Skip to main content

How to Change the World: Ten Things to Learn This School Year

Popularity Report

Total Popularity Score: 0
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

Rank

Related Lists

Bookmark History

Public Sticky notes

How to write a five-sentence email. > Young people have an advantage over older people in this area because older people (like me) were taught to write letters that were printed on paper, signed, stuck in an envelope, and mailed. Writing a short email was a new experience for them. Young people, by contrast are used to IMing and chatting. If anything, they’re too skilled on brevity, but it’s easier to teach someone how to write a long message than a short one. Whether UR young or old, the point is that the optimal length of an email message is five sentences. All you should do is explain who you are, what you want, why you should get it, and when you need it by. >

Highlighted by ahmadtv

Ten Things to Learn This School Year

Highlighted by ivanlanin

In college, you’re supposed to bring problems to your teachers during office hours, and you share the experience of coming up with a solution. In the real world, you’re supposed to bring solutions to your boss in an email, in the hall, or in a five-minute conversation. Typically, your boss either already knows about the problem or doesn’t want to know about it. Your role is to provide answers, not questions.

Highlighted by ehanneken

How to negotiate. Don’t believe what you see in reality television shows about negotiation and teamwork. They’re all bull shiitake. The only method that works in the real world involves five steps: (1) Prepare for the negotiation by knowing your facts; (2) Figure out what you really want; (3) Figure out what you don’t care about; (4) Figure out what the other party really wants (per Kai); and (5) Create a win-win outcome to ensure that everyone is happy. You’ll be a negotiating maven if you do this.

Highlighted by akajut

Share the credit with others because a rising tide floats all boats.

Highlighted by troyanthony

E-Mail: How to write a five-sentence email. Young people have an advantage over older people in this area because older people (like me) were taught to write letters that were printed on paper, signed, stuck in an envelope, and mailed. Writing a short email was a new experience for them. Young people, by contrast are used to IMing and chatting. If anything, they’re too skilled on brevity, but it’s easier to teach someone how to write a long message than a short one. Whether UR young or old, the point is that the optimal length of an email message is five sentences. All you should do is explain who you are, what you want, why you should get it, and when you need it by. Voicemail: Second (and this applies to email too), always make progress. Never leave a voicemail or send an email that says, “Call me back, and I’ll tell you what time we can meet.” Just say, “Tuesday, 10:00 am, at your office.”

Highlighted by ursfrei

it's inspired me to blog about what students should learn in order to prepare for the real world after graduation. This is an opportune time to broach this subject because the school year is about to begin, and careers can still be affected.

First, take this little test about the state of your understanding of the real world right after you graduated from school.

Highlighted by jutecht

How to talk to your boss.

Highlighted by wisely

In the real world, you’re supposed to bring solutions to your boss in an email, in the hall, or in a five-minute conversation.

Highlighted by learningcoach

Your role is to provide answers, not questions.

Highlighted by wisely

How to survive a meeting that’s poorly run.

Highlighted by wisely

focus on what you want to accomplish in the meeting

Highlighted by learningcoach

focus on what you want to accomplish in the meeting

Highlighted by wisely

How to run a meeting.

Highlighted by wisely

make a decision

Highlighted by learningcoach

Start on time

Highlighted by wisely

Set an agenda for exactly what’s going to happen

Highlighted by wisely

Send an email to all participants that confirms decisions reviews action items.

Highlighted by wisely

force yourself to learn how to figure out just about anything on your own

Highlighted by wisely

How to negotiate.

Highlighted by wisely

Figure out what you really want;

Highlighted by wisely

Prepare for the negotiation by knowing your facts;

Highlighted by wisely

Figure out what you don’t care about;

Highlighted by wisely

Figure out what the other party really wants

Highlighted by wisely

Create a win-win outcome to ensure that everyone is happy.

Highlighted by wisely

How to have a conversation.

Highlighted by wisely

if you listen more than you talk, you will (ironically) be considered not only a good conversationalist but also smart.

Highlighted by learningcoach

listen more than you talk

Highlighted by wisely

How to explain something in thirty seconds.

Highlighted by wisely

explain things in a thirty-second elevator pitch.

Highlighted by learningcoach

Think

Highlighted by wisely

three words

Highlighted by wisely

Think ahead, not on your feet.

Highlighted by wisely

How to write a one-page report.

Highlighted by wisely

The best reports in the real world are one page or less.

Highlighted by learningcoach

The best reports in the real world are one page or less.

Highlighted by wisely

How to write a five-sentence email.

Highlighted by wisely

the optimal length of an email message is five sentences.

