the typical
public good. Given that all the major universities ought reason to actually move to a college campus in order to large-school laissez-faire experience. The right college
is the last, best chance for masses of teenagers to find

130dream? WHOSE
131 in twenty-four hours
How to fix school
There’s a generational problem here, a
Don’t wait
paralyzing one.
Parents were raised to have a dream for their kids — we
want our kids to be happy, adjusted, successful. We
want them to live meaningful lives, to contribute and to
find stability as they avoid pain.
for it.
Our dream for our kids, the dream of 1960 and 1970
and even 1980, is for the successful student, the famous
college, and the good job. Our dream for our kids is the
nice house and the happy family and the steady career.
And the ticket for all that is good grades, excellent
comportment, and a famous college.
And now that dream is gone. Our

dream. But it’s not clear that our dream When we let our kids dream, encourage them to
really matters. There’s a different dream
contribute, and push them to do work that matters,
available, one that’s actually closer to
who we are as humans, that’s more we open doors for them that will lead to places that
exciting and significantly more likely to are difficult for us to imagine. When we turn school
affect the world in a positive way. into more than just a finishing school for a factory
job, we enable a new generation to achieve things Pick yourself. Teach yourself. Motivate your kids. Push
that we were ill-prepared for. them to dream, against all odds.
Access to information is not the issue. And you don’t

Our job is obvious: we need to get out of the way, shine
need permission from bureaucrats. The common school
a light, and empower a new generation to teach itself
is going to take a generation to fix, and we mustn’t let up
and to go further and faster than any generation ever
the pressure until it is fixed.
has. Either our economy gets cleaner, faster, and more
fair, or it dies.
But in the meantime, go. Learn and lead
If school is worth the effort (and I think it is), then we and teach. If enough of us do this, school
must put the effort into developing attributes that matter will have no choice but to listen, emulate,
and stop burning our resources in a futile attempt to and rush to catch up.
create or reinforce mass compliance.
132we teach WHAT
133 further reading Bibliography and
When we teach a child to make good decisions, we

benefit from a lifetime of good decisions. Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Too Big to Know, by David Weinberger
When we teach a child to love to learn, the amount of Dumbing Us Down and Weapons of Mass Instruction by MITx
learning will become limitless. John Taylor Gatto
Laura Pappano on big-time college sports in the New York
When we teach a child to deal with a changing world, Free Range Learning by Laura Weldon Times
she will never become obsolete.
Turning Learning Right Side Up by Russell Ackoff and Cathy Davidson in Academe on term papers and more
When we are brave enough to teach a child to question Daniel Greenberg
authority, even ours, we insulate ourselves from those Deborah Kenny, short article and her new book, Born to
who would use their authority to work against each of Unschooling Rules by Clark Aldrich Rise
us.
Colleges that Change Lives by Loren Pope My blog and my books
And when we give students the desire to make things,
even choices, we create a world filled with makers. FIRST and Dean Kamen http://www.usfirst.org/ Thank you to Lisa DiMona, Catherine E. Oliver, Laurie
Fabiano, the students at the Medicine Ball, the Sambas,
Majora Carter the Nanos, the Fembas, and the loyal readers of my blog.
And to my kids, who dream this every single day.
Horace Mann’s Troubled Legacy, by Bob Pepperman
Taylor (a bit academic)
Please share this. Ask the question:
The best way to complain Kelly McGonigal on Willpower and Roy Baumeister on
Willpower
What is school for?
is to make things –James Murphy

“The Smule”
Ken Robinson, including his great TED talk and his books
DIY U by Anya Kamenetz

If it’s not worth your
time, what is?
William Poundstone on interview questions
Civilization, by Niall Ferguson

on the
Will this be
A few years ago, a
computer science
At a time when tuition at an
Ivy League school is more
In real life, a dropout rate of
99% endangers even a tenured Your peers can’t see you,
course online broke than $40,000 a year ($5,000 professor’s career. which makes it difficult to
records and signed
up 100,000 students.
a course), this online course
delivered more than three billion But, you might say, it’s the see yourself.
It was a revelation. dollars worth of higher learning internet. We’ve come to associate
It’s not surprising that traditional Tests are the way institutions
Students from all aggregate value for free. the internet as low-engagement,
universities embraced online enforce compliance. They’re the
over the world, a drive-by experience. We take
learning — it’s at the heart of stick.
without regard for This is the sort of mammoth for granted that the internet
their charter. And countless
their ability to pay, economic and access offers us things that are slightly
organizations jumped in as well, And accreditation is the carrot.
formal schooling or transformation that the internet flaky, or easy. So we’re not
because it appears to be not Put up with the lectures and
connections, were enables. surprised when the drop out rate
only a public good, but a cheap the tests and we’ll give you the
all able to take an is so high. Easy in, easy out.
way to train your people, with certificate, the scarce piece of
advanced course The media was abuzz. Net
from a world-class theorists, teachers and
But it doesn’t zero marginal cost and plenty of
upside for everyone.
paper that is (supposed to be)
worth far more than the effort
professor. organizations were excited
because this was the beginning have to be this you went through to get certified.
of a mammoth shift in the way way. Centralized content, top-
everyone would learn everything. down control of the syllabus, In one question,
Not only a college education, but The course was as well- the ability to approve every then, an easy way to
corporate training and everything designed as a real-world interaction — these are the understand modern
in between. lecture and the teacher was hallmarks of a process that fits education: “Will
qualified and engaging, but it’s most bureaucracies. this be on the test?”
Not mentioned in most of the not a surprise that the dropout
articles was the fact that nearly rate was so high: As soon as
Here’s the thing: The student absorbs, the student
99% of the students that enrolled education gets difficult (and
large universities regurgitates, the student gets the
dropped out of the course. One useful education always gets
have built their prize of a degree (and a job).
thousand students graduated — an difficult) it’s social pressure,
institutions around
astonishing number, a huge peer pressure and our own
lectures, tests and Modern industrialized education
contribution, but the tiniest need to fit in and achieve that
accreditation. So is like a job because, in large
fraction of the number that began often keeps us going. The
have many internal measure, it’s funded by the
the course. typical online course provides
training functions. very same folks who offer jobs.
precious little of any of these It’s like a job because school
elements. Lectures are at the heart of the was invented to train us to be
last century of higher learning. A compliant in our jobs. And it’s like
proven scholar orates in front of a a job because compliance is easy
class of selected students. to scale.

We’ve seen that when knowledge jobs meet the internet, they change. Last year, I set out to try to find a different way to teach online. I
And now we’re seeing that online education is having trouble acting like decided that I wouldn’t create an analog of real-life learning online, but
a job as well. instead create a fundamentally new way to cause change to happen.
Test
Online courses can’t offer too much in the way of credit (because I’m sharing the results of that process here, because I believe we’re
there’s too little scarcity) and online tests are difficult to administer in entering a new generation of online learning. This is how we built the
high-stakes situations. Worst of all is the fact that few people in the age altMBA.
of a TED talk will eagerly sit through a traditional lecture when there’s
little at stake. At its core: Enrollment, not tests.
Experiences not media consumption.
Peer to peer, not top down.
Enrollment is a simple concept: people are there because they want to
be, eager to move forward, on precisely the same road that the course
is. They are moving forward, and the job of the course isn’t to cajole,
it’s to transform.
Students are on this bus because they want to be.

This has led to an explosion of low-stakes, as-much-fun-as-vocational
online courses like the well-executed ones offered by Skillshare and Experiences are at the heart of change. We change when we do
Udemy. But because the stakes are lower, the amount of transformative something, when we interact with the world. Lectures weren’t chosen
learning that goes on is lower. It’s possible for a semester at Harvard as the default in traditional real-world courses because they maximize
Business School to change a life — but less likely it will happen in a educational outcomes. They were chosen as the default because they
lecture course online. are the best way to efficiently control 45 unenrolled students.
Traditional schooling is based on top-down It turns out that the best way to cause change is for people to actually
power, fear and an elusive carrot. It uses change someone or something else. We learn what we do, not what
brute force to move large numbers of people we’re told.
down a straight line of education toward a
norm. Peer to peer scales. We have learned this from Facebook and from
eBay and from Etsy and from Kickstarter and from airbnb etc. But
And the challenge for traditional educators is that when they go online, school hasn’t learned it yet, because the existing bureaucracies in most
they have very little power, the fear that comes from hard work causes industries (and yes, education is an industry) are built on the control
dropouts and the carrot feels very far away indeed. that comes from going top down.

