The most direct route
Elon Musk knew very little about rocket science in 1995.
That’s when he moved to California to attend Stanford, only to drop out to start a software company with his brother.
How he got from there to where he is now—chief engineer of a company that builds reusable rockets—is a mystery.
Or is it?
It’s simple. What Elon did—what anyone can do—is take the most direct route.
How did he learn enough about aerospace engineering to believe he could build more affordable rockets? Let alone to design and deploy a fleet of Falcon 9’s?
He took the most expedient route he could.
Not by consuming every book, article, video, podcast, or speech he could find on the topic. And not by going back to school for another 3-6 years to get master’s in aerospace engineering.
Instead, he identified the information that was most important to know to get up to speed, and to make the best decisions in the context of his goals. What he did was do his research—but with help—meeting with experts to fill in the gaps of what he didn’t know.
From there, starting SpaceX was as simple as reasoning from first principles and finding suppliers, partners, and engineers who could help him achieve his dream.
Is it any wonder how he’s managed to lead so many breakthrough companies in so many diverse industries? Elon’s no genius. He’s just smarter and braver than most.
Millions of smart college students are going to start classes in the coming weeks, and I have to wonder how many of them are taking the most direct route to accomplish their goals. How much are they going to have to pay to learn things they could have easily learned or discovered, or read about or heard about on their own—on their computers—in their pj’s?
I’m not saying we should inherently undervalue going to an accredited school (particularly one that offers the benefits of pedagogy and community and mentorship). What I am arguing is that every goal of every student should be realized in the context of taking the most direct route to achieve it.
Whether that route looks like skipping core-courses in favor of those they actually want to take, starting their own projects—instead of doing their “required” course-work, or enlisting the help of professors a world away—it’s their education that’s on the line.
Students ought to be encouraged to be intentional and agile about the knowledge they consume, how they spend their time, and, of course, the track that they’re on in the first place. And higher education—in whatever form it takes—should conform to and empower those objectives.