Will Richardson

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New World, Old Rules

September 22, 2011 By Will Richardson

From the “I Try Not to Get Too Depressed When I Think About This Stuff” Department comes this snip from the New York Times today on the state of the global economy:

“The initial and follow-up reaction from the equity market is likely the realization that the Fed has little left to offer, that Washington is a mess, and their only hope is to ‘ride it out’ over a long period of time,” said Kevin H. Giddis, the executive managing director and president for fixed-income capital markets at Morgan Keegan & Company.

“This is about to get ugly and there is very little anyone can do about it,” he added in a research note.

Read the whole thing if you really want to get down.

So here’s the deal: my kids are 12 and 14. It’s looking more and more like the world they’re going to be trying to find work and build a life in won’t be playing by any of the same rules that we’re accustomed to (unless, of course, they go into education.) Yet, they are being prepared for that future using those old rules. Sit in rows. Do your own work. Raise your hand. Disconnect. Be obedient. One size fits all. Grades. Grades. Grades Tests. Tests. Tests. Etc. 

Here are the new rules:

  • Create your own education.
  • Find problems and solve them. 
  • Be unique. 
  • Make beautiful, useful stuff. 
  • Build a network of really smart people who you will never meet. 
  • Be indispensable. 
  • Do real work that changes the world. 
  • Have a brand. 
  • Share widely and safely. 
  • Collaborate.
  • Add value. 
  • Be a voracious learner. 
  • Tread softly but boldly. 
  • Edit the world.
  • (Add yours below.)

My kids are going to have to create their way out of this mess we are leaving them. By not understanding these (and other) new rules, schools are just adding to the mess, not giving us all a better shot at a future that’s worth living in. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: education, learning

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