By now, you may have already seen the viral video of two clueless Columbia University students who joined in on NYU’s violent anti-Israel protest, admitting when they were interviewed that they had no idea what they were protesting, with one saying, “I wish I was more educated.” A stunning display of gross stupidity and ignorance.
I guess that’s what you get for $65,500+ per year in tuition. (I don’t want to hear a peep from any one of you about MY fees, particularly if you paid for a degree to any university pumping out this kind of special idiot.) What’s even more incredible is how EASY it is to GET educated, thanks to Al Gore’s invention, but apparently these schools aren’t teaching them how to do simple research, only how to be offended.
These types of “man on the street” interviews revealing the gross ignorance of the American public are nothing new. You would think that with free access to unlimited information readily available on their phone, more people would invest time into researching and understanding something important before acting on it, or even forming an opinion on it.
That student could have said, “I heard there was a protest and I came to LEARN what it was about by talking to some of the people here BEFORE forming an opinion.” That would have been an intelligent answer.
The simple reality is that most people are forming opinions with very limited experience and/or very little knowledge of history, study or FACTS. They’re coming to conclusions based on biased information put out in short little “tweets,” never questioning anything and displaying ZERO curiosity or critical thinking. Worse yet, many people are shaming others for even raising questions. If you questioned the efficacy of masks during Covid or the safety of the vaccine that was rushed to market, you were called a conspiracy theorist (or worse) and told to just shut up, get in line and “trust the science.”
But this happens in all areas of life, including business.
The other day, I was talking to an MSP, and he made the statement that the appointment-setter model is no longer a viable strategy for new client acquisition due to the declining performance he’s seen. When I asked how he came to that conclusion, it was based on his (very limited) experience in running an SDR/advisor sales team. He did NOT conduct any research by talking to a dozen or more companies (MSPs or others) running the model successfully to see if they thought it was a dying media (telemarketing calls are simply a form of communication, or media, just like e-mails, direct mail, social media, etc.). He did not invest in online research for sales statistics (which are readily available), read multiple books on the subject, reach out to one of many appointment-setting firms to have a conversation and pick their brain or even reach out to my leadership team, who run an SDR group of 12+ appointment setters — and this is NOT a dumb guy.
The simple reality is that most people aren’t serious students about much of anything, including things they should have deep knowledge about that are critical (or very important) to succeeding in business.
The reason I’m able to run an event like our Boot Camp with about one-tenth of the staff and at a fraction of the cost of most other industry events is that I’ve been a much more serious student of learning everything there is to know about putting on a successful event, from marketing it and getting people to show up, to knowing how to map out sessions and speakers, how to negotiate contracts, when to have the parties, which topics get a 30-minute spot and which get a 90-minute session, what speakers need to go where in the agenda based on the energy levels of the room and day of the event, how to group and organize the breakouts, how to get people to stay engaged and learn, how to produce sales, how to get and utilize sponsors and sponsor dollars, etc., etc., etc.
How many people running events in our industry do you think have put in the work to learn all of this? Answer: Not many. I don’t just have opinions and ideas, I have facts. And for those who operate solely on opinions and ignorance, acting as IF they have facts, I have disdain.
This is a BIG difference between those who are super-successful and those who aren’t. Top performers are intensely curious and go in search of information — books, seminars, consultants, research, data — whenever they are attempting to accomplish something. They don’t just “figure it out” as they go, meandering through their day. They pay attention, learn and IMPLEMENT, changing their systems and behaviors. They are willing to hear new ideas and approaches. Robert Herjavec always has a small pad of paper and a pen with him to jot down ideas and take notes.
Question: What are you being a serious student about today? This month? This year? If you have a big goal you’re serious about, then you’ll be a voracious learner of that topic. If you think education is too expensive or time-consuming, just wait until you see the price of ignorance.
We have an upcoming one-day conference for business owners looking to be a serious student about mergers and acquisitions. You’ll get industry experts sharing fast-scale strategies to maximize your business valuation and equity. Register for just $99 here: https://mspgrowthday.com/mergers-acquisitions
