What is school for?

In time for back to school, Seth Godin wrote a wonderful blog post the other day asking an important question: What is school for? Money quote:

If you get ahead for years and years because you got dealt good cards, it’s not particularly likely that you will learn that in the real world, achievement is based as much on attitude and effort as it is on natural advantages. In the real world, Nobel prizes and Broadway roles and the senior VP job go to people who have figured out how to care, how to show up, how to be open to new experiences. Our culture is built around connection and charisma and learning and the ability to not quit in precisely the right moments.

But that’s not easy to sort for in school, so we take a shortcut and resort to trivial measures instead.

The statement: “The ability to not quit in precisely the right moments” is worth the price of a book, and yet you can read it for free on Godin’s blog.

What’s also free is Godin’s book Stop Stealing Dreams. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest you do.