I began by imagining the opposite of the current system: Create a
course that was small, not large. Relatively expensive, not free. Real
time not asynchronous. Open to some, not to all. Experiential, not
lecture based. With live coaches…
The altMBA, the course we now run, has some Enrollment—in the outcome and the
surprising elements: process—is the secret of effective education.
• The backbone is a hand- • All of the final work product is in •A team of ten trained coaches •Everyone makes promises,
built, peer-to-peer learning public. A lot like real life. is engaged with the students, everyone shows up, everyone
environment, not a series of Every student reviews and then holding office hours in connects.
lectures. In fact, there are no comments on several of the other videoconferencing software,
lectures at all. students’ assignments. cheering from the sidelines and •The dropout rate is less than
holding people accountable — not 2%. We graduate more than 98%
• Cohort-based, with groups of • Every student takes the five to a system, not to a test, but to of our matriculated students, an
five to twenty people engaged or ten comments received and themselves. almost symmetric reversal of the
constantly with each other turns them into a reflective script, typical online course.
(we use Slack as a surprisingly detailing actual change, actual •And so we set expectations.
powerful peer-to-peer setting growth. Again and again, about how we •Many of our students are getting
for experiential learning). There do things around here. generous and direct feedback for
is very little time spent engaging • Everything iterates, again and the first time in their career. And it
directly from top down. again. •The group is always on the sticks.
edge of something — success, a
• There are no lectures, no • The students attending are breakthrough, exhaustion… and
proprietary videos, no secret from dozens of cities, more than then they regroup and do it all
lessons. Instead, there’s a deep a handful of countries, time again.
syllabus of materials (some zones around the world, but
required, some optional, most of every admitted student shares
them free or low cost). the same mindset of seeking
true growth. Self-selection plus
• Almost all of the work happens curated admissions means that
through the 14 assignments our the support network is strong.
students take on in the course of Enrollment—in the outcome and
the month. Every few days, they the process—is the secret of
complete another one. effective education.

Online learning is no longer about the Volunteers lean into their work, The new generation of educators
they gulp instead of sip.
technology — off the shelf tech is already can now build courses that take
good enough. It’s now about a series of Volunteers aren’t given tests, these volunteers at their word,
choices that teachers and education they take an opportunity. pushing them to do the hard
impresarios can make (or shy away from). Volunteers don’t want less, they
work to actually make change
happen.
want more.
“Is this voluntary or involuntary?” “Will this be on the test,” is a

marker, an admission that few If you want people to become passionate,
“Am I doing this as a proxy for people involved in the process engaged in a field, transformed by an
something else, as a payment to are actually willing participants. experience — you don’t test them, you don’t
get the prize, or is the learning and No test, no learning. No test, no lecture them and you don’t force them.
the experience the prize?” credit. Few seek out tests, tests Instead, you create an environment where
are something we do to people, willing, caring individuals can find an
Transformational experiences not for them. experience that changes them.
almost always involve voluntary
enrollment. Crossfit or running On the other hand, in the
a marathon, a middle-aged abundance-based economy The lecture doesn’t go away We’re standing at a crossroads,
man learning to play the cello, a of online learning, enrollment from our culture, and neither even bigger than the one that the
teenager giving a TEDx talk. These is essential. It’s voluntary, after do tests. But neither can be at pioneers of public education saw
aren’t things we have to do, they all. Voluntary like the Boston the center of the online learning a hundred years ago. Let’s not
are things we choose to do. Marathon, voluntary like a course environment, not any more. waste it.
in public speaking.
When a course begins with that For more on the current state of
It’s not easier to run a course this education and how we got here,
voluntary mindset and then uses way, it’s actually far more difficult. check out the free ebook Stop
that enrollment to generously pile Stealing Dreams, which comes with a
I’m not sure that matters. What matching TEDx talk.
on expectations, connections and matters is: Does the process
promises, the rules are different. work?
Consider that public school is also

known as compulsory education.
The posture of everyone involved is
that this is something you must do,
not something that is sought out.

Let’s Stop Calling Them
“Soft
Skills”
They might be skills, but they’re not soft
job?
These skills — let’s call them
Are you good at your vocational skills — have become

the backbone of the HR process.
But how to explain that similar

organizations with similarly
vocationally-skilled people find
themselves with very different
outcomes?
By misdefining ‘vocational’ and

focusing on the apparently
essential skills, we’ve diminished
the value of the skills that actually
Different, easier question: Was matter. Most of the textbooks

business students experience
Ty Cobb good at baseball? and the tests business students
take are about these vocational
The apocryphal story is that Ty Cobb was a jerk. His teammates didn’t skills, the checkboxes that have And yet...
like him very much. But he’s still in the Hall of Fame. That’s because to be checked. Organizations spend a ton of
baseball keeps score… of hits, of runs and of catches.
time measuring the vocational
But we give too little respect to skills, because they can. Because
What about your job? It’s probably a bit more complex. the other skills when we call them there’s a hundred years of
“soft” and imply that they’re history. And mostly, because
There are linchpins, people who don’t shirk responsibility when the optional. it’s safe. It’s not personal, it’s
chips are down. And, among others, there are connectors, people
business.
with insights, folks who never seem to lose hope. Your company is It turns out that what actually
staffed with people who can’t possibly be rated on a linear scale, separates thriving organizations We know how to measure typing
because you’re not baseball players. You are managers and inventors from struggling ones are the speed. We have a lot more
and leaders and promise-makers and supporters and bureaucrats and difficult-to-measure attitudes, trouble measuring passion or
And yet...…
detail-oriented factotums. processes and perceptions of the commitment.
people who do the work.
Culture
Organizations give feedback
on vocational skill output daily,
defeats
and save the other stuff for the
annual review if they measure it
And yet we persist in hiring and training as if we’re a baseball team, as
strategy,
at all.
if easily defined skills are all that matter.
every time.
And organizations hire and fire
What causes successful organizations to fail? Stocks to fade,
based on vocational skill output
innovations to slow, customers to jump ship?
all the time, but practically need
an act of the Board to get rid of
We can agree that certain focused skills are essential. That hiring
a negative thinker, a bully or a
coders who can’t code, salespeople who can’t sell or architects who
sloth (if he’s good at something
can’t architect is a short road to failure.

What
Can We
Teach?
Theft
Along the way, we’ve confirmed that vocational skills can be taught
(you’re not born knowing engineering or copywriting or even graphic
design, therefore they must be something we can teach), while we
let ourselves off the hook when it comes to decision making, eager
participation, dancing with fear, speaking with authority, working in
teams, seeing the truth, speaking the truth, inspiring others, doing
measurable).
more than we’re asked, caring and being willing to change things.
If an employee at your
We underinvest in this training, fearful that these things are innate
organization walked out with
and can’t be taught.
a brand-new laptop every day,
you’d have him arrested, or at
We call these skills soft, making it easy for us to move on to
least fired. If your bookkeeper
something seemingly more urgent.
was embezzling money every
month, you’d do the same thing.
We rarely hire for these attributes because we’ve persuaded
ourselves that vocational skills are impersonal and easier to measure.
But when an employee
demoralizes the entire team by
And we fire slowly (and retrain rarely) when these skills are missing,
undermining a project, or when
because we’re worried about stepping on toes, being called out for
a team member checks out and
getting personal, or possibly, wasting time on a lost cause.
doesn’t pull his weight, or when
a bully causes future stars to
Which is crazy, because infants aren’t good at any of the soft skills.
quit the organization — too often,
Of course we learn them. We learn them accidentally, by osmosis, by
we shrug and point out that this
the collisions we have with teachers, parents, bosses and the world.
person has tenure, or vocational
But just because they’re difficult to measure doesn’t mean we can’t
skills or isn’t so bad.
But they’re stealing from us.

