Business is a Liberal Art

Over the Christmas break I was speaking with my sister-in-law about school. She is currently pursuing a liberal arts degree. And, the conversation gave me the humbling experience of thinking about how wrong I can sometimes be.

I studied chemistry in college and, I must say, it was pretty hard. But, I vividly remember the logic behind my decision. I thought, “If I can graduate from the chemistry department, at Berkeley, business will be a cinch.” I know, I know. Don't remind me. I now realize how foolish I was.

You see, I had always wanted to be a business owner. Although I could not put on finger on it at the time, the reason I wanted to be a business owner is because freedom is my number one value. I cannot sing and I cannot act. And, as you can tell, I am not a very good writer. So, I realized my only chance for true freedom was to build a business.

Now, despite my college folly, here is something I learned. Business is simple, but it is not easy. What's more, business is a liberal art. To succeed (I prefer the phrase “be effective”) in business requires a person to understand many things. You need to know about history, economics, psychology, sociology, marketing, morality, and on and on.

This is the exact reason I am such a student of Peter Drucker. Drucker covered all these subjects, in much greater detail, than any other author I know of. And, the fact that business is a liberal art has led me to write this blog. Though I do not profess to be an expert, I do have some experience.

I know I have nothing even close to the skills of Drucker, so I do not attempt to cover every subject. However, I do know a few things about psychology. And so, that is one of the subjects I attempt to stick to. I talk about emotions (mostly fear) because they are so central to life. And, I talk about paradoxes because they are so central to emotions (and to leadership).

Drucker is known as a management thinker/guru. Which is rather unfortunate because, if you study Peter, you know he was one of the most well-rounded individuals on earth. For example, Peter was well-known as a management expert. But, did you know that he was also a world-renown expert on Japanese art? It is true. Drucker studied Japanese art to train his ability to see. That is to say, his ability to observe and perceive. Pretty cool.

I remember being in school and thinking liberal art majors were a joke. I figured they were either lazy or indecisive. As it turns out, the joke was on me! Have you ever watched that TV show The Big Bang Theory? I think the show is hilarious because they completely nail the personalities types. One of the main characters, Sheldon Cooper, is a theoretical physicist. And, Dr. Cooper has very little appreciation for engineers, biologists, or even experimental physicists. So funny, because it is so true.

One of the things I am trying to say is I recommend we all commit to being lifelong learners. The universe is vast and complicated. And, it will probably take a lifetime to start to truly understand things. Again, a huge lesson is to always stay committed to learning.

I have had to eat a lot of crow in my life. And, realizing the importance of the liberal arts is just one dimension. Talking to my sister-in-law simply reinforced an important lesson that I hope to never forget.