Tag: Scott Adams

Designer Degrees

Scott Adams thinks there should be a new kind of degree, a “certification that a student has completed a series of classes specified by a particular designer.”

The designer would not be limited to one college for specifying classes. For example, if Warrant Buffett designed the Warren Buffett Business Degree, he would specify the general type of classes that need to be completed, and the student would be free to find those classes across any number of institutions and sources, including online classes or work experience. A graduate who earns the Warren Buffett Business Degree might take a few classes at the local community college, spend a year in China learning Chinese, work for an Internet startup for a year, join Toastmasters International to practice public speaking, read a number of specific business books, and so on.

This is a brilliant idea. The internet has made the technical aspects of it possible, and the questionable value of a college degree as well as the massive debt required to get one makes it desirable.

by Jonathan Frei

Pick one goal for all your priorities

Scott Adams shares the one goal he focuses on that serves the multiple priorities in his life.

The way I approach the problem of multiple priorities is by focusing on just one main goal: energy. I make choices that maximize my personal energy because that makes it easier to manage all of the other priorities. Maximizing my personal energy means eating right, exercising, avoiding unnecessary stress, getting enough sleep, and all of the obvious steps. But it also means having something in my life that makes me excited to wake up. When I get my personal energy right, the quality of my work is better, and I can complete it faster. That keeps my career on track. And when all of that is working, and I feel relaxed and energetic, my personal life is better too.

Besides the obvious one (energy) what singular goal could keep competing priorities in order?

by Jonathan Frei

Processes instead of goals

Dilbert Creator Scott Adams talks about what works for his success in an essay on his blog called The Yoke of Credibility.

I see life as a process, not a goal. If my goal had been to create world-changing ideas that worked right away, I would be a complete failure. But I don’t have that goal. Instead, I have a process that involves seeding the universe with ideas and waiting for the strongest to evolve and make a difference. The worst case scenario is that my ideas cause the eventual best ideas to compete harder and evolve to even better forms. When you use a process that makes sense, even the unanticipated outcomes are good.

His big idea is that finding success comes by not letting a specific goal determine what path he takes in his exploration of ideas and how attempting to maintain credibility can hinder courageous explorations of difficult ideas.

by Jonathan Frei