improve them, can’t practice them, can’t change.
Of course we can.
Work
to be done MBA’s were strong in analytical
Let’s call them real Real skills can’t replace vocational Writing in the Harvard Business aptitude, quantitative expertise,
skills, not soft. skills, of course not. What they Review, Lou Solomon reports and information-gathering
can do is amplify the things that 69% of managers are ability, they were sorely
Yes, they’re interpersonal skills. you’ve already been measuring. uncomfortable communicating lacking in other critical areas
Leadership skills. The skills of with their employees. The only that employers find equally
charisma and diligence and Imagine a team member with all surprising thing about this attractive: strategic thinking,
contribution. But these modifiers, the traditional vocational skills: statistic is how low it is. written and oral communication,
while accurate, somehow edge productive, skilled, experienced. leadership, and adaptability.
them away from the vocational A resume that can prove it. How do we build people-
Are these mutually
That’s fine,
skills, the skills that we actually centric organizations while
hire for, the skills we measure a also accepting the fact that exclusive? Must we
trade one for the
graduate degree on.
it’s the baseline. two-thirds of our managers
(presumably well-paid, well- other?
So let’s uncomfortably call them trained and integral to our
real skills instead. Now, add to that: Perceptive, success) are uncomfortable
charismatic, driven, focused, doing the essential part of their
Real because they work, because goal-setting, inspiring and job?
they’re at the heart of what we motivated. A deep listener, with
need to today. patience. In a recent survey, the Graduate
Management Admission Council,
Real because even if you’ve What happens to your the folks who own the GMAT
got the vocational skills, you’re organization when someone like exam, reported that although
no help to us without these that joins your team?
human skills, the things that we
can’t write down, or program a
computer to do.

An Encyclopedia of
Real
Skills The fact that there isn’t an accepted taxonomy of real skills Self Control
demonstrates just how little effort organizations large and small have
put into finding, improving and developing real skills among their this skill. • Customer service passion challenges
teams.
• Adaptability to changing • Eagerness to learn from • Passionate
requirements criticism
In this first draft, we’ve chosen five large categories and then given • Posture for forward motion
examples of each. Not a definitive taxonomy, but a start, a way to • Agility in the face of • Emotional intelligence
• Purpose
move the conversation and the investment forward. unexpected obstacles
• Endurance for the long haul
• Quick-wittedness
• Alacrity and the ability to start
• Enthusiasm for the work
and stop quickly • Resilience
The five categories done. • Ethics even when not under
• Risk-taking
• Authenticity and consistent
might include: behavior
scrutiny
Self Control — Once Wisdom — Have you learned • Self awareness
• Etiquette
you’ve decided that something things that are difficult to glean • Bouncing back from failure
• Self confidence
is important, are you able to from a textbook or a manual? • Flexibility
• Coach-ability and the desire to
persist in doing it, without Experience is how we become • Sense of humor
coach others • Friendliness
letting distractions or bad habits adults.
• Strategic thinking taking
get in the way? Doing things for • Collaborative mindset • Honesty
priority over short-term
the long run that you might not Perception — Do you have • Living in balance gamesmanship
• Compassion for those in need
feel like doing in the short run. the experience and the practice
to see the world clearly? Seeing • Competitiveness • Stress management
• Managing difficult
Productivity — Are you things before others have to
• Conscientiousness in keeping conversations • Tolerance of change and
skilled with your instrument? point them out. uncertainty
promises
Are you able to use your insights • Motivated to take on new
and your commitment to Influence — Have you
actually move things forward? developed the skills needed to
Getting non-vocational tasks persuade others to take action?
Charisma is just one form of
Productivity Perception
• Supervising with confidence
and guts • Managing up
• Attention to detail • Facilitation of discussion • Meeting hygiene • Design thinking
• Crisis management skills • Goal setting skills • Planning for projects • Fashion instinct
• Decision making with • Innovative problem-solving • Problem solving • Map making

effectiveness techniques
• Research skills • Judging people and situations
• Delegation for productivity • Lateral thinking
• Technology savvy
• Diligence and attention • Lean techniques
to detail • Time management
• Listening skills
• Entrepreneurial thinking • Troubleshooting
Influence
• Strategic thinking •Giving feedback without ego
Wisdom
• Public speaking
• Reframing
• Ability to deliver clear and • Influence
useful criticism
• Selling skills
• Inspiring to others
• Artistic sense and good • Diplomacy in difficult situations • Assertiveness on behalf of
• Storytelling
taste ideas that matter • Interpersonal skills
• Empathy for customers, co-
• Talent management
• Conflict resolution instincts workers and vendors • Body language (reading and • Leadership
delivering)
• Team building
• Creativity in the face of • Intercultural competence • Negotiation skills
challenges • Charisma and the skill to
• Mentoring influence others • Networking
• Critical thinking instead of
mere compliance • Social skills • Clarity in language and vision • Presentation skills
• Dealing with difficult people • Dispute resolution skills • Persuasive

And then,
the two
questions

1.
• Writing for impact
2.
Is it possible to teach these real skills? Is it possible to focus on
them, hire for them, reward for growth? Can we put in place
programs and insights that will lead to progress in all these areas?
If we did, would it matter? Would an organization that excelled at

these real skills be more productive, more profitable and a better
place to work?
Which leads
to: What are we
waiting for? ?
This is why we built the altMBA. To turn on lights and help people
realize just how far they can take their soft skills. Because they’re real.
Seth Godin | 191

The altMBA
wants to make
change happen.
We exist to help you see the world differently, help you make better decisions, and most
of all, help you change the world around you.
It’s a workshop, not a course, an intensive month-long experience that will expose you to
new people, new challenges and new ideas. We’ve been running the altMBA for over two
years and our alumni are already making a ruckus in more than 45 countries.
Instead of simply giving you access to information (no need, it’s everywhere) or setting
you up to memorize things you will forget or taking tests that don’t matter, the altMBA is
built around experience. You and your fellow students will engage in 13 projects, mostly
done in groups, that will transform the way you do your work.
We’re proud that this process isn’t for everyone. We’re looking for a few people who
are ready to leap, who care so much about their organization, their project and their
community that they will push themselves ever harder to make a difference.
One thing we teach is that everything we do has a reason, a “what’s it for” that enables us
to make smart strategic investments. And in our case, the “what” is simple: We work to
shine a light and open a door so you can step through and begin to make an even bigger
impact on your world.
I hope you’ll join us.
Seth
An intensive, 4-week online workshop
that challenges you to level up and
make a significant impact.
The altMBA prepares you to navigate the
CONTACT
complex challenges of driving organizational altMBA Admissions
[email protected]
The altMBA helps leaders
change. Following a competitive selection
process, the altMBA delivers a condensed learning
experience through teamwork, personalized
to effectively drive change feedback, coaching, curated readings, and shipping

thirteen projects in four weeks.
within their organizations. DEADLINE

Visit altmba.com/apply for session details.
COMMITMENT
We’ve organized the altMBA so that busy people (like you)
can fit it into your schedule. But it does take commitment.
Group discussions meet three times a week. Students use
other hours for their solo work. We offer multiple time
zones to choose from, and you can pick the one that works
best with your schedule.
Created by Seth Godin, for you.
PROGRAM DETAILS
Visit altmba.com for program details. OUR STUDENTS AND ALUMNI ARE FROM
FAST-GROWING ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THESE
PROGRAM STATS
More than 97% of each class of the altMBA successfully
completes our 4-week intensive workshop. And every
single person reports that the workshop exceeded their
expectations, that it was the most intense and productive
online engagement that they’ve ever experienced.
COMBINING 25 YEARS OF INSIGHT

Seth Godin has created 13 hands-on projects designed to
work in a connected, digital workshop. Highly leveraged,
intensive, and applicable.
COACHING
With one coach for every 20 students, we’re able to pay
attention to our students and the work they create.
LEARN BY DOING
Our student portal features curated resources, videos,
articles, and books. Of course, it’s not about secret
content—the altMBA is a workshop, and virtually all your
time is spent creating, critiquing and leveling up.
AFFILIATIONS FOR IDENTIFICATION ONLY

