No Shortcuts - But I Got Good Grades

School is in a very interesting place right now.  Most current school curriculum was driven from the needs of the industrial revolution.  Create obedient people who do what they're told.....repeatedly.

Show up on time.  Listen to your teacher.  Do the exact same work as everyone else no matter your talents.  Go to recess when the bell rings.  Find the "right" answer in your studies.  Get rewarded for finding more "right" answers than everyone else.  

I'll come out and admit right away that I was not a fan of school and struggled throughout.  I was NOT the person who always had the "right" answer.  When I did I usually had to work 2 to 3 times harder than my classmates to get there.  I thought I was an idiot for most of my youth and beneath all those "smart" people who just got the answers so easily. 

What I thought was a defect has actually turned into an asset for me in my career.  As we shift out of the industrial revolution and more towards a place where there isn't a "right" answer it's turning out that the people who NEED that right answer struggle a bit.  Things are now ambiguous.  You need to use other skills besides reciting from books to succeed. 

Are you curious?  Are you collaborative?  Do people like working with you?  Are you smart.....enough?  Do you think of new/unique ideas to solve problems?  Do you work your ass off?    

Traditional school does not give you a grade on any of the above.  You might have all of these skills and school tells you that you're dumb based on you not being the best as calculus or world history. 

When I look at talent around me I could not care the least about what school they went to or what GPA they had.  Are they willing to hold hands and think outside the box to solve unique challenges? 

Keep this in mind as this world shifts and different skillsets become required to succeed.  Grades are just one part of you, but I do not seem them as an important indicator of success.  Sadly, it took me years to realize this!  Do not let them hold you back from what you are capable of.