StartSpeedReading.com

Photo by thinkpanama

Why do we read different types of texts? In some cases we may do it for having fun, but very often we read for acquiring new knowledge. For example, if you are a high school or colleague student then you have to read lots of books for your studies. If you have finished your studies then you may read for keeping up with the latest development in your profession. Even if you read for your hobbies then the aim may be educating yourself. For example, you may read how to play golf better or how to make apple pie.

It is true that the more you read the more knowledge you will gain. A person who reads lots of books every year has more knowledge than the one who completes only one book per year. The amount of books you will be able to read depends on the amount of time you spend on reading as reading is time consuming. At the same time it depends on the reading speed. If you learn to speed read then you will be able to read much faster and you can read more books. Speed readers usually read quite a lot and thus they are educated people.

But are we reading only for the sake of acquiring new knowledge? In some cases it may be so. We may be interested in French history and we may read lots of books on it even if we are not historians by profession and we do not put this knowledge into practical use. We may do so if we like so. Still, it happens more often that people educate themselves for doing something better in the real life. Lawyers read about new legislation and court cases in order to perform better on their job, teachers read about new teaching methods using them in their classes. Even if you read about making an apple pie then you probably want to try making it in real life.

When new sales agents are being employed in my investment broker company then I will give them a recommended reading list of sales books and websites to read for improving their sales skills. Some of the new agents take it seriously and read a lot, but others do not care so much about it. Still, there is no one-to-one relationship between the amount of sales material read and sales results. Some agents may acquire good theoretical knowledge about the sales process and techniques, but if they do not put these skills into practice then they will not really develop them. In case of sales there has to be lots of practice and it just cannot be only reading.

The same principle holds for many different areas. For example I know some people who have read many books about starting your own business. But they are making no profits because they have never started their own business. There are even players in my soccer team who have read many books about how to play soccer, but they are not the best players.

In order to succeed you have to put your knowledge into practice. If you want to start your own company then you have to do it not just only read and prepare for it. If you want to be a better salesman then you will be better off if you read somewhat less sales books, but use the knowledge from the books in your every day sales work.

I personally have also reduced my reading load during the last year and have focused more on putting my knowledge into practice. I believe it has had positive impact on my progress. Reading itself will not help me to earn money. For earning profits you just have to apply what you have read. And that is the point, what makes difference. In practice, the best results are achieved by the one, who applies his knowledge best, not by the one who has biggest knowledge.

kristjan Speed Reading education, knowledge, reading speed, speed reading

Photo by Minnesota Historical Society

Overcoming the global economic crises depends among many factors also on the number of entrepreneurs, who could adjust to the forthcoming changes. Probably many existing businesses will die during this or the next year. It creates an opportunity for new companies to replace the old ones on the market. The last one hundred years has mostly been the century of the employees as the share of the entrepreneurs in the population has been lower than during the previous centuries. A couple of hundred years ago all the handicraftsmen and farmers were entrepreneurs. Now the situation could change, but the growth of the entrepreneurship activity depends to a great extent on the career choices of young people. The central issue is how many university graduates are going to start their own businesses. But they need relevant education for being successful in it.

Most of the entrepreneurs are not persons, who have deep specific knowledge in a particular field. In the majority of cases they have broad-based education. Dealing with business, especially with small business requires skills and knowledge from different fields, as the have to face many different tasks. The opposite case is the specialists, who are employed in big companies, as they can concentrate on specialisation to a narrower field and enhancing a limited number of skills. Although entrepreneurs can and have to employ specialists, they still need diverse knowledge for recruiting specialists, giving them appropriate tasks and evaluating their performance.

Recently there was made a survey among the graduates of the Business School of Stanford University, which investigated how the study results and choices in curricula affect the probability of starting an own business after graduation. The results of the analysis gave support to the hypothesis, that balanced set of skills increases the chances of being an entrepreneur.

First, the probability of starting business was higher for those graduates, whose grades were more evenly distributed among different courses. Those, who got very high grades in some subjects and low grade in other subjects, were likely to become an employee.

Second, the future entrepreneurs were more likely to choose courses over a broader spectrum of fields. They did not choose classes only from one field like management or marketing, but the studies include various courses in all fields of economics.

Third, those who started businesses, worked during their studies on many different jobs. More precisely, it was not the number of different jobs, but number of different tasks they had to perform on those jobs, which affected their future career decisions. Performing many different tasks, the future entrepreneurs, acquired a diverse set of skills and knowledge, which were beneficial for starting their own business.

It can be concluded upon these results that more broad-based education is necessary for promoting entrepreneurial activity. That kind of education gives the graduates an ability to see the potential needs of the customers and spot the business opportunities. Therefore it is not so good if university students, and especially those who study business or economics, specialise too early, as it decreases their possibilities to becoming an entrepreneur. The specialisation may come later, for example at the master level and the broad-based undergraduate education does not prevent specialising later to a narrower field.

kristjan Business education, entrepreneur, skills