An ode to Excellence, a #twog for Tom.

In the past couple days I engaged in a flurry of activity encouraging people to follow Tom Peters (@tom_peters) on Twitter to get him across the 100,000 barrier. 

Now why would I do such a thing?

There is more than one answer, so here you go:

1) If you are serious about success, Tom is an excellent resource. Funnily enough, I think the fact that such amazing content and interaction is essentially free throws people off. Don't value it by the price, value it by the utility.

2) As Cameron Morrissey (@ManagersDiary) coincidentally wrote in his recent blog entry #200, (Celebrate Milestones - http://dld.bz/c6cBm ) milestones matter. Sure, Tom is a remarkably accomplished and successful guy. Does that diminish his desire for recognition? I haven't asked, but I rather doubt it. If success alone was enough for most, there wouldn't be so many multi-gazillionaires still working and so many top athletes stretching their careers. 

Let's sound the trumpets as he crosses the line! Three cheers. You'd want the same.

3) I also did it because I like Tom and I'm grateful to be acquainted with him. He gives a tremendous amount of himself on his Twitter account. Moreover, he is the kind of person that everyone should hope is advising them or their employer. He cares about people and it radiates through virtually everything he talks about. In a world of self-aggrandizing dolts, Tom shines through as a genuinely nice fellow who happens to be very knowledgeable about leadership. 

4) The final reason, which is something obvious: I did it because I felt like it. If it makes him smile, then my mission is accomplished. 

Thank you Tom.  For sharing your thoughts and insights on a regular basis on Twitter. For sidestepping the trolls, and steadfastly holding down your end of every argument. You could have the campfire all to yourself, but you open it up frequently for anyone to pop by for and enjoy some heady conversation. 

Congratulations on cresting the 100,000 follower mark. There couldn't be a more deserving person.

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

   A great quote from Mark Twain. I love putting it on Twitter. It always gets positive feedback. But that is actually rather ironic. If so many people love that quote, then why are such gargantuan sums spend on schooling?

   In a similar sense, parent after parent brags about how their child does in school. As I parent, I too feel some of the glow from a "good grade". Some is a simple matter of wanting to let my kids know that I appreciate the effort they make. But I question how important the grade is, what meaning it actually holds. Moreover, I wonder how much more meaningless it becomes when put into a global schematic.

   As someone who is "successful" I look back at my own schooling and see how incredibly unprepared my schools and teachers were for me. I did well in school at times, but was pretty much always a discipline problem. Mostly because I refused to accept some lessons as true. I wasn't content to just digest and regurgitate the information they fed to me. I wanted some answers. They didn't like that, they didn't like that at all.

   A dramatic example occurred in the seventh grade. Having been asked to solve an algebra problem I went up to the chalkboard and began scrawling out my answer. "No, no, no" my teacher screamed. Bewildered I looked over to her. "You have to show ALL YOUR WORK." she continued. Right about this time my blood headed to an immediate boil. I stormed over to my desk and grabbed my things. I then walked back to the front of the class and threw my books onto her desk. "If your way is so perfect then do it yourself" I shouted. I then proceeded to walk out of the class, and out the front door of the school, and continued walking until I was home roughly four miles away.

   A rash decision? Maybe, but I don't regret it. She was wrong to publicly humiliate me for not following "her" method to precision. It was also pretty obvious from the way I wrote the equation that I had used logical thinking to arrive at the answer. Her goal wasn't that I simply know the math. Her goal included my submission to her methodology. As you may have noticed, submission isn't my strong suit.

   The problem, from my vantage point, is the teacher's desire to make me conform to her methodology. She valued compliance over competence. It doesn't matter why. Schooling should create thinkers, not fleshy calculators. The desire for compliance makes children into pliable robots who indirectly learn to keep their head down, and put out what is asked. No more, no less.

   "Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel." - Socrates

   Socrates knew something about educating people. If we spark a student's passion, we unleash a powerful force upon the world. Imagine a world of people taught to think rather than simply remember. We need people who push boundaries rather than retreat inside them. 

   How different might my education have been if I had actually been encouraged to think differently. What would my perspective be if it had been molded through an educational model of investigation rather than recitation and repetition.

   As parents, students, or both, we need to demand that school provide a true education. School must provide the spark, the catalyst, that will drive students to excellence. Not excellence as measured by a standardized test, but excellence that is demonstrated in ideas and actions. 

   As much as I love the Mark Twain quote, I'd be happy to make it irrelevant.