45 Countries
53% Women
“After the altMBA, I had a keen new

perspective on how to overcome obstacles.”
―IAN SCOTT, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT, SIMON SINEK, INC.
Preparing Leaders for 15 Fortune 100

Companies
Age 19-74
the Modern Economy

TESTED, PROVEN & EFFECTIVE “After the altMBA, I had a keen new perspective on how to Army Rangers,
Smart Fortune 500 Learning & Development teams overcome obstacles. Now I perceive tension as an opportunity Red Cross leaders,
choose the altMBA to fuel growth, promote from within, and am inspired to find new ways to challenge myself.”
Rock group Audio
and inspire leadership. The altMBA helps high performers ―Ian Scott, Director of Product, Simon Sinek, Inc. Manager/VP 40%
at corporations and fast-growing startups level up. Engineer, Real Estate
Director 30%
Grow your leaders; promote from within CEO, Brand Manager,
Freelance/CEO 30%
MAXIMIZING EMPLOYEE POTENTIAL Product Manager,
The top 5-7% of your employees are different. We give ALTMBA STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE INCREASED:
Fundraiser, Teacher...
your A-players the tools they need to get to the next level. Motivation, Initiative, Engagement, Empathy, Efficiency,
Confidence, Communication Skills, Proactiveness, Critical
CORE COMPETENCIES: Thinking, & Productivity
• Interpersonal effectiveness—Secure buy-in
from multiple stakeholders inside and outside the “The altMBA taught me that I can fit even more into my day
organization. than I thought possible.” ―Denise Visse, Buyer, North
American stores, Nike
• Leadership and management skills—Take charge
and manage projects and coworkers. Lead multiple
ALUMNI Most Common Alumni
projects, set priorities, adapt to changing conditions.
AFTER THIS PROGRAM, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO: INDUSTRIES and Student Job Titles
• Gain buy-in with cross-functional partners Accounting Fashion Medicine
• Strong work values—Grit, dependability, integrity, Apparel Film Nonprofit
• Confidently formulate a perspective Arts 1. Marketing manager
confidence, empathy, motivation, courage, and a Financial Services Oil & Gas
Automotive Food & Beverage Packaging
positive attitude. • Sell ideas and influence others 2. Director of marketing
Aviation & Aerospace Franchise Pharmaceuticals
• Analyze and process information Biotechnology Gaming Photography 3. VP of Marketing
WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Brand Government Physics
• Write and communicate effectively Broadcast Media 4. Product manager
The program is for full-time employees who are cross- Grocery Professional Services
Business Equipment Healthcare Public Relations
functional leaders, specifically individual contributors, • Iterate quickly and ‘ship’ your work for maximized Chemicals
5. Project manager
Hospitality Publishing
managers, or rising managers in product, marketing, productivity Childcare HR Real Estate 6. Operations manager
operations, and engineering. Participants have on average Coaching Industrial Recycling
of 6-8 years of professional experience. • Deliver and act on feedback Construction Automation Retail 7. Head of operations
Consulting Information Services Self-development
• Plan, organize, and prioritize work 8. Software developer/
Consumer Electronics Insurance Semiconductors
• Navigate important conversations Consumer Goods International Trade Sports engineering manager
REGISTRATION DETAILS: Defense & Space IT Tech, enterprise
www.altmba.com Design 9. Designer/ senior designer
Law Tech, startups
Ecommerce Logistics & Supply Telecommunications
Education 10. CEO/ founder
Contact us to apply for corporate seats: Chain Translation
Electronic Mfg. Management Travel & Tourism
Sam Miller, [email protected] Energy 11. Director of Client Services/
Consulting Venture Capital
Entertainment Manufacturing Account Management
Event Planning Marketing
A MANIFESTO
For Small Teams

Doing Important
Work
We are always under tight deadlines, because Make mistakes, own them, fix them, share the
time is our most valuable asset. learning.
If you make a promise, set a date. No date, no Cheap, reliable, public software might be boring,
promise. but it’s usually better. Because it’s cheap and
reliable.
If you set a date, meet it.
Yesterday’s hierarchy is not nearly as important
If you can’t make a date, tell us early and often. as today’s project structure.
Plan B well prepared is a better strategy than
hope. Lock in the things that must be locked in, leave
the implementation loose until you figure out
Clean up your own mess. how it can get done.
Clean up other people’s messes. Mostly, we do things that haven’t been done
before, so don’t be surprised when you’re
Overcommunicate. surprised.
Question premises and strategy. Care more.
Don’t question goodwill, effort or intent. If an outsider can do it faster and cheaper than
we can, don’t hesitate.
“I’ll know it when I see it,” is not a professional
thing to say. Describing and discussing in the Always be seeking outside resources. A better
abstract is what we do. rolodex is better, even if we don’t have rolodexes
any more.
Big projects are not nearly as important as scary
commitments. Talk to everyone as if they were your boss, your
customer, the founder, your employee. It’s all the
If what you’re working on right now doesn’t same.
matter to the mission, help someone else with
their work. It works because it’s personal.
The altMBA Approach to
Organizational Effectiveness
At the upper echelons of organizations, hard skills become a
commodity. Access to information is no longer a challenge. Hard
skills are easy to train for and therefore fungible. The engineers
at Microsoft are as good at software development as the ones at
Citrix and Amazon. The brand marketers at General Mills are similar
“Perhaps your challenge
to those at Unilever. Hard skills provide little differentiation.
isn’t finding a better
project or a better boss.
I used to avoid risk at every junction for fear Perhaps you need to get
of failure. Now, I see risk as an opportunity.
―Elizabeth Phipps, Manager, Artist Marketing, Sony Music
in touch with what it
EVERY TEAM IS CAPABLE OF DOING MORE THE STRUGGLE ENABLES TRANSFORMATION
means to feel passionate.
The altMBA believes that an organization’s competitive
edge comes from the motivation and the attitude
employees bring to the workplace. We believe that
Educational programs often give participants too much
flexibility to opt out. True learning is often accompanied
by struggle and conflict. It is in this process of struggling
People with passion look
every single person on the team has the ability to be a
linchpin. Rising leaders can be taught to notice shifts in
that leaders learn to challenge assumptions, recognize
their own behavior, and see perspectives they take for for ways to make things
happen.”
the market, to speak up and learn from tighter feedback granted. The altMBA supplements in-house training by
loops, to communicate in a way that secures buy-in. applying the right amount of pressure to keep rising
leaders on the hook.
WHEN ONE PERSON DOESN’T CONTRIBUTE,
THE ENTIRE SYSTEM LOSES IMPACT EMPLOYERS BENEFIT WHEN THEIR PEOPLE ―SETH GODIN, LINCHPIN: ARE YOU INDISPENSABLE?
Every time an A-player has to cajole a B-or-C player CARE ENOUGH TO SPEAK UP
into doing their job, you are unnecessarily taxing your A point of view is worth more than regurgitation,
top talent. We give your A-players the tools to level up and learning how to think is more important than
as change agents, so they stay engaged and inspire being told what to think. At the altMBA, we teach
the teams around them to shift the culture in a frameworks, not tactics. We have taken on the challenge
positive direction. of optimizing for stronger soft skills, critical thinking,
and long-term behavioral change. The best employees
THE STATUS QUO IS NO REASON TO SETTLE don’t await instructions—they use good judgment and
Every day, there is an opportunity to do better. take initiative. We take top employees and empower
Teams can ship faster, and do so with more care them to level up.
and connection. We believe that the onus is on each
employee to raise their hand and ask what more they
can do for the company.
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STOPtv
Telkom
Vitara
Calexico
ConquerX
Consilio
Scotiabank
Siemens AG
Sole Focus
Detroit Labs
Flashtalking
FLG Lacrosse
Plaster Group
Radley Yeldar
Replenish PDX
The Mother Love
The Produce Mom
Two Poles Apart
Ahead of the Wave
Al Huda Institute
Benchic Chocolate
Real Life-Real Time
The Financial Times
Zwift International
National Public Radio
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Summit Point Services
We’re proud of our alumni and
XPLANE
Acumen
Ficosota
Localist
Teco, S.A.
Wavestream
Gradus Group
King of Pops
Self Employed
TetraMap Intl
Affinity Global
Converticulture
Combahee Creative
Hack Reactor Core
Arc’teryx Equipment
Build-Your-Business
Trapdoor Technologies
Alfa Wassermann S.p.A. the organizations where they lead
The altMBA community
SPOTLIGHT
SPOTLIGHT
is full of the most inspiring
The altMBA changed group of people I have ever
ALUMNI
ALUMNI
my view on what can be worked with. There wasn’t
accomplished in a day. one individual I crossed
paths with, who I didn’t
learn something from.
Jessica Lauria
SENIOR DIRECTOR OF BRAND COMMUNICATIONS, CHOBANI
Elizabeth Phipps
MANAGER, ARTIST MARKETING, SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT
Company: Chobani Company: Sony Music Entertainment

