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can be aware of what works both for and against you. When
something fits, run with it. (pp. 8-9)
2. Before you begin your academic retirement party, keep in the
back of your mind that at a future date you may want to flirt with
some kind of graduate school. In that case, academic numerical
respectability may be of … value. (p. 10)
3. Life, on occasion, takes some strange turns. One academically
inept undergraduate managed to complete four years with a C as
his highest grade in any course. Not what you would call an
academic all-American. Because of some career successes later in
his life, he was asked to guest lecture at a number of universities.
As a result of those lectures, one college wanted him to become a
part-time member of its evening school faculty. It fit with his
schedule and he thought it would be worth doing, so he began
teaching at the college level in his specialty with good results. As
an administrative formality after three months of teaching, he was
asked to send along a transcript of his college grades from
twenty-years past. In this case a bona fide academic horror-show
was dug up after twenty years. (p.10)
4. The values in the world of work are much more socially oriented
than academically or technically oriented. Conversational skills,
appearances, and interestingly enough a good general education
will pay a big and expanding role in the future. Being "well read",
for example, will show, and pay dividends. (p. 11)
5. Lead time is part of the new game. One factor of never-ending
fascination is how we prepare and work to get ready for one
eventuality, only to find at some later date, all of our carefully
planned work sets us up for a completely different result. The
critical lesson to learn early is that just about everything you do
somehow pays off. Often it pays off in different ways than
anticipated, but it always seems to somehow fit. Jobs, careers,
life-planning … happen to be far more art than science. Knowing
all kinds of approaches, and understanding how pieces and people
can be made to fit tgether are great creative challenges. (p. 12)
6. A junior manager was asked to produce a training film for a trade
shop. He relied heavily on an outside audiovisual house for help.
By working with a talented writer and director, the manager
acquired some very advanced skills without ever going through
the basics. As it turned out, the basics were easy to pick up in

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