Incredibly.
Just the other day I was talking to a very successful entrepreneur (in the broad sense: he did not start a business, but bought one from someone else and grew it in his own direction) and describing Praxis. He was in love with the idea.
He loved the business partnership idea, and as an employer himself, saw the value right away. Then he asked about the curriculum component and what was in it. I began to describe it, and his face lit up. He said he was worried it was going to be all business and practical matters, and said that, in his experience, a liberal arts education is most valuable. The best entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial employees are those who love to learn, and see wonder in all the questions and ideas around them. They are philosophers. I’ve certainly found this to be the case with successful people I’ve met.
As I’m plugging the curriculum into the online portal and getting things prepped for the first class, I am struck once again at how powerful these seemingly abstract ideas are. This is a very intense, interdisciplinary curriculum for a reason.
I believe a liberal arts education is incredibly important for success in everything, including business and entrepreneurship. All the most successful entrepreneurs I know are very deep thinkers, far from the overly practical caricatures often portrayed. I love and value ideas and I don’t want to see them separated from action and experience. I don’t want to see job and education as two different pursuits. I think lifelong learning, and a deep and broad knowledge base is critically important to happiness and success.
Praxis is not a rejection of intellectualism or thinking in favor of doing, but an embrace of thinking as a prerequisite and component of all action.
A liberal arts education is a wonderful, lifelong pursuit that will continually sharpen and open your mind. A curious and open mind is necessary if you want to break the mold.