Title: Senior Director of Brand Communications Title: Manager, Artist Marketing
Current city: New York, NY Current city: Toronto, Canada
Industry: Consumer goods Industry: Music
Function: Marketing and Communications Function: Marketing
After the altMBA, I don’t think I can ever make up an Because of the altMBA, I have more focus and intention After the altMBA, I found myself in withdrawal. I used to avoid risk at every junction for fear of failure and
excuse again. in my life—I am trying to think about life in a more goal- Withdrawal from the intensity of brain power, emotion embarrassment. Because of the altMBA I have realized
oriented way. No more vague statements that randomly and stamina that I leaned on over the previous five weeks. that my relationship with risk has a lot to do with the story
The altMBA taught me that you really can do anything get thrown out into the world. After the altMBA came to a close, after the last project I tell that surrounds it. And the realization that I have the
you put your mind to, regardless of your parameters. had been posted and we had said our farewells, I found capacity and the responsibility to change how this story is
The altMBA surrounded me with support I never myself pining for this unbridled energy in all of its forms. told. Now, I see risk as an opportunity.
altMBA grads are going to run the world one day. imagined possible.
And so I asked myself, even though the formal education The best part of the altMBA was... how do you name
The best part of the altMBA was getting recognition for The altMBA changed my my view on what can be had ended, what was stopping me from living my life with just one? The obvious answer is the people. I have never
the time and effort you put in. accomplished in a day. a bit more (or a lot more) altMBA character from here worked with a more inspiring group. The less obvious
on out? The answer was: Nothing and no one. And this answer however is the pace. Even after several days of
The altMBA inspired me to keep pushing—don’t stop at The altMBA community is shockingly talented. is what I strive for every day. Even if it’s only a glimpse, it leaning on the rhetorical question “I can do anything for 5
your first idea. You can, and will, make it better. has the power to shed light on potential. weeks, right?”, I still didn’t fully comprehend the intensity
of the altMBA sprint. I describe it as having the power and
The altMBA taught me that achieving perfection is not momentum of a race horse’s gallop. And you learn to love
a real thing. Nor is it something that we should aspire this pace. To thrive on it in fact. It’s what pushes you out
to. I learned that where the good stuff really flows is in of bed in the morning and keeps your stamina intact until
the space that fills out when you allow yourself to make your last project has shipped.
mistakes, to thrash, and to struggle.
Any other comments or recommendations
about the altMBA?
The altMBA presents a very different educational concept.
Rather than to lecture, it provides a space to learn.
Students are guided by coaches, not teachers, who strive

at making you uncomfortable by providing just enough
direction.
Their intent is that you can figure your way through the
process and have an open path for self-discovery in a safe
and generous environment. To me, this was extraordinary to
Camila Naranjo
have!
The program is demanding and the rhythm is very active.

DIRECTOR, ISV CO-SELL AMERICAS LEAD, MICROSOFT
Since there are no teachers, no certificate, no grades,
think this program may be best suited for someone who
It’s a growth mindset demonstrates solid initiative and commitment to self-

learning and development.
based approach where Someone who has a strong interest in developing how to
provide and receive feedback would also benefit strongly.
you get better at every I expected traditional marketing and sales concepts to be
How has the altMBA helped you level up?
deliverable. I now operate in quick, rich cycles to optimize learning
and strong deliverables.
presented and developed through the course. The program
does nothing of that sort.
You will be asked to prepare a post on a given set of

By shipping thoughtfully yet quickly, I am able to gather questions. The project will involve business and marketing
broader worldviews and richer feedback very early in concepts such as creating marketing campaign or a sales
the process. pitch but, it will do it from an innovative perspective.
The outcome is a cohesive and inclusive approach to a Rather than ask me how to improve my pitch, it will ask me
strong deliverable. By the time it’s completed, everyone to explain why I would purchase from my competitor.
involved has weighed in.
In the process, not only did I discover how I could sell
The altMBA helped me realize that learning happens in better by looking at the process from a different angle but,
What’s the thing you liked most about being cycles. I was constantly motivated to deliver my best work I learned about world views and empathy which are crucial
part of the altMBA? and further develop the concepts of “perfect enough” and concepts in the business world today.
“Like-mindedness.” I was delighted to be around people “no right or wrong answers.”
who shared a strong passion for helping others and I LOVED it. I’m a big fan. In marketing terms: I’m an advocate.
strong determination for being their very best self. I was encouraged to help others deliver their best work
and share what I thought they could have done differently In case you are interested: Seth doesn’t chime in
using questions rather than statements. much. No grandiose opening or closing, no continuous
What’s something you approached encouragement, no validation.
Tell us what you do and what your work It’s a growth mindset based approach where you get
typically entails. differently recently because of what you better at every deliverable. I was asked to reflect and The interesting takeaway is that the content and rhythm are
Across the Americas, I work with our enterprise and learned during the altMBA? humbly share what I could have done differently. so strongly marked by his creativity and influence, that such
midmarket sales teams to help solve customer problems, Everything in my personal and professional life. In the expectation becomes irrelevant a few days into the course.
optimize their operations and maximize their business past, when meeting a different opinion, one that I didn’t In the process, not only did I discover how I could sell
potential using the power of the cloud. How? by leveraging necessarily share, I usually opted to persuade. better by looking at the process from a different angle Why? Because you will figure out there’s a tremendous
infrastructure and vertical software solutions that work but, I learned about world views and empathy which are amount to be learned from the least expected players in the
on Microsoft’s cloud platform: Azure. Today I ask: What is she/he seeing that I’m not? crucial concepts in the business world today. course…
“I’ve been reading Seth’s blog
and books for years but didn’t
know how I could actionably
apply a lot of this information
into my life.”
Tom Vein
AUDIO ENGINEER, THE SMASHING PUMPKINS
I didn’t know What’s the #1 thing you liked about being

