The problem with Ivy league schools or the problem with any Grade A school is the same problem as top, Grade A businesses. When you go into them, naturally you want to excel, to be the best, to have others in the school or business look up to you.
The problem with enrolling in an Ivy league school or any Grade A school is that once you’re in, it’s damn difficult to be the leader of the school, the smartest, the best or even part of the top ten percent of students. In an environment where genius is the norm, there’s seldom ways to get past that.
Do you see the complexity behind this? Let’s look at it from the business angle.
Perhaps someone knocks at your door right now and tells you that you are to start working with Apple’s design team tomorrow morning. You might be an extremely talented designer, but when you meet the team tomorrow, everyone will be extremely talented. You will all be gray. (Well, according to Ive, you will all be colorful. Alas, still the same.)
There’s a misperception between the school/business relationship I’m presenting.
Let me suggest you reject the Ivy league school and not work for Apple’s design team. Don’t be the best. Create the best.
Harvard doesn’t need you. Nor does Apple’s design team. But, Drexel University does. But, that Startup in town does. But, students at Purdue do. Microsoft does (ha).
It’s irrational and much less satisfying to be a big fish in a pond of equally big fish. What matters – and you might not realize this yet, but you will – is that to feel the happiness we all habitually seek in life we must make small fish into big fish, small ponds into big ponds.
Holding hands is great. I’ll kumbaya any night of the week. But extending my hand out to pull someone up – I’ll do that any hour of any day, all hours of every day.
There’s an ol’ saying: the only time you should look down at someone is if you’re reaching out to help them up.
Perhaps that was meant to be a motivator, a goal, a call to action.
Stay Positive & Are You There To Answer(?)
Photo credit and HT to Jesse Jackson for the saying
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Excellent points – look at all the people who attended top-drawer schools or were part of big-deal companies or projects who didn’t manage to be first, yet did manage to make valuable contributions and helped enhance the world or the marketplace or at the very least their own and their families’ well-being.
You mean Ivy League schools, right? Or am I missing the joke? 🙂
You know, it’s definitely not the first time I’ve done this…