Business school provides young entrepreneurs and future business leaders with a valuable set of bedrock principles from which they can work in the future. It does not, however, teach students everything they need to be successful. There’s only so much you can learn in a classroom after all, and some of the lessons that are most important can only be taught in real situations. Below are just a few of the things that business school failed to teach you – but that you absolutely need to know to stay competitive in the world of business.
What Innovation Means
Business school is, in many ways, about teaching you what worked in the past. This is a good thing, as the foundations of the business world haven’t changed that much since the average business school curriculum was written. What these schools tend to leave out, though, is that some of the most successful business leaders are the ones who innovated on old ideas and replaced them. Business schools might preach innovation, but they don’t teach much about the constant grind and re-invention necessary to turn an idea into a truly innovative business concept.
The Value of Who You Know
The business world is largely about who you know – even if those situations in which you wouldn’t think it mattered. Even when a company has retained executive search consultants to find a new C-level hire, those consultants often get keyed to potential finds through complicated social networks. This isn’t to say that hard work and experience don’t pay off, but knowing the people who can put you in the right place at the right time is both invaluable and something that’s nearly impossible to teach.
How to be Patient
Sometimes, you just have to stop. The business world is ever-moving and changing, but that doesn’t mean you always have to go along with it. Sometimes you have to be patient and wait for the results to come to you. This can seem incredibly counter-productive in a world that increasingly identified with shark metaphors, but it’s often a good way to avoid making risky mistakes. If you’re willing to be patient and trust in the processes you have created, you won’t be tempted to make a rash decision that will tank your career. It’s not always easy, but patience is a skill that needs cultivation.
Instincts Matter
Your instincts matter. Being able to read a graph and follow trends is a great – and invaluable – skill, but sometimes you have to go with your gut. Some of the most important decisions you will make in business often run counter to traditional wisdom and might seem counterintuitive to outsiders. If you take the time to develop your instincts and hone them in a market that rarely allows for mistakes, you’ll be able to move more quickly and more decisively than your competition. This, in turn, can make the difference in how successful your overall career may be.
It’s often the things that they didn’t teach you in business school that end up being the most important. Learning about networking, patience, instincts and innovation will all help you to step outside the usual bounds of business taught to you in school and better engage in the real world. These are all skills that are learned with time, though, and experience is a far better teacher than any professor when it comes to most of them. If more students had an idea that these factors were important, though, they might come out of business school better prepared for the real world.
