Graduation ceremonies are an important part of college education. They act as final rites of passage after which a young college student is finally ready for the next part of their life. They are a critical juncture of life, one that provides lots of opportunities to take pictures with your friends, favorite instructors and the college building you spent your formative years at.
However, an important part of the graduation ceremonies that leave a definite print on the psyche of graduating students are the commencement speeches.
One of the most famous commencement speeches was made by the business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates, when he appeared in the halls of Harvard University to speak to the graduating class of 2007.
Bill Gates’ speech was full of useful information for the young graduates. The students in the crowd were a mix of all majors, biology, computer science, sociology, Latin studies, etc. However, any advice coming from such a successful businessmen was going to be informative for people in the business and management world too.
Therefore, we’ve extracted the following 3 important lessons for business people out there.
Get to know the wider world
He made an important distinction between the world today and the time he was young and at college. He pointed out the fact that the world is a lot more connected today, than it was back in his days. Information is a lot easier to gather and therefore if businesses that don’t take advantage of the easily and very cheaply available data, they are not making the most informed business decisions.
He also connected this wider knowledge availability with a responsibility that we hold today. He hinted toward the concept of corporate social responsibility. “You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. “You know more about the world’s inequities than the classes that came before. I hope you’ve had a chance to think about how, in this age of accelerating technology, we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them.”
Find simple solutions to complex problems
He pointed out that according to his experience working in the technology industry the most common barrier to change in organizations is the complexity with which most of the solutions are presented.
“The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity. To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps”
Therefore, the most essential item our solutions should have, according to Mr. Gates, is the ability to boil down actions into simple-to-follow terms, so that the entire hierarchy of an organization can play its part in bringing about the necessary change.
Tell human stories
Even though he himself is largely a data-person and runs a technology firm, he was quick to point out that data alone won’t do all the magic. Stories help form a human connection that numbers, figures and charts will never be able to achieve. Therefore, when you have your sales team out in the field; it might be helpful showing them these wise words once.
