#16: Constraints, Meritocracy and MBAs
Exploring the elitism of various shades, in both society and higher education
Disclaimer: This edition was written by our community member, Varun Choraria.
Dear Reader,
I hope you’re doing well. After my break last week, it’s good to be back.
In this week’s edition, let’s explore how constrains breed opportunity, and why meritocracy is a concept that takes the shape of the context it’s applied in- meaning- while merit is what you really define it to be, the only acceptable legitimacy is the outcome it eventually brings.
In a world where the lines between higher education and learning by doing is blurring- it made sense to pen this edition down to really understand how the concept of meritocracy evolved- in the context of education.
Also, do check out all the links- some really interesting ones there!
If you’ve got constructive feedback to share- I’m easily reachable on slack or on Twitter.
Week in Review: Highlights of our community
In #coders, Eshnil posted about LearnAwesome.org, which now has a cohort-based course module, that you can view here. He’s looking for beta testers- so if anyone here wants to explore the product- do drop him a DM!
In #general, Praful Tickoo shared a post describing the concept of ‘Anti-Library’- the process of buying books and shelving them. Who knew unread books were as powerful? Perplexed? Read the post here!
Tanmay from Inkredo posted about a pain point he noticed in the consumer lending industry, in #need-introductions. If you know anyone who has worked in the consumer credit or collections team, then do direct Tanmay to them! Good karma all the way :)
In #random, Bharat has been sharing some interesting links. Two of his latest ones are around vaccines-How Bill Gates Impeded Global Vaccines to COVID Vaccines and Welcome to the new colonialism: rich countries sitting on surplus vaccines.
I’d highly recommend checking the two articles out! Insightful reads indeed.
In #useful-articles-tools, Bharat has been sharing some helpful links on how to become a writer as well. Here are his recommendations:
a. Writing tools I learned from The Economist
We’d also dedicated an entire edition to just writing, if you’d like to check out:
Constraints, Meritocracy and MBAs
Every level of American education, from earliest grades to elite universities, is informed, to a greater or lesser extent, by two apparently contradictory forces: competition in the name of meritocracy, and identitarian notions of social justice. Meritocracy and wokeness seem to be at odds, particularly in debates about criteria for college admissions or the continued existence of selective public secondary schools. Between those who see meritocratic admissions as giving fair rewards to hard work and ability, and those who demand that schools focus on students’ identities rather than individual performance, there appears little room for compromise.
Behaviourally speaking, I think in most cases, we’re bred to breed, not to grow per say- which is why contrarians seem to dominate Twitter and sheep, well, other online communities. “Me-too!” has become the norm now, and stereotypes dictate what we believe to be right or wrong. Correction: Programmed stereotypes-by capitalist advertisements aiming to sell you “the best lifestyle.”
While this may seem to be grim, I believe there is light at the end of the tunnel- that constraints, truly breed great opportunities.
Consider the case of the popular product- Atlasssian- that decided to sell it’s product to the end users, vs. CIOs and senior management which would’ve been the obvious choice to sell to. This strategy actually was born due to the constraint of timezones. They let the product be the salesperson, and the rest is history.
This thought, was inspired from the podcast linked below.
With both these shades combined- how does it tie back to say, the education system? To Ivy Leagues? To MBAs? I once heard someone tell that people really go to fancy colleges to build a network- an identify-and not so much to learn business skills.
This when I’d like to introduce you to the concept of ‘Bootstrap MBA’ and I first discovered this on Jakob’s blog. Here’s his take on learning independently-
The curriculum in a structured program are rarely optimal for individual students. Every learner has a different backstory and hence will find different kinds of things illuminating. But in structured programs, everyone is forced to consume the same type of content and move through it at the same pace. Moreover, the chances that the teachers in the program are exceptional are slim.
In contrast, if I bootstrap my education, I can focus solely on content that speaks a language I can understand and only learn from the best teachers. I can learn at my own pace.
In another attempt, Pieter Levels once tweeted out all the important concepts, called the TL;DR MBA. What’s inspiring is that today, Pieter is a full-fledged entrepreneur, earning millions a year- all by building projects and figuring out both business and product management.
In conclusion, this edition points to two age old mental models- first principles thinking (here’s an awesome guide for you on this-BONUS!) and Feynman’s learning method- which translates to learn by teaching. But in our context, let’s approach MBAs, and find our places in the professional societies, via side projects- learning by actually doing it. After all, the worst thing that can happen if you fail is that you’ll become the best and high-agency employee!
For further exploration, I present to you two interesting book recommendations-
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