part of the altMBA?
Any other comments or recommendations
about the altMBA?
if this was for me... The number one thing I liked about being in the altMBA
is the format of the course. From the very first meeting
I didn’t know if this was for me, I didn’t actually think it
was, but I applied anyways. I’ve been reading Seth’s blog
I was in a seemingly over video chat, I instantly knew this was the future of
education. The way the subject matter is assembled,
and how the interactions took place, you realize that this
and books for years but didn’t know how I could action-
ably apply a lot of this information into my life. I was in
a seemly unrelated industry at the time of application
unrelated industry... platform was something unique and groundbreaking. and took a chance, made a leap and it changed my life.
This course thoroughly and thoughtfully combined and
You are given real-world, actionable projects in an distilled the essence of Seth’s teaching on leadership and
environment of like-minded people. Peers that wouldn’t change-making into one-of-a-kind groundbreaking exer-
put up anything but first rate work. You were instantly cise that penetrates deep and leaves a lasting impression.
called out and probed for not going deep enough, not
trying hard enough and not being honest enough with
yourself. It made it challenging in a way that I had never
experienced before.
How has the altMBA helped you level up? Tell us what you do and what your work
The altMBA has changed the fundamental way I typically entails.
understand and interact with others. It has taught me to I’m an audio engineer, more specifically I’m a monitor
live with a deeper sense of empathy and compassion, to
I took a chance,
engineer. A monitor engineer helps the musicians at What’s something you approached
look at life from a new point of view. a concert hear what they want to hear. I am the point
differently recently because of what you
person off stage that the artist communicates to.
The altMBA has helped me understand that every person
has a unique underlying story that leads and guides I help musicians feel more comfortable performing on
learned during the altMBA?
Since the altMBA I’ve approached criticism as a welcomed made the leap
and it changed
the way they live. That even though someone may have stage. In these stressful and vulnerable environments, I gift, an opportunity to learn more about myself. It’s easy
the opposite opinion doesn’t mean they are wrong or pay close attention to the artist and make sure they are to feel like comments and criticism are a personal attack,
misinformed in their thinking or reasoning. But that their taken care of so they can do their job properly. but now I seek them out. Change in yourself doesn’t
story is correct, and if you can begin to understand that
story you can start to make change happen. Though a solid knowledge of audio fundamentals is
happen when you can only interpret from your own
comfortable perspective. When you welcome criticism
my life.
necessary, the more complicated requirements are and allow yourself to be uncomfortable and fully process
the capacity to interpret the subtleties of the musician it without getting defensive, you get to see a side of
on stage and the ability to immediately solve problems yourself you may usually be blinded to. You may just find
in very stressful situations, all while remaining calm an answer you’ve been seeking out.
and collected.
ALUMNI
INDUSTRIES Media
My creative confidence is
Art Construction
Fitness Finance ENTREPRENEURS ARE EMPOWERED BY THE ALTMBA
Consulting Food
The altMBA is a springboard for new ventures and new ideas. Over half of
growing immensely. This

Design Healthcare
Grocery Law
students are freelancers, entrepreneurs, and business owners who are
Ecommerce Marketing making an impact.
process confirmed for

Technology Photography
Medicine Retail
Education
me that I could map out

taking on a big project,
stick to the plan, and have
I signed up for the altMBA chiefly because I’ve been reading Seth for years and instinctively
knew that this would be an amazing opportunity. I’d just set up an new business and felt
sure I’d learn the missing pieces that I’d need to be successful. The reality turned out to be so
much more than that. I instantly had chance to bring all the learning into my business. I got a completed product when
incredible constructive, supportive and honest feedback from fellow students and my coaches.
Above all... I made friends. I found my tribe. And I’m part of a group of people intent on making
I’m done with altMBA.
a positive impact on this world. The best is yet to come.
Community feedback, peer
—GRANIA MURRAY, FOUNDER, THE RETREAT support, shared beliefs in
If you’re thinking of a career personal potential, and the
right to pursue happiness
SMB/ BUSINESS OWNERS change, join the ruckusmakers
FOUNDERS Yasser Khan
Surgeon, Business owner who’ve done it before:
make the altMBA a perfect

Keely Tillotson
Co-Founder and CEO Carrot Eye Surgery Clinic
Wild Friends Foods Jesus Roalandini, freelance filmmaker,
Cory Boehs former senior art director, digital imaging at
Adam Braun
Founder
Pencils of Promise
President
Kool Foam
Kate Spade
Ryon Lane, freelance producer, former

place to prepare to leap.
Chris Durban lawyer, working on 3-year project with
Co-Founder and Translator Salesforce
—RYON LANE, PARTNER/PRODUCER, WHITE RABBIT
Mark Skaggs
Director Trado Verso Translation
Moonfrog Labs Rachel Landers, freelance designer, founder
Creator of Farmville Tom Vein & creative director, formerly senior UX What a great way to start the new year! The altMBA was
[Former] SVP at Zynga Audio Engineer designer at Whole Foods Market
Freelance for the Smashing Pumpkins the challenge, structure, and community I needed to learn
Mike Mays and Blink-182 Josh Warman, now at a stealth startup, how to successfully create meaningful change. Through
Co-Founder and president formerly a Project Executive at IBM
Heine Bros Coffee Adam Lemmon the learning, assignments, discussions, and reflections, I
Owner and Founder Karen Diaz, founder at Igniting Lightmakers, realized I am capable of so much more. I am convinced that
Dan Leader Badass Backpacks formerly a Client Executive–Education and
Founder and CEO Government at IBM the altMBA has re-wired my brain.
Bread Alone Michael Mequio
—BRADLEY SPITZER, FREELANCE PRODUCER AND PHOTOGRAPHER
Ophthalmologist Eric Moeller, managing director at Copy Dojo,
David Vendley Whidbey Eye Center formerly Director, Global Service Portfolio
Co-Founder Management at SAP
Calexico restaurants Robin Estevez I feel insightful, integrated, & energized to challenge the
Owner of grocery chain Nikole Batista, owner and creative director
Luke Miner Vice President at Estevez Markets Foodtown at Cloth/Curios, formerly Brand Design status quo.
Co-Founder Manager IMBU/AirDye Solutions
YouCaring.com —PAM ROSAL, NATIONAL OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP, RIVER PROGRAM MANAGER
“Every element has a purpose.
If you don’t know what it is,
how will you achieve it?”
WHAT ENGINEERS KNOW
Everything has a function. Every element of the bridge or the spaceship
is there for a reason, even if the reason is decorative.
When NASA engineers put together the payload for an Apollo rocket,
there was real clarity about trade offs.
Everything weighs something, everything takes up space. Nothing goes

on a lunar module unless there’s a really good reason.
And the same thing is true of the way you will spend your next hour, the
question you will choose to ask or not ask, the people you will seek out
on your journey: What is it for?
THE RESET
Every time we spend (spend time, spend money, spend trust, spend
attention) we do it in the hope of getting something in return.
Sometimes, all we seek is the satisfaction of having done something

well. Or amusing ourselves. Or contributing in some way.
Along the way, we’ve gotten so good at spending that we do it out of

instinct. We spend our time and our money and our trust on things
because we always have.
But the world changes, faster every day. What we seek is

transformation. The external and internal pressures on us keep
changing as well.
There’s a simple way to reset.
We can ask, “what’s it for?”
In an organization that understands what it’s for, the thing we want

is the change we seek. Everything we do has that in mind.
That announcement before the flight, where they teach people how
to put on their seatbelts… what’s it for?
Resumes, job interviews… what are they for?
Working in the office instead of remotely… what’s it for?
Spending 30 extra hours looking for typos… what’s it for?
That’s the essence of design thinking and a fundamental part of the

altMBA: Exploring what it means to build with the end in mind, to be
clear with ourselves and others about what it’s for.

The altMBA taught
me that almost every
good idea can be made
better by asking a better
question.
—KACI LAMBE,
[FORMER] SENIOR WEB DESIGNER, WHOLE FOODS MARKET
“After altMBA, not only do I

“I applied to the altMBA with three accept meaningful feedback,
but I go looking for it. My
expectations: to learn how to ship my
best work, to learn how better provide
and accept feedback, and to discover
catalysts that would help me influence
change. I’m grateful that the altMBA
approach to having others
helped me achieve those things. It was
time and energy well spent. It opened critique my work has
completely changed and
my eyes.”
—CAMILA NARANJO, DIRECTOR ISV CO-SELL LEAD,

MICROSOFT
I do not say that lightly.”
“I embraced and understood abstract
—James Murphy, Marketing Manager, Live Nation
ideas like problem framing, constraints,
and sunk costs more than I’d ever been
able to from a textbook or lecture.”
—ANGELA PHAM, MANAGER, THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

INSTITUTE, PWC
“What I learned in the altMBA

contributed to my leadership. It
contributed to my understanding of
business and entrepreneurialism. I’m
able to more strategically and specifically
lead my team after having been through
the altMBA experience.”
—LAUREN EVANS, STORE MANAGER,

LULULEMON ATHLETICA
By STEPHANIE HABIF The altMBA — one of the most successful Free or expensive? Along the way, we explored not only how to Experimenting, which sometimes feels like
online learning experience to date — has a Content consumption or production? teach a concept, but how to engage students getting punched in the face repeatedly.
Behavioral Scientist doing ux research+ behavior design strategy 96% completion rate. It’s an online leadership Dreamers or doers? more deeply, how to encourage honest and
for consumer engagement. Lecturer @stanforddschool; and management workshop founded in 2015 Seth-centric or separate entity? rigorous peer feedback and how to create a SH: Who do you consider competitors to
Affiliate of Stanford Persuasive Tech Lab. by Seth Godin. The program uses digital tools Easy or difficult to complete? platform that was both safe and in public. We altMBA?
like Slack, WordPress and Zoom to engage 10 people or 10,000 people per session? didn’t get any of this right at first, but having a
more than 100 students at a time in an intense posture of rapid evolution helped us turn the WK: Inertia, fear of the unknown, fear of
How to
four-week course. In 2016, students from One of the guiding principles that came out of workshop into what it is now. change, fear/dislike of hard work. It would
27 countries and 85 industries worldwide this questioning was this: Scale isn’t the point. have been significantly easier to build a
participated. Change is the point. And once we discarded SH: Was there a formal job description for workshop like the altMBA if we had direct
scale, we added coaches into the mix (because your role when you left SF for NYC to work competitors. Easier to build and easier to
In a domain that suffers, let’s say, you can’t have 10,000 coaches in a 100,000 with Seth? If so, would you be willing to find the right students. But our instinct is to
Design
opportunistic engagement statistics, what is person course). share the altMBA Director job description to pioneer, not to grow market share.
the altMBA doing to defy such odds? highlight what you regularly do?
From there, finding the platonic ideal of 10
As a behavior designer and teacher, I’m coaches, 10 students per coach seemed a WK: I joined the team as Special Projects Lead
an Online
constantly curious about initiatives that natural place to settle. in the fall of 2014. There wasn’t a formal job
impact students and push the edge in description.
SH: How do you touch people in an effective
education. For the past few years I’ve been
teaching several courses at the d.school at way by replicating the experience of working Half of my time was helping to launch and lead
In summary,
Stanford, including the popular course “The with Seth without really having him there? the go-to-market roll out for various projects, takeaway design guidelines
Course
including launching Seth’s Udemy course, the
Consumer Mind and Behavior Design” with
bestselling author Nir Eyal. We bring into our WK: Seth is a non-scalable asset. Students Your Turn Challenge, Ruckusmaker Workshop,
for making or sponsoring
classroom the latest and greatest ways to are learning his material, for sure. But when design prototyping days, Seth on Instagram, an online learning
you go to college, it’s not just what you are etc.
design for consumer engagement.
learning — it’s physically being in lecture hall experience include:
with a 96%
So I reached out to Wes Kao at the altMBA, and being in dorms and being with other The other half was ideating with Seth and
and asked for all her secrets. It wasn’t just students. building a case for what projects he should 1: Clarify a specific purpose in the form of an
the completion rate that impressed me, but do next. This included identifying market answer to the question “What is it for?”
the rigor of the program: altMBA students We wanted to tap into mechanisms to enable opportunities, seeing where we had leverage,
voluntarily opt-in to the ~3–5 hours of work people to be more accountable. We kept and analyzing how different business models 2: Steer clear of already existing online
Completion
per day everyday on top of their full-time jobs asking ourselves: Is there a way to use online and distribution channels could work. This learning programs during the ideation/design
during the four week program. tools in a way in which students won’t give up eventually led to the start of the altMBA. phases of your program build.
so easily?
Wes and I discussed the program evolution, I’m fortunate to work with an amazing team 3: Identify what elements of in-person learning
how the altMBA leverages technology For instance, like a traditional university and community. Again, there’s not a formal are critical to incorporate for engagement. For
Rate
to bring people closer, and how she uses experience, we decided to enable students: job description, but I can share some of how I instance, altMBA students must be able to see
design-thinking to maximize online student spend my time: and hear each other when they interact. They
engagement. a) to see each other during learning sessions, must sync to interact at the same mandatory
so we use Zoom; Making sure our team is highly-leveraged, times every week. And students have constant
SH: You accept around 100–130 students per fulfilled, productive. support from their peers and coaches.
session and employ a total of 15 coaches. How b) to learn on a synchronous schedule, so we
did you determine this number/ratio? have students meet in real-time Tues/Thurs/ Planning our short and long term growth 4: Design an application process that reveals
Sunday; strategy. what you need to know about the kind of
WK: At the heart of every learning people you want. For example, traditional
c) to receive coaching support, so we use Slack Prioritizing where we invest our attention, education places a lot of emphasis on criteria
Online education is a $100+ billion dollar industry and growing. engagement is the ratio that the organization
for coach/student interactions. which includes identifying what we could and and less on spirit of eagerness. The altMBA
chooses. From Socrates tutoring one or two
Easier access to education makes the world better, and, according people to a MOOC with 100,000, choosing this should be doing, then working with folks on looks for how ready the applicant is to work
Synchronous times for students getting the team to get things done. hard and commit, as well as track record.
to MIT researchers, people who finish online courses end up with number determines so much else — and so it
together is critical, and students are required
was one of the first decisions we made.
the same learning gains as those who physically attend class. to attend. People push back in the beginning, Deciding what problems we should be solving. 5: Stick to the integrity of your design. The
but then they do very well. Is it actually a problem? What’s the impact? To market will constantly push you towards
Trouble is, to reap the benefits, students have to finish the course. We begin everything we do (and teach) at the
whom? Is it worth solving? Then, finally, how cheaper, easier, less difficult to accomplish.
altMBA with the question, “what is it for?” Our
Too bad studies show the average completion rate of online answer for the workshop itself is: To change
SH: How do you know whether or not should we solve it? It does not always pay to customize an
something is working? experience.
courses is 4%. people. To fundamentally alter the way that
Finding ways to reach people who would be
they see, the way they make decisions, the way
WK: People want to succeed, so finding that glad to know we exist and be glad that they did
they engage and enroll others in their journey.
sweet spot around how much structure the workshop, using approaches that we’d be
to build in versus how open to leave it is proud of down the line.
We spent months looking at different
So where is the other 96%? combinations on the x-y axes spectrum and
something we are constantly observing.
what the trade-offs and gains would be. Some Working with organization who realize
We rarely ask people for feedback in the that soft skills are the difference between
questions we considered:
traditional way, after the fact, with structured A-players and everyone else, and helping
I found it at the altMBA. surveys. Instead, we observe behavior and them pick which employees should take the
10 people or 10,000 people per session?
watch how people interact to see if they are program.
In person or online?
acting the way we designed for or not.
Synchronous or asynchronous?
High touch or low touch?
4. The workshop is project-based.
Can you share what the projects are like?
Six
There are three projects per week, all created so they
can be completed within a few hours on days where
you have class. The projects are meant to mimic the
types of work you might need to do in real life at your
Common
workplace.
6. What happens after the altMBA?
2. What is the time commitment? There’s a mix of individual vs group work. Some projects
Do people keep in touch?
The altMBA is designed to be a part-time program that are solo, others are entirely group-based, others you split
For most workshops, the answer is nothing. That’s fair.
Questions
fits into the work schedules of busy professionals. Our up the work and come back together.
When an event ends, it’s the participant’s choice to keep
students put 20 to 30 hours a week into the workshop, all in touch with others.
while maintaining commitments at high-profile day jobs. Almost all of the content you consume (about 25% of your
This comes out to about 3-4 hours per day on average, time) is material that you can find in other places. The
But for the altMBA, we’ve been blown away by how closely
About the
including weekends. It’s intense, but as our alumni say: altMBA isn’t about secret recipes—instead, we focus on
alumni continue to support each other. After the month
“You can do anything for a month.” the extraordinary power of experience.
ends, we make it easy to stay in touch.
We put students into class times based on your time zone. There are different multimedia formats, including blog
On your last day, we will invite you to an alumni platform,
altMBA
You can choose from Pacific, Central, Eastern, or London. posts, written analyses, filming a two minute video of
where 1500+ alumni are waiting to meet you. It may feel
Group meeting days are Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-9pm, yourself talking into the webcam, or presentations.
a little overwhelming when you first join—there’s a ton of
and Sundays 10am–6pm as a time block, though you may And for the type of thinking involved, the projects
chatter in the main channels and plenty of topic-specific
not use up the entire time. include analysis, critical thinking, creativity, ideation,
channels ranging from book recommendations to project
brainstorming, and practicing how to implement
collaboration.
frameworks until they become second nature.
3. I work full time and have a family. We have an alumni-only Facebook group, alumni portal,
1. What kind of people do well in the LinkedIn group, newsletter, directory, and informal
Will I have time to do the altMBA?
altMBA? What will my classmates be like? 5. Is the altMBA for people who know what meetups in the real world.
The altMBA was designed for full-time working
Your classmates will be from 85+ industries, hundreds
professionals. Over 90% of our students work at fast-paced they want to do, or for people
of cities, and and dozens of functions. With only 100-140 Time after time, we hear from alumni that the best part
companies or are busy freelancers, and many have families. who are figuring out their path?
spots per session, we spend a lot of time curating the right of the altMBA is the people that become connected to
Both. The common thread is that leaders arrive in the
mix of leaders. Because the program is so much about Most of the workshop is project based. This means that one another. We hear about alumni becoming friends,
altMBA with a fire in the belly and an eagerness to do more.
learning from one another and group work, the program there’s solo time (doing the research, digging in deep) going to a fellow alumni’s wedding, hiring each other,
is built to expose you to as many new perspectives and as well as group time. We have found that dedicated We have corporate students who are happy in their doing mastermind groups together, grabbing coffee when
personalities as possible. students find the time to do both, no matter what else is current roles, but have side projects or are curious they’re flying through another alumni’s city.
going on around them. to learn better ways to lead initiatives within their
What we hear the most: We open the doors. The connecting is up to you.
organizations.
Here are what some of our alumni are saying:
Examples of the ways we make it easy to stay in touch:
Everyone is far more “That entire month was probably the busiest I’ve
ever been professionally, on top of doing the altMBA.
We have students in transition: startup operators figuring
out the path forward, people venturing out to start their
own business, freelancers who see a trajectory and want
• Alumni-only Facebook and LinkedIn groups
generous and engaged I would say ironically, the busier I got, the more
productive I actually was.” —Ian Scott, Director of
to get to the next level. • Alumni Slack room with 750+ alumni and tons of
interest-based channels
than I expected… Product at Start With Why/ Simon Sinek, Inc, formerly
product manager at Kickstarter
Change can be unpredictable so it helps to come with an
open mind. We’ve had plenty of alumni say they came
• Monthly alumni-only newsletter
in with a specific tactical idea of what they thought they • Quarterly in-person meetups in over 18 different
“The altMBA changed my view on what can be wanted. Through the process of the four weeks, they cities including Detroit, London, Boulder, San
People discover two things at the same time—everyone is
accomplished in a day.” —Jessica Lauria, Senior Director came to realize that they actually wanted something Francisco, London, Miami, DC, Boston, NYC,
smarter than they expected, and yet, everyone is open and
of Brand Communications, Chobani completely different. Philadelphia, Raleigh….
appreciative for the contributions that each student makes.
• Alumni Directory to tap into expertise and offer
“The altMBA is a herculean task. It is exhausting. But it’s The act of doing the projects and getting peer feedback can
Just about everyone who is admitted tells us that they your own to support fellow alumni
worth every iota of time and effort you invest. If I could do provide clarity. It can give you a better understanding of
were surprised we chose them, and then adds that they
the altMBA again a year from now, I would.” where you have leverage, what your constraints and assets • Casual happy hours that are self-organized by
are glad they took the leap. Go ahead and apply… you
—Max Kramer, Product Manager, Trello are, how to be resourceful, and how to move past roadblocks. alumni ad hoc
might surprise yourself.
It wasn’t what I expected
In August of 2017, we invited the 1,400 alumni of the altMBA to gather together in
New York for the first time. We planned an informal two-day get together, a chance
to for people who had never met in person to finally connect in the real world.
Since the altMBA is in more than 650 cities and 49 countries, I didn’t expect much in
terms of a turnout. We were prepared for twenty or thirty people to pay their own
way to join us for the weekend.
Instead, more than 180 people attended. Five came all the way from Australia.
But that wasn’t the surprising part.
No, the part that surprised me was how quickly people connected. It didn’t feel like
a first-time get together. Instead, we were having a family reunion of sorts.
That beautiful day in August we discovered that when you grow together, you stay
together. That giving people a chance to level up, to see what’s possible, to confront
their fears and leap… creates its own form of magic.
The altMBA is for people in a hurry. We help you see what’s possible, to encounter
others that want to make a difference, and most of all, to learn to make an even
bigger impact.
We’re on a mission to change the way leaders like you level up. If you’re ready for us,
we’re ready for you. I hope you’ll join us.
Seth Godin
Founder
Want to know more? Visit altmba.com or drop us a line ([email protected]). We’d love to year from you.
What is school for?
Here is the manifesto that has started thousands
of conversations, the ones we’ve waited too long
to have.
We spend money, time, energy and put our kids
through a decade or more of schooling.
Why?
We’ve built our culture and our economy around education, but we’ve
never stopped to ask why. In his heartfelt long-form online rant (and
the accompanying TEDx talk) bestselling author Seth Godin
challenged us to think hard about what we’ve built and what we ought
rant, together with information about one of Godin’s most successful

