1/ One of the reasons why the middle class in the developed world has and will continue to struggle is that the modern education system the U.S. and Europe has failed them.
2/ The modern education system is set up to help train people to be “well-rounded” and “normal.”
3/ In a world with high transaction costs and dominated by large factories, it was important to be well-rounded because it’s hard to transact with other people that might be more specifically skilled.
4/ Horace Mann, the father of the modern education system, started the Common School one-hundred-and-fifty years ago. The purpose of the Common School was to teach students how to follow directions effectively so they would be prepared for factory work.
5/ A few years after the school opened, Mann realized that he had a shortage of teachers for the Common School, so he started the Normal School.
6/ The Normal School was where teachers were trained before going to give classes at the Common School. We needed *normal* teachers to train students to be *common.*
7/ The modern education system was built on the back of this premise—creating normal, common workers.
8/ In 1900 this made economic sense. Factory workers were in demand and being trained to be common or normal was valuable. We needed to train individuals to do what they were told, sit still, listen to instructions and say them back to us.
9/ As we move towards an increasingly integrated, globalized world, the well-rounded, normal worker is in trouble.
10/ What is valuable is a unique, uncommon skillset that is in high demand.
11/ How do you develop a unique, uncommon skillset?
12/ This is a theme I've been thinking about for a long time. My two most popular essays on the subject are probably:
13/ The Subtle Art Of Reaching Your Potential: taylorpearson.me/potential/
14/ 4 Strategies to Find the Work Only You Can Do: taylorpearson.me/thework/
