Several years ago, I was tentatively toying with the idea of leaving my job on Wall Street and someone forwarded me a job description for something called an ‘Education Program Producer’ at a young, venture-backed, NYC-based tech start up. Not only did it not make sense (at the time, education + tech start up = oxymoron), I almost immediately deleted it mostly because I never saw myself working in education. Sure, I believed in education and I valued education, but I most certainly didn’t want to work in education. The word conjured up images of slow-moving organisations, underpaid teachers, inefficient practices, endless paperwork, cruel bullies, and overly demanding parents. Being a teacher requires being patient and kind, two virtues that were not exactly valued in my then current line of work on the trading floor. As someone who had come to love the fast-paced, no bullshit attitude of the finance world, education is the last place I saw myself going.
I’m glad I didn’t let my obnoxiously judgmental attitude get the best of me and gave that job description a second glance because my experience at that NYC-based education start up changed my life forever. Now, several years later and halfway across the world, I find myself doing everything I can to be involved in education. I brought an education company to Asia, I joined a Fresco Capital because they are involved in education, I am making investments in early stage education companies, and now look – I’m even writing about education.
Since my obsession can, at times, feel out of character for an efficiency focused, mildly foul-mouthed, impatient individual like myself, I recently started asking, why the hell do I care so much about education anyway? I mean, sure, if you ask someone if they care about education and they say “No,” they’re either ignorant, full of shit, or a psychopath. But believe me when I say, I really care about it. True education is all about asking why, so I decided I would dig a little deeper and try to figure out what about it resonates so much for me.
The word “education” itself comes with a myriad of connotations, but what I seek to do here is to minimise the emotional implications and figure out logically why it is so relevant and powerful. Here’s what I came up with. Three reasons: it is personal, it is sustainable, and it is scalable. Hear me out.
1. Education is personal.
“It is personal. That’s what an education does. It makes the world personal.” – Cormac McCarthy
- Everyone has either had an education, or not. Formal or informal, public or private, too much or not enough, your education has had an undeniable impact on where you are today. For these reasons, everyone cares about education, everyone has an opinion on education, and everyone knows how important it is. When you ask someone what their education was like, they will tell you with words but more than anything, you will see it in their eyes and feel it in their heart. Engaging with individuals on this level is powerful and incredibly energising. The connections I have made with people when discussing this topic have moved me to my core.
- Education is personal for me, too. I may be selfish in my desire to change the world and not waste any time doing it, but I’m not an asshole. I am infinitely grateful for all the opportunities I have been given, and I believe everyone deserves not only the opportunity to get what they want out of life, but also the privilege of being able to figure out what that is.
2. Education is sustainable.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” – Proverb
- I care about the world I live in, mostly because I have to live in it for my entire life (unless space travel takes off, but that’s a different topic). I want the world to be a better place, because then I get to live in a better place.
- I also value my own time. Call me crazy but I’d much rather teach someone to fish and then move on with my life, than have people bugging me every day to give them fish.
- The beauty of education is that it never goes away. Its presence, or lack thereof, impacts an individual’s every thought, word, action not just now but forever.
3. Education is scalable.
“Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. Teach him how to learn, and he’ll own a chain of seafood restaurants.” – Someone on the internet
- Creating a sustainable solution is great, but sharing it with as many people as possible is even better. Education is the most scalable solution to any problem simply because it empowers the individual. This means its impact is not just lifelong, it can be worldwide.
- It’s very simple math, actually. If I teach three people to fish, they each teach another three people, who teach another three people, who teach another three people, now 121 people know how to fish. Definitely a lot more people will be eating fish than if I had just spent all day catching fish myself. And, selfishly, I don’t have to spend all day on a fishing boat. Win, win.
The word “education” is socially, emotionally, politically loaded. It means different things to different people and is undoubtedly scary and dangerous to try to tackle. I don’t intend this post to make light of the weight of education, but instead to look at it from a practical standpoint and understand why it is a good place to focus one’s efforts. Whether you’re a teacher, a student, an investor, or a business person, it’s hard to deny that education is the most efficient way to change the world. And for what it’s worth, it sure is a hell of a lot of fun, too.