programs, an example of how we could do better.
Go Make a Ruckus
Want to know more? Visit altmba.com More than 4,000,000 digital copies have been distributed around the
or drop us a line at [email protected]. world, leading to essential conversations between teachers, students
and parents. Now it’s your turn.
We’d love to hear from you.
“As usual, Seth gets you to question everything you think you know.”
-Maria Miaoulis -
He is right on in all of his arguments. By extension it also shows what is
progress.”
-Don Gubler-
SETH GODIN is an author, entrepreneur and teacher. His books have

been translated into more than 35 languages, and he’s spoken to
audiences around the world. More than 9,000 people have taken the
altMBA and the Marketing Seminar, and a million people subscribe to
his daily blog. Find out more at sethgodin.com
© 2018 by Do You Zoom, Inc.

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STOP

thought it would be helpful to put this manifesto in your hands,

What is school for?

This custom edition of Stop Stealing Dreams was produced

Specifically, for Ross Abrams, Jon Guillaume, Beth

This is a manifesto I published four years ago. Since

I know it’s long, but I refuse to insult you by breaking

Preface: a top-down industrial approach to processing students

Hardly the place you’d go to discover a future of our

For generations, our society has said to communities like

28 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 29

30 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 31

32 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 33

We don’t need more of what schools

34 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 35

36 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 37

38 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 39

(and destroy passion)

The personal assistant to a very famous singer or

14 and dreaming problem

42 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 43

What is school for? • Experience instead of test scores as a measure

• Cooperation instead of isolation

• Transformation of the role of the teacher

• Lifelong learning, earlier work

• Death of the nearly famous college

44 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 45

19 and easy to destroy

In Civilization, his breakthrough book about the

48 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 49

Group projects are the exception in school, but they

50 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 51

Is it any surprise that this is

52 | Stop Stealing Dreams

when you have

54 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 55

56 | Stop Stealing Dreams Seth Godin | 57

There really are only two tools available to the educator.

The other tool is

We’re wired for

In just a few generations, society went from agrarian and

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We can teach kids to engage in poetry, to write poetry,

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36school destroys them

And when the job doesn’t come?

to claim responsibility for what happens next.

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The only way out is going to be

mapped by those able to dream.

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41 Skill, and attitude

• Significantly more likely to achieve a post-graduate

I know that we can teach them not to care; that’s pretty

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It’s not easy to find young Anglo kids in Cleveland

Perhaps households there approach the issue of food the

Of course not. How not to teach