Highlighted by wisely

All you should do is explain who you are, what you want, why you should get it, and when you need it by.

Highlighted by learningcoach

explain who you are, what you want, why you should get it, and when you need it by

Highlighted by wisely

get along with co-workers

Highlighted by learningcoach

How to get along with co-workers

Highlighted by wisely

the higher you rise in an organization, the less important your individual accomplishments are

Highlighted by wisely

Share the credit with others because a rising tide floats all boats.

Highlighted by wisely

How to use PowerPoint.

Highlighted by wisely

limit yourself to ten slides, twenty minutes, and a thirty-point font—assuming that you want to get what you want.

Highlighted by learningcoach

limit yourself to ten slides, twenty minutes, and a thirty-point font—assuming that you want to get what you want

Highlighted by wisely

How to leave a voicemail.

Highlighted by wisely

think of a voicemail as an oral version of a compelling five-sentence email; the optimal length of a voicemail is fifteen seconds.

Highlighted by wisely

slowly say your telephone number once at the beginning

Highlighted by wisely

always make progress.

Highlighted by wisely

Comments

Highlighted by wisely

text-based PowerPoint presentations suck. Period. I reserve Keynote only for showing images to my students.

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: Leslie Madsen-Brooks | Aug 23, 2006 8:51:44 PM

Highlighted by wisely

study what you love

Highlighted by wisely

pursue the type of work that you love to do and the $$ will follow.

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: one9 | Aug 23, 2006 4:51:40 PM

Highlighted by wisely

On running meetings - it is often a good idea to be very specific about the kind of meeting, whether it be a) decision making, b) informational, c) input, d) brainstorming

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: Stevan | Aug 23, 2006 11:43:05 AM

Highlighted by wisely

pushing students to think for themselves is risky. With such huge and growing emphasis on student evaluations, teaching has become a popularity contest - an assistant professor that focuses more on what's good for students than on what they enjoy may not get tenure.

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: A | Aug 23, 2006 7:49:08 AM

Highlighted by wisely

less is more in terms of elevator pitches. We took a page from Andy Warhol's book and decided to cut it down to 15 Seconds.

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: laura allen | Aug 22, 2006 9:33:00 PM

Highlighted by wisely

I'm currently studying Systems Engineering in a Peruvian university

Highlighted by wisely

My father once told me, though, that the best thing that college teaches us is to be able, like you mention, to figure out things on our own.

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: eruntale | Aug 22, 2006 4:48:44 PM

Highlighted by wisely

The ones who keep their jobs and rise to the top are the ones who suck up

Highlighted by wisely

They're not the ones who send short e-mails and leave concise voice mails.

Highlighted by wisely

unless you have motivated employees, all these tips are useless.

Highlighted by wisely

yes. Much easier for me to deal with. Would I promote one of those employees? Probably not, I like what they're doing, and I don't want them doing anything else because they do what they do so well. Do I want to be one of those employees? No, it's depressing and rarely leads anywhere

Highlighted by wisely

Do I want employees like you describe?

Highlighted by wisely

Posted by: Katrina | Aug 22, 2006 2:11:34 PM

Highlighted by wisely

While I agree that all of those things are important to learn, I think that college is the wrong place to learn them.

One of the problems we have with "college education" is that they've become "technical schools". The ("original) idea of a university education is to (in order) 1) teach the cultural history (language, arts, history, the traditional "liberal arts" stuff) and then 2) learn how to learn, learn how to think, learn how to debate, learn how to write (many of which were covered in your great list).

Too many kids go to college seeing it as "job training", when they should be seeing it as the time to learn about all the great things in the world and to learn how to reason. Because so much emphasis is put on the "job" side, we miss the, what I think, is the more important and what will be more useful in the long term. You may not have the same job in the same field for your entire life. Being "educated" means that you can move as the world and you change.

So...yes, those are all things that should be learned, but not necessarily in college.

Posted by: Paul | Aug 22, 2006 1:48:19 PM

Highlighted by wisely

I'd add another thing to the list...

How to get to the core issue fast

I think it's important not only to be able to explain something in 30 seconds, but also to be able to understand something really quickly.

For example, while you are in the elevator with your boss who does not have enough time, and has to explain something to you in 30 seconds. If he's not good at it, you may be left wondering what you're supposed to do or what he was talking about. A lot of people get lost in details. So I think that being able to ask the right questions that get you what you need to know fast is very important also.

Because, as you said, your time is really precious.

Posted by: Dragos Ilinca | Aug 22, 2006 10:00:29 AM

Highlighted by wisely