LETTER TO AN INCOMING FRESHMAN

The two most important things you need to learn (Hint: they have nothing to do with your degree…)

By now, you will have just started classes in what, to be sure, is an unusual time and circumstance to be embarking on this chapter in your life. Regardless, it can be for you what it was for me — a complete turning point in my life. I went from a super average kid with an average (slightly below average, actually) high school GPA to a person with the drive and skill to make something of my life. That happened because of three professors who encouraged me to see more in myself and who taught me two crucial skills that have been the foundation of literally every opportunity I have had in my life since that time. These are critical thinking and communication. Other than a sound moral foundation,

I will assert that nothing will matter more to success in your career and maturation as a highly functioning adult and contributor to society than these two skills.

Let me tell you why.

CRITICAL THINKING

Critical thinking is the basis for all human development and improvement. It is characterized by an unflinching determination to question assumptions, beliefs, ideologies, and dogmas on any and all subjects and come to one’s own point of view.

Every major transformation of society in human history has turned on the application of critical thinking. Every one.

As Matt Ridley persuasively argues in The Rational Optimist, the first of these likely occurred when a world of hunter-gatherers began to realize that specialization and exchange would dramatically improve prosperity. And it did. Hunting and gathering was all they knew. Someone, and likely several someones, fundamentally questioned the basis for that method of sustenance and the world was vaulted into an entirely new chapter as a result. The development of Athenian democracy, The Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and now the Information Revolution (which I believe would be more aptly called an innovation revolution enabled by a massive transformation in access to information) have all hinged on critical thinking. In each case, fundamental assumptions about life, philosophy, religion, economic organization, and society had to be called into question. Fortunately for us, they were; and as a result, we now find ourselves in a world with the greatest degree of health, prosperity, opportunity, and liberty in human history.

So what is critical thinking? I think Jordan Peterson in his book Twelve Rules for Life described it best:

Thinking is listening to yourself. It is difficult. To think you have to be at least two people at the same time. Then you have to let those two people disagree.

Think of those two (or three or four) people as avatars of yourself — each of which has different assumptions, worldviews, beliefs, and conclusions. If you can’t create for yourself those avatars and then listen to them hash out their differences, then you haven’t learned to think.

Thinking — true critical thinking — is emotionally, psychologically, and cognitively exhausting. If you haven’t felt that exhaustion while wrestling with a problem or belief, then you haven’t learned to think.

As you go through your education you will find that some professors — possibly most — will not be much invested in teaching you to learn how to think. Instead, they will be determined to teach you what to think. Unless the discipline is a hard science (e.g., mathematics, chemistry, physics) this is a tragedy; a critical failure of the system. To the extent that you can, seek out those that will push you beyond mere learning. Learning is great. Learning how to learn is much more valuable. If you don’t get it in the classroom (or virtual classroom) then seek it on your own. Purchase books and read materials that advocate a point of view that is different than the one you currently hold. It might be one that you hold dearly — central to your system of belief. Don’t be afraid to do so. The result might surprise you, and when it does you will be all the better for it.

COMMUNICATION

The second great skill that can come from your experience in higher education is the ability to write and speak in a clear, concise, and persuasive way. This skill has been central to my success (and, sadly, at the root of my failures) in nearly every dimension of life — not just in my career. As Robert Cialdini persuasively argues in Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, one’s ability to navigate life successfully is largely dependent on the ability to influence the decisions and actions of others. Interdependence is the norm, not the exception.

There is little of real substance you will ever accomplish on your own. Whether in your past, present, or future, the difference you make will be inevitably dependent on the way others influence and shape you, and the way you influence and shape others.

Communicate honestly. Choose your words with precision, with great care and caution. Learn how to formulate thoughts and communicate them in ways that are powerful and persuasive. College is the lowest risk environment you will encounter in your entire life where you can learn to do this. It’s the place to experiment, practice, get feedback, and improve. Take courses that require active participation in class — where you have to take a point of view and defend it. Don’t see writing assignments as assignments — see them as invaluable opportunities to apply and refine one of the greatest of life’s skills. If you ever doubt how powerful the skill of great writing can be, simply reflect on the influence the written word has had on human history generally and on your life specifically. You could spend an entire day listing examples and will only be scratching the surface.

WHY DO THESE REALLY MATTER?

It is highly likely that your career and life after college will look much more like a portfolio than a linear progression. Some professions (e.g., orthodontics, to use a very narrow example) can be quite linear. But even these are being disrupted in fundamental ways through new technologies and methods of delivery that were not available years or even months ago. I believe we are in a period where no profession is safe — safe in that it can be relied upon for a steady and prosperous career until retirement. This is enormously unsettling. At the same time, it is exciting and motivating in ways that past generations have hardly experienced. Critical thinking and communication skills are both “general” in the classic sense. It doesn’t matter how your career starts, where it goes, or how it finishes. They are valuable now and will be valuable forever, no matter the context.

I have had the good fortune to live a “portfolio” life with career chapters that have ranged from consulting to healthcare to sporting goods to higher education. I am now in venture capital, where a portfolio is the very definition of what I do every day. On any given day I may be working on and with businesses in luxury footwear, mental health, residential real estate, and children’s education, to name just a few. To experience this breadth is incredibly stimulating and rewarding. To make any meaningful contribution to my fund and to the success of these businesses I rely on two skills more than any others — critical thinking and communication. I question assumptions about the businesses. I have to persuade prospective executives to join these companies. I have to influence board decisions, some of which will have critical implications for the future success of the business. Lacking these skills, I couldn’t do any of these things. With them, I can responsibly wield my authority and influence in ways that create better businesses.

You will leave your college experience with much learning and growth, but if you do not leave with these two skills you will have missed one of the great opportunities of your life. Don’t let that happen.