The Future of Educat(ing)ion (Yourself) — Month Zero: Preparation
I looked long and hard to find what education could provide myself with the skills to take my career to the next level. The options were…
I looked long and hard to find what education could provide myself with the skills to take my career to the next level. The options were either:
A. Too Expensive
B. Parts of the program weren’t relevant to my career goals
C. Didn’t match my schedule or timelines
There are numerous opportunities to learn, and when I would analyze the absolute value, I was always coming up short. The return on investment was not there. So sometimes, to get what you want, you have to do it yourself.
I have researched and created a curriculum specifically for product managers, project managers, consultants, and anyone who has a genuine interest in building innovative digital products or businesses. All it takes is one year, 12–14 projects, and around $1250.
The program is separated into four tracks throughout the year. Each month has a theme and a project. Training material can be books, digital tutorials, or both. Tests are either in the form of blogs that are judged by your peers, the ability to build a model, or standard certifications by authorized organizations.
There is a fifth track which will run the whole year, designated as soft skills. Every month will focus on two or three of the Dale Carnegie Principles in “How to Win Friends and Influence People.” The goal is to read and reread about three chapters per month. The next “soft skill” is “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene, and each week read a section that accounts for one law. It’s dark and the opposite of what I usually read, but I can justify it by saying someone else you know is reading it, and you should know what could be used against you. For all of your right actions, there are equal and opposite adverse actions.
As the author and thought igniter Simon Sinek has famously proclaimed, we have to start with the why. Why should I or anyone else do something like this?
Because you want to be the best in your industry. Because you want to understand the rapidly advancing technology we use to make digital products. Because you want to better understand the skills and talents that everyone on your team and the teams you work with possess. You want to become a better manager and lead process improvements. You have constant ideas for innovation and want to create the next best product or service. Because you want to increase your value and the compensation that comes along with it.
Education used to be so much more cut and dry. If you wanted to advance, you earned a master’s degree in your field. Or maybe avoid working for as long as possible and pursue another master’s degree, and then a P.h.D. But with higher education continuing to outpace inflation, the return on investment is also much lower. The ridiculous problem is the most apparent, the administrative costs and pensions. In Illinois, a retired athletic director is receiving almost 500k a year from his pension, while contributing $614,647 his entire career. So who’s footing the bill for that? The taxpayers known as you and I. So why continue to reward bad behavior by paying them more money out of your pocket?
I put my curriculum together, which starts with an age-old classic resource, books. Then for digital courses, I am using LinkedIn Learning and edX.
The first thing I did after I created the curriculum was to send it to the people that I trusted the most that would give me honest feedback. And I was sure to send it to product managers, directors, designers, and consultants to test the relevancy as well. The feedback I most received was, “I am stealing this,” which is a good sign.
It was flattering when one of my friends read over my plan; she compared it to Victor Saad’s “The Leap Year Project.”. So I read his book and want to make it clear the similarities are that 2020 is a leap year, and the project is scheduled for 12 months. Victor seems like a tremendous guy, and he’s a fellow Chicagoan, so much respect. I even read his book and admire how his project inspired others around the world. I’ve spent a lot of my early career in social entrepreneurship and learned an extraordinary amount about the mission-driven business. But my focus now is on the skills needed to succeed in startups to Fortune 500 companies.
The journey im setting out on, and I hope you join me as well, is semi-planned out before the year starts, and there is a high level of accountability. Just like in a typical masters program, you have to write papers and test out of certain areas of expertise; I’m expecting the same commitment here.
Priorities will shift; life is fluid. I’m already switching months around based on my projects at work changing. But the goal is that at the end of this year, we come out with the knowledge and skillsets that make you recession-proof — all without the costs that are associated with higher education or for-profit academies.
As Peter Drucker said, “There is surely nothing quite so useless as doing with efficiency what should not be done at all.”
What is going to bring you the most value? Do the right thing. Blaze your own path.
You can read additional entries in my leap year-